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RFID Design Fundamentals and Applications
by Albert Lozano-NietoRFID is an increasingly pervasive tool that is now used in a wide range of fields. It is employed to substantiate adherence to food preservation and safety standards, combat the circulation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and verify authenticity and history of critical parts used in aircraft and other machinery—and these are just a few of its uses. Goes beyond deployment, focusing on exactly how RFID actually works RFID Design Fundamentals and Applications systematically explores the fundamental principles involved in the design and characterization of RFID technologies. The RFID market is exploding. With new and enhanced applications becoming increasingly integral to government and industrial chain supply and logistics around the globe, professionals must be proficient in the evaluation and deployment of these systems. Although manufacturers provide complete and extensive documentation of each individual RFID component, it can be difficult to synthesize and apply this complex information—and users often must consult and integrate data from several producers for different components. This book covers topics including: Types of antennas used in transponders Components of the transponder, memory structure and logic circuits Antennae for RFID interrogators Types of modulation Organization and characteristics of commercial transponders Communication links Modes of operation for transponders operating at different frequencies Principles of arbitration and anti-collision Commands used by transponders This powerful reference helps to resolve this dilemma by compiling a systematic overview of the different parts that make up the whole RFID system, helping the reader develop a clear and understanding of its mechanisms and how the technology actually works. Most books on RFID focus on commercial use and deployment of the technology, but this volume takes a different and extremely useful approach. Directed toward both professionals and students in electronics, telecommunications, and new technologies, it fills the informational void left by other books, illustrating specific examples of available semiconductors and integrated circuits to clearly explain how RFID systems are configured, how they work, and how different system components interact with each other.
RFID For Dummies
by Patrick J. Sweeney IiMany companies have asked suppliers to begin using RFID (radio frequency identification) tags by 2006 RFID allows pallets and products to be scanned at a greater distance and with less effort than barcode scanning, offering superior supply-chain management efficiencies This unique plain-English resource explains RFID and shows CIOs, warehouse managers, and supply-chain managers how to implement RFID tagging in products and deploy RFID scanning at a warehouse or distribution center Covers the business case for RFID, pilot programs, timelines and strategies for site assessments and deployments, testing guidelines, privacy and regulatory issues, and more
RFID Handbook
by Klaus Finkenzeller Dörte MüllerThis is the third revised edition of the established and trusted RFID Handbook; the most comprehensive introduction to radio frequency identification (RFID) available.This essential new edition contains information on electronic product code (EPC) and the EPC global network, and explains near-field communication (NFC) in depth. It includes revisions on chapters devoted to the physical principles of RFID systems and microprocessors, and supplies up-to-date details on relevant standards and regulations.Taking into account critical modern concerns, this handbook provides the latest information on:the use of RFID in ticketing and electronic passports; the security of RFID systems, explaining attacks on RFID systems and other security matters, such as transponder emulation and cloning, defence using cryptographic methods, and electronic article surveillance; frequency ranges and radio licensing regulations. The text explores schematic circuits of simple transponders and readers, and includes new material on active and passive transponders, ISO/IEC 18000 family, ISO/IEC 15691 and 15692. It also describes the technical limits of RFID systems.A unique resource offering a complete overview of the large and varied world of RFID, Klaus Finkenzeller's volume is useful for end-users of the technology as well as practitioners in auto ID and IT designers of RFID products. Computer and electronics engineers in security system development, microchip designers, and materials handling specialists benefit from this book, as do automation, industrial and transport engineers. Clear and thorough explanations also make this an excellent introduction to the topic for graduate level students in electronics and industrial engineering design.Klaus Finkenzeller was awarded the Fraunhofer-Smart Card Prize 2008 for the second edition of this publication, which was celebrated for being an outstanding contribution to the smart card field.
RFID Systems
by Miodrag Bolic Ivan Stojmenovic David Simplot-RylThis book provides an insight into the 'hot' field of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) SystemsIn this book, the authors provide an insight into the field of RFID systems with an emphasis on networking aspects and research challenges related to passive Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID systems. The book reviews various algorithms, protocols and design solutions that have been developed within the area, including most recent advances. In addition, authors cover a wide range of recognized problems in RFID industry, striking a balance between theoretical and practical coverage. Limitations of the technology and state-of-the-art solutions are identified and new research opportunities are addressed. Finally, the book is authored by experts and respected researchers in the field and every chapter is peer reviewed.Key Features:Provides the most comprehensive analysis of networking aspects of RFID systems, including tag identification protocols and reader anti-collision algorithms Covers in detail major research problems of passive UHF systems such as improving reading accuracy, reading range and throughput Analyzes other "hot topics" including localization of passive RFID tags, energy harvesting, simulator and emulator design, security and privacy Discusses design of tag antennas, tag and reader circuits for passive UHF RFID systems Presents EPCGlobal architecture framework, middleware and protocols Includes an accompanying website with PowerPoint slides and solutions to the problems http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~mbolic/RFIDBook/This book will be an invaluable guide for researchers and graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science, and researchers and developers in telecommunication industry.
Rhetoric and Discourse in Supreme Court Oral Arguments: Sensemaking in Judicial Decisions (Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)
by Ryan MalphursWhile legal scholars, psychologists, and political scientists commonly voice their skepticism over the influence oral arguments have on the Court’s voting pattern, this book offers a contrarian position focused on close scrutiny of the justices’ communication within oral arguments. Malphurs examines the rhetoric, discourse, and subsequent decision-making within the oral arguments for significant Supreme Court cases, visiting their potential power and danger and revealing the rich dynamic nature of the justices’ interactions among themselves and the advocates. In addition to offering advancements in scholars’ understanding of oral arguments, this study introduces Sensemaking as an alternative to rational decision-making in Supreme Court arguments, suggesting a new model of judicial decision-making to account for the communication within oral arguments that underscores a glaring irony surrounding the bulk of related research—the willingness of scholars to criticize oral arguments but their unwillingness to study this communication. With the growing accessibility of the Court’s oral arguments and the inevitable introduction of television cameras in the courtroom, this book offers new theoretical and methodological perspectives at a time when scholars across the fields of communication, law, psychology, and political science will direct even greater attention and scrutiny toward the Supreme Court.
Rhetoric and Pedagogy: Its History, Philosophy, and Practice: Essays in Honor of James J. Murphy (Rhetoric And Public Affairs Ser.)
by Winifred Bryan Horner Michael LeffTo provide a view of the history of western rhetoric, this volume presents original articles by a number of world-renowned scholars representing different countries and varying viewpoints. In discussing the status of the historical perspectives on rhetoric, these international scholars also present a tribute to James J. Murphy, whose scholarship and service did much to shape the field. The book will introduce new insights into western European rhetoric and its connections with English rhetoric.
Rhetoric and Philosophy
by Richard A. CherwitzThis important volume explores alternative ways in which those involved in the field of speech communication have attempted to find a philosophical grounding for rhetoric. Recognizing that rhetoric can be supported in a wide variety of ways, this text examines eight different philosophies of rhetoric: realism, relativism, rationalism, idealism, materialism, existentialism, deconstructionism, and pragmatism. The value of this book lies in its pluralistic and comparative approach to rhetorical theory. Although rhetoric may be the more difficult road to philosophy, the fact that it is being traversed by a group of authors largely from speech communication demonstrates important growth in this field. Ultimately, there is recognition that if different thinkers can have solid reasons to adhere to disparate philosophies, serious communication problems can be eliminated. Rhetoric and Philosophy will assist scholars in choosing from among the many philosphical starting places for rhetoric.
Rhetoric and Social Relations: Dialectics of Bonding and Contestation (Studies in Rhetoric and Culture #8)
by Jon Abbink Shauna LaToskyThis volume explores the constitutive role of rhetoric in socio-cultural relations, where discursive persuasion is so important, and contains both theoretical chapters as well as fascinating examples of the ambiguities and effects of rhetoric used (un)consciously in social praxis. The elements of power, competition and political persuasion figure prominently. It is an accessible collection of studies, speaking to common issues and problems in social life, and shows the heuristic and often explanatory value of the rhetorical perspective.
Rhetoric and Storytelling within the U.S. Asylum Process: Shelter Rhetorics (Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)
by Mónica ReyesThis book explores the U.S. asylum process and how those seeking shelter deal with the rhetorical pressures of compelling asylum narratives they need to write in order to stay.Centered around a study conducted at a shelter on the U.S. border, this book moves beyond this context to demonstrate how liminal sites provide opportunities for displaced communities to employ distinct shared rhetorical practices of daily life—like silence and routine—that both safeguard vulnerabilities and enact agency for individuals within precarious spaces. Placing people who seek asylum and those who work with them as rhetorical and socio-cultural experts on this issue, the study adds to the emerging importance of rhetoric within discussions of asylum and forced migration and demonstrates the significance of rhetorical ecology theory as part of a blended methodology in understanding people seeking asylum as a group in a perpetual and explicit state of ethos development.Highlighting the need for support which is sensitive to the narrative struggles people seeking asylum face, this book will have important findings for scholars and upper-level students of cultural rhetorics, feminist rhetoric, migration studies, political science, and intercultural communication.
Rhetoric and the Arts of Design
by David S. Kaufer Brian S. ButlerThe design arts -- from the design of buildings and machines to software and interfaces -- are associated with types of knowledge and performance thought to be structured, modular, and systematic. Such arts have become increasingly prestigious in our technocratic society. Since Aristotle, the art of rhetoric was conceived as a loosely structured "practical" art thought to be limited in the extent to which it could mimic more precise subject matters. The art of rhetoric has been controversial since classical times, but its status has sunk even lower since the industrial revolution -- a point when civic cultures began to cede authority and control to the cultures of specialized experts. Many sympathizers of rhetoric have resisted its decline by calling for a civic art of public discourse to stand in opposition to a technocratic specialized discourse that has come, increasingly, to disenfranchise the ordinary citizen. This is the first book to question the rhetoric/technical knowledge split from a more fundamental perspective. To get some perspective on what is at stake in rhetoric's traditional classification as a "practical" art, the authors: * explore the distinction between practical and design arts; * enumerate the various criteria cited in the literature for qualifying a cluster of knowledge and performative skills to count as an art of design; * show how the knowledge and performative skills associated with the art of rhetoric meet the major requirements of design knowledge; * propose a general architecture of rhetorical design, one descriptive both of civic address and specialized academic argument; * turn to the Lincoln/Douglas debates to embody and provide some empirical support and illustration for their architecture; * demonstrate how Lincoln and Douglas can be thought of as expert designers whose rhetoric is highly structured and modular; and * explain how the rhetoric of both rhetorical agents can be represented in the layers and modules that one needs to display plans for buildings, software, or other design artifacts. These layers and modules are not just post hoc annotations of the debates; they also illuminate new and systematic ways for viewing the debates -- and by implication, other specimens of rhetoric -- in terms of strategies of artistic production. Kaufer and Butler conclude their presentation by citing some of the research and educational implications that follow from housing rhetoric within the family of design arts.
Rhetoric, Cultural Studies, and Literacy: Selected Papers From the 1994 Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America
by John Frederick ReynoldsThis volume presents a representative cross-section of the more than 200 papers presented at the 1994 conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. The contributors reflect multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives -- English, speech communication, philosophy, rhetoric, composition studies, comparative literature, and film and media studies. Exploring the historical relationships and changing relationships between rhetoric, cultural studies, and literacy in the United States, this text seeks answers to such questions as what constitutes "literacy" in a post-modern, high-tech, multi-cultural society?
Rhetoric, Fantasy, and the War on Terror (Routledge Studies in Media, Communication, and Politics)
by Vaheed RamazaniThe book draws on psychoanalytic and semiotic perspectives to examine popular, political, legal, and journalistic discourses mediating the War on Terror. The analysis encompasses governmental speeches, legal documents, print and broadcast journalism, and military memoirs under the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. Dominant motifs include American exceptionalism and its historical affinity for war, the synergy between the technologies of war and media, the role of the "military-industrial-media-entertainment network" in promoting the American culture of militarism, the dialectic of identification and repulsion in the construction of "the enemy," and the political and mediatic normalization of fear. The author explores in particular the role of desire in the rhetorical construction and naturalization of the fantasy of a global War on Terror. Scholars and students alike will take interest in this original contribution to the fields of cultural studies, psychoanalysis, media studies, rhetoric, critical international relations, and international humanitarian law and ethics.
Rhetoric, History, and Women's Oratorical Education: American Women Learn to Speak (Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)
by David Gold Catherine L. HobbsHistorians of rhetoric have long worked to recover women's education in reading and writing, but have only recently begun to explore women's speaking practices, from the parlor to the platform to the varied types of institutions where women learned elocutionary and oratorical skills in preparation for professional and public life. This book fills an important gap in the history of rhetoric and suggests new paths for the way histories may be told in the future, tracing the shifting arc of women's oratorical training as it develops from forms of eighteenth-century rhetoric into institutional and extrainstitutional settings at the end of the nineteenth century and diverges into several distinct streams of community-embodied theory and practice in the twentieth. Treating key rhetors, genres, settings, and movements from the early republic to the present, these essays collectively challenge and complicate many previous claims made about the stability and development of gendered public and private spheres, the decline of oratorical culture and the limits of women's oratorical forms such as elocution and parlor rhetorics, and women's responses to rhetorical constraints on their public speaking. Enriching our understanding of women's oratorical education and practice, this cutting-edge work makes an important contribution to scholarship in rhetoric and communication.
Rhetoric in Popular Culture
by Barry S. BrummettThe Sixth Edition of Barry Brummett’s Rhetoric in Popular Culture provides readers with in-depth insight into the techniques of rhetorical criticism to analyze the full spectrum of contemporary issues in popular culture. Exploring a wide range of mass media texts including advertisements, magazines, movies, television, popular music, and social media, Barry Brummett presents key rhetorical concepts and applies them with critical analysis to a variety of exciting examples drawn from today′s popular culture. Ideal for courses in rhetorical criticism, the new edition includes new and updated sample critical essays and case studies that demonstrate for readers how the critical methods discussed can be used to study the hidden rhetoric of popular culture.
Rhetoric in Popular Culture
by Barry S. BrummettThe Sixth Edition of Barry Brummett’s Rhetoric in Popular Culture provides readers with in-depth insight into the techniques of rhetorical criticism to analyze the full spectrum of contemporary issues in popular culture. Exploring a wide range of mass media texts including advertisements, magazines, movies, television, popular music, and social media, Barry Brummett presents key rhetorical concepts and applies them with critical analysis to a variety of exciting examples drawn from today′s popular culture. Ideal for courses in rhetorical criticism, the new edition includes new and updated sample critical essays and case studies that demonstrate for readers how the critical methods discussed can be used to study the hidden rhetoric of popular culture.
Rhetoric in the Flesh: Trained Vision, Technical Expertise, and the Gross Anatomy Lab (ATTW Series in Technical and Professional Communication)
by T. Kenny FountainRhetoric in the Flesh is the first book-length ethnographic study of the gross anatomy lab to explain how rhetorical discourses, multimodal displays, and embodied practices facilitate learning and technical expertise and how they shape participants’ perceptions of the human body. By investigating the role that discourses, displays, and human bodies play in the training and socialization of medical students, T. Kenny Fountain contributes to our theoretical and practical understanding of the social factors that make rhetoric possible and material in technical domains. Thus, the book also explains how these displays, discourses, and practices lead to the trained perspective necessary for expertise. This trained vision is constructed over time through what Fountain terms embodied rhetorical action, an intertwining of body-object-environment that undergirds all scientific, medical, and technical work. This book will be valuable for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in technical and professional communication (technical communication theory and practice, visual or multimodal communication, medical technical communication) and rhetorical studies, including visual rhetoric, rhetoric of science, medical rhetoric, material rhetoric and embodiment, and ethnographic approaches to rhetoric.
Rhetoric, Inc.: Ford’s Filmmaking and the Rise of Corporatism (RSA Series in Transdisciplinary Rhetoric #15)
by Timothy JohnsonIn 1914, the Ford Motor Company opened its Motion Picture Laboratory, an in-house operation that produced motion pictures to educate its workforce and promote its products. Just six years later, Ford films had found their way into schools and newsreels, travelogues, and even feature films in theaters across the country. By 1961, it is estimated that the company’s movies had captured an audience of sixty-four million people.This study of Ford’s corporate film program traces its growth and rise in prominence in corporate America. Drawing on nearly three hundred hours of material produced between 1914 and 1954, Timothy Johnson chronicles the history of Ford’s filmmaking campaign and analyzes selected films, visual and narrative techniques, and genres. He shows how what began as a narrow educational initiative grew into a global marketing strategy that presented a vision not just of Ford or corporate culture but of American life more broadly. In these films, Johnson uncovers a powerful rhetoric that Ford used to influence American labor, corporate style, production practices, road building, suburbanization, and consumer culture. The company’s early and continued success led other corporations to adopt similar programs.Persuasive and thoroughly researched, Rhetoric, Inc. documents the role that imagery and messaging played in the formation of the modern American corporation and provides a glimpse into the cultural turn to the economy as a source of entertainment, value, and meaning.
Rhetoric, Inc.: Ford’s Filmmaking and the Rise of Corporatism (RSA Series in Transdisciplinary Rhetoric #15)
by Timothy JohnsonIn 1914, the Ford Motor Company opened its Motion Picture Laboratory, an in-house operation that produced motion pictures to educate its workforce and promote its products. Just six years later, Ford films had found their way into schools and newsreels, travelogues, and even feature films in theaters across the country. It is estimated that by 1961, the company’s movies had captured an audience of sixty-four million people.This study of Ford’s corporate film program traces its growth and rise in prominence in corporate America. Drawing on nearly three hundred hours of material produced between 1914 and 1954, Timothy Johnson chronicles the history of Ford’s filmmaking campaign and analyzes selected films, visual and narrative techniques, and genres. He shows how what began as a narrow educational initiative grew into a global marketing strategy that presented a vision not just of Ford or corporate culture but of American life more broadly. In these films, Johnson uncovers a powerful rhetoric that Ford used to influence American labor, corporate style, production practices, road building, suburbanization, and consumer culture. The company’s early and continued success led other corporations to adopt similar programs.Persuasive and thoroughly researched, Rhetoric, Inc. documents the role that imagery and messaging played in the formation of the modern American corporation and provides a glimpse into the cultural turn to the economy as a source of entertainment, value, and meaning.
The Rhetoric of Food: Discourse, Materiality, and Power (Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)
by Joshua J. Frye Michael S. BrunerThis book focuses on the rhetoric of food and the power dimensions that intersect this most fundamental but increasingly popular area of ideology and practice, including politics, culture, lifestyle, identity, advertising, environment, and economy. The essays visit a rich variety of dominant discourses and material practices through a range of media, channels, and settings including the White House, social movement rhetoric, televisual programming, urban gardens, farmers markets, domestic and international agriculture institutions, and popular culture. Rhetoricians address the cultural, political, and ecological motives and consequences of humans’ strategic symbolizing and attendant choice-making, visiting discourses and practices that have impact on our species in their producing, distributing, regulating, marketing, packaging, consuming, and talking about food. The essays in this book are representative of dominant and marginal discourses as well as perennial issues surrounding the rhetoric of food and include macro-, meso-, and micro-level analyses and case studies, from international neoliberal trade policies to media and social movement discourse to small group and interactional dynamics. This volume provides an excellent range and critical illumination of rhetoric’s role as both instrumental and constitutive force in food representations, and its symbolic and material effects.
Rhetoric of InSecurity: The Language of Danger, Fear and Safety in National and International Contexts (Law, Language and Communication)
by Victoria BainesThis book demands that we question what we are told about security, using tools we have had for thousands of years. The work considers the history of security rhetoric in a number of distinct but related contexts, including the United States’ security strategy, the "war" on Big Tech, and current concerns such as cybersecurity. Focusing on the language of security discourse, it draws common threads from the ancient world to the present day and the near future. The book grounds recent comparisons of Donald Trump to the Emperor Nero in a linguistic evidence base. It examines the potential impact on society of policy-makers’ emphasis on the novelty of cybercrime, their likening of the internet to the Wild West, and their claims that criminals have "gone dark". It questions governments’ descriptions of technology companies in words normally reserved for terrorists, and asks who might benefit. Interdisciplinary in approach, the book builds on existing literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences, most notably studies on rhetoric in Greco-Roman texts, and on the articulation of security concerns in law, international relations, and public policy contexts. It adds value to this body of research by offering new points of comparison, and a fresh but tried and tested way of looking at problems that are often presented as unprecedented. It will be essential to legal and policy practitioners, students of Law, Politics, Media, and Classics, and all those interested in employing critical thinking.
The Rhetoric of Intellectual Property: Copyright Law and the Regulation of Digital Culture (Routledge Studies In Rhetoric And Communication Ser. #3)
by Jessica ReymanIn recent years we have witnessed a rising tension between the open architecture of the Internet and legal restrictions for online activities. The impact of digital recording technologies and distributed file sharing systems has forever changed the expectations of everyday users with regard to digital information. At the same time, however, U.S. Copyright Law has shown a decided trend toward more restrictions over what we are able to do with digital materials. As a result, a gap has emerged between the reality of copyright law and the social reality of our everyday activities. Through an analysis of the competing rhetorical frameworks about copyright regulation in a digital age, this book shows how the stories told by active parties in the debate shape our cultural understanding of what is and is not acceptable in the use of copyrighted works on digital networks. Reyman posits recent legal developments as sites of conflict between competing value systems in our culture: one of control, relying heavily on comparisons of intellectual property to physical property, and emphasizing ownership, theft, and piracy, and the other a value of community, implementing new concepts such as that of an intellectual "commons," and emphasizing exchange, collaboration, and responsibility to a public good.
The Rhetoric of Judging Well: The Conflicted Legacy of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (Rhetoric and Democratic Deliberation)
by David A. Frank And Francis J. Mootz IIIKnown as the “swing justice,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy provided the key vote determining which way the Supreme Court would decide on some of the most controversial cases in US history. Though criticized for his unpredictable rulings, Kennedy also gained a reputation for his opinion writing and, more so, for his legal rhetoric.This book examines Justice Kennedy’s legacy through the lenses of rhetoric, linguistics, and constitutional law. Essays analyze Kennedy’s opinion writing in landmark cases such as Romer v. Evans, Obergefell v. Hodges, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Using the Justice’s rhetoric as an entry point into his legal philosophy, this volume reveals Kennedy as a justice with contradictions and blind spots—especially on race, women’s rights, and immigration—but also as a man of empathy deeply committed to American citizenship.A sophisticated assessment of Justice Kennedy’s jurisprudence, this book provides new insight into Kennedy’s legacy on the Court and into the role that rhetoric plays in judging and in communicating judgment.In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume are Ashutosh Bhagwat, Elizabeth C. Britt, Martin Camper, Michael Gagarin, James A. Gardner, Eugene Garver, Leslie Gielow Jacobs, Sean Patrick O’Rourke, Susan E. Provenzano, Clarke Rountree, Leticia M. Saucedo, Darien Shanske, Kathryn Stanchi, and Rebecca E. Zietlow.
The Rhetoric of Pregnancy
by Marika SeigelIt is a truth widely acknowledged that if you’re pregnant and can afford one, you’re going to pick up a pregnancy manual. From What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Pregnancy for Dummies, these guides act as portable mentors for women who want advice on how to navigate each stage of pregnancy. Yet few women consider the effect of these manuals—how they propel their readers into a particular system of care or whether the manual they choose reflects or contradicts current medical thinking. Using a sophisticated rhetorical analysis, Marika Seigel works to deconstruct pregnancy manuals while also identifying ways to improve communication about pregnancy and healthcare. She traces the manuals’ evolution from early twentieth-century tomes that instructed readers to unquestioningly turn their pregnancy management over to doctors, to those of the women’s health movement that encouraged readers to engage more critically with their care, to modern online sources that sometimes serve commercial interests as much as the mother’s. The first book-length study of its kind, The Rhetoric of Pregnancy is a must-read for both users and designers of our prenatal systems—doctors and doulas, scholars and activists, and anyone interested in encouraging active, effective engagement.
The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical Documentation in Hazardous Environments (Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Society Series)
by Beverly A. SauerThe crash of an Amtrak train near Baltimore, the collapse of the Hyatt hotel in Kansas City, the incident at Three Mile Island, and other large-scale technological disasters have provided powerful examples of the ways that communication practices influence the events and decisions that precipitate a disaster. These examples have raised ethical questions about the responsibility of writers within agencies, epistemological questions about the nature of representation in science, and rhetorical questions about the nature of expertise and experience as grounds for judgments about risk. In The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical Documentation in Hazardous Environments, author Beverly Sauer examines how the dynamic uncertainty of the material environment affects communication in large regulatory industries. Sauer's analysis focuses specifically on mine safety, which provides a rich technical and historical context where problems of rhetorical agency, narrative, and the negotiation of meaning have visible and tragic outcomes. But the questions Sauer asks have larger implication for risk and safety: How does writing function in large regulatory industries? What can we learn from experience? Why is this experience so difficult to capture in writing? What information is lost when agencies rely on written documentation alone? Given the uncertainties, how can we work to improve communication in hazardous and uncertain environments? By exploring how individuals make sense of the material, technical, and institutional indeterminancies of their work in speech and gesture, The Rhetoric of Risk helps communicators rethink their frequently unquestioned assumptions about workplace discourse and the role of writers in hazardous worksites. It is intended for scholars and students in technical writing and communication, rhetoric, risk analysis and risk communication, as well as a wide range of engineering and technical fields concerned with risk, safety, and uncertainty.
The Rhetoric of Social Intervention: An Introduction
by Susan K. Opt Dr Mark A. GringAuthors Susan Opt and Mark Gring present the first-ever thorough exploration and discussion of the rhetoric of social intervention model [RSI] (initially conceived by rhetorical theorist William R. Brown) for today's students, scholars, and professionals. This unique communication-based model, compatible with traditional and non-traditional critical approaches, provides readers with a systemic framework for interpreting, analyzing, critiquing, and intervening in social and cultural change from a rhetorical perspective. It offers an easily accessible tool for critically reflecting upon the ongoing process of rhetorical intervention in people's interpretations of needs, relationships, and worldview. Readers will learn to use the RSI model to (1) reflect on their own symbolic natures, (2) identify rhetorical trends that generate social change, (3) critique social interventions, (4) initiate social interventions, and (5) anticipate the side effects of interventional choices. The Rhetoric of Social Intervention: An Introduction includes these key features: A detailed, step-by-step approach to help readers develop their skills in analyzing the communication patterns of social interventions and writing their analysis as a critical essayExamples and exercises to promote an interactive, transformative learning environment and encourage the development of critical thinking skills Service learning activities in every chapter that can be completed as individual, group, or class projects Review questions, exercises, and an "Under the Lens" feature in every chapter to help readers deepen their understanding Student and scholar essays that demonstrate the model's critical application Intended Audience: Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Theory, Persuasion, Public Address, Social Movements, and Advocacy Communication, the book's focus on criticism as a tool for interpreting social change makes it an excellent supplement for courses in other communication sub-specialties, such as public relations and advertising, and in related disciplines such as marketing, sociology, political science, management, and not-for-profit management. The book also offers communication practitioners a useful guide for the strategic planning of interventions.