By Elenore Long
Offering a comparative analysis of community-literacy studies, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Local Publics traces common values in diverse accounts of "ordinary people going public." Elenore Long offers a rich theoretical framework for reviewing emergent community-literacy projects, examines pedagogies that educators can use to help students to go public in the course of their rhetorical education at college, and adapts local-public literacies to college curricula. A glossary and annotated bibliography provide the basis for further inquiry and research.
"Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Local Publics is the perfect entry to the exuberant practice of literacy in community. It brings contemporary research to life—in people, stories, and purposes. And it documents the amazingly diverse ways ordinary people go public."
—Linda Flower, Carnegie Mellon
"Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Local Publics begins to articulate a history for community literacy studies, and such a history is essential for helping us figure out where we are going with this area of inquiry. Long provides a new set of tools as well, and her local publics framework, in particular, will prove valuable to researchers and teachers alike."
—Jeff Grabill, Michigan State
