Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit

Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nelson, Chad M.
Language:English
Published: Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK 2019
Subjects:
Communication
Rhetorical Criticism
Ideology Critique
Education Policy
Urban Spaces
Neoliberalism
School Closure
Latino Communication Studies
Detroit
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1546444881229694
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-bgsu15464448812296942021-08-03T07:09:26Z Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit Nelson, Chad M. Communication Rhetorical Criticism Ideology Critique Education Policy Urban Spaces Neoliberalism School Closure Latino Communication Studies Detroit In February 2012, Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced the closure ofSouthwestern High School in the City of Detroit. I argue in this dissertation that the rhetoricaldiscourses used by policymakers to justify the school closure represent a neoliberal restructuringof the urban environment and social relations in the city, particularly for Latina/o Detroit.Applying the critical methodologies of ideology rhetorical criticism and a dialectical approach toculture, I analyze the ideological mystification of three neoliberal logics—crisis, instrumentalrationality, and innovation—in education and urban policy texts in relation to the culturalsensibilities and experiences of the Latina/o community in Southwest Detroit. Critique of therhetorical features of these neoliberal logics reveals mystification of neoliberalism is not only amatter of inducing audience cooperation, but also enforcement that there is no alternative to thecurrent arrangement of education politics. Situated within an urban crisis situation, a neoliberalpublic vocabulary confines the school’s value to its financial output and in the entelechial pursuitof perfecting school closure criteria, technocrats and ordinary people are compelled by aterministic compulsion to carry out the implications of instrumental rationality. As peopleparticipate in market valuations of school spaces and colorblind market argumentative criteria,the neoliberalization of school and education meanings is mystified through a rhetorical processof enclosure that entails closing off, seizing, and repurposing ways of perceiving and acting inurban spaces that are irreducible to market terms. Consequently, the Latina/o community inSouthwest Detroit is dispossessed of a communal resource and their cultural sensibilities andexperiences negated as third persona in the school closure discourse. Blurring the line betweenpersuasion and coercion, I have concluded that these rhetorical features are systemically violentin that they normalize an inequitable status quo and silence victims of the structural violence ofschool closings. I also conclude that commoning represents a vernacular cultural practice forLatina/o students in Southwest Detroit to struggle against neoliberalism and toward locatingnon-commodified communal values in order to claim a right to the city not only for themselves,but for all Detroit Public School (DPS) students. 2019-04-22 English text Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1546444881229694 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1546444881229694 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Communication
Rhetorical Criticism
Ideology Critique
Education Policy
Urban Spaces
Neoliberalism
School Closure
Latino Communication Studies
Detroit
spellingShingle Communication
Rhetorical Criticism
Ideology Critique
Education Policy
Urban Spaces
Neoliberalism
School Closure
Latino Communication Studies
Detroit
Nelson, Chad M.
Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
author Nelson, Chad M.
author_facet Nelson, Chad M.
author_sort Nelson, Chad M.
title Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
title_short Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
title_full Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
title_fullStr Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
title_full_unstemmed Neoliberalism and the Rhetoric of School Closure in Latina/o Detroit
title_sort neoliberalism and the rhetoric of school closure in latina/o detroit
publisher Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2019
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1546444881229694
work_keys_str_mv AT nelsonchadm neoliberalismandtherhetoricofschoolclosureinlatinaodetroit
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