Cooperative Argumentation: A Model for Deliberative Community.

• Author: Herrick, James A.
• Position: Book Reviews

Cooperative Argumentation: A Model for Deliberative Community. By Josina M. Makau and Debian L. Marty. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 2001; pp. 297. $19.95.

In their book, Cooperative Argumentation: A Model for Deliberative Community, Josina Makau and Debian L. Marty challenge the traditional model of both argument and the teaching of argument, and provide an alternative approach to each. These authors challenge all of the "hierarchical ideologies" that work against the development of "cooperative efforts" at deliberation. Makau and Marty call in question "principles germane to the dominant culture in the United States during the twentieth century, including the basic tenets of competition, individualism, and winner-takes-all" (87). Their own model is different: "The approach to disagreement developed in this book," they write, "is a process of reasoned interaction intended to help participants and audiences make the best assessments or the best decisions in any given situation" (87). In their estimation, a new era in which deliberation and community building are more important than winning debates calls for a new ethic of public discourse. Many will welcome this call for reorienting the field of argument studies so as to render argumentation a tool for building "deliberative communities."

Portions of this new textbook are more or less conventional in approach, especially when Makau and Marty treat the mechanics of argument. However, supporting material and pedagogical approaches advanced in other sections are novel. For example, testimony about a range of topics is drawn from spiritual leaders, theologians, educational theorists, philosophers, social activists and other important intellectual leaders. The list of sources includes such well-known figures as the Dalai Lama, Delores Williams, Martha Nussbaum, Seyla Benhabib, Parker Palmer, and Hannah Arendt. Moreover, inclusiveness is evident throughout the text. In one of the exercise sets, for instance, Buddhist spiritual practices aimed at resolving conflict are included, as are guidelines on constructive dialogue from Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples (72-73).

Of course, because they are introducing a new approach to a very old subject that has been wrapped in conventions for centuries, these authors must make a case for the change. That case develops around a cluster of central concerns that contribute to cooperative decision making engaging the whole person...