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Article published In:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 11:3 (2020) ► pp.463–484

Government of oneself and others via a Facebook profile

Rhetorical and ethical dimensions of neoliberal governmentality

| University of Wrocław

The thesis of this article is that neoliberal governmentality, rather than means of coercion, uses various means of persuasion and ethical obligation. This is demonstrated by analyzing the discourse of the “Dr Mateusz Grzesiak” Facebook profile. It encourages individuals to utilize personal development techniques and promotes the neoliberal concept of the subject. Thus, this article explores the ideas proposed within studies of governmentality and supplements them with the perspectives offered by rhetoric culture theory. The profile of one of Poland’s most recognizable personal development coaches can be seen as a materialisation of neoliberal governmentality as well as a symbolic system used as an instrument of persuasion. It can be analysed through the dramatistic approach proposed by Kenneth Burke as well as the Aristotelian idea of ethos, Jean Nienkamp’s notions of internal and external rhetoric, and the concept of argumentation by model and example proposed by Chaïm Perelman.

Keywords: neoliberal governmentality, rhetoric culture theory, dramatism, social media, rhetoric, ethics, personal development practices
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The methodological and empirical frameworks of the rhetorical analysis
    • 2.1Burke’s approach
    • 2.2Data
  • 3.The hegemony of the scene: Analysis of three ratios
    • 3.1Scene-agent(s)
    • 3.2Scene-act
    • 3.3Scene-agency
  • 4.A metonymic ratio: Agent-agency
    • 4.1Ethos and moral quality
    • 4.2Argumentation by model and example
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 31 July 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.17035.mok
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