Rethinking rhetorical field methods on a precarious planet

Abstract

This essay offers a narrative of rhetorical field methods and intertwined climate justice exigencies. We argue the emergence of and resistance toward rhetorical field methods responds to a growing ecological consciousness, reflecting a changing understanding of the relationship between human agency and the planet. Drawing upon fieldwork from our own research and other scholars in the field, we organize our argument in three related themes: culture, interconnection, and voice. Given the expansive objects, people, and practices rhetorical field methods engage, this approach offers one compelling way to listen to and amplify marginalized voices. Overall, this essay explores how rhetorical field methods have provided and might further offer a compelling set of principles and practices for resisting structures of ecological and social precarity for life on Earth.