Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Christina R. Foust, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Bernadette Calafell

Third Advisor

Daniel J. Lair

Keywords

Burke, Critical, Industrial Workers of the World, Labor, Rhetoric, United Farm Workers

Abstract

This dissertation explores the rhetorical fragments in three case studies of the American Labor Movement constituting movement members in solidarity. Using Kenneth Burke's discussion of rhetorical substance, this project explores the possibilities for developing deep and broad forms of solidarity within the American Labor Movement. Rhetorical fragments of the Industrial Workers of the World, the United Farm Workers, and contingent faculty unionization efforts are explored.

I argue Burke's ideas of substance and identification provide a powerful lens through which we can examine the solidary practices of social movements. Through the examination of the case studies mentioned, I demonstrate that solidarity was constructed using different points of identification for workers involved in the movement. These points of identification sometimes worked to the benefit and sometimes to the detriment of the movements described.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

William Murphy

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

217 p.

Discipline

Communication

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