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The meta-representative claim
DOI:10.1057/s41296-026-00808-w.png)
Abstract
En 中文
This article develops a constructivist theory of meta-representation. It proceeds in three parts. First, I introduce the concept, the meta-representative claim, differentiating meta-representative claims from merely representative ones. Second, I consider the general effects of meta-representative claims. I draw on both historical and sociological institutionalism as well as Gadamerian hermeneutics to argue that meta-representative claims help to construct the horizons of representation from which individual representative claims are drawn. Finally, third, I posit two types of meta-representative claims: dualistic and multipolar and provide a cautious defense of the latter. I argue that discourses which present issues as having only two sides silence interpretive diversity and reify under-representative publics. The long-term result is not merely that ideational and perspectival pluralism is reduced but also a sedimentation of conservative public spheres.
Keywords:
Representation
Meta-representation
Gadamer
Institutionalism
Constructivism
Dualism and multipolarity
Journal
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997
Citations:
628

