Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

Agency In Posthuman Ir: Solving The Problem Of Technosocially Mediated Agency, Michael Schandorf, Athina Karatzogianni

Athina Karatzogianni

A Simple Introduction To The Practice Of Ethnography And Guide To Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

In this article, I will provide a simple introduction to the practice of ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic approaches, while born of the work conducted by anthropologists over one hundred years ago, are increasingly employed by researchers and others from a variety of backgrounds and for a multitude of purposes from the academic to the applied and even the commercial. In this article, I will provide an introduction intended for those new to this approach but who have already had some basic experience or training. I also provide a discussion of the centrality of fieldnotes to the conduct of this very personally …

Cold War Ii: Those Evil Russkie He-Men Are Making Us Frack Ourselves,, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

You have to admit, the timing is convenient, both for us handsome free Americans and for the cursed Russians. If you’re Russian, forget about the regular jailing of protesters and musicians, your he-man government and its bizarre hatred of gay folks, the degradation of your environment and rape of your natural resources, and the rise of a billionaire mafioso class. You now have rude hubristic Americans to monopolize your hate and fear. Ditto for Americans. Forget every issue we were fretting about the day before masked, Russian-speaking troops swarmed over the border and “did not invade” Crimea, annexing it and …

A Case Study Of (Inter)Medial Participation, Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek

Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven & Totosy de Zepetnek, Steven

In his article "A Case Study of (Inter)medial Participation" Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek presents survey data followed by quantitative and qualitative analysis about the daily intake of media in cultural participation. The survey data of the study are the result of questionnaires conducted 2001-2002 with advanced undergraduate students enrolled in media and communication studies at Northeastern University and with advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. As the survey was conducted in 2001-2002, the data and the analysis have "historical" relevance with regard to (inter)medial cultural participation in the digital age. The data are from a mid-size …

The Productivity Of Scientific Rhetoric, David J. Depew, John Lyne

David J Depew

We argue that the rhetoric of science occupies an important niche in contemporary science studies. Although we are pluralistic about how different rhetoricians of science can and do conduct their inquiries, we assert that their disciplinarily distinctive approach is to treat argumentation as a constituent of context. From this perspective, we observe various interacting forms of rationality at work in the controversies that constitute science in society. We argue that modes of discovery and modes of proof are mutually engaged in the process of rhetorical invention. We identify a variety of topics or commonplaces that show invention as we conceive …

Introduction To Issue 8,1, David Depew

David J Depew

Volume 8, No 1, of POROI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Analysis and Invention, offers three essays and, in accord with our practice, summaries of the Proceedings of 2011 Preconference of the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST).

Introduction To Volume 10,1, David J. Depew

David J Depew

No abstract provided.

Back To Class Warfare: The Rhetoric Of Mitt Romney, David J. Depew

David J Depew

The essay suggests that Mitt Romney sees America from a 19th century perspective.

Global Production, Circulation, And Consumption Of Gangnam Style, Sookeung Jung, Hongmei Li

Hongmei Li

This essay examines the cultural production, circulation, and consumption of the Korean music video Gangnam Style in the broader context of globalization. We conduct a chronological analysis of its distribution, production, and reproduction on YouTube, focusing on the interactions between traditional and new players in reinforcing and creating new meanings. We argue that the phenomenal success of Gangnam Style is due to the dynamic interplay of traditional and new media outlets, the active participation of global audiences, the video’s spreadable hooks, a laissez-faire copyright policy, and the musician PSY’s marketing strategies.

Struggle For The Commons: Communicative Labor, Control Economics, And The Rhetorical Marketplace, Ronald Walter Greene, Sara Holiday Nelson

Ronald Walter Greene

No abstract provided.

Aune's Leadership: Hegemony And The Rhetorical Perspective On Argumentation, Ronald Walter Greene, Alexander Hiland

Ronald Walter Greene

No abstract provided.

Digital Content Delivery In Higher Education: Expanded Mechanisms For Subordinating The Professoriate And Academic Precariat, Wilhelm Peekhaus

Wilhelm Peekhaus

This paper suggests that the latest digital mechanisms for delivering higher education course content are yet another step in subordinating academic labor. The two main digital delivery mechanisms discussed in the paper are MOOCs and flexible option degrees. The paper advances the argument that, despite a relatively privileged position vis-à-vis other workers, academic cognitive laborers are caught up within and subject to some of the constraining and exploitative practices of capitalist accumulation processes. This capture within capitalist circuits of accumulation threatens to increase in velocity and scale through digital delivery mechanisms such as MOOCs and flexible option programs/degrees.

Doing Laundry, Megan Getter

Megan Getter

Using Goffman’s theory on the presentational self, my study explores everyday performances in a laundromat. I take a critical interpretative approach to understand the performances of gender and class in the laundromat. I conducted ethnographic observations as a full member and include autoethnographic observations to enrich the findings. The laundromat is a unique space where gender and class are neutralized people are performing a private chore in a public space. This study fills a gap in public space and ethnographic literature devoid of laundromats.

How Many More Indians? An Argument For A Representational Ethics Of Native Americans, Debra Merskin

Debra Merskin

This article explores the persistence of stereotypical representations of Native Americans as brand images and situates a call for change within an ethics of representation. American Spirit Cigarettes are used as an illustrative case study to demonstrate that these representations cannot be relegated to less enlightened times, rather endure because naturalization is part of commodified racism. The present essay argues for engagement in representational ethics on the part of communicators to interrupt the contribution of stereotypes to the maintenance of colonial ideologies.

Corporate Ventriloquism: Corporate Advocacy, The Coal Industry, And The Appropriation Of Voice, Peter K. Bsumek, Jen Schneider, Steve Schwarze, Jennifer Peeples

Jen Schneider

In the second decade of the 21st century, the U.S. coal industry is facing unprecedented challenges. While for many years coal provided nearly half of the U.S. electricity, in the spring of 2012 that share dropped to below 40% and is expected to continue falling (Energy Information Administration, 2012).¹ Coal production is increasing not in Appalachia, the primary U.S. source for coal historically, but in Wyoming's Powder River Basin (Goodell, 2006). Market competition from the natural gas industry combined with well organized climate and anti-nountaintop removal (MTR) campagins have significantly curtailed the production of new coal-fired power plants in …

Industrial Apocalyptic: Neoliberalism, Coal, And The Burlesque Frame, Jennifer Peeples, Pete Bsumek, Steve Schwarze, Jen Schneider

Jen Schneider

Rhetorical scholarship and cultural commentary have demonstrated that environmentalist voices are consistently associated with apocalyptic rhetoric. However, this association deflects attention from the apocalyptic rhetoric that comes from industry and countermovements to environmentalism. This essay seeks to remedy that oversight by proposing the concept of "industrial apocalyptic" as a significant rhetorical form in environmental controversy. Based on analysis of the rhetoric of the U.S. coal industry, we find that these industrial apocalyptic narratives rely on a burlesque frame to disrupt the categories of establishment and outsider and thus thwart environmental regulation. Ultimately, we argue that industrial apocalyptic co-opts environmentalist appeals …

Lisa And Phoebe, Lone Vegetarian Icons: At Odds With Television’S Carnonormativity, Carrie P. Freeman

Carrie P. Freeman

In this chapter, I examine how human privilege operates by studying the characterization of ethical vegetarianism as an alternative lifestyle and comedic fodder in primetime television. The rebellious dietary choices of Lisa on "The Simpsons" and Phoebe on "Friends" provide an opportunity to analyze the construction of animal rights identities and how that is perceived and negotiated by the meat-eating (carnistic) mainstream. I articulate how, and to what extent, these smart and strong vegetarian females serve as a challenge to the hegemony of carnism, an ideology that psychologist Melanie Joy (2010) says normalizes the practice of using and consuming certain …