Item Details

title

Exploring the Polyvocal Leadership Problem in the Pro-Life Movement: The Case of Rush Limbaugh and Sandra Fluke

author

Moczulski, Leah Amelia

abstract

This thesis focuses on examining the statements that Rush Limbaugh's made regarding Sandra Fluke following her Congressional testimony on the Conscience Clause in February of 2012. In particular, I investigate the way that Rush Limbaugh's statements, and their subsequent circulation, made him a leader within the pro-life movement. Particularly, I problematize what I call the "polyvocal leadership problem" that occurs in social movements that lack a centralized leadership. I apply Kenneth Burke's work on identification and vilification in order to examine the ways that Limbaugh ruptures the "pro-woman" frame forwarded by other members of the pro-life movement. I begin by discussing the "polyvocal leadership problem" as it relates to social movements in the digital age. I next examine the way that Limbaugh's deployment of vilification rhetoric demonstrates the problem of polyvocality in social movements. I conclude with a discussion about the relevance of political punditry in public policy.

subject

Fluke

Leadership

Limbaugh

Pro-Life

Social Movements

Vilification

contributor

Beasley-Von Burg, Alessandra (committee chair)

Dalton, Mary (committee member)

Zulick, Margret (committee member)

date

2014-07-10T08:35:35Z (accessioned)

2014-07-10T08:35:35Z (available)

2014 (issued)

degree

Communication (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39288 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis