Rhetoric, Technology, Culture Spring 2011

Courtney, your focus on Blythe’s article and his claims about agency and change in particular create an opportunity to think about individual acts, acts of social justice, and institutional change. I think that your existential question of whether an individual can in fact inspire change on a large level is one that constantly comes up in terms of citizen involvement and influence in government. As you note, it is hard to know whether or not one person’s vote makes a huge difference later on. When you discussed Rosa Park’s actions and the change that she sparked, it occurred to me that using Rosa Parks as an example enlightens this question further. I think that what we miss when we wonder whether or not individual acts can create large social change is exactly what Blythe tries to point out in this article. He explains that we are part of ecology that works together and inherently influences each other: “Individuals seldom act autonomously. Remember that actions are constrained by the systems in which we work” (183). By thinking about Rosa Parks as a member of a particular functioning institution (Civil Rights Movement), it is possible to understand that individual acts are never really “individual” as they are always influenced by and working alongside the acts of the group. What many people do not know is that Rosa Park’s decision to stay in her seat on the bus was pre-planned by a group of black activists. In fact, they had wanted to use Claudette Colvin, a young black girl who was arrested when she refused to give up her seat, to make the social point that they did with Rosa Parks, but Colvin got pregnant and was no longer seen by the activists as a good representative. This allows us to think about how “individual” acts are always linked to the acts of others, and this makes it possible to create the change. Also, this brings up the question of the “right moment” (think about White’s use of Kairos in Kaironomia). In addition to relying on the environment in which they occur, the success of individual acts also relies on strategy in regards to factors like time.

There were a few problems with the mic and keeping the volume of the different sections of your podcast at a consistent level.