Framed: The Politics of Language - An Interview With George Lakoff
I originally intended my conversation with George Lakoff to focus on the immigration debate, following the publication by the Rockridge Institute of a report by Lakoff and Sam Ferguson, “The Framing of Immigration,” in late May. However, as Lakoff quickly proved, the focus and outcome of all debate rests in how one frames that debate. He believes that conservatives have sunk a lot of time and money into framing their issues. In the case of progressives, Lakoff says “a conceptual overhaul” and “reframing” of how to approach and define issues is in order if their message is to be understood. Lakoff’s latest book, Whose Freedom? The Battle Over America’s Most Important Idea, published in June by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, discusses the competing rhetoric used by progressives and conservatives in shaping political discourse. 
