Rich, Blessed, and Tenured: A Homological Exploration of Grant Writing, Prosperity Theology, and Neoliberalism

Abstract

The emergence of grant writing as a primary method of evaluating faculty accountability formally resembles the discursive structures of prosperity theology. Using the rhetorical homology, I identify a common interpretive framework underpinning both discourses. The points of homological correspondence include: 1) Alienated individualism and competitive-egotism; 2) Individual accountability to the market as a measure of personal worth; and 3) Justification of the market paradigms. I trace the features of this homology to neoliberal modes of governance.Communication scholarship aimed at illuminating the discursive processes that influence an audience below the critical radar often pays close attention to how content is sorted into patterns. For example, when we experience media, forms of narrative, or figures of speech in a formally parallel way, we are organizing content into patterns that influence how we respond to our social world (Brummett, 2004;Burke, 1968;Fiske, 1983;Olson, 2002; Osborne 1977). These formal patterns are especially revealing when the structures that give coherence to a text branch out and extend beyond the object of analysis. It is in these cases when seemingly fanciful and distant texts can speak to immediate social experiences (Brummett, 1988).

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