Criticism, Politics, and Objectivity: Redivivus.

The article focuses on a collection of essays, Criticism, Politics, and Objectivity in the American Communication Journal (ACJ). The structure of this essay consists of two parts. First, the author briefly compares the themes advanced by the authors in Criticism, Politics, and Objectivity in ACJ 4.1 with the themes used by the authors in Rhetoric, Politics, and Critique in ACJ 4.3. Second, I specifically address the assumptive nature of politised criticism. In comparing the major thrust of ACJ 4.1 with that of ACJ 4.3, researcher Mark Huglen held that broadly speaking, the discussion is about criticism that is disinterested science versus strategic criticism for social reform. Simply put, this is wrong. What the authors of ACJ 4.1 collectively wrote concerning the practice of rhetorical criticism was a far cry from calling for disinterested science. The authors instead strove mightily to navigate those critical waters between the Scylla of scientific objectivity and the Charybdis of activist criticism.