Roe-Crines, Andrew S 
ORCID: 0000-0002-6878-5030
(2024)
‘The Wind of Change’: a rhetorical political analysis of Harold Macmillan’s 1960 ‘decolonization’ speech.
British Politics, 19 (1).
pp. 46-63.
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Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This article contributes to the literature on Conservative Party politics through an exploration of the political rhetoric of former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader, Harold Macmillan in relation to decolonization and the end of empire. Macmillan’s <jats:italic>Wind of Change</jats:italic> speech has been analysed in the existing literature as purely a historical moment in relation to imperial decline. This article contends that Macmillan’s arguments for and defence of decolonisation in fact remain relevant for modern understandings of contemporary Conservative Party politics because residual affections for imperialism remain within some conservative audiences, as well as the ongoing processes of decolonisation. He sought to address such sentiments at the time of delivery, yet they remain today amongst similar audiences who remain committed to imperial notions. As such, simply considering the speech as a historic moment is inadequate given its value as an enduring argument relevant to contemporary conservative debates. Because of the language and justification used, I re-evaluate the speech through the process of ‘Rhetorical Political Analysis’ (<jats:italic>ethos, pathos, logos</jats:italic>). By doing so, I will demonstrate how Macmillan’s historical speech remains relevant as a living argument for scholars and practitioners of Conservative Party politics, which is a perspective presently absent in the scholarship. This methodological approach is also augmented by an analysis of archival materials helping to shed light on the embeddedness of the speech within the broader context of the tumultuous South African politics of the time, and by doing so show why a speech delivered in the 1960s remains relevant to UK domestic policy, foreign policy, and conservative studies in the 2020s.</jats:p>
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Africa, Conservative party, Decolonization, Harold Macmillan, Rhetoric, Wind of Change |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 23 May 2023 07:49 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Mar 2024 04:09 |
| DOI: | 10.1057/s41293-023-00234-1 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3170595 |
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