Patricia Arneson, "Communicative Engagement and Social Liberation: Justice Will Be Made"
English | 2013 | ISBN: 161147650X | PDF | pages: 233 | 1.2 mb
Communicative Engagement and Social Liberation: Justice Will Be Made recognizes limitations in contemporary understandings that separate history and rhetoric. Drawing together ontological and epistemic perspectives to allow for a fuller appreciation of communication that shapes lived-experience, facets of the two academic disciplines are united in acts of communicative engagement.
Communicative engagement draws from Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka's writings on the human condition; extends the communicative praxis of philosopher Calvin O. Schrag by reuniting theoria-poíesis-praxis, which has been separated across time; expands Ramsey Eric Ramsey's philosophy of liberation that provides ground for vitalizing social liberation; and includes the work of philosophers including Hans-Georg Gadamer, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Michel Foucault as well as philosophers of communication including Lenore Langsdorf, Michael J. Hyde, Corey Anton, and others who guide a recollection of the significance of poíesis in human communication.
Three courageous white women who dedicated their lives to being out-of-place and speaking out-of-turn to advance social liberation for black Americans, altering the way humanity was understood by members of society at large, provide concrete evidence of these philosophical ideas. Myrtilla Miner established one of the first schools for young black women in antebellum Washington, D.C., supporting the students' efforts to become teachers. Mary White Ovington, one of the founding members of the NAACP, dedicated her life to improving material conditions for black Americans, particularly in the areas of housing and employment. Jessie Daniel Ames, in concert with other women, formed The Association of Southern Women to Prevent Lynching (ASWPL). Using their newly acquired right to vote, women pressured local law enforcement officials across the South to actively protect the rights of black men. The contributions of each woman is ongoing in organizations that continue their work.
Our technological culture has become terrifyingly effective in suppressing poíesis as a creative life force. Drawing upon the lived-experiences of three historical figures provides extensive concrete evidence of a philosophy of communicative engagement. These life stories assist readers in recognizing the fundamental manner in which creativity (poíesis) can potentially enable people to obtain liberation from restrictive social circumstances - and inspire them to do likewise.
