Making the case that the critical social theories often associated with Critical Discourse Analysis have not kept pace with a recent shift in attention toward the positive, referred to as Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) or reconstructive discourse analysis, this book focuses on discourses of hope, transformation, and liberation. Original research conducted by the author in public, educational spaces across the lifespan features a variety of powerful literacies in action: Kindergartners studying a workers' rights movement in their classroom community, 6^th graders designing a...

Making the case that the critical social theories often associated with Critical Discourse Analysis have not kept pace with a recent shift in attention toward the positive, referred to as Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) or reconstructive discourse analysis, this book focuses on discourses of hope, transformation, and liberation. Original research conducted by the author in public, educational spaces across the lifespan features a variety of powerful literacies in action: Kindergartners studying a workers' rights movement in their classroom community, 6^th graders designing a...

Through multiple narratives reflecting the complexity of participatory action research partnerships for social justice, this book shows dialogic spaces being co-constructed that intentionally support community literacies and rhetorical practices for inquiry and change. It tells the story of a unique collaboration between a group of community members and organizers and university faculty and students who together transformed a ubiquitous urban corner store into a cornerstone of the community. Embodying the momentum of these practices and these spaces, it captures the group's active work on...