A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment

A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment critiques current antiracist ideology in rhetoric and composition, arguing that it inadvertently promotes a deficit-model of empowerment for both students and scholars. Erec Smith claims that empowerment theory-which promotes individual, communal, and strategic efficacy-is missing from most antiracist initiatives, which instead often abide by what Smith refers to as a "primacy of identity" an over-reliance on identity, particularly a victimized identity, to establish ethos. Scholars of rhetoric, composition, communication, and critical race theory will find this book particularly useful.