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Why
study ad
vocacy?
The s
tudy
A reg
ional rh
etoric fo
advocac
r
y
i
n
A p p a la c
Im p l i
hia
cations
for
rhetoric
al theor
y

A Regional Rhetoric for Advocacy in

Appalachia

Being Appalachian

Why Study Advocacy

Efforts?
To produce proactive transformations of
discourse instead of reactive campaigns
against the constant tide of destructive
Appalachian stereotypes.
To design a regional rhetoric that reconsiders
definitions of Appalachia, Appalachian identity,
and the Appalachian problem, contributes to
the rhetorical agency of Appalachians, and
provides a new model of rhetorical invention
that considers the inseparable relationship
between region and identity.

Research Questions
How do Appalachian advocacy organizations and
campaigns rhetorically construct Appalachia using the
three topoi for solutions to the Appalachian problem:
assimilationist claims, preservationist claims, and
abandonment claims?
How does working from these three topoi construct
Appalachian identity to the detriment or benefit of
Appalachians?
How can Appalachian advocates respond to these three
topoi without reiterating stereotypical tropes of
Appalachia, meeting the publics where they are and
engaging them in an equitable treatment of Appalachia?

The Three Sites

Kentucky Moonlight Schools
The Urban Appalachian Council (UAC)
and Appalachian Community
Development Association (ACDA)
Create West Virginia (Create WV)

The Kentucky Moonlight

Schools

The UAC and ACDA

Create West Virginia

A Regional Rhetoric for Advocacy in

Appalachia

A regional rhetoric for advocacy in

Appalachia as an analytic for
understanding public discourse on
solutions the Appalachian problem and
as a guide for productive and just
rhetorical interventions in that discourse.

Implications for Rhetorical

Theory
The function of place in rhetorical
invention and reception.
The integration of multiple
theoretical frameworks and fields
into a rhetoric specific to a particular
region.

Implications for Rhetorical

Theory
The consideration of place/regional
identity as rhetorical construction
with an impact on discourse.
The creation of a lens for
understanding the significance of
regional inequality in relation to
other forms of inequality.