Thickening rhetorical political analysis with a theory of distance: negotiating the Greek episode of the eurozone crisis

Rhetoric has re-emerged in political analysis. We identify two broad trends in the rhetorical analysis of politics, ‘thin’ and ‘thick’. Thin conceptions view rhetoric as primarily a matter of oratory. In contrast, the proponents of Rhetorical Political Analysis have developed an emerging thick approach, in which rhetorical concepts are applied more broadly and with more depth. However, this approach is significantly limited in its influence because it does not adequately speak to other sub-disciplines in political science, in which non-rhetorical theories are preferred. This shortcoming is addressed by applying Meyer’s new philosophy of rhetoric. The approach supports methodological extension through a theory of practice, grounded in social distance. An analysis of the Greek episode of the Eurozone crisis shows how rhetoric is used by key actors for the purpose of strategic positioning, in concert with non-rhetorical means of distanciation, namely, economic and political relations.