Resumen de Honour and reason: competing ideals of debating in nineteenth-century Europe
In around 1900 debating rules came under attack. This special issue examines debates in parliaments as well as popular meetings. Changes in parliamentary ideals and the rise of democracy put the rules of parliamentary debate under pressure. This article considers the question whether there existed an alternative ideal to reasonable parliamentary debating. As a competing ideal for political debates, this contribution discusses the agonistic notion of honour. Honour is the claim to be respected by significant others. Honour is competitive, gendered, public and theatrical, and ought to be defended in a fair fight. Honour is local rather than universal, i the exclusive code of a certain community, a relevant ‘honour group’. Using examples from Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and from parliaments as well as political popular meetings, this article argues that honour helps us to understand public and parliamentary meetings in around 1900
