978-1-61284-779-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE Throwing a monkey-wrench into the works: Including radicals in the teaching of technical/environmental writing Laura Palmer Southern Polytechnic State University lpalmer2@spsu.edu Abstract – This paper discusses how the inclusion of environmental radicals in the teaching of environmental writing in professional and technical communication may benefit students’ critical thinking, analysis, and reflection competencies. The origins and positions of eco-terror organizations as juxtaposed to the messages produced by government provide a pivotal intersection through which students can be introduced to the ideas of marginalized voices in environmental thinking. Including studies of radical rhetoric in an environmental writing curriculum presents to students another point of view in the discussion of the environment. Students can learn to assess the validity of claims made by others and develop the skills to identify real issues that exist in the spaces between mainstream and alternative environmental rhetorics. Index Terms – Environmental writing, alternative voices, eco- terrorism, radical rhetoric . INTRODUCTION Technical communication has a strong historical linkage to environmental issues, especially in the areas of advocacy, risk, and conservation [1] [2]. The role of technical communicators in environmental communication has been that of a bridge between the sciences, technologies, and audiences interested in our natural world. This role has been well defined by both government and industry; today, as issues of sustainability gain prevalence, the role of the technical communicator is even more important. Courses that intersect technical communication with environmental issues do so, however, via a mainstream framework. Rarely do courses examine alternative environmental rhetorics in tandem with ideologies such as eco-Marxism or anti-humanism and provide a model to leverage technical communicators’ skills in the areas of analysis, synthesis, and assessment. Yet, these skills for analyzing alternative rhetorics and discourses, have never been more important; we know too well this is a time in which Thoreau’s idea of civil disobedience takes on a darker patina of direct action. Eco-terrorism and animals rights activism rank as the number one domestic terror threat in the United States, according to the FBI [3]. Of such significance is the concern that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a 40-page report noting the rhetorical and media sophistication of environmental militant groups. Most technical communication classes, however, omit the strategies and ideologies used to battle for the preservation of people, animals, and resources. Courses do not consider how the idea of eco-terror is promulgated nor if the voices from this other side of environmentalism reflect valid concerns. Rather, the focus of most courses remains on teaching the reified genres related communicating environmental issues through the public, corporate, and governmental spheres. Here, methods by which alternative environmental discourses and ideologies can be included into classes that focus on environmental writing and rhetoric, will be highlighted. The goal is to make explicit the mechanisms by which peaceful protest can become terrorism and to examine cultural-ideological forces at work. The role of the technical communicator as analyst will be considered and expanded. UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING Environmental writing covers a broad spectrum of genres and purposes. Beginning with its more literary roots in first-person rambles and descriptive narratives captured from a nature walk, subjective experiences of nature have always had a strong readership. As awareness about the fragility of the environment began to grow, starting with Roosevelt’s initiatives and moving forward to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 [4], new genres of environmental writing were developed. 978-1-61284-779-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE