Murphy, Troy A. "Romantic Democracy and the Rhetoric of Heroic Citizenship." Communication Quarterly 51 (2003): 192-208.
In the U.S.American context, "citizens who 'roll up their sleeves' and 'make a difference' in their communities ostensibly exemplify an ideal form of citizenship to which all Americans might aspire. Such citizens are as 'ordinary' as the larger American public for whom they serve as models, but are 'extraordinary' because of their individual effort, quiet humility, and selfless acts of citizenship" (193). We're taken as a culture with this iconic image of the everyday hero. This icon, who does "apolitical acts of volunteerism" (193), becomes normative, excluding political and rhetorical dimension of citizenship. The icon is quiet (esp. in the political arena), is not part of the political process and is not engaged in collective action or organizing or advocacy. "The heroic citizen as constructed sets a standard for ideal citizenship that depoliticizes the very idea of citizenship and works to further marginalize the legitimacy of more rhetorical, public, and potentially contentious aspects of democratic citizenship. Whether it is the broader image of all citizens as heroes who essentially disregard politics and quietly go about their daily lives without complaint, or the specific actions of highlighted representative characters who define the most admirable qualities of participation through romantic images of community service, the 'good citizen' as public image is marked by a quiescent and harmonious disposition which is antithetical to the types of rhetorical contestation and political action that is sometimes necessary in a democratic society" (203).
The narrative of the heroic individual fails to challenge the cynical attitude we have toward government and politicians. Reagan popularized the "heroes in the gallery" at his states of the union..."good citizens" who "care rather than complain" (199). Bush 2 similarly valorized everyday heroes of 9/11. Rosa Parks: valorized for her everyday-ness, but her organizing with NAACP is often overlooked. Paul Rogat Loeb's work problematizes this model for actually obscuring root causes of injustice.
Some thoughts: Murphy calls the heroic icon normative...but, going a step further, isn't the icon serving a social control role, a la Foucauldian disciplining. We're disciplined by the narrative or Rosa Parks and the other mythologies Murphy outlines. Further, there seems to be an affective dimension that makes us happy. We're pleased and reassured by the narrative. In reality, citizenship doesn't always feel good.
Showing posts with label citizenship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label citizenship. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Brooke and McIntosh
Brooke, Robert, and Jason McIntosh. "Deep Maps: Teaching Rhetorical Engagement through Place-Based Education." The Locations of Composition. Ed. Christopher J. Keller and Christian R. Weisser. Albany: State U of New York P, 2007. 131-149.
Brooke and McIntosh suggest that having students draw deep maps is useful as a pre-writing/brainstorming activity, especially in terms of getting students to engage in place-based writing and address civic matters in real writing projects. They write, "Initially, writers need to become accustomed to seeing themselves in a place, that is, they need to become aware of the various ways location (literal and mental) creates their understanding of landscape, culture, class, race, and gender, and surrounds them with local issues and local possibilities" (132). Writing about place is a starting point, they say, toward project-based civic writing. The student becomes personally invested in place. Similar to what I've been calling a pedagogy of person-in-place. Mapping is "an exploratory moment that supported a personal context for place-conscious writing" (140). Place is part of rhetoric: "where to locate one's argument" (147). "Once that link is made, then a whole new energy for writing becomes possible--and a whole new energy for shaping the state of the places we will live, and the kinds of places we can help those locations become" (147).
Brooke and McIntosh suggest that having students draw deep maps is useful as a pre-writing/brainstorming activity, especially in terms of getting students to engage in place-based writing and address civic matters in real writing projects. They write, "Initially, writers need to become accustomed to seeing themselves in a place, that is, they need to become aware of the various ways location (literal and mental) creates their understanding of landscape, culture, class, race, and gender, and surrounds them with local issues and local possibilities" (132). Writing about place is a starting point, they say, toward project-based civic writing. The student becomes personally invested in place. Similar to what I've been calling a pedagogy of person-in-place. Mapping is "an exploratory moment that supported a personal context for place-conscious writing" (140). Place is part of rhetoric: "where to locate one's argument" (147). "Once that link is made, then a whole new energy for writing becomes possible--and a whole new energy for shaping the state of the places we will live, and the kinds of places we can help those locations become" (147).
Monday, August 6, 2007
Cushman, b
Cushman, Ellen. "The Public Intellectual, Service Learning, and Activist Research." College English 61 (1999): 328-336.
Cushman argues that we should broaden our conception of 'public intellectual' to account for the democratic gains being made by ASL and activist research initiatives. Instead of just looking at NYTimes editorialists as public intellectuals, we should consider the literacy workers, activists on the ground, volunteers, etc. to also be part of that group.
Cushman argues that we should broaden our conception of 'public intellectual' to account for the democratic gains being made by ASL and activist research initiatives. Instead of just looking at NYTimes editorialists as public intellectuals, we should consider the literacy workers, activists on the ground, volunteers, etc. to also be part of that group.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Robbins
Robbins, Sarah. "'Writing Suburbia' in Pictures and Print." Writing Our Communities: Local Learning and Public Culture. Ed. Dave Winter and Sarah Robbins. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2005. 88-92.
Robbins presents a lesson plan for teaching her first-year writing students to create photo-essays using PowerPoint. Her approach is documentary, an attempt to engage "material and visual culture" (89) in a writing-about-place pedagogy. The project is interpretive and analytical but also key for Robbins is that students engage in the production of texts, as opposed to staying in the consumption range. That is, they're reading their cities but also writing them. Her assumption is that "proactive citizens recover, critique, and create community texts that reflect the dynamic values of local and larger communities" (89).
Robbins presents a lesson plan for teaching her first-year writing students to create photo-essays using PowerPoint. Her approach is documentary, an attempt to engage "material and visual culture" (89) in a writing-about-place pedagogy. The project is interpretive and analytical but also key for Robbins is that students engage in the production of texts, as opposed to staying in the consumption range. That is, they're reading their cities but also writing them. Her assumption is that "proactive citizens recover, critique, and create community texts that reflect the dynamic values of local and larger communities" (89).
Ervin
Ervin, Elizabeth. Public Literacy. Boston: Longman, 2003.
In her 'civic literacy' textbook, Ervin offers a useful, accessible distinction among modes of civic engagement. Volunteering/service="unpaid labor willingly given" (122). Activism transcends service in a number of ways..."concerns itself with injustices rather than problems--that is, things that are unfair as oposed to simply unfortunate" and also..."activism goes to the root of those injustices...while service seeks to help victims of those injustices without necessarily addressing the larger social forces that create their problems" (125). Service often involves meeting basic needs while activism focuses on systemic change: lobbying and such. "Finally, activism needs to be accountable to a constituency, move beyond rants and accusations into the realm of purposeful action, and work with a certain level of efficiency and impact. Otherwise, you are doomed to be a lone crusader toiling away at 'random acts of protest'" (126).
I wonder if Ervin's definitions assume a progressive politics? Many people who "do" service fault individuals, not society, for social problems (some feel the homeless person "fell through the cracks" and missed abundant support systems due to personal deficiency), and for those individuals service is not helping the victim of an injustice but rather helping a deficient person. This is a larger trend in the literature of service learning and critical pedagogy, too, where the scholarship assumes that those with the aforementioned ideology haven't yet achieved critical consciousness. Such individuals are framed as 'not yet converted' and also 'simplistic' and in need of a deeper understanding. The scholarship uses "deeper understanding" euphemistically for "different ideology."
In her 'civic literacy' textbook, Ervin offers a useful, accessible distinction among modes of civic engagement. Volunteering/service="unpaid labor willingly given" (122). Activism transcends service in a number of ways..."concerns itself with injustices rather than problems--that is, things that are unfair as oposed to simply unfortunate" and also..."activism goes to the root of those injustices...while service seeks to help victims of those injustices without necessarily addressing the larger social forces that create their problems" (125). Service often involves meeting basic needs while activism focuses on systemic change: lobbying and such. "Finally, activism needs to be accountable to a constituency, move beyond rants and accusations into the realm of purposeful action, and work with a certain level of efficiency and impact. Otherwise, you are doomed to be a lone crusader toiling away at 'random acts of protest'" (126).
I wonder if Ervin's definitions assume a progressive politics? Many people who "do" service fault individuals, not society, for social problems (some feel the homeless person "fell through the cracks" and missed abundant support systems due to personal deficiency), and for those individuals service is not helping the victim of an injustice but rather helping a deficient person. This is a larger trend in the literature of service learning and critical pedagogy, too, where the scholarship assumes that those with the aforementioned ideology haven't yet achieved critical consciousness. Such individuals are framed as 'not yet converted' and also 'simplistic' and in need of a deeper understanding. The scholarship uses "deeper understanding" euphemistically for "different ideology."
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Cooper and Julier
Cooper, David D., and Laura Julier. "Democratic Conversations: Civic Literacy and Service-Learning in the American Grains." Writing the Community: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Composition. Ed. Linda Adler-Kassner et al. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 1997. 79-94.
Cooper and Julier report on experiences with American Thought and Language first-year seminars at Michigan State. They designate special sections as asl sections, themed around 'public life in America' guided by three principles: 1) rhetorical lessons of real-world facilitate good writing pedagogy, 2) project-based writing at sites fosters "higher-order academic discourse skills," and 3) juxtaposing academic lessons and projects advanced civic education (82).
They write, "This particular line of philosophical inquiry and practical pedagogy views the writing classroom, in short, as a moral and civic venue, a place where moral sensibility, critical literacy, and the arts of public discourse, leavened by reflective and connected learning, develop hand-in-hand" (83). They worry that information overload has damaged public life to the point that it's become "anemic" (85). ASL goes beyond critique and gets students thinking about complicated, messy "solutions" to problems (92).
Cooper and Julier report on experiences with American Thought and Language first-year seminars at Michigan State. They designate special sections as asl sections, themed around 'public life in America' guided by three principles: 1) rhetorical lessons of real-world facilitate good writing pedagogy, 2) project-based writing at sites fosters "higher-order academic discourse skills," and 3) juxtaposing academic lessons and projects advanced civic education (82).
They write, "This particular line of philosophical inquiry and practical pedagogy views the writing classroom, in short, as a moral and civic venue, a place where moral sensibility, critical literacy, and the arts of public discourse, leavened by reflective and connected learning, develop hand-in-hand" (83). They worry that information overload has damaged public life to the point that it's become "anemic" (85). ASL goes beyond critique and gets students thinking about complicated, messy "solutions" to problems (92).
Heilker
Heilker, Paul. "Rhetoric Made Real: Civic Discourse and Writing Beyond the Curriculum." Writing the Community: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Composition. Ed. Linda Adler-Kassner et al. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 1997. 71-77.
Go beyond the classroom to give students real rhetorical situation and also "to understand writing as social action" (71). Rhetorical understanding happens when students do real writing projects at agencies. Give them choice to avoid indoctrinating with a particular political position and transcend the warm-up model of student writing: "calisthentics before the big game" (76).
Go beyond the classroom to give students real rhetorical situation and also "to understand writing as social action" (71). Rhetorical understanding happens when students do real writing projects at agencies. Give them choice to avoid indoctrinating with a particular political position and transcend the warm-up model of student writing: "calisthentics before the big game" (76).
Herzberg
Herzberg, Bruce. "Community Service and Critical Teaching." Writing the Community: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Composition. Ed. Linda Adler-Kassner et al. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 1997. 57-69. (Rpt. CCC 1994)
Reports on project-based ASL at Bentley College and finds that "service learning generates a social conscience" (58)--but that oftentimes middle-class student response is personal and rooted in charity, as opposed to stemming from a contextual, activist, or justice-based approach to social change: "I don't believe that questions about social structures, ideology, and social justice are automatically raised by community service. From my own experience, I am quite sure they are not" (59). He finds that students recognize systemic injustice in texts (Mike Rose, Jonathan Kozol) more easily than in their own lived experiences at work sites, but that slowly, a deeper understanding of social structures became part of student repertoire. ASL can help universities be "radically democratic institutions, with the goal not only of making individual students more successful but also of making better citizens, citizens in the strongest sense of those who take responsibility for communal welfare. These efforts belong int he composition class because of the rhetorical as well as the practical nature of citizenship and social transformation" (66).
Reports on project-based ASL at Bentley College and finds that "service learning generates a social conscience" (58)--but that oftentimes middle-class student response is personal and rooted in charity, as opposed to stemming from a contextual, activist, or justice-based approach to social change: "I don't believe that questions about social structures, ideology, and social justice are automatically raised by community service. From my own experience, I am quite sure they are not" (59). He finds that students recognize systemic injustice in texts (Mike Rose, Jonathan Kozol) more easily than in their own lived experiences at work sites, but that slowly, a deeper understanding of social structures became part of student repertoire. ASL can help universities be "radically democratic institutions, with the goal not only of making individual students more successful but also of making better citizens, citizens in the strongest sense of those who take responsibility for communal welfare. These efforts belong int he composition class because of the rhetorical as well as the practical nature of citizenship and social transformation" (66).
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