The Politics of Writing Centers (Crosscurrents)

While a number of writing-center publications have examined the historical and theoretical perspectives on writing-center administration and tutoring, none has ever attempted to explore the terrain of power in which writing centers are located. The Politics of Writing Centers does. It is not a handbook on how to direct or tutor in a writing center. Instead, the authors offer a powerful investigation into the sites of conflict and recommend directions for positive change.

In the first part of the book, the authors explore the consequences of not only the identities that are constructed for and about writing centers by others, but also those that writing centers construct for themselves and in association with other campus communities. In the process, the contributors reveal new opportunities for productive reidentification and dialogue with other voices in other places. The second part of the book examines the material conditions of writing-center work, focusing on the architecture of power that supports and undermines it. Because writing centers must respond to changing paradigms in their institutions, the authors suggest ways that writing centers can be agents of their own change.