Disingenuous Controversy: Responses to Ward Churchill's 9/11 Essay

John Fritch John Fritch and Catherine Helen Palczewski, Department of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa; Jennifer Farrell, New Student Programs, Iowa State University; Eric Short, Department of Communication Studies and Theatre Art, Concordia College (Minnesota). The essay was presented in an earlier form at the 14th Biennial Conference on Argumentation, Alta, Utah, August, 2005, and at the National Communication Association conference, San Antonio, Texas, November, 2006, where it received “Top Paper” honors from the Argumentation and Forensics Division. The authors would like to thank Randall Lake and the reviewers for their helpful criticisms.Correspondence[email protected]

Catherine Helen Palczewski John Fritch and Catherine Helen Palczewski, Department of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa; Jennifer Farrell, New Student Programs, Iowa State University; Eric Short, Department of Communication Studies and Theatre Art, Concordia College (Minnesota). The essay was presented in an earlier form at the 14th Biennial Conference on Argumentation, Alta, Utah, August, 2005, and at the National Communication Association conference, San Antonio, Texas, November, 2006, where it received “Top Paper” honors from the Argumentation and Forensics Division. The authors would like to thank Randall Lake and the reviewers for their helpful criticisms.

Jennifer Farrell John Fritch and Catherine Helen Palczewski, Department of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa; Jennifer Farrell, New Student Programs, Iowa State University; Eric Short, Department of Communication Studies and Theatre Art, Concordia College (Minnesota). The essay was presented in an earlier form at the 14th Biennial Conference on Argumentation, Alta, Utah, August, 2005, and at the National Communication Association conference, San Antonio, Texas, November, 2006, where it received “Top Paper” honors from the Argumentation and Forensics Division. The authors would like to thank Randall Lake and the reviewers for their helpful criticisms.

Eric Short John Fritch and Catherine Helen Palczewski, Department of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa; Jennifer Farrell, New Student Programs, Iowa State University; Eric Short, Department of Communication Studies and Theatre Art, Concordia College (Minnesota). The essay was presented in an earlier form at the 14th Biennial Conference on Argumentation, Alta, Utah, August, 2005, and at the National Communication Association conference, San Antonio, Texas, November, 2006, where it received “Top Paper” honors from the Argumentation and Forensics Division. The authors would like to thank Randall Lake and the reviewers for their helpful criticisms.

Abstract

The response to Ward Churchill's essay, “‘Some People Push Back’: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens,” is used to explore disingenuous controversy, that is, controversy that closes off, rather than expands, argumentative space. An interesting mix of public argument about U.S. foreign policy, the national grieving process, and negotiation over collective memory positioned Churchill's essay as a location through which to assert disciplinary power over what is (not) considered an acceptable statement about 9/11. The time was ripe for pseudo-controversy as a means of stifling genuine controversy.

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