Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | M | Melbourne Journal of Politics

Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.

Publication: Melbourne Journal of Politics
Publication Date: 01-JAN-06 		Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.(Book review)

Article Excerpt
Don't Think of an Elephant: know your values and frame the debate

George Lakoff (Introduction by Julia Baird) Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2005, 144 pp. ISBN 1920769455 (pbk) $22.00

The title of this book refers to the power of suggestion overcoming the negative in the command--what else do you think of when told not to think of an elephant, but of an elephant? This is the power inherent in what Lakoff refers to as framing. The book is about the frames operating in contemporary US politics--the currently dominant, conservative Republican frame which Lakoff argues has become a political trap for the Democrats, and proposing a progressive frame to try and replace it with. Hence it is designed to be, and resembles in style, a book of the 'self help' genre, albeit with a politically progressive agenda.

Lakoff gives many political analogies of the elephant example. For example, 'tax relief' carries embedded within it a negative frame about taxes as a burden. Once accepted and used as a term it undercuts any progressive agenda...

Access Full Article, Compliments of Goliath

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!



More articles from Melbourne Journal of Politics
The People.(Book review), January 01, 2006
Wild Politics: Feminism, Globalisation and Bio/diversity.(Book review), January 01, 2006
Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West.(Book revi..., January 01, 2006
The Leader Cult in Communist Dictatorships: Stalin and the Eastern Blo..., January 01, 2006
Elections Without Order: Russia's Challenge to Vladimir Putin.(Book re..., January 01, 2006

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.