Description

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What is the nature of grassroots activism? How and why do individuals get involved or attempt to make change for themselves, others, or their own communities? What motivates activists to maintain momentum when their efforts to redress injustices or paths toward change seem difficult or personally risky to navigate? These questions and more are addressed in Grassroots Activisms: Public Rhetorics in Localized Contexts. Featuring a diverse array of both local activist profiles and original scholarly essays, the collection amplifies and analyzes the tactics of grassroots activists working locally to intervene in a variety of social injustices—from copwatching and policy reform to Indigenous resistance against land colonization to #RageAgainstRape. 

Attuned to the demanding—and often underappreciated—work of grassroots activism, this book interrogates how such efforts unfold within and against existing historical, cultural, social, and political realities of local communities; are informed by the potentials and constraints of coalition-building; and ultimately shape different facets of society at the local level. This collection acknowledges and celebrates the complexity of grassroots activist work, showing how these less-recognized efforts often effect change where institutions have failed.

About the Author

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Lisa L. Phillips is Assistant Professor of English in the Technical Communication and Rhetoric Program at Texas Tech University. 

Sarah Warren-Riley is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. 

Julie Collins Bates is Associate Professor of English at Millikin University.

Praise For…

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“Focusing on resistances to institutional hegemonies, sites of grassroots activism, and pedagogical considerations, Grassroots Activisms offers a compelling, contemporary, polyvocal approach to activism that is both theoretically sharp and pragmatically applicable, while being inclusive in all the best ways.” —Jonathan Alexander, author of Writing and Desire: Queer Ways of Composing

“Writing studies needs a collection that makes visible the necessary work that is often obscured in activism. This book answers that need through an impressive and original array of stories and studies by and with marginalized communities.” —W. Michele Simmons, author of Participation and Power: Civic Discourse in Environmental Policy Decisions