Rhetoric Review Jul 2012

Charles Abrams vs. Robert Moses: Contested Rhetorics of Urban Housing

Paul Walker Murray State University

Abstract

Charles Abrams and Robert Moses engaged in a decades-long rhetorical skirmish regarding urban housing and planning in New York City. Despite Abrams's stylistic efforts to alter the physical permanent plans of Moses, his efforts for the most part failed to overcome institutionalized power and its ability to cement the public terms of debate, especially slum. Yet Abrams's sensitivity to multiple factors of urban use illustrates his valuation of collective discourse for perceived social problems and provides a reminder of the importance of approaching complex issues with an orthos logos perspective.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2012-07-01
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2012.684000
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (35) · 5 in this index

  1. Abrams Charles (1965)
    The City is the Frontier
  2. Abrams Charles
    Correspondence with Dorothy Gazzolo
  3. Abrams Charles (1946)
    The Nation
  4. Abrams Charles (1971)
    The Language of Cities
  5. Abrams, Charles. 1955.Public Housing Myths, 3–6. The New Leader. 25 July
Show all 35 →
  1. Abrams Charles
    “Robert Moses v. ‘Robert Moses.’” Review of Robert Moses: Builder for Democracy, by Cleve…
  2. Abrams Charles (1939)
    Shelter
  3. Ackerman John (2003)
    Towards a Rhetoric of Everyday Life
  4. Adams Henry (1918)
    The Education of Henry Adams
     ↗
  5. Bett Richard (1989)
    10.1163/156852889X00107
    Phronesis  ↗
  6. Bizzell (1990)
    Beyond Anti-Foundationalism to Rhetorical Authority: Problems Defining "Cultura…
    College English
  7. Bizzell Patricia (2001)
    The Rhetorical Tradition
  8. Caro Robert (1975)
    The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
  9. Carter (2008)
    Writing with Light: Jacob Riis’s Ambivalent Exposures
    College English
  10. Davidoff Paul (1964)
    Proceedings of the 1964 Annual Conference
  11. De Romilly Jacqueline (1992)
    The Great Sophists in Periclean Athens
  12. Donovan (1993)
    The project of protagoras
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  13. Fleming (1998)
    The Space of Argumentation: Urban Design, Civic Discourse, and the Dream of the…
    Argumentation
  14. Fleming (2002)
    The streets of Thurii: Discourse, democracy, and design in the classical polis
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  15. Fleming David (2003)
    Towards a Rhetoric of Everyday Life
  16. Guthrie W. K. C. (1971)
    The Sophists
     ↗
  17. Guttenberg Albert Z. (1993)
    The Language of Planning
  18. Harvey David (2001)
    Spaces of Capital: Towards a Critical Geography
  19. Hendersont A. Scot (2000)
    Housing and the Democratic Ideal: The Life and Thought of Charles Abrams
     ↗
  20. Jacobs Jane (1961)
    The Death and Life of Great American Cities
  21. Kennedy George (1963)
    The Art of Persuasion in Greece
  22. Leopold Aldo (1949)
    A Sand County Almanac
  23. Mooney Michael (1985)
    Vico in the Tradition of Rhetoric
  24. Moses Robert (1956)
    Working for the People: Promise and Performance in Public Service
  25. Powell Michael
    A Tale of Two Cities
  26. Rodgers Cleveland (1952)
    Robert Moses: Builder for Democracy
  27. Schiappa Edward (1991)
    Protagoras and Logos
  28. Taper Bernard (1967)
    The New Yorker
  29. Taper Bernard (1967)
    The New Yorker
  30. Turner John C. F. (1976)
    Housing by People
CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Res Rhetorica Apr 2026
    Logos in ancient Greek discourse on rhetoric: An overview ↗
    Arkadiusz Sokolnicki
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  2. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  3. Argumentation Feb 2026
    When Emmanuel Macron Goes Social: Using Social Media Influencers as a Rhetorical Strategy ↗
    Keren Sadoun-Kerber
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument collaborative writing social media affect and writing
  4. Rhetorica Jan 2026
    The Daimonion of Isocrates: Anti-Socratic Polemics and the Power of Politikoi Logoi in the Philippos ↗
    Tobias Hirsch
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  5. Argumentation Oct 2025
    Practical Argumentation and Rhetorical Structure Theory ↗
    Nancy Green
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument assessment