ABSTRACT

In the introduction of this work, I explained that I was motivated to engage in this work because I believed that there is a need to “revisit the mission of rhetorical scholarship.” The need to do so is predicated on the existing world context that manifests tensions and even wars over issues ranging from preferred forms of governance (the democratization agenda of the West), and resistance against perceived assaults on the normative systems and structures of non-western societies (Al Qaeda and its adherents). Both camps ground their campaigns on the “supremacy” of their core values and visions of desirable society.