The goal of the project is the development and testing of a theoretical model which allows designing more effective policies in the field of Politically Correct (PC) - and more generally, of the management of ideological conflicts.

The point of departure is the discontent with some effects of current PC policies: they tend to narrow freedom of speech, underestimate objective grounds for conflicts, overlook the effects of counter-positioning that they produce. In our view, these effects largely depend on a drawback of the underlying theoretical model, that is, its tendency to consider speeches in isolation, with little attention to contexts. A way out of this problem is a closer analysis of how speeches are embedded within the “total speech situation” (Austin). We intend to provide a rhetorical/pragmatic model of this notion, along the dimensions of ethos, pathos and logos.

Both elaboration and testing of this model will benefit from the constitution of a European network with the Universities of Bruxelles and Lisboa, in order to analyze existing experiences, promote the public debate on PC policies, and conduct a pilot test of new strategies in high schools.