The Infrastructural Function: A Relational Theory of Infrastructure for Writing Studies

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2019

The Infrastructural Function: A Relational Theory of Infrastructure for Writing Studies

Sarah Read Portland State University

Abstract

This article theorizes the term infrastructure as a framework for articulating how writing products, activities, and processes underwrite organizational life in technical organizations. While this term has appeared broadly in writing studies scholarship, it has not been systematically theorized there as it has been in other fields such as economics, computing, and information science. This article argues for a four-part framework that incorporates and builds on Star and Ruhleder’s relational theory of infrastructure. Fieldwork from a federally funded supercomputing center for scientific research operationalizes the theory for its contributions to writing studies scholarship and its applications for industry and writing pedagogy.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 2019-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651919834980
Open Access: Closed
Topics: writing pedagogy

Citation Context

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Cites in this index (8)

Read (2016)

The <i>Net Work</i> Genre Function

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Read et al. (2015)

Visualizing and Tracing: Research Methodologies for the Study of Networked, Soc…

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Spinuzzi (2010)

Secret Sauce and Snake Oil: Writing Monthly Reports in a Highly Contingent Envi…

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Hart-Davidson et al. (2007)

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BERKENKOTTER (2001)

Genre Systems at Work

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WINSOR (1999)

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Written Communication

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