{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129811"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129811","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"The tactical dialectic: reframing tactical technical communication through the writing practices of activists and technical experts","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-20 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-20 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Avgoustopoulos, Rebecca E."],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Gallagher, John R.","Gallagher, John R","Littlefield, Melissa M","McNulty, Tess D","Weber, Ryan P."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-12","date_published":"2025-05-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z","subjects":["Technical And Professional Communication","Tactical Technical Communication","Tactical Dialectic","Michel De Certeau","Digital Platforms","Ai/ml Communication","Online Technical Writing","Case Study Methodology","Networked Communication"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Rebecca Avgoustopoulos"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129811","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Gallagher, John R.","Gallagher, John R","Littlefield, Melissa M","McNulty, Tess D","Weber, Ryan P."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Avgoustopoulos, Rebecca E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-05-12","2025-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Technical And Professional Communication","Tactical Technical Communication","Tactical Dialectic","Michel De Certeau","Digital Platforms","Ai/ml Communication","Online Technical Writing","Case Study Methodology","Networked Communication"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Rebecca Avgoustopoulos"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129811"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-20 without embargo terms","The student, Rebecca Avgoustopoulos, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-07 at 14:31.","The student, Rebecca Avgoustopoulos, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-05-07 at 14:40.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-05-12 at 13:19.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22213 on 2025-10-20 at 16:57:01","This dissertation explores the evolving role of Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) within digital platforms. While traditional TPC focused on institutional writing and technical documentation, the rise of user-generated content and algorithm-driven communication has expanded the field’s boundaries. Tactical Technical Communication (TTC), introduced by Miles Kimball, emphasizes every day, user-created content that resists institutional norms. However, based on Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life., TTC often relies on a binary framework that positions individual tactics in opposition to institutional strategies, This project proposes the Tactical Dialectic (TD) to better capture how technical communicators operate within and alongside institutional systems, especially in online environments. Rather than purely resisting structures, users navigate and adapt them to meet community and personal goals. Case studies include the activist group Emojination, which works within the Unicode Consortium to advocate for more inclusive emojis, and AI/ML researchers who publish in public forums to democratize access to technical knowledge. These examples reveal how technical writers use platform tools strategically while maintaining user agency. The Tactical Dialectic reframes TTC for the digital age, offering a model that accounts for collaboration, adaptation, and resistance within complex, networked systems of communication and control."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The tactical dialectic: reframing tactical technical communication through the writing practices of activists and technical experts"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Gallagher, John R.","Gallagher, John R","Littlefield, Melissa M","McNulty, Tess D","Weber, Ryan P."],"dc:creator":["Avgoustopoulos, Rebecca E."],"dc:date":["2025-05-12","2025-08"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-20 without embargo terms","The student, Rebecca Avgoustopoulos, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-07 at 14:31.","The student, Rebecca Avgoustopoulos, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-05-07 at 14:40.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-05-12 at 13:19.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22213 on 2025-10-20 at 16:57:01","This dissertation explores the evolving role of Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) within digital platforms. While traditional TPC focused on institutional writing and technical documentation, the rise of user-generated content and algorithm-driven communication has expanded the field’s boundaries. Tactical Technical Communication (TTC), introduced by Miles Kimball, emphasizes every day, user-created content that resists institutional norms. However, based on Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life., TTC often relies on a binary framework that positions individual tactics in opposition to institutional strategies, This project proposes the Tactical Dialectic (TD) to better capture how technical communicators operate within and alongside institutional systems, especially in online environments. Rather than purely resisting structures, users navigate and adapt them to meet community and personal goals. Case studies include the activist group Emojination, which works within the Unicode Consortium to advocate for more inclusive emojis, and AI/ML researchers who publish in public forums to democratize access to technical knowledge. These examples reveal how technical writers use platform tools strategically while maintaining user agency. The Tactical Dialectic reframes TTC for the digital age, offering a model that accounts for collaboration, adaptation, and resistance within complex, networked systems of communication and control."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129811"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Rebecca Avgoustopoulos"],"dc:subject":["Technical And Professional Communication","Tactical Technical Communication","Tactical Dialectic","Michel De Certeau","Digital Platforms","Ai/ml Communication","Online Technical Writing","Case Study Methodology","Networked Communication"],"dc:title":["The tactical dialectic: reframing tactical technical communication through the writing practices of activists and technical experts"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z"}