Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Conference Presentations
    • PCA/ACA Conference Presentation 2022
    • PCAS/ACAS Presentation 2021
    • SEACS 2021 Presentation
    • South Atlantic MLA Conference 2022
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • January 11th: More Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Audience & Purpose
    • January 23rd: Résumés and Cover Letters
      • Duty Format for Résumés
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • January 25th: More on Résumés and Cover Letters
    • January 9th: Introduction to the Class
    • Major Assignments
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • August 24th: Introduction to the Class
    • August 31st: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Fall 2022)
      • Rhetoric of Fear
    • November 16th: Voice and Other Nebulous Writing Terms
      • Finding Dominant Rhetorical Appeals
    • November 2nd: Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation
    • November 30th: Words and Word Classes
    • November 9th: Cohesive Rhythm
    • October 12th: Choosing Adjectivals
    • October 19th: Choosing Nominals
    • October 26th: Stylistic Variations
    • October 5th: Midterm Exam
    • September 14th: Verb is the Word!
    • September 21st: Coordination and Subordination
    • September 28th: Form and Function
    • September 7th: Sentence Patterns
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 12th: Knoblauch. Ch. 4 and Ch. 5
    • April 19th: Jacques Derrida’s Positions
    • April 26th:  Feminisms and Rhetorics
    • April 5th: Knoblauch. Ch. 3 and More Constitutive Rhetoric
    • February 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)
    • February 1st: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 & 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • February 22nd: St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
    • February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class
    • January 11th: Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Plato’s Phaedrus
    • January 25th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 15th: Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method
    • March 1st: Knoblauch. Ch. 1 and 2
    • March 22nd: Mary Wollstonecraft
    • March 29th: Second Wave Feminist Rhetoric
    • May 3rd: Knoblauch. Ch. 6, 7, and “Afterword”
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • ENGL/COMM/WRDS: The Rhetoric of Fear
    • January 10th: Introduction to the Class
    • January 17th: Scapegoats & Conspiracies
    • January 24th: The Rhetoric of Fear and Fallacies Part 1
    • Major Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213-110: Science, Technology, and Society
    • August 22nd: Science and Technology from a Humanistic Perspective
    • August 24th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • August 29th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • August 31st: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • December 5th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • November 14th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 16th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 21st: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 28th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 30th: Violence in Video Games
    • November 7th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes Ch. 1-17
    • November 9th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes, Ch. 18-26
    • October 12th: Lies Economics Tells
    • October 17th: Brief Histories of Medicine, Salerno, and Galen
    • October 19th: Politicizing Science and Medicine
    • October 24th: COVID-19 Facial Covering Rhetoric
    • October 26th: Wells, H. G. Time Machine. Ch. 1-5
    • October 31st: Wells, H. G. The Time Machine Ch. 6-The End
    • October 3rd: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 12th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 19th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Prefaces and Ch. 1
    • September 26th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 2
    • September 28th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • September 7th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 5 and 6
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • April 13th: Virtually ‘Real’ Environments
    • April 20th: Rhetoric/Composition Defines New Media
    • April 27th: Sub/Cultural Politics, Hegemony, and Agency
    • April 6th: Capitalist Realism
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
    • March 16th: Identity Politics
    • March 23rd: Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality
    • March 2nd: Foundational Thinkers in Cultural Studies
    • March 30th: Hyperreality
    • March 9th: Globalization & Postmodernism
    • May 4th: Wrapping Up The Semester
      • Jodi Dean “The The Illusion of Democracy” & “Communicative Capitalism”
      • Social Construction of Sexuality
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • A Practical Editing Situation
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Fordism/Taylorism
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Isaac Asimov’s “A Cult of Ignorance”
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire
  • Video Games & American Culture
    • April 14th: Phallocentrism
    • April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism
    • April 7th: Video Games and Conquest
    • Assignments for Video Games & American Culture
    • February 10th: Aesthetics and Culture
    • February 17th: Narrative and Catharsis
    • February 24th: Serious Games
    • February 3rd: More History of Video Games
    • January 13th: Introduction to the course
    • January 20th: Introduction to Video Game Studies
    • January 27th: Games & Culture
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
    • March 24th: Realism, Interpretation(s), and Meaning Making
    • March 31st: Feminist Perspectives and Politics
    • March 3rd: Risky Business?

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 255F
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology » January 22nd: The Politics of Technology

January 22nd: The Politics of Technology

Announcements

  • Latinx Honor Society (open to all undergraduates)
  • EGSA Conference
    UNC Charlotte, Student Union
    Fri., 1/31 (Time TBA…most likely all day)

Plan for the Day

  • Discuss Winner’s Ch. 1 for 20-30 mins (January 15th)
    • Then, Ch. 2 for 20-30 mins (below)
  • Online Presence and evolution of the assignment
  • Discuss Technology and Yourself, a Reflective Essay
  • Back to Winner (time permitting)
  • Looking ahead to Monday’s (1/27) writing discussion

Chapter 2: “Do Artifacts have Politics”

This chapter is often anthologized and (even more frequently) cited in STS (Science, Technology, and Society studies). We could fix our attention to many areas or try (and fail) to cover everything. I suggest we aim to discover what Winner means about “the politics” related to technology.

  • Technology in authoritarian or democratic societies: technologies adhere to the values of the societies from which they come.
    e.g. In (supposedly) democratic society technologies “are described as democratizing, liberating forces” (p. 20)  
    • What technologies could you argue for or against their democratizing or, alternatively, oppressive potential?
  • Winner wants us “to see the social circumstances of [technological] development, deployment, and use” (p. 21).
  • Notice Winner’s definition of politics: “arrangements of power and authority in human associations as well as the activities that take place within those arrangements” (p. 21)
    • The above definition is different for capital-P Politics, which refers mainly to the pathetic political parties we (and other cultures) endure.
    • Consider lowercase-p politics as “office politics,” “school/academic politics,” “dating politics,” “gender politics,” etc.
  • Robert Moses and engineering a racist and classist landscape (pp. 22-23).
    • Of course, this is only one example of racist urban planning…it’s not like we could find other examples…
      • “New Deal public works projects were of no help as they built swimming pools everywhere in the district except where black people lived” (Brentin Mock, 28 May 2014, para. 7).
      • More on “Pools, Picnics, and Protests” (Emily Sachs Pratt Chat blog).
      • “Redlining, the purposeful process of denying groups equal access to loans or similar services, kept African Americans in the 1930s (and beyond) from acquiring loans for houses, creating segregated communities that affect wealth transfer to this day” (Toscano, 2020, p. 2).
      • See also Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. New York: Liveright, 2017)
  • “Technological change expresses a panoply of human motives, not the least of which is the desire of some to have dominion over others…” (p. 24).
  • Technological advancements and iron worker union busting in 1880s Chicago (p. 24).
  • Planned obsolescence: the process of manufacturing goods that will eventually become outdated or “worn out” because of use, fashion, and/or updates (e.g. Windows 3.1, 95, 98, …, 7, 10).
  • Paying attention to just the functions of technologies is an imperfect/inadequate critique of technology (p. 25).
    • Ignoring the plight of disabled persons…oversight or willful ignorance?
    • “Looking at prosthetics as socially constructed, their development responds to an unconscious (and also conscious) demand to not see disabled/disfigured individuals. The glass eye or face implant does not just allow the individual to hide disfigurement; it also allows the public to ignore both otherness and events that led to disfiguring injuries” (Toscano, 2020, p. 22)
  • “The technological deck has been stacked in advance to favor certain social interests and that some people are bound to receive a better hand than others” (p. 26)
    • In what other social situations can we say the proverbial “deck” is stacked?
  • Why some people hate tomatoes–biological engineering (p. 26).
    • Perhaps this is why so much salt and sugar is added to food (beyond what might be sufficient for preserving foods).
  • “Scientific knowledge, technological innovation, and corporate profit reinforce each other in deeply entrenched patterns, patterns that bear the unmistakable stamp of political and economic power” (p. 27).
    • What are some examples?
    • “U.S. land-grant colleges and universities [have] tended to favor the interests of large agribusiness concerns” (p. 27).
    • If government funds (tax dollars) go to universities R&D that create new technologies, don’t we own these technologies?
    • Why do private companies seem to be the only ones profiting?
  • “Societies choose structures for technologies that influence” social activities (p. 28)
    • We can also say the culture reinforces what “systems” are appropriate.
    • Who structures the built environment?
    • Also, “different people are situated differently and possess unequal degrees of power as well as unequal levels of awareness” (pp. 28-29).
  • Engels: authority and subordination are part of all social organizations.
    • Yikes! Who wants to touch that argument?
    • Engel’s (via Winner): “The roots of unavoidable authoritarianism are…deeply implanted in the human involvement with science and technology” (pp. 30-31).
  • “[S]ome kinds of technology require their social environments to be structured in a particular way in much the same sense that an automobile requires wheels in order to move” (p. 32).
  • “If we examine social patterns that characterize the environments of technical systems, we find certain devices and systems almost invariably linked to specific ways of organizing power and authority” (p. 33).
    • When you examine technologies, are you thinking about the political power structure that produces the technology?
  • Chandler: the politics of 19th- and 20th-century technologies–“a large-scale centralized, hierarchical organization administered by highly skilled managers” (p. 34).
    • What are the patterns of hierarchy or control in general in the organizations with which you engage? Think about pages 35-38.
    • Winner, writing in 1986 and citing Silk & Vogel from 1976, is quite prophetic when he brings up “patterns of authority that work effectively in the corporation become for business[people] ‘the desirable model against which to compare political and economic relationships in the rest of society'” (p. 37).
    • Then, in 2010, we get Citizens United v. FEC…
  • Great observation: “In our times people are often willing to make drastic changes in the way they live to accommodate technological innovation while at the same time resisting similar kinds of changes justified on political grounds” (p. 39).
    • What do you think? If we assume Winner is addressing freedom–after all, he just got finished discussing hierarchy and authoritarianism–what technologies do we accept that, in effect, reduce our freedoms?
    • If no technology can exist without being compatible with “the system,” what, then, is THE system?

Question to Consider from Chapter 2 (time permitting)

These questions come directly from the bulleted questions above. Pick one (1) and briefly discuss it. Then, be ready to share your thoughts with the class.

  • What technologies could you argue for or against their democratizing or, alternatively, oppressive potential.
  • What are other social situations (other than technological production) where the proverbial “deck” is stacked? Think relationships, organizations, socio-economics, etc.
  • What’s the pattern–the “unmistakable stamp of political and economic power”–of video games? Aren’t they an innocuous technology?
  • Who structures the built environment?
  • Yes-No-Maybe so…
    Consider Engels: Authority and subordination are part of all social organizations.
  • What are the patterns of hierarchy or control in general in the organizations with which you engage? Think about pages 35-38.
  • Comment on Winner’s Great Observation above.

Next Class

We’re going to have our first writing reflection discussion on Monday (1/27). I’d like us to focus on writing as thinking. Consider how writing is a map of one’s thinking. We’ll also talk more about the first assignment, the Technology and yourself reflective essay.

David Noble’s The Religion of Technology is coming up soon…

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