Overview

Through substantive case studies on issues of human rights, this collection of rhetorical investigations engages the interactions among whistleblowers, public protest, and relationships of power. While whistleblowers are commonly viewed as disempowered members of institutions who expose acts of wrongdoing, From a Whisper to a Movement argues that whistleblowing acts can occur from an assemblage of persons and places not typically associated with the term. This theoretical foundation affords us the ability to substantively interrogate the rhetorical linkage between solitary whistleblowing acts, scaffolded around a sense of democratic ethics, and the rhetoric of the consequent publics that demand corrective action. As mass social protests often emerge from singular moments of discovery, the connected discourses expose a unique site within the public forum rich with rhetorical significance. While not all whistleblowing utterances prompt public protests, and only some protests coalesce around the disclosure of wrongdoing, recent history demonstrates that exposed abuses of power often prompt collective action in the name of human rights. This volume interrogates how disempowered actors, often working alone, can inform democratic discourse and global movements.

Full Product Details

Author:   Joshua Guitar (Kean University) ,  Alan Chu
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
ISBN:  

9798855803303

Pages:   326
Publication Date:   02 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 1. Racing to (Dis)Own Whistleblowers and Protests: Theorizing Amongness in the Shared Rhetorical Spaces of Democratic Agency Joshua Guitar and Alan Chu 2. Wrangling the Ructions: Major Ian Fishback, Ph.D. and His Whistleblowing Campaign Rebekah L. Fox and Ann E. Burnette 3. Shooting Bullets and Frames per Second: Recording the Police as Whistleblowing David R. Dewberry 4. Shifting Power to Seek Change: Kategoria as a Form of Rhetorical Leadership Marnie Lawler McDonough 5. Whistleblower Rhetoric: Mistreatment of Migrant Children in US Detention Facilities Svilen Trifonov 6. ""This Is an Information War"": Mediated and Rhetorical Contestations over the War in Northern Ethiopia Azeb Nishan Madebo 7. ""Read, Write, Execute"": Edward Snowden and the New History of the Whistleblower Matthew Steven Bruen 8. From Solidarity to Suspicion: The Case of Javier Esqueda Sarah Walker-Riftkin 9. Should Political Appointees Have Whistleblower Protection? The Case of Kevin Chmielewski Chrys Egan and John Patrick Murphy 10. Breaking the Blue: Whistleblowing on Those Tasked to Protect and Serve Colin H. Campbell 11. Tragic Responses to Whistleblowing a Tragedy: A Burkean Analysis of the Flint Water Crisis Craig M. Hennigan 12. See Someone, Say Someone: Doxing Vision as Usurping the Rhetoric of Whistleblowing Kellie Marin 13. Ninja Girl, Blow the Whistle and Poison Arrows!: An Epideictic Function of Entertainment Film and Its Applications for Whistleblowing Noriaki Tajima and Satoru Aonuma List of Contributors Index

Reviews

""One strength of From a Whisper to a Movement is its exigency—this is an important topic now. An edited collection on whistleblowing is an important contribution to the fields of rhetoric, politics, and human rights. Especially today when speaking truth to power on the right side of history is increasingly difficult."" — Belinda Walzer, Appalachian State University

Author Information

Joshua Guitar is Assistant Professor of Communication at Kean University. He is the author of Dissent, Discourse and Democracy: Whistleblowers as Sites of Political Contestation. Alan Chu is an independent scholar.

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