From a Whisper to a Movement
Investigating the Shared Rhetorical Spaces of Whistleblowing and Social Protest
Published on 1. August 2025
Book
Hardback
326 pages
979-8-8558-0328-0 (ISBN)
Description
Through substantive case studies on issues of human rights, this collection of rhetorical investigations engages the interactions among whistleblowers, public protest, and relationships of power.
While whistleblowers are commonly viewed as disempowered members of institutions who expose acts of wrongdoing, From a Whisper to a Movement argues that whistleblowing acts can occur from an assemblage of persons and places not typically associated with the term. This theoretical foundation affords us the ability to substantively interrogate the rhetorical linkage between solitary whistleblowing acts, scaffolded around a sense of democratic ethics, and the rhetoric of the consequent publics that demand corrective action. As mass social protests often emerge from singular moments of discovery, the connected discourses expose a unique site within the public forum rich with rhetorical significance. While not all whistleblowing utterances prompt public protests, and only some protests coalesce around the disclosure of wrongdoing, recent history demonstrates that exposed abuses of power often prompt collective action in the name of human rights. This volume interrogates how disempowered actors, often working alone, can inform democratic discourse and global movements.
While whistleblowers are commonly viewed as disempowered members of institutions who expose acts of wrongdoing, From a Whisper to a Movement argues that whistleblowing acts can occur from an assemblage of persons and places not typically associated with the term. This theoretical foundation affords us the ability to substantively interrogate the rhetorical linkage between solitary whistleblowing acts, scaffolded around a sense of democratic ethics, and the rhetoric of the consequent publics that demand corrective action. As mass social protests often emerge from singular moments of discovery, the connected discourses expose a unique site within the public forum rich with rhetorical significance. While not all whistleblowing utterances prompt public protests, and only some protests coalesce around the disclosure of wrongdoing, recent history demonstrates that exposed abuses of power often prompt collective action in the name of human rights. This volume interrogates how disempowered actors, often working alone, can inform democratic discourse and global movements.
Reviews / Votes
"One strength of From a Whisper to a Movement is its exigency-this is an important topic now. An edited collection on whistleblowing is an important contribution to the fields of rhetoric, politics, and human rights. Especially today when speaking truth to power on the right side of history is increasingly difficult." - Belinda Walzer, Appalachian State UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
685 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-8558-0328-0 (9798855803280)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Joshua Guitar | Alan Chu
From a Whisper to a Movement
Investigating the Shared Rhetorical Spaces of Whistleblowing and Social Protest
E-Book
08/2025
1st Edition
State University of New York Press
€36.99
Available for download
Persons
Joshua Guitar is Assistant Professor of Communication at Kean University. He is the author of Dissent, Discourse and Democracy: Whistleblowers as Sites of Political Contestation. Alan Chu is an independent scholar.
Content
Acknowledgments
1. Racing to (Dis)Own Whistleblowers and Protests: Theorizing Amongness in the Shared Rhetorical Spaces of Democratic Agency
Joshua Guitar and Alan Chu
2. Wrangling the Ructions: Major Ian Fishback, Ph.D. and His Whistleblowing Campaign
Rebekah L. Fox and Ann E. Burnette
3. Shooting Bullets and Frames per Second: Recording the Police as Whistleblowing
David R. Dewberry
4. Shifting Power to Seek Change: Kategoria as a Form of Rhetorical Leadership
Marnie Lawler McDonough
5. Whistleblower Rhetoric: Mistreatment of Migrant Children in US Detention Facilities
Svilen Trifonov
6. "This Is an Information War": Mediated and Rhetorical Contestations over the War in Northern Ethiopia
Azeb Nishan Madebo
7. "Read, Write, Execute": Edward Snowden and the New History of the Whistleblower
Matthew Steven Bruen
8. From Solidarity to Suspicion: The Case of Javier Esqueda
Sarah Walker-Riftkin
9. Should Political Appointees Have Whistleblower Protection? The Case of Kevin Chmielewski
Chrys Egan and John Patrick Murphy
10. Breaking the Blue: Whistleblowing on Those Tasked to Protect and Serve
Colin H. Campbell
11. Tragic Responses to Whistleblowing a Tragedy: A Burkean Analysis of the Flint Water Crisis
Craig M. Hennigan
12. See Someone, Say Someone: Doxing Vision as Usurping the Rhetoric of Whistleblowing
Kellie Marin
13. Ninja Girl, Blow the Whistle and Poison Arrows!: An Epideictic Function of Entertainment Film and Its Applications for Whistleblowing
Noriaki Tajima and Satoru Aonuma
List of Contributors
Index
1. Racing to (Dis)Own Whistleblowers and Protests: Theorizing Amongness in the Shared Rhetorical Spaces of Democratic Agency
Joshua Guitar and Alan Chu
2. Wrangling the Ructions: Major Ian Fishback, Ph.D. and His Whistleblowing Campaign
Rebekah L. Fox and Ann E. Burnette
3. Shooting Bullets and Frames per Second: Recording the Police as Whistleblowing
David R. Dewberry
4. Shifting Power to Seek Change: Kategoria as a Form of Rhetorical Leadership
Marnie Lawler McDonough
5. Whistleblower Rhetoric: Mistreatment of Migrant Children in US Detention Facilities
Svilen Trifonov
6. "This Is an Information War": Mediated and Rhetorical Contestations over the War in Northern Ethiopia
Azeb Nishan Madebo
7. "Read, Write, Execute": Edward Snowden and the New History of the Whistleblower
Matthew Steven Bruen
8. From Solidarity to Suspicion: The Case of Javier Esqueda
Sarah Walker-Riftkin
9. Should Political Appointees Have Whistleblower Protection? The Case of Kevin Chmielewski
Chrys Egan and John Patrick Murphy
10. Breaking the Blue: Whistleblowing on Those Tasked to Protect and Serve
Colin H. Campbell
11. Tragic Responses to Whistleblowing a Tragedy: A Burkean Analysis of the Flint Water Crisis
Craig M. Hennigan
12. See Someone, Say Someone: Doxing Vision as Usurping the Rhetoric of Whistleblowing
Kellie Marin
13. Ninja Girl, Blow the Whistle and Poison Arrows!: An Epideictic Function of Entertainment Film and Its Applications for Whistleblowing
Noriaki Tajima and Satoru Aonuma
List of Contributors
Index