This dissertation argues that writing instruction should work toward the inclusion of wise crowd theory and feminist praxis in regard to social networks and theories of community practice. The study of folksonomy, as a way to socially-network communities, and wise crowd theory, the belief that community solutions can be stronger than those of experts, creates an opening for the complication of critical pedagogy. My project uses feminist pedagogical scholarship focused on disruption and resting in uncertainty as a springboard to reposition folksonomy and wise crowd theory as feminist praxis working toward the inclusion of difference in community. Four body chapters focus on defining, outlining, and showing the results of two folksonomic qualitative studies.
Chapter Two, “Folksonomy as a Social System of Knowledge-Making,” begins by defining “social network,” before describing the rhetorical implications of different naming systems enforced through the “tagging” that takes place through social networking. The chapter highlights the issues inherent in the uses of folksonomic spaces and argues the tyranny of the majority has the potential to eclipse if not silence minority voices.
Chapter Three, “Folk, Nomos, and Kairos: Folksonomy as a Feminist Enterprise,” interrogates the “wisdom of the crowd” model for knowledge building. The chapter uses the historical, etymological root words of folk and nomos to rhetorically position folksonomy as a critical theory in line with feminist pedagogy discourse.
Chapter Four, “Wiki’d Up and Ready to Go: CFF Pedagogy, Attempted,” presents the results of a qualitative study I conducted in a graduate course focused on composition and rhetoric pedagogy. The interview-based chapter concludes with a discussion of how teacher-training courses need further change if CFF pedagogy is to be enacted in ways that more fully engage the intelligence of the crowd.
Chapter Five, “Playing with Purpose: Folksonomy in the First-Year Classroom,” outlines the year-long qualitative study I conducted with the help of an instructor of an undergraduate writing course. The chapter argues that CFF pedagogy helps open up discussions of race, class, and gender in productive ways for first-year students, by significantly shifting the power structure within the classroom from the instructor and to the students.