General Seminar in Politics and Government - Dag Wollebæk

Trust talk as sacred rhetoric

In a short time, trust has become a foundational element of the Norwegian self-image. In public discourse, trust is now often presented not just as a strength, but as a sacred value: a non-negotiable, untouchable resource that must be protected at all costs. Drawing on the concept of sacred rhetoric (Marietta, 2008), I argue that the way we talk about trust affects political debate and institutional accountability in profound ways. Sacred rhetoric shifts public argumentation from the weighing of evidence and compromise to the invocation of moral absolutes, the discouragement of criticism, and the protection of power. While this rhetoric may encourage compliance and cooperation, it undermines deliberation and weakens critical vigilance. In this presentation, I examine how the rhetorical sacralization of trust affects democratic discourse in Norway through three rhetorical affordances of sacred trust talk: Elasticity of concept and metaphors, moral boundaries, and moral shielding of political power. I argue that it would be desirable to desacralize the rhetoric of trust and shift the focus from preserving to deserving trust.

Bio: Dag Wollebæk is research professor at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo and holds a PhD in comparative politics from UiB. He has been researching trust for more than 20 years, in addition to topics such as polarization, freedom of speech and social media.