Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2022

Superdiversity: An Audience Analysis Praxis for Enacting Social Justice in Technical Communication

Alison Cardinal University of Washington Tacoma

Abstract

This article introduces “superdiversity,” a concept from migration studies, as a framework for TPC practitioners and scholars defining migrant multilingual audiences. In contrast to intercultural understandings of audience, superdiversity better accounts for cultural complexity in diverse environments. The article uses an extended example to demonstrate how superdiversity operates as an intersectional and social justice-oriented praxis. The example of a nonprofit organization’s intake process illustrates how superdiversity helps this organization better define and understand its clients.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2022-10-02
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2022.2056637
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Tijerina (2025)
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    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Long et al. (2025)
    Reimagining Archives in the Age of Automation: A Decolonial and Relational Approach
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Ghimire (2024)
    Understanding Transnational Technical Communication in Technical and Profession…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (16)

  1. Gonzales (2022)
    (Re) Framing Multilingual Technical Communication with Indigenous Language Inte…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Shelton (2020)
    Shifting Out of Neutral: Centering Difference, Bias, and Social Justice in a Bu…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Cardinal (2019)
    Participatory Video: An Apparatus for Ethically Researching Literacy, Power and…
    Computers and Composition
  4. Shivers-McNair et al. (2019)
    An Intersectional Technofeminist Framework for Community-Driven Technology Innovation
    Computers and Composition
  5. Balzhiser et al. (2019)
    Matters of Form: Questions of Race, Identity, Design, and the U.S. Census
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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  1. Hopton et al. (2019)
    One Word of Heart is Worth Three of Talent: Professional Communication Strategi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Walton et al. (2015)
    Values and Validity: Navigating Messiness in a Community-Based Research Project…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Agboka (2014)
    Decolonial Methodologies: Social Justice Perspectives in Intercultural Technica…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Agboka (2013)
    Participatory Localization: A Social Justice Approach to Navigating Unenfranchi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Pimentel et al. (2012)
    The Double Occupancy of Hispanics
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Agboka (2012)
    Liberating Intercultural Technical Communication from “Large Culture” Ideologie…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Technical Communication Quarterly
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CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network →

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