Title
Taking a Deep Breadth: The Rhetorical Construction of Solidarity in the American Labor Movement
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.
Recommended Citation
O'Shannon Murphy, William, "Taking a Deep Breadth: The Rhetorical Construction of Solidarity in the American Labor Movement" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 464.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/464
Copyright date
2011
Discipline
Communication
Included in
Labor History Commons, Labor Relations Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons