The Representative Claim

by Michael Saward

Representation is more than a matter of elections and parties. This book offers a radical new perspective on the subject. Representation, it argues, is all around us, a dynamic practise across societies rather than simply a fixed feature of government. At the heart of the argument is the straightforward but versatile notion of the representative claim. People claim to speak or stand for others in multiple, shifting, and surprising patterns. At the same time they offer images of their constituents and audiences as artists paint portraits. Who can speak for and about us in this volatile world of representations? Which representative claims can have democratic legitimacy? The Representative Claim is set to transform our core assumptions about what representation is and can be. At a time when political representation is widely believed to be in crisis, the book provides a timely and critical corrective to conventional wisdom on the present and potential future of representative democracy.

Genres: Philosophy

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Massimiliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brilliant idea about representation as the act of claim and counter-claim, but wrapped in an unnecesary long book - better stick to the (earlier published) paper!

[Alexandru · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not into political theory, but into rhetoric and discourse analysis, and this book offers great insights for analysing representation as claim (hence, as discoursive activity). It relies a lot on Bourdieu (Language and symbolic power) and on the semiotical concept of representation (which is the ground for a new conception of representation). I can't evaluate the book's contribution for political theory, but for those working in Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Rhetoric and other related fields, this book is a must, despite loosing a bit the critical stance so evident in Bourdieu.