Rhetoric, Ideology and Social Psychology Essays in honour of Michael Billig Explorations in Social Psychology Series

Professor Michael Billig is one of the most significant living figures in social psychology. His work spans thirty-five years, and has at times challenged conventional social scientific thinking on a range of key topics. Billig has influenced a wide range of fields including intergroup conflict, social attitudes and ideology, rhetoric, racism, nationalism, humour, psychoanalysis, and popular culture, but most significantly, his writing has not only influenced social psychologists, but is widely recognised by linguistics, sociologists, historians and cultural theorists.

This book brings together expert accounts of Billig?s ideas on a wide range of issues in a single text. Each of the contributors explains the importance of Billig?s work for a specific area detailing its application to a particular social psychological problematic. In doing so, the authors also demonstrate the relevance of Billig?s work to emerging concerns in twenty-first century social science, including conspiracy accounting, moral exclusion, discursive psychology and European identity.

Rhetoric, Ideology and Social Psychology will be key reading for academics and researchers working in sociology, cultural studies, social psychology, communication and media studies and linguistics.

1. Small Words, Large Circles and the Spirit of Contradiction: Celebrating Michael Billig’s Contribution to the Social Sciences Susan Condor 2. Billig on Rhetoric Herbert W. Simons 3. Rhetoric, Cognition and Discursive Psychology Derek Edwards 4. Rhetoric and Argumentation John Shotter 5. Attitudes and the Words We Use J. Richard Eiser 6. Prejudice as Collective Definition: Ideology, Discourse and Moral Exclusion Cristian Tileaga 7. Beyond Belief: The Social Psychology of Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Ideology Jovan Byford 8. In Praise of Activism: Rethinking the Psychology of Obedience and Conformity Stephen Reicher 9. An Ideological Dilemma: The Resurgence of Sexism and the Disappearance of ‘Sexism’ Rosalind Gill 10. Banal Occidentalism Nikos Bozatzis 11. Affect and Banal Nationalism: A Practical Dialogic Approach to Emotion Margaret Wetherell 12. On Music, Politics and Scholarship Christine Griffin 13. Afterword Gustav Jahoda

Charles Antaki is Professor of Language and Social Psychology at Loughborough University, UK.

Susan Condor is Professor of Social Psychology at Loughborough University, UK.