A Brief History of the Role of Technical Communication in Developing Environmental Literacy
http://www.stc.org/confproceed/1998/PDFs/00022.PDF
Killingsworth, M. Jimmie and Jacqueline S. Palmer
STC Proceedings
1998
Abstract:
This paper introduces a two-part grouping of papers on “Ecological Literacy and Advocacy through Technical Communication.” Both technical communication and
environmental rhetoric have historical roots in the
professionalization of science and government in the late
1800s. The association of technical communication with
“patrons” in industry has limited the roles of technical
communicators to purveying ecological literacy within
the relatively tight constraints of “risk communication.”
But with the blurring of contemporary communication
genres and the growth of ecological consciousness,
technical communicators may follow science writers into
roles more closely associated with environmental
advocacy.
