Blogonomics: How Online Rhetoric Shaped the 2008 Economic Crisis

• In Event: The 2009 Crisis of Neoliberalism: Marxist Scholars on Rhetorics of Stability and Change

Abstract

While economic crises are rooted in material conditions, the role of rhetoric in shaping how these events are interpreted should not be underestimated. Because economic crises must be conceptualized as both an issue of production and consumption, rhetoric plays a central role in helping audience members decide which avenue of capitalism to direct their energies toward. To demonstrate this claim, this essay looks at the discourses of several blogging websites published during the debate and ultimate passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), which occurred between September 19th and October 3rd. During this window the economy was characterized by extreme uncertainty and turmoil in the marketplace with large scale stock indexes suffering in some cases the largest single point drops in their histories. By discussing the rhetorical forms that blogging websites use to characterize these events, I will provide a more concrete explanation of the role of economic crisis discourse played in the shaping of this particular moment and in doing so can speculate about the rhetorical dynamics of economic crisis discourse more generally.

Author

• Josh Hanan, University of Texas, Austin