http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/2900722

The Creation of Political Beliefs Through Categorization

The governmental process entails a great deal of talk and writing. Much political language is informal, and some is official. In either case, its linguistic categorizations shape perceptions and feelings about problematic and controversial public issues, reflecting and playing upon the ambivalence and changing perspectives of all who are involved. Categorization can engender cognitions that are dogmatic or tentative; perceptions of inhuman enemies or of adversaries that can best be handled through the seeking out of dissonant information; sensations that are perceived as factual propositions; beliefs that are unconsciously taken for granted; and facts that are reconstructed into different facts. Such evocations follow consistent rules of cognitive structuring, only some of which can be specified. They engender simular patterns of perception and similar tactics in recurring political situations. (Author/LL).

Open All Close All