CALL FOR PAPERS
“Politics and General Semantics”
Looking at the world today, we find much polarization, unrest and political turmoil. People squabble, gossip, jump to conclusions, traffic in hearsay, and engage in many forms of interaction that contribute to the overall dis-ease of the political milieu and social world. Over the past decade, families and familiar bonds have sour over political disputes. Many people do not want this and they wish the world were a saner place, but they lack the resources for both understanding political unrest and for handling it.
To what extent does general semantics hold vital resources for those who would grasp political quandaries?
What orientations, practices or principles from general semantics best helps people deal with the contemporary political climate? For example, how do concepts such as “Consciousness of abstracting,” “non-allness,” “indexing,” “dating,” “etc.” help people in thinking clearly about political issues? Which issues, specifically, would benefit most from the insights of general semantics? For example, how might someone well-versed in general semantics talk about topics such as: 2nd amendment, mask mandates, LGBTQ, abortion, black lives matter, the me-too movement, Q-Anon & conspiracy theory, gerrymandering, fake news, etc.? Would those most versed in general semantics likely lean to either the left or the right of the political spectrum, or to the middle, or, might they be less inclined to engage in certain kinds of political discourse, especially where terms are ill-defined and/or things taken out of context?
This CALL FOR PAPERS seeks to solicit papers, of any length, for a special issue of ETC. We are seeking meaningful contributions to the question of how, exactly, the study and practice of general semantics can help people understand and handle political strife.
Papers should be formatted to either APA or MLA. For submissions, No Later Than March 1st, 2023, and/or for more information, please contact Corey Anton (antonc@gvsu.edu).
