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Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies
Wal-Mart’S Presentation To The Community: Discursive Practices In Mitigating Risk, Limiting Public Participation, And Developing A Relationship, Richard Buttny
Wal-Mart’S Presentation To The Community: Discursive Practices In Mitigating Risk, Limiting Public Participation, And Developing A Relationship, Richard Buttny
Communication and Rhetorical Studies - All Scholarship
This study examines Wal-Mart representatives’ presentation to the community on their site plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Given the on-going controversy and criticisms from local residents, it is interesting to see Wal-Mart’s strategies in attenuating these risks and negative impacts. The discursive practices found here are: formulating prior citizen complaints by a neutral-sounding, legalistic language which works euphemistically or as a gloss. Citizen concerns are fitted into a problem-solution format where the solutions involve engineering technology. The Wal-Mart representatives display their expertise through describing these technological answers. Scientific documents or tests are presented which point to counter-intuitive results. They …
Drawing On The Words Of Others At Public Hearings: Zoning, Wal-Mart, And The Threat To The Aquifer, Richard Buttny, Jodi R. Cohen
Drawing On The Words Of Others At Public Hearings: Zoning, Wal-Mart, And The Threat To The Aquifer, Richard Buttny, Jodi R. Cohen
Communication and Rhetorical Studies - All Scholarship
This study examines two public hearings on a zoning proposal that would allow the construction of a Super Wal-Mart Center on a field over the town’s aquifer. Many citizens speak out against the zoning change because of the risk to drinking water, as well as other issues. Citizens face the speaker’s problem of how to make their presentations convincing, given the technical matters involved and the fact that Town Board members have likely already heard about these issues. Some speakers draw on the words of others in their presentations. Using another ’s words allows the speaker to cite an authoritative …