What the Chartists and Suffragettes Realised about Oracy

doi:10.1017/9781009440301.015

10 - What the Chartists and Suffragettes Realised about Oracy

from Part III - Oracy in History and in Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2025

Tom F. Wright

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Tom F. Wright

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Tom F. Wright: Affiliation:
University of Sussex

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Summary

In this chapter, evidence from past social movements highlights oracy education’s role in empowering marginalized communities in 19th-century Britain. Critics argue that oracy education diverts attention from socio-economic issues, exerting coercive control over the powerless. However, grassroots oracy within movements like Chartism and Suffragettes challenges these notions. The struggle for articulacy, I show, underpinned the struggle for the vote. These examples underscore grassroots oracy’s historical significance and potential implications for contemporary policy debates.

Keywords

oracy grassroots oracy Chartism Suffragettes social movements democracy

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Type: Chapter
Information: Oracy
The Politics of Speech Education
, pp. 129 - 151

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009440301.015 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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