This article discusses the role of metaphor in political science, highlighting the centrality of the metaphor historically for understanding human societies. It notes how the contemporary emphasis on global interconnectedness has generated an influx of new metaphors influenced by technological developments, such as networks and the Internet. The article highlights questions that are of enduring interest for political scientists: how to make sense of metaphor itself, and the place of metaphor in political analysis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BhaskarR. (1979), The Possibility of Naturalism, Brighton: Harvester Press.
2.
BlackM. (1962), Models as Metaphors: Studies in Language and Philosophy, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
3.
BojeD.M. (2002), ‘Critical Dramaturgical Analysis of Enron Antenarratives and Metatheatre’, Paper presented to 5th International Conference on Organisational Discourse: From Micro-utterances to Macro-inferences, London.
4.
CantorP. (1982) ‘Friedrich Nietzsche: The use and abuse of metaphor’ in MiallD.S. (ed.), Metaphor: Problems and perspectives, Sussex: The Harvester Press. (p. 72).
5.
ComteA. (1999) Auguste Comte and Positivism: the essential writings, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
6.
DahlR. (1961) Who Governs? Democracy and power in an American city, New Haven: Yale University Press.
7.
EdelmanM. (1988), Constructing the Political Spectacle, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
8.
FaircloughN. (2000), New Labour, New Language?, London: Routledge.
9.
FoucaultM. (1980), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977, Brighton: Harvester.
10.
HowellK.E. (2004), ‘Developing Conceptualisations of Europeanisation: A Study of Financial Services’, Politics24(1), pp. 20–26.
11.
KittayE.F. (1987), Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structure, Oxford: Clarendon.
12.
LaclauE. and MouffeC. (2001), Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics (2nd edn), London: Verso.
13.
LakoffG. and JohnsonM. (1981), Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: Chicago University Press.
14.
LockeJ. (1975), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
15.
OrtonyA. (ed.) (1979), Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
MachiavelliN. (1950), The Discourses, London: Routledge.
17.
MarxK. and EngelsF. (1967) The Communist Manifesto, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
18.
MillJ.S. (1956) On Liberty, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co.
19.
NietzscheF. (1968) Basic Writings of Nietzsche, New York: Modern Library.
20.
RichardsI.A. (1936), The Philosophy of Rhetoric, New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
RicoeurP. (1978), The Rule of Metaphor: Multidisciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
22.
RigneyD. (2001), The Metaphorical Society: An Invitation to Social Theory, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
23.
RochefortD.A. and CobbR.W. (eds.) (1994), The Politics of Problem Definition: Shaping the Policy Agenda, Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas.
24.
RortyR. (1979), Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press.
25.
SacksS. (1979), On Metaphor, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
26.
SchönD. (1979), ‘Generative Metaphor: A Perspective on Problem-setting in Social Policy’ in OrtonyA. (ed.), Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27.
ShapiroM.J. (1981), Language and Political Understanding, New Hampshire and London: Yale University Press.
28.
ShapiroM.J. (1985/6), ‘Metaphor in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences’, Cultural Critique, Winter, 2, pp. 191–214.
29.
SkinnerQ. (1996), Reason and Rhetoric in the Philosophy of Hobbes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
SpencerH. (1972) On Social Evolution; selected writings, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
31.
StanfordW.B. (1936), Greek Metaphor: Studies in Theory and Practice, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.