On May 31, 1897, William James, one of America's most influential philosophers and psychologists, delivered the first civic oration of his career. The principal orator at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw memorial in Boston, James did what commemorative speakers are not supposed to do. He chose to be confrontational and divisive in a…

This essay offers a theory of collective rhetoric derived from a case study of a central rhetorical event of the second wave of feminism, the Redstockings' 1969 abortion speak-out. A central rhetorical function of consciousness-raising was the collective development of experiential knowledge, and I propose that collective rhetorics are…

Examines several books on the emergence and impact of the New Left which, as a collective resource, may give new direction and impetus to the rhetorical study of movements. Culls recurring themes that might inform the next phase of movement scholarship. Advocates this new scholarship as both due and promising. (SR)

Examines the rhetoric of "popular" atheists in the U.S. and argues that their rhetoric possesses distinctive features that are the natural results of existential failure. (MH)

Points out that fire inscriptions, an institutional form of ephemeral art in Israeli youth movement ceremonials, have symbolic meaning and rhetorical effects rooted in secular European youth movement culture as well as in traditional Judaism. Considers that fire inscriptions symbolically mediate these two cultural strands and serve as…