Public Pedagogy and the Responsibility of Intellectuals: Youth, Littleton, and the Loss of Innocence

Abstract

In rhetoric and composition studies, there has been a long legacy of attempting to combine theoretical rigor with social relevance.1 Within this critical tradition, rhetoric and composition theorists have approached language and writing as a form of cultural production by situating it within a politics that links theory to practice, literacy to social change, and academic discourses to the material relations of power shaping everyday life. Moreover, they have consistently attempted to broaden the meaning of such work by theorizing the primacy of pedagogy as an ethical and political practice within disciplinary formations. Rhetoric and composi tion theorists have made substantial contributions to broadening students' understanding of the interrelated dynamics of class, race, sexuality, and gender?specifically, the role these forces play in shaping the pedagogi cal landscape of the classroom and other public spheres. Furthermore, rhetoric and composition studies has coupled an attentiveness to ques tions of context?especially the importance of beginning where students actually are?with the need to intervene in and change such contexts, particularly those founded on deep inequalities that increasingly regulate the administration and organization of our schools and other institutions. Rhetoric and composition, in this instance, has aligned itself historically with progressive political projects aimed at providing the necessary pedagogical conditions for students both to recognize anti-democratic forms of power and to think critically about using their knowledge and

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