| Chapter : | Introduction |
Volume Overview
The book is divided into three sections corresponding to the three theoretical threads described above. Each of the chapters draws primarily on one of the theoretical perspectives to highlight the dynamics of SIU and offer practical suggestions for movement building based on this analysis. Between the sections, we have included texts that capture moments from SIU, including interviews with organizers and speeches from local actions. Together, the analytical chapters and the narrative interludes between the sections provide a multilayered description of SIU that results in both theoretical and practical insights into movement building.
Rhetorical Strategies
The four chapters on rhetorical strategies each approach rhetoric from a different perspective. Chapters 1 and 2 consider the rhetorical resources available to advocates who want to craft messages that bring people together into a movement. Chapter 1, “How Identity and Myth May Impact a Movement,” uses events in Texas to explore how a strong sense of place and community ethos can be used to draw people together. The chapter offers strategies for how movement builders can invoke identity and myth to plan events and appeal to potential participants. Chapter 2, “Calling All Artists: Moving Climate Change From My Space to My Place” focuses on another rhetorical resource available to movement builders: creating participatory art experiences that constitute the local and personal implications of climate change. Using three illustrations of green art—environmentally themed cultural activism that is political, activist-oriented, and community-based—from SIU, this chapter argues that the coconstruction of green art can uniquely explain and connect participants to abstract environmental crises such as climate change due to their participatory, experiential nature.
Whereas these chapters explore rhetorical resources available to advocates, the next two chapters analyze the rhetorical choices made at local SIU sites. Reflections from these analyses can enable activists to make informed choices about how to manage common rhetorical challenges.