Much of the theory underlying technical communication, rhetoric,
composition, and college English in general comes from a decidedly
socialist/Marxist perspective, ones that espouses strong
anti-Capitalist, anti-competitive statements. While members of the
academy have learned much about cultural artifacts and practices
from these methodologies and critiques, they are also
disenfranchised from the larger world-view - free-market,
competitive, and capitalistic. This volume, a collection of 11
scholarly essays, begins to fill this gap by asserting a
theoretical and practical stance based on free-market mechanisms
and behaviors. Through a variety of approaches - from broad
argument to specific examples of market behaviors, from historical
criticism to case studies - this collection makes the case that,
despite fears expressed by numerous critics of capitalism,
technical communication and rhetoric and composition retain all
their force, rationale, and value when expressed in free-market
terms. Specifically, the collection argues that writing disciplines
have market value and that Marxist approaches to the fields are not
capable of promoting this value. It follows, then, that
participants in these fields need to begin viewing themselves as
market-players instead of reactionaries. A second general argument
is that markets are inherently rhetorical, meaning that they create
information, are subject to socially constructed trends, persuade
and communicate values and ideas. In other words, the market is a
natural and logical domain for rhetorical study and participation.
Finally, a third argument is that certain activities, distance
education foremost among them, create value for these academic
fields. If we see our fields as having market value, we do not need
to view distance education as a threat to writing disciplines, but
rather an opportunity for growth and development. Locke Carter, the
editor and lead essayist, holds not only a PhD in Rhetoric from the
University of Texas at Austin, but also an MBA from the University
of Texas at Austin.
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