The Cultural Embeddedness of Arguments Raised as a Part of the Bulgarian Debate About the Ratification of the Istanbul Convention

• Published in: Argumentation 2022-06, Vol.36 (2), p.177-202
• Main Author: Valchev, Hristo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Communication Studies; Conventions; Education; Legal History; Logic; Original Research; Philosophy; Philosophy of Law; Political Communication; Theories of Law
• ISSN: 0920-427X; 1572-8374
• DOI: 10.1007/s10503-021-09560-4

The paper presents an analysis of the cultural embeddedness of arguments, raised as a part of the Bulgarian debate about the ratification of the Istanbul convention. The method I employed was the localization procedure of Generalized Argumentation theory. Through a qualitative analysis of empirical argumentation data, I identified arguments in favour of or against the ratification of the Istanbul convention. Information about the cultural background against which these arguments were raised, i.e. about Bulgarian culture, was gathered from the part of the ninth wave of the European Social Survey that used the Portrait Value Questionnaire—an instrument for measuring human values, based on Schwartz’s theory of human values. By establishing a certain relationship between the arguments and the cultural background information, I came to the conclusion that the debate between the proponents and the opponents of the ratification represented a conflict between the basic values of universalism and tradition, and more particularly, between the lower-order values of equality and respect for tradition.