Omar Swartz – författare

This book features contemporary critical and Marxist theories of resistance, domination, knowledge, and systems of ideological control. It offers a balanced discussion of classical and modern theories of rhetoric, as well as critical theory.

This book features contemporary critical and Marxist theories of resistance, domination, knowledge, and systems of ideological control. It offers a balanced discussion of classical and modern theories of rhetoric, as well as critical theory.

A graduate course in composition studies would make good use of the book because of the author's very careful and thorough comparison of composition studies and speech communication. . . . .The book does indeed make an important contribution to the field; if students speak or write, what should they speak or write about? Scholarship of Social Influence offers important suggestions for empowering students not just as speakers or writers, but as citizens as well. --Bill Bolin, Texas State University When human knowledge becomes historicized and socialized, the distinctions between our public, academic, and instructional personae fade. In place of such traditional personae, a new identity is encouraged for scholars in the field of communication. Scholarship of Social Influence redescribes our understanding of theory, criticism, and pedagogy with the vocabulary of neo-pragmatism and successfully argues that rhetorical scholars can assume a cultural importance in life. This ingenious volume describes where philosophy ends and application begins and will be well-received by researchers, upper-level students and professionals in rhetoric, communication studies, cultural studies, and sociology.

Social Justice and Communication Scholarship explores the role of communication in framing and contributing to issues of social justice. This collection, a first on the subject of communication and social justice, investigates the theoretical and practical ways in which communication scholarship can enable inclusive and equitable communities within American society. It analyzes ways in which to construct communities that protect individual freedom while ensuring equality and dignity to everyone. In this unique anthology, Swartz brings together both senior scholars and junior colleagues to represent diverse applications of communication to issues of social justice. He supports partisan scholarship in order to revitalize intellectual activity and social commitment toward creating a progressive society. As a result; the volume serves the heuristic function of posing new research questions.In addition to its relevance within the field of communication, Social Justice and Communication Scholarship will be of interest in many of the humanities and social sciences, as research on the theme of social justice transcends disciplinary boundaries. The volume is particularly well suited for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in communication, rhetoric and composition, journalism, American studies, and cultural studies.

Social Justice and Communication Scholarship explores the role of communication in framing and contributing to issues of social justice. This collection, a first on the subject of communication and social justice, investigates the theoretical and practical ways in which communication scholarship can enable inclusive and equitable communities within American society. It analyzes ways in which to construct communities that protect individual freedom while ensuring equality and dignity to everyone. In this unique anthology, Swartz brings together both senior scholars and junior colleagues to represent diverse applications of communication to issues of social justice. He supports partisan scholarship in order to revitalize intellectual activity and social commitment toward creating a progressive society. As a result; the volume serves the heuristic function of posing new research questions.In addition to its relevance within the field of communication, Social Justice and Communication Scholarship will be of interest in many of the humanities and social sciences, as research on the theme of social justice transcends disciplinary boundaries. The volume is particularly well suited for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in communication, rhetoric and composition, journalism, American studies, and cultural studies.

Through careful analysis of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Omar Swartz argues that Kerouac's influence on American society is largely rhetorical. Kerouac's significance as a cultural icon can be best understood, Swartz asserts, in terms of traditional rhetorical practices and principles. To Swartz, Kerouac is a rhetor who symbolically reconstructs his world and offers arguments and encouragements for others to follow. Swartz proposes that On the Road constitutes a ""rhetorical vision,"" a reality-defining discourse suggesting alternative possibilities for growth and change. Swartz asserts that the reader of Kerouac's On the Road becomes capable of responding to the larger, confusing culture in a strategic manner. Kerouac's rhetorical vision of an alternative social and cultural reality contributes to the identity of localized cultures within the United States.

First published in 1999, this volume was offered as a response to an increasingly hostile and alienating political world and speaks for the vision of libertarian socialism (anarchism). Building upon James Arnt Aune’s Rhetoric and Marxism and the author’s The Rise of Rhetoric, this book differs by stressing the social over the communicative / theoretical. Omar Swartz presents a book of applied communication and advances social philosophy from a communication perspective rather than communication theory per se. It will find an audience amongst those in social and communication studies as well as the cultural studies movement, along with left-wing political parties.

First published in 1999, this volume was offered as a response to an increasingly hostile and alienating political world and speaks for the vision of libertarian socialism (anarchism). Building upon James Arnt Aune’s Rhetoric and Marxism and the author’s The Rise of Rhetoric, this book differs by stressing the social over the communicative / theoretical. Omar Swartz presents a book of applied communication and advances social philosophy from a communication perspective rather than communication theory per se. It will find an audience amongst those in social and communication studies as well as the cultural studies movement, along with left-wing political parties.

Ethics in Contact Rhetoric re-orients communication theory by centering touch and de-centering symbolic acts. Inspired by MLK’s tradition of nonviolent power, a contact orientation highlights the incarnate and immediate ground of communication ethics. Ethical interactions are defined as bio-relational dances arcing steps of nurture, respect, justice, and too often, violence. Centering humanity’s physical mutuality is a vital move today. Communication is a thoroughly interactive art, but the West’s ancient “instrumental” tradition of rhetoric and its accompanying utilitarian ethic valorize individual agency over joint action. This book re-balances rhetorical theory by enabling critique of embodied relational patterns. Special emphasis is placed on engaging material injustice and discerning the role of rhetoric in social transformation. Critical case studies demonstrate contact rhetoric’s rich heuristic and diverse applications.

Ethics in Contact Rhetoric re-orients communication theory by centering touch and de-centering symbolic acts. Inspired by MLK’s tradition of nonviolent power, a contact orientation highlights the incarnate and immediate ground of communication ethics. Ethical interactions are defined as bio-relational dances arcing steps of nurture, respect, justice, and too often, violence. Centering humanity’s physical mutuality is a vital move today. Communication is a thoroughly interactive art, but the West’s ancient “instrumental” tradition of rhetoric and its accompanying utilitarian ethic valorize individual agency over joint action. This book re-balances rhetorical theory by enabling critique of embodied relational patterns. Special emphasis is placed on engaging material injustice and discerning the role of rhetoric in social transformation. Critical case studies demonstrate contact rhetoric’s rich heuristic and diverse applications.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, rooted in an unarticulated patriarchy in the Supreme Court’s historical narrative, represents an untimely expression of deeply religious and conservative hostility towards women. Anti-Dobbs: An Interdisciplinary Polemic offers a contrasting viewpoint, asserting that abortion prohibitions are inherently anti-woman and that no valid arguments for restricting abortion exist without demeaning women. The abortion issue is a shadow cast by the law over a more fundamental question: the status and recognition of women as human beings and equal citizens. The book argues that expansive abortion rights are fundamental to women’s equality and asserts that Dobbs was profoundly wrong, both legally and morally. Based on over 20 years of the author’s experience teaching a course entitled "Law and Diversity in U.S. History," the work is a critical response and a polemic advocating for the equality of women who have been reduced by the Supreme Court to little more than "fetal containers."Anti-Dobbs: An Interdisciplinary Polemic "is a responsible book, a voice that speaks from authenticity, a brave voice without filters, with raw realities and overwhelming strength. A book that has a level of rawness that makes us question our arrival in the world. It is a wake-up call, and for those of us who are awake and if being human belongs to us, the question ‘what are we going to do about it?’ is brutal. I want to do something about it."—Mónica Salmón, clinical psychotherapist and best-selling author."With this book, author Omar Swartz offers a deep dive into the issues surrounding the abortion debate in America after the devastating Dobbs decision of the Supreme Court. Swartz does a masterful job at providing a comprehensive context for the debate and the decision. He exposes a profound, systemic hatred of women, and attempts to utterly control them by the dangerous right-wing culture warriors, that has now actually moved to the level of state-supported misogyny. Women have died now, since the Dobbs decision, because medical personnel fear being jailed for carrying out the Hippocratic Oath they solemnly took to become doctors. Women have a powerful, compassionate, and knowledgeable champion against the ravages of right-wing misogyny and cruelty in author Swartz. He offers here an incisive, well-researched argument in support of protection for women at levels even beyond the deeply troubling issue of abortion. These right-wing culture warriors will not carry the future, in part thanks to the noble efforts of this brilliant author."—Sharon Coggan, author of Sacred Disobedience: A Jungian Analysis of the Saga of Pan and the Devil."Arguably, the greatest contribution of this work is that it helps to provide support and analysis across fields with its synthesis of ideas and arguments. While there have been other studies to examine the political or social aspects of Dobbs, none that I am aware of have so eloquently blended legal analysis with historical foundations and religious and social critiques to provides a much fuller picture of Dobbs itself, and also how it fits into the overall lack of equality faced by women in the United States."—From the reviewers’ report.