- Rhetoric, Discourse and the Hermeneutics of Public Speech Martin, James. 2022. Rhetoric, Discourse and the Hermeneutics of Public Speech. Politics, 42(2), pp. 170-184. ISSN 0263-3957
- The risks of hermeneutic politics Martin, James. 2019. The risks of hermeneutic politics. Iride: filosofia e discussione pubblica, XXXII(87), pp. 415-424. ISSN 1122-7893
- The Post-Marxist Gramsci Martin, James. 2019. The Post-Marxist Gramsci. Global Discourse, 9(2), pp. 305-321. ISSN 2326-9995
- Seeing voices: cinema, rhetoric, and subjectivity Martin, James. 2018. Seeing voices: cinema, rhetoric, and subjectivity. Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory, 21(1), pp. 7-22. ISSN 2308-0914
- Capturing Desire: Rhetorical Strategies and the Affectivity of Discourse Martin, James. 2016. Capturing Desire: Rhetorical Strategies and the Affectivity of Discourse. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 18(1), pp. 143-160. ISSN 1369-1481
- Situating Speech: A Rhetorical Approach to Political Strategy Martin, James. 2015. Situating Speech: A Rhetorical Approach to Political Strategy. Political Studies, 63(1), pp. 25-42. ISSN 0032-3217
- Gramsci and Gobetti: a case of elective affinity Martin, James. 2012. Gramsci and Gobetti: a case of elective affinity. Journal of Romance Studies, 12(3), pp. 78-89. ISSN 1473–3536
- A radical freedom? Gianni Vattimo's ‘emancipatory nihilism’ Martin, James. 2010. A radical freedom? Gianni Vattimo's ‘emancipatory nihilism’. Contemporary Political Theory, 9(3), pp. 325-344. ISSN 1470-8914
- Ontology and law in the early Poulantzas Martin, James. 2009. Ontology and law in the early Poulantzas. History of European Ideas, 35(4), pp. 465-474. ISSN 0191-6599
- 'It Ain't What You Say ...': British Political Studies and the Analysis of Speech and Rhetoric Martin, James and Finlayson, Alan. 2008. 'It Ain't What You Say ...': British Political Studies and the Analysis of Speech and Rhetoric. British Politics, 3(4), pp. 445-464. ISSN 1746-918X
- Piero Gobetti and the rhetoric of liberal anti-fascism Martin, James. 2007. Piero Gobetti and the rhetoric of liberal anti-fascism. History of the Human Sciences, 20(4), pp. 107-127. ISSN 09526951
- Piero Gobetti's Agonistic Liberalism Martin, James. 2006. Piero Gobetti's Agonistic Liberalism. History of European Ideas, 32(2), pp. 205-222. ISSN 01916599
- Ideology and Antagonism in Modern Italy: Poststructuralist Reflections Martin, James. 2005. Ideology and Antagonism in Modern Italy: Poststructuralist Reflections. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 8(2), pp. 145-160. ISSN 13698230
- The Political logic of discourse: a neo-Gramscian view Martin, James. 2002. The Political logic of discourse: a neo-Gramscian view. History of European Ideas, 28, pp. 21-31. ISSN 0191-6599
Professor James Martin
Staff details
Position
Professor of Political Theory
Department
Politics and International Relations
j.martin (@gold.ac.uk)
Links
James Martin is a political theorist interested in culture and conflict in modern politics
James has published books and articles on European (particularly Italian) political thought, and on public speech and rhetoric as a medium of political action. Currently, he is researching the ideas and legacy of the Italian Communist Party leader, Palmiro Togliatti.
Academic qualifications
- PhD on the political thought of Antonio Gramsci. University of Bristol 1994
- MA in Political Thought. University of Kent 1989
- BA (Hons), Politics and Sociology. University of East Anglia 1988
Research interests
James' academic work concentrates on modern political culture and conflict, particularly as expressed in political ideas and arguments. In his early research, he explored this theme in relation to Gramscian traditions of political theory, and to other Italian and European thinkers. Later, he explored issues in the analysis of public speech (see his book, Politics and Rhetoric, published in 2014). In 2013-15, he was a Leverhulme Research Fellow in a project examining the relation between affects and political rhetoric. That led to his book, Psychopolitics of Speech (2019), which drew on psychoanalysis to understand rhetoric as a means of cultural-political intervention. Recently, he has written a short book, Hegemony (2022), on the uses of that concept in political theory. Between 2010 and 2020, James convened the Rhetoric, Discourse and Politics Specialist Group of the UK Political Studies Association.
Featured publications
Publications and research outputs
Book
- Hegemony Martin, James. 2022. Hegemony. Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 9781509521616
- Psychopolitics of Speech: Uncivil Discourse and the Excess of Desire Martin, James. 2019. Psychopolitics of Speech: Uncivil Discourse and the Excess of Desire. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag. ISBN 9783837639193
- Politics and Rhetoric: A Critical Introduction Martin, James. 2013. Politics and Rhetoric: A Critical Introduction. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-70667-4
Edited Book
- Rhetoric in British Politics and society Martin, James; Atkins, Judi; Finlayson, Alan and Turnbull, Nick, eds. 2014. Rhetoric in British Politics and society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137325525
- Chantal Mouffe: Hegemony, Radical Democracy, and the Political Martin, James, ed. 2013. Chantal Mouffe: Hegemony, Radical Democracy, and the Political. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-82522-1
- The Poulantzas Reader: Marxism, Law, and the State Martin, James, ed. 2008. The Poulantzas Reader: Marxism, Law, and the State. London: Verso. ISBN 978 1 84467 199 1
Book Section
- Expressivity in Rhetoric Martin, James. 2025. Expressivity in Rhetoric. In: Daniel Gutzmann and Katharina Turgay, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Expressivity in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198869450
- Marx's Rhetoric Martin, James. 2022. Marx's Rhetoric. In: Dilip Gaonkar and Keith Topper, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Rhetoric and Political Theory. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190220945
- Rhetoric and the Emotions Martin, James. 2018. Rhetoric and the Emotions. In: Andreas Hetzel and Gerald Posselt, eds. Handbuch Rhetorik und Philosophie [Handbook of Rhetoric and Philosophy]. 9 Germany: Walter De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 607-623. ISBN 978-3-11-031819-7
Article
- Recontesting the Sacred: political theology as ideological method Martin, James and Newman, Saul. 2025. Recontesting the Sacred: political theology as ideological method. Journal of Political Ideologies, 30(1), pp. 67-83. ISSN 1356-9317
- Rhetoric, death, and the politics of memory Martin, James. 2023. Rhetoric, death, and the politics of memory. Critical Discourse Studies, 20(5), pp. 477-490. ISSN 1740-5904
- Introduction to the special issue: Rhetorical approaches to contemporary political studies Hatzisavvidou, Sophia and Martin, James. 2022. Introduction to the special issue: Rhetorical approaches to contemporary political studies. Politics, 42(2), pp. 149-155. ISSN 0263-3957
Other
- Facing The Enemy: Is Wartime Language Useful For Fighting Coronavirus? (Video intervention) Martin, James. 2020. Facing The Enemy: Is Wartime Language Useful For Fighting Coronavirus? (Video intervention). Huffington Post.
