Abstract:

Critical rhetoric has begun to position researchers in locally situated and vernacular places. Yet, critical rhetoric has consistently relied on textual criticism as its primary method. In this dissertation, I propose the method of rhetorical ethnography as a new framework for participating in vernacular advocacy. Drawing from both contemporary rhetorical theory and the longstanding rhetorical concepts of invention, kairos , and phronesis , I provide guidelines for entering the field of argumentation to participate with vernacular organizations in their struggle against dominant logics of law, justice, and identity. An analysis of invention provides an overview of the controversy and argumentative strategies for advocacy. Kairos is understood as an examination of the location, context, and timeliness of advocacy. Throughout the research effort, rhetorical ethnographers strive toward the virtue of phronesis as learned and performed practical wisdom. To demonstrate the method, I offer my experiences with the harm reduction organization DanceSafe, which offers drug education and health awareness to youth at raves. Using the war on drugs as exigency, I map the organization's advocacy through each of the tropes of rhetorical ethnography.

In my analysis of invention, I critically examine the new media campaigns offered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), finding that they fail to use new media effectively to combat drug use. In the field, I analyze the kairos surrounding DanceSafe as it interacts with drug using youth, finding that the organization follows the decorum of raving culture, but also uses such locations as opportunities for health interventions. Under phronesis , I explore both the wisdom of volunteer advocacy and my personal growth as a researcher in the rave scene, discovering that DanceSafe fits into an ethic of social responsibility. Drawing from my fieldwork experiences, I find that harm reduction websites are frequently cited as primary sources of information exchange regarding drugs. As such, I extend my analysis of phronesis to one website, discovering that drug users seek to institutionalize drug use through online channels. Finally, I implicate rhetorical ethnography and its relevance for critical rhetoric, finding that the method offers a vantage point unfamiliar to traditional rhetorical analysis.