Invitational Rhetoric

Invitational rhetoric, developed by Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin in 1995, is an alternative to the traditional conception of rhetoric as persuasion. Invitational rhetoric is defined as an invitation to understanding as a means to create a relationship rooted in equality, immanent value, and self-determination. It constitutes an invitation to the audience to enter the rhetor's world and to see it as the rhetor does. Thus, it is a form of communication designed to generate understanding among individuals with different perspectives.

Invitational rhetoric challenges the traditional definition of rhetoric as persuasion, the conscious [Page 570]intent to change others. A key assumption on which invitational rhetoric is based is that the effort to change others constitutes an attempt to gain control or power over them and is a devaluation of their lifeworlds; traditional rhetoric thus is seen as reflecting the values of competition and domination. In contrast, invitational rhetoric is rooted in the feminist principles of equality, immanent value, and self-determination. Equality is a commitment to replace the dominance and elitism that characterize most human relationships with intimacy, mutuality, and camaraderie. Invitational rhetors eschew a hierarchical ranking of individuals according to external criteria and instead recognize the immanent value of all living beings. They see every being as a unique and necessary part of the pattern of the universe and thus as valuable. Concomitant with a recognition of immanent value is a rejection of efforts to change the unique perspective that each individual holds. Self-determination, then, allows individuals to make their own decisions about how they wish to live their lives and accords respect to others' capacity and right to constitute their worlds as they choose.

Invitational rhetoric assumes two primary rhetorical forms: (1) offering perspectives and (2) creating external conditions that allow and encourage others to present their perspectives. In offering perspectives, rhetors tell what they currently know or understand. They present their vision of the world and show how it looks and works for them. This vision represents an initial, tentative commitment to that perspective—always one subject to revision as a result of the rhetor's interaction with the audience.

The second rhetorical act involved in invitational rhetoric is the creation of external conditions. If invitational rhetoric is to result in a mutual understanding of perspectives, it must involve not only the offering of the rhetor's perspective but the creation of an atmosphere in which audience members are willing to share their perspectives with the rhetor. To facilitate such an environment, an invitational rhetor seeks to create particular external conditions in the interaction between rhetors and audience members. These external conditions are states or prerequisites that are required if the possibility of mutual understanding is to exist.

The three external conditions the invitational rhetor seeks to create in an interaction are safety, value, and freedom. Safety involves the creation of a feeling of security and freedom from danger for the audience. Rhetoric contributes to a feeling of safety when it conveys to audience members that the ideas and feelings they share with the rhetor will be received with respect and care. The condition of value is acknowledgment by the rhetor that audience members have intrinsic or immanent worth. It is created when rhetors approach audience members as unique individuals and avoid distancing, paternalistic, and depersonalizing attitudes. Value is also fostered when the rhetor listens carefully to the perspectives of others and tries to think from those perspectives.

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