Compositionists who work to establish an identity for the discipline have posed questions about what constitutes the discipline's proper work. Many of us would agree that part of that work involves drawing attention to the relationship between literacy and power, but where to draw that attention and for what purposes remains open to debate. Should the composition instructor concentrate on developing classroom practices that will empower students to write effectively for audiences within the academy? Do we better address the relationship between literacy and power by asking students to write for nonacademic audiences in projects that at least implicitly challenge the value of the academic essay? These are some of the questions addressed by the following authors, who see "politics," broadly conceived, as both an object of study and an organizing framework for devising classroom practices. Accordingly, each conceptualizes the writing classroom as a space in which to position writing as a form of social action, and their responses articulate how this framework informs their pedagogies.

Activism or "Bias"? Translating Academic Writing through Public Texts
Tobi Jacobi, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University

Students as Organizers: The Grassroots Power of Student Writing
Seth Kahn, Assistant Professor, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Active Investigations: Developing the Tools for Activist Thinking and Research
Annie Knepler, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Chicago

Activism as Active Citizenship and as Civic Responsibility
Jennifer Beech, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with Josh Bailey, Ansley Eichhorn, Donnie Johnson, Myron Johnson, Jamie Nichols, Justin Szabo, and Amanda Womac, students enrolled in English 471: Civic Discourse and Activist Writing, Fall 2003

Getting Out the Voice: Education for Activism
Ellen L. Donaghy, M.A. Candidate, Western Illinois University