Distant Publics: Development Rhetoric and the Subject of Crisis (Pitt Comp Literacy Culture)
“WithDistant Publics,one of rhetoric’s foremost theorists presents a riveting picture of development, weaving together history, theory, and observational analysis into a case for rhetoric’s centrality to urban development and development’s importance for rhetorical theory. This book should be read and taught far and wide; its method and theory are very much grounded in ground: material things, concrete issues (and issues of concrete). Its contributions to material rhetoric and to theories of subjectivity, publics, and citizenship are as important as they will be lasting.”—Debra Hawhee, Pennsylvania State University“To say thatDistant Publicsis about the rhetoric of development is really an oversimplification. This book is a deep exploration of how rhetoric, ecology, sustainability, spatial theory, citizenry, and subjectivity converge. It is unique and powerful, asking us to rethink not just urban spaces and rhetorics but the very ways in which we conceptualize rhetoric.Distant Publicsasks readers to engage what amount to the most pressing issues of writing studies and rhetoric in fresh, smart ways. Jenny Rice speaks directly to and within rhetoric and composition, but she asks us to see beyond disciplinary limits in provocative ways that demand we not settle for the safety and comfort of familiar conversations.”—Sid Dobrin, University of Florida