ABSTRACT
Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it. There are as many senses of what it means to be “active” as an academic professional as there are those who so engage. In this second edition of Activism and Rhetoric, the co-editors and contributors seek to explain who and what they are and how they perform as activists without setting boundaries on their roles. Theory grounds rhetorical practice, whether in the classroom, our institutions, the community, or in public spheres beyond the community with a broader potential to influence thought and action. The phrase is a neologism constructed to identify “scholar activists” across the academy. Whether from communication studies, media, rhetoric and composition, or another discipline, scholars are engaged in conveying what activist performance means to them. Critical-rhetorical ethnographers engage in a vernacular organization’s ideals and events, traveling with them to picket, to protest, to petition, or to perform.
