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Rhetorics of Resistance and Change

This Web page has information about rhetorics of the resistance of change. Emphasis is on how change can happen, as well as resistance and change movements. Its primary audience is students in E633. However, anyone doing research on the general topic should find the page useful.

Primary themes of the Fall 2009 course involve three case studies: 1) alternative education 2) the prison industrial complex; critical resistance movement, and 3) language politics: the Oakland Ebonics debate; English-only movement (also current language of texting, instant messaging (IM), twitter, etc.).

Rhetoric, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (available online to CSU affiliates) is defined as "The art of using language so as to persuade or influence others; the body of rules to be observed by a speaker or writer in order that he may express himself with eloquence." Resistance is defined (a & c) as: "The act, on the part of persons, of resisting, opposing, or withstanding" and "Organized covert opposition to an occupying or ruling power." Change is both a noun and a verb; as a noun: "The act or fact of changing (see CHANGE v. 1, 2); substitution of one thing for another; succession of one thing in place of another." Changing vbl. n. is defined as : "The action of substituting one thing for another, or of giving and receiving reciprocally; exchange."

See also Standard and Non-Standard English, Language and Community, Language and Power, and other Language Research Topics for suggestions of databases and terms to search within them on topics related to language.

The material on this page is divided up into the following sections:

Posters | Documentaries | Books | Indexes--Identify Articles | Web (& a Few Links to Articles) by Topic

Posters for Change

The opening for the 16th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition will be at Colorado State University on October 2, 2009. The posters will be on display through December 22nd. This biennial exhibition has posters sent from all over the world. Earlier years are online in the CSU Archives as part of the International Poster Collection. The online collection covers the 7th to 15th shows (1991-2007). Also searchable by keywords, artist, country, gender, year, prepress media, or printing process. The posters include many examples of inducements for change.

Documentaries

Check Discovery for location and status.

  • You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South. HN79.T2 Y68 2008 Reserve
  • Myles Horton, Paulo Friere & Friends Gather at Highlander. LB885.H64 M95 1987 Reserve
  • Books Not Bars. HV9276.5 .B77 2001 Morgan Video
  • The Adventures of a Radical Hillbilly. LC5301.H53 A38 1981 Reserve
  • Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex. HV7243 .C75 1999 Morgan Video

Books

The subject headings listed in this section can be used to find books related to the topics of interest to rhetoric of resistance and change (Fall 2009 topics) in any library catalog which uses Library of Congress Subject Headings, including CSU's Discovery. Do a subject search using the terms below to identify books in Discovery and Prospector (the Regional Catalog). Note: Prospector is the Regional Catalog. CSU affiliates may request available materials from it. If the CSU copy of a title is checked out, affiliates may want to check Prospector to see if a copy is available from another regional library. Books may be requested from Prospector by CSU affiliates. Search the library catalog Discovery for:

African Americans Languages History
Alternative Schools United States
Alternatives to imprisonment United States
Black English
Communities
Criminals Rehabilitation
Criminals Rehabilitation United States
Critical Pedagogy
Education Philosophy
Education Social Aspects Latin America
Education Social Aspects Brazil
Education United States
Educational Sociology Latin America
Electronic Mail Messages
Elementary Education of Adults
English Language Political Aspects United States

English Language Study and Teaching African American Students
English-Only Movement United States
Highlander Folk School (Monteagle, Tenn.)
Highlander Research and Education Center (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Imprisonment United States
Instant Messaging
Language Policy United States
Literacy programs United States
Political participation
Popular Education Philosophy
Prisoners Education
Prisons United States
Social Conflict Case Studies
Text Messages (Telephone Systems) (2 items 8/9)

Subject headings that apply to specific authors when there are at least a couple titles. Reminder--search these terms by subject to find secondary sources about the author and/or his or her work(s) (also finds books by the person sometimes). Search by author to find books by someone.

Freire, Paulo
Horton, Myles

Specific Titles of Interest Owned by CSU

  • Branch, Kirk. "Eyes On the Ought to Be": What We Teach about When We Teach about Literacy. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2007. LC151 .B717 2007 Morgan
  • Faber, Brenton D. Community Action and Organizational Change: Image, Narrative, Identity. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2002. HD58.8 .F3 2002 Morgan and ebook
  • Horton, Myles, and Brenda Bell. We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990. LB885.H64 W4 1990 Morgan
  • Jacobson, Michael. Downsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime And End Mass Incarceration. New York: New York University Press, 2005. HV9471 .J317 2005 Morgan
  • Price, Byron Eugene. Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization? Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. HV9469 .P745 2006 Morgan
  • Tobocman, Seth. Disaster and Resistance: Comics and Landscapes for the 21st Century. Edinburgh: AK, 2008. HM1121 .T63 2008 Morgan

Indexes--Identify Articles

These databases are found on the "Find Electronic Resources & Databases" page alphabetically.

  • MLA Bibliography.
  • Academic Search Premier.
  • Humanities International Index .
  • Social Sciences Abstracts.
  • New York Times 1851-
  • ERIC
  • Project MUSE
  • JSTOR

Print only indexes:

  • Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. AI 3 .R48 Reference South 1900-
  • London Times (various titles: Palmer's, etc.) AI 21 T51 & AI21 .T46 Reference South & others nearby 1785-
  • Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890-1899; with supplementary indexing, 1900-1922. AI3 .R496 Reference South
  • Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. AI3 .P6 Reference South 1802-1901

Web (& A Few Links to Articles)

Check the library catalog Discovery for CSU ownership of books and/or Citation Linker/FindIt (CSU affiliates only) for articles listed on the online bibliographies.

Alternative Education | Prison Industrial Complex | NISP/Glade | Oakland Ebonics Debate | Electronic Languages (IM, Texting, Twitter)

Alternative Education

Alternative Education. San José State University. 2004.

Focus is on youth and teens. Training modules and resources. Some of the links do not work.

Bibliography on Paulo Freire. (PDF) Martina Pfau and Imke Behr. UNESCO.

Primary documents listed first, then secondary.

The Freire Project. The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy.

"The Freire Project is dedicated to building an international critical community which works to promote social justice in a variety of cultural contexts. We are committed to conducting and sharing critical research in social, political, and educational locations." The Resources section includes: Critical Pedagogy Reading Room (articles available online in Word), Teacher Resources (just a few as of 8/9), and Links to other sites involved in Critical Pedagogy.

There are a number of Freire Research Centers found around the world. For example, Finland.

Highlander Research and Education Center. New Market,Tennessee.

Overview of the history of the formally-known-as Highlander Folk School. Resources tab has annotated links (scroll down to see) to "Online Resources" that cover topics related to the work done by the Highlander organization. The "Links" tab page has multiple annotated links to Web sites that cover: Highlander History; Civil Rights & Civil Liberties; Cultural Work; Economic/Social Justice Organizing; Environmental Justice; Foundations/Funds; Immigrant/Farmworker Rights International; Labor; Media; Media Justice Activism; Organizer Training; Popular Education; and Youth Organizing.

An Overview of Alternative Education. Laudan Y. Aron. Urban Institute.

Link is to summary page. The complete report is available in PDF from it. Links out to a few related resources.

Resources. Alternative Education Resources. Indiana Department of Education.

Mainly PDF format materials that discuss programs, requirements, possible sources of assistance, etc. Just one of many examples of materials available from individual states.

Prison Industrial Complex

Abolish Prisons. Social Justice Movements. Columbia CNMTL Wiki.

Contents: "Imagine . . . a world without prisons" 1.1 The Roots 1.2 The Development of Prisons 1.3 The Prison-Industrial Complex 1.4 Women and Prisons 1.5 Vision Behind a Movement for Abolition 1.6 Activist Organizations Today. Resources (left hand side) links to multiple sites.

Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex. Corrections Library. National Institute of Corrections.

Brief introduction to the topic and links to full texts of documents. Full text PDF, Web or other format. Researchers may also browse the online library, search popular topics, and more on the Corrections Library site.

Mass Incarceration In The United States: At What Cost? Hearing Before The Joint Economic Committee Congress Of The United States One Hundred Tenth Congress First Session October 4, 2007. PDF.

Statements from Senators on the Joint Economic Committee, witnesses, and others. Includes tables and charts.

Prison-Industrial Complex. SourceWatch. Center for Media and Democracy.

Provides a definition. Links out to government agencies, non-governmental entities, related sources, related books, articles, references,etc.

What is the Prison Industrial Complex? Critical Resistance.

Essay defining the topic and encouraging change.

Prison Industrial Complex Articles

Links to electronic full text works for CSU affiliates.

NISP/Glade Project--Local (Fort Collins) Topic

Northern Integrated Supply Project.

"A regional water supply project coordinated by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, NISP will provide 15 participating communities and water districts with 40,000 acre-feet of new, reliable water – without drying up the Poudre River or our agricultural communities."

Save the Poudre.

"The Poudre River is endangered by a proposal known as the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP)/Glade Reservoir. This project would take an average of 40,000 acre-feet from the river every year before it reaches Fort Collins."

Water Consumption. Compass of Larimer County. Colorado.

Charts and text describing streamflow and water consumption in Larimer County.

Water Resources Archive. Colorado State University Libraries.

"[T]he Archive consists of collections from individuals and organizations that have been instrumental in the development of water resources in Colorado and the West."

Oakland Ebonics Debate (Language Politics)

AAE: African American English. The Linguist List. Eastern Michigan University.

Links to the Oakland resolution(s), statements from others, history of the language, additional resources, listserv discussion on the topic, and more.

An Army, A Navy, and Ebonics. Terence Odlin. Ohio State University. 1997.

Lengthy essay on the topic, divided by: 1. Introduction 2. The Ebonics controversy 2.1 Declaration of a separate language 2.2 Bilingual education funding 2.3 Classroom teaching and Ebonics 2.4 Summary and comment 3. Afro-American languages and dialects 3.1 Black English: the creolist position 3.2 Black English: the dialectologist position 3.3 Toward a synthesis 3.4 On the issue of African influence 3.5 Summary and comment 4. Language, identity, and politics 4.1 Obtaining linguistic recognition 4.2 Prospects 4.3 Summary and comment 5. General summary and conclusion. Also references (a lengthy list) and appendixes.

The Ebonics Controversy in my Backyard: A Sociolinguist's Experiences and Reflections. John R. Rickford. Department of Linguistics. Stanford University.

Essay on the December 1996 Ebonics controversy.

Ebonics: Q & A. Johanna Rubba. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 2/3/97

Nine questions and answers. Bibliography. Background makes this difficult to read. (Readers might want to cut 'n paste the entire page into a text document.)

Oakland Ebonics Debate Articles

Link to electronic full text works for CSU affiliates.

  • Weldon, Tracey L. "Reflections on the Ebonics Controversy." American Speech 75.3 (2000) 275-277.
  • Williams, Robert L. "The Ebonics Controversy." Journal of Black Psychology 23.3 (1997): 208-14.E185.625 .J68 Movable Shelves

English-Only Movement Articles & Testimony

Links to electronic full text works for CSU affiliates.

  • King, Robert D. "Should English Be the Law?" Atlantic Monthly April 1997: 55-62.
  • Lu, Mei-Yu. English-Only Movement: Its Consequences on the Education of Language Minority Children. ERIC Digest. ED427326 1998-00-00. PDF
  • Hearing on English as the Common Language. Testimony November 01, 1995 Everett Alvarez, Jr. House Economic Early Childhood, Youth and Families English as the Common Language. (Find in LexisNexis Congressional).
  • Hearing on English as the Common Language. Testimony November 01, 1995 Edward M. Chen Chief Counsel American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California House Economic Early Childhood, Youth and Families English as the Common Language (Find in LexisNexis Congressional) .
  • Hearing of the Education Reform Subcommittee of the House Education and the Workforce Committee Subject: Examining Views on English as the Official Language. July 26, 2006 (Find in LexisNexis Congressional).

Electronic Languages/Emerging Technologies

The NetLingo List of Acronyms & Text Message Shorthand. Netlingo.

"With more than 82 million people texting regularly, it's no wonder you've seen this cryptic looking code! Commonly used wherever people get online -- including IMing, SMSing, cell phones, Blackberries, PDAs, Web sites, games, newsgroup postings, in chat rooms, on blogs -- these abbreviations are used by people to communicate with each other. The actual definition of an acronym and text shorthand is here."

Twitter. Technologies for Teaching and Learning. Purdue University.

Information on the history, vocabulary, and use of twitter.

Twitter in ESL/EFL Bibliography. Thomas Leverett. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Bibliography with links to the online materials prepared for a March 2009 workshop. At least one of the links no longer work.

Clay Shirky: How Social Media Can Make History. TED Ideas Worth Spreading. June 2009.

Online video presentation (17:03). Clay Shirky talks about the Internet in the context of other media. He also describes current events and how information was shared about them.

Electronic Languages/Emerging Technologies Articles/Presentation Slides

See also Censorship.

As in all research, be sure to evaluate what you find, be it an article, book, or Web page.

English Language & Literature

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Content: Naomi Lederer

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