Resisting "national breast cancer awareness month": the rhetoric of counterpublics and their cultural performances

Since 1984, October has been recognized in the U.S. as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 1997, the Toxic Links Coalition of the Bay Area, California, began organizing annual "Stop Cancer Where It Starts" tours to counter attempts to obscure the environmentally-linked causes of can...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Quarterly journal of speech 2003-11, Vol.89 (4), p.345-365
Main Author: Pezzullo, Phaedra C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Breast cancer
breast cancer activism
California
Cancer
Consciousness Raising
counterpublics
cultural performance
Culture
Environmental Influences
Environmental quality
Epidemiology
Etiology
greenwashing
Health Promotion
Participant Observation
pinkwashing
Politics
Pollution
Public Health
Public Opinion
Resistance (Psychology)
Rhetoric
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Summary:Since 1984, October has been recognized in the U.S. as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 1997, the Toxic Links Coalition of the Bay Area, California, began organizing annual "Stop Cancer Where It Starts" tours to counter attempts to obscure the environmentally-linked causes of cancer. By drawing on research including participant observation, this essay analyzes the politics of these two publics in an attempt to illustrate the limits of a binary conceptualization of publics and counterpublics and to emphasize the rhetorical value of the cultural performances that constitute public life.
ISSN:0033-5630
1479-5779
DOI:10.1080/0033563032000160981