Rhetorical Histories of Social Movements in the U.S.

Written by experts in the field, Rhetorical Histories of Social Movements in the U.S. provides readers with a rhetorical account of American social movements from the U.S. War for Independence to #BlackLivesMatter.

In nine movement-specific chapters, readers explore the history and rhetorical aspects of early U.S. movements, including the War for Independence, abolition, and women’s suffrage; labor, socialist, and communist movements; the Civil Rights and Black freedom movements; Latine and immigrant struggles; women’s movements; gay rights and queer liberation movements; antiwar and student movements of the 1960s; disability rights and justice movements; and ecological and environmental justice movements. Featuring a uniquely rhetorical focus, the book examines how specific movements have crafted messages, identities, and organizations to exert social influence in response to overweening power.

The field of rhetorical studies has lacked a comprehensive, integrated, and distinctly rhetorical history of the movements our students need to know about. This book is designed to address that gap.

Rhetorical Histories of Social Movements in the U.S. is designed to complement A New Rhetoric of Social Movements by Dana L. Cloud. It can also stand alone or supplement any other theoretical social movement text.

A Statement from Dana Cloud in Recognition and Celebration of Women's History Month 2025

"The stories about women’s struggle for freedom and equality in Rhetorical Histories of Social Movements in the U.S. highlight the genius, eloquence, and creativity of ordinary women who fought for the right to vote in the United States. Suffragists appealed to dominant, mainstream values while challenging the vision of the nation to include women in its definition of citizenship. The movement—especially in its more militant incarnations in the National Woman’s Party—innovated a number of protest strategies, including the petition and marches and parades, eventually compelling the legislature and president to enshrine the right to vote for women.

Of course, the struggle for freedom and equality did not end in 1920 with the right to vote. The book also covers activists and events across the 20th and 21st century, who argued powerfully that 'the personal is political'—asserting control over women’s bodies, reproduction, sexuality, and family from the demonstration at the 1968 Miss America pageant to the #MeToo movement. Importantly, the book’s chapters emphasize the intersectional oppressions and struggles of women of color and poor women alongside the stories most often told about white, middle-class women. The book argues that Black feminism is a powerful resource for social change. Women—including transwomen—figure prominently in the chapter on gay rights and queer liberation as well. These histories are especially important at our present historical moment when abortion rights have been decimated and critical views on U.S. history are under threat."