Martin Sundby

I am a PhD candidate in rhetoric since 2019. In my reasearch, I am interested in political rhetoric, in particular the rhetorical study of political ideologies. It is a research interest that spans over several fields and traditions, such as rhetorical criticism and critical theory, political theory and ordinary language philosophy.

In my ongoing thesis work, The market and the people, I investigate the rhetoric of the market in Sweden from about 1978 to 1983. More specifically, I focus on expressions of market rhetoric in the context of ideological renewal within the Swedish business enterprise sector.

Empirically, the rhetorical investigations in the thesis are focused on two kinds of reasoning – scientific and populist – in two distinct moments of the work for ideological invention within the business enterprise sector: The idea debate of Ratio and the protest of 4th of October.

Theoretically, through the rhetorical investigations carried out, the thesis seeks to contribute to ongoing discussions about the merits of a rhetorical perspective in the study of political ideologies. I do so by exploring how the notions of political skepticism and ordinary political concepts can offer a novel contribution to these discussions, particularly concerning questions about the role of criticism and critique in this field.

The following keywords can be used to summarize the discussions I take inspiration from: Rhetoric of the market, political ideologies, rhetoric(s) of science, populist reason, rhetorical criticism, ordinary language philosophy

As a PhD candidate, I have had the opportunity to teach in several areas. As a teacher and course coordinator I have been involved in teaching at several levels, from practical courses in rhetoric to the special area studies course Media and the history of political rhetoric. Since 2020, I have also been teaching on the introductory and intermediate courses in media and communication studies.