Rhetoric Of Agitation and Control Flashcards
Summarize chapters
What is rhetoric traditionally defined as
process by which speakers persuade audience members to strengthen or alter their beliefs or convince them to take a specific action
What is rhetoric defined in the book
the rationale of instrumental symbolic behavior
When is a message or act instrumental
If it contributes to the production of another message in action
What is an example of an instrumental action/message
Outstanding student essay instrumental to professor getting an A
A politician’s campaign appeals may be instrumental in persuading members of an audience to vote for her in the next election
UC Berkeley announced tthat students couldnt use traditional gathering places to distribute literature and recruit for off-campus political activities —> Pissed them off —> led protests —> behavior led to first major student revolt of 1960s (INSTRUMENTAL)
Instrumental behavior is categorized by which two behaviors
Expressive and Consummatory
What is expressive behavior
Not mean to incite or succeed in producing social change
EXAMPLE - Carpenter’s exclamation when he or she strikes his or her thumb
What is consummatory behavior
when it is the final step to satisfying a need
…
no other behavior is necessary to satisfy the need
EX~ the constituent’s vote in an election is consummatory
or
professor’s assignment to a grade is consummatory
Define ideological statements
elaboration of rationalizations and stereotypes into a consistent pattern that details and explains the group’s goals
EXAMPLE ~ Capitalism is an evil system
Define rhetorical statements
ex ~ capitalism is an evil system that should be replaced by one that is fair to all individuals
When is behavior symbolic
when it has a referential function in which it stands for something else
example ~
Words may be
un/intentionally rhetorical
traditional definition for AGITATION
persistent, long term advocacy for social change , where resistance to the change is also persistent and long term
** : Agitation is a style of persuasion characterized by a highly emotional argument based on the citation of grievances and alleged violation of moral principals
Both definitions not fully defining agitation, each definition has an aspect that the other is lacking,
Definition of agitation according to the book —>
Exists when… ppl outside normal decision-making establishments… advocate significant social change… and encounter a degree of resistance within the establishment such as to require more than the normal discursive means of persuasion
What is control?
the response of the decision making establishment to agitation
What is social change?
an alteration to how a society self regulates
Significant social change
Hard to define significant, what may be significant to some may not be significant to all
People outside the normal decision making establishment
Establishment is relative
Depends on where you are at
Many countries have 1 dictator with all the power
Other countries has a small body of decision makers who hold legitimate power of the organization
How is power distributed within the organization
1- legislation
power of deciding policy
2- enforcement
power of administering negative and positive sanctions to those who violate or observe the policies
Resistance such as to require more than the normal discursive means of persuasion
Agitators must use forms of persuasion beyond verbal appeals.
Agitation exists when a movement for significant social change meets such resistance within the establishment that agitators must use more than the normal discursive means of persuasion to call attention to their grievances and to achieve their goals
why does agitation occur
when an individual or group has a significant grievance other than challenging the social order by using whatever means of persuasion are available or necessary
what are the 2 kinds of agitation
agitation based on vertical deviance
&&
agitation based on lateral deviance
what is agitation based on vertical deviance
agitators accept the value system of the establishment but dispute the distribution of benefits or power within that value system
More likely to be understood ideologically
EXAMPLE ~ workers within the american labor movement stayed in the establishment but disagreed over fund distribution
what is agitation based on lateral deviance
when agitators dispute the value system itself and seek to change or replace it with a competing value system
issues are less direct and more complex
ex ~ DESTORY THE SYSTEM
Control ~
When an establishment gains power its major task from that point forward is to maintain its dominant position
Establishments have advantage over agitators because…
their superior poweer and their ability to adjust to activts’s tactics
establishments has control of language through its ability to name and to define what is correct in society, to define nature of authority, to outline the rules of society, and to specific terms under which members o fsocoeity must obey the rules
2 aspects of goal orientation
structure and goal orientation
what is goal orientation
set of expressed or implied purposes like self-perpetuation , maintenance of a value system , gathering information
explain ideologiy
a set of statments that define the unique characteristics of the organization and express the unique set of beliefs to which the member subscribe
Social organizations distribute 3 things
structure
goal orientation
social power
research generated what generalizations about power…
1 - need for social power in some form is almost a universal attribute western culture
2- an individual or a group seldom gives up power voluntarily to another individual or group
3- the exercise of social power is satisfying in itself to most individuals in westrn culture
what are the 5 types of power
reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, referent power, expert power
what is reward pwer
more rewards the first gives, the more influenced the 2nd one is of the reward power
rewards can be by both withdrawal or adding
ex: dad can punish or bribe daughter
what is coercive power
influence a group w/ threat or punishment
ex~ scam call i got
what is legitimate power
type of power exists when one individual or group is perceived by another as having an assigned position - like charter or social contract - of wielding influence
ex - elected officials
what is referent powr
individual influenced is attracted to and identifies with that individual or group. power coming from having a desire to be identified with a group
what is expert power
when one individual or group thinks that another has superior knowledge or skill in a particular area in whhich influence is to be exerted
all 5 powers can be reduced to reward and ….
coercive power
how is power likely to be distributed in agitation and control
1- estbalishment holds legitmate power
explain rumor
occurs when info is passed from one individual to another w/o official verification/denial or when info is passed from one individual to another in the absence of any trustworthy official source
can occur when either those in position to know remain silent or when those in a position to know the truth cannot be relied on to tell it
3 processes of the course of a rumor’s life
leveling - many dettails get lost as the initial story gets told and retold
sharpening - details arent eliminated through leveling are exaggerated
3rd = assimilation/contrast - individuals unintentionally distort the rumor to make it fit more neatly into their own system of beliefs and values
what are strategies
general choices available to dissenters& establishment
what are tactics`
more specific choices governed by strategies
what are the 8 strategies of agitation
Petition Promulgation Solidification Polarization Nonviolent Resistance Escalation/Confrontation Gandhi and Guerilla Revolution
What is petition
Normal means to propose change, present establishment with proposal
Pet involves tactics like selection of appeals, target audiences, types+sources of evidence, appropriate tone of message, style of language
what is promulgation
strat where agitators publicly proclaim their goals and it includes tactics designed to win public support for the agitators’ position
types of of tactics employed - exploit mass media, use tech, use internet, info picketing, posters, bumpstick, paint message, dist handbills+leaflets, protest meetings
media owners are
estbalishment members who have specific ideas on how news ought to be reported
What is solidification
occurs within agitating group, serve promul & polarizing functs, to unite followers, to create a sense of community that may be vital to movement success
tactics used in solid
plays, funerals+rituals, songs, art+poetry, slogans, comics, bumpstick, expressive esoteric symbols, clothing, creation of positive terms, consciousness-raising groups, in group publications
what is polarization
assumes that any1 not with the group is with etablishmet
uses tactics to move individual into agitation ranks
what is nonviolent resistance
popular strategy
employs physical presence
uses physical and/or economic absence
ex: agitators violate laws they consider unjust… creative disordr… sit ins, rent strikes, boycotts, fasts, blocking entrances to buildings, chaining self 2 tree
nonviolent resistance energy directed towards elminating policy not peeps, recruit peeps instead
requires persistence
what is escalation/ confontation
based on the belief that when the establishment becomes sufficiently apprehensive, it will over prep for agitation, overprep will confuse establishment + estab turn on themselves.
tactics:
- contrast= lead establishment 2 believe large group against, use of rumor + underground press
- threatened disruption = rumors + underground press cause tension w/ attitudes & objectives of the agitators which force establishment to prep to combat deliberate disregard of laws and property destruction
- nonnegotiable demands - no room for establishment to move, increase battle between groups
- nonverbally offensive = dress in strange ways, display +carry posters of establishment values, flip ppl off
- verbal obscene deprecation = fuck lbj, fuck daley
- nonverbal obscenity= throw pisspoop, spit on popo,
- token violence = minor attacks to reps of estab
