
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What is Involved in Petitioning? What is Involved in Petitioning?
-
Taxonomies: Necessary though Not Sufficient Taxonomies: Necessary though Not Sufficient
-
Explaining Change Explaining Change
-
How Petitioning Burgeoned and Changed: Britain, 1760–1830 How Petitioning Burgeoned and Changed: Britain, 1760–1830
-
Kaleidoscopic and Other Change Kaleidoscopic and Other Change
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4 Petitions: Rule-Bound but Malleable
Get access-
Published:June 2024
Cite
Abstract
This chapter reflects on the characteristics of ‘petitions’ as a genre, then develops, with special reference to later-18th-century England, the argument that fuzzy boundaries within the genre open scope for creativity. Petitions are ostensibly deferential but, insofar as they embody requests, always imply some expectations of government, and put some sort of pressure on it. Creativity can be directed towards amplifying the force of a petition, perhaps by using the petitioning process to enlarge the support base for a claim, or by building new kinds of theatre around it; alternatively petitions can be made vehicles for novel kinds of claim, or given new functions within political initiatives. Exploiting the diversity and fuzziness of the form may involve hybridising different petitioning conventions, or petitioning itself with other practices. Late-18th-century Britain provides a good basis for exploring such creative endeavours, because at mid-century, petitions enjoyed the most unproblematic legitimacy when they expressed limited and particular concerns and interests. By contrast, from the late 1760s, campaigners revived older traditions of using them to argue for change in church and state, and also used them to urge new kinds of demand – for example, that the slave trade should be abolished.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
November 2024 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
March 2025 | 3 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.