Following Martins systemic functional model of genre, the paper defines the petition as a type of hortatory exposition. The petition differs from other types of hortatory exposition in terms of two types of addressee; in terms of genre structure it differs with respect to the structural units appeal for public agreement with the thesis and the support of the signatories. In a neoliberal system represented by governmental and international institutions as primary addressees, the petition becomes depoliticised and its effect directed into pacification and consequently deactivation of the signatories.
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