Grand Challenges and the Rhetoric of Collective Action

Abstract

This Special Issue investigates how rhetoric mobilizes collective action to address grand challenges. While management research has acknowledged the need for collective action in confronting these issues, the role of rhetoric remains underexplored. The papers that comprise this Special Issue collectively demonstrate how rhetoric is indispensable for shaping public discourse, framing critical issues, and challenging entrenched power structures. Beyond persuasion, rhetoric serves as a medium for constructing meaning, fostering shared understanding, and mobilizing stakeholders. Drawing from diverse theoretical and methodological traditions, the contributions in this issue explore the mechanisms by which rhetorical practices reshape cognition and spur collective action. The papers illuminate how language creates systemic change across a broad range of empirical contexts. New rhetorical techniques—such as rhetorical axioms, commensuration, impersonation, and dystopian rhetoric—emerge as critical tools for influencing societal values and facilitating institutional transformation. This issue advances research by integrating rhetorical perspectives with organizational theories, offering novel insights into adaptive responses to grand challenges. By connecting fragmented research streams, we highlight rhetoric’s profound capacity to inspire action, bridge ideological divides, and reimagine societal organization in the face of enduring global crises.