Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2022 Open Access

Using situational analysis to reimagine infrastructure

Mary Le Rouge Cleveland Institute of Music ; Clancy Ratliff University of Louisiana at Lafayette ; Donnie Johnson Sackey The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

In this article, we ask what it means to think of infrastructure discursively through situational analysis. First, we consider how policymakers have historically used writing and rhetoric to redefine, reframe, and resituate what infrastructure can be in technical documents. Second, we address the impact of policymakers' discursive practices on the spaces and material realities of communities. We view the infrastructural function of writing "as a conceptual foundation for revealing structures and foundations of organizations that affect people" (Read, 2019, p. 237). We use three texts as the space of our discourse mapping: President Franklin Roosevelt's "Fireside Chat on the Recovery Program," the Green New Deal, and President Joseph Biden's recently proposed American Jobs Plan. Through these three cases, we argue that infrastructure has always been defined in relation to environment. Any definition of infrastructure is rooted in environment or seeks to change environment. These shifts in definition have been used strategically to bring more visibility to marginalized communities and make their concerns central to the concerns of the United States' socio-economic agenda. We close with implications for both communities and policymakers.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2022-09-01
DOI
10.1145/3507870.3507877
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Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis archival research affect and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Littlefield (2025)
    From Tactical Technical Communication to Infrastructural Writing: The Role of U…
    Communication Design Quarterly

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