Dismantling Disinformation: Toward a Theory of Critical Engagement With Post-Truth Discourses

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: Counter-Understandings: Gentrification, "Post-Truth," and the Reclamation of Space (Table 8)

Abstract

Conspiracy theories, “fake news,” and other forms of mis- and disinformation abound in what many have dubbed our “post-truth” era. In this context, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021-2022 school year brought a renewed sense of danger, urgency, and conflict to decisions around schooling. In this paper, we discuss our investigation of these divisions through a critical literacy lens, using the tools of discourse analysis to examine the rhetoric of post-truth, conspiracy-oriented groups opposed to mask mandates, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in public schools. We argue that such groups are engaged in “cosmetic criticality,” a project superficially resembling critical literacy that poses an unprecedented challenge that literacy scholars have an obligation to confront.

Authors

• Benjamin N. Lathrop, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Christy Wessel Powell
  Presenting Author