Governing by slogans

Sardoč, Mitja (author), Prebilič, Vladimir (author)

Throughout recorded history, slogans have been an important part of our public life. From political rhetoric and propaganda, to social movements and awareness-raising campaigns, their usage has overcome historical periods, cultural barriers, ethnic affiliation, political systems, party allegiance or personal taste. Arguably more than any other linguistic ‘device’, slogans deliver a clearly recognizable message with as little complexity as possible. Nevertheless, despite their rhetorical ‘economy’, the narratives provided by slogans have also been associated with a simplified or even reductionist portrayal of otherwise complex or controversial phenomena. This article aims to address a range of previously neglected aspects associated with slogans and governmentality. The introductory part provides a genealogy of discussions over slogans and the main shortcomings the use of slogans has been associated with. The central part takes a closer look at zero tolerance, a flagship policy associated with the neoliberal logic of governance. The concluding part of this article outlines the subversive character associated with the mechanism of sloganization.

• Language: English
• Keywords: slogans, public policy, governmentality, neoliberalism, sloganization, moral enterpreneurship, zero tolerance
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 765–775
• Numbering: Vol. 21, iss. 7
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-143636
• UDC: 35:32
• ISSN on article: 1478-2103
• DOI: 10.1177/14782103221136186
• COBISS.SI-ID: 128349699
• Publication date in RUL: 04.01.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Policy futures in education
• Publisher: SAGE
• ISSN: 1478-2103
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523346201

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: slogani, javna politika, vladanje, neoliberalizem, sloganizacija, moralno podjetništvo, ničelna strpnost, gesla, politika in vladanje