Cinnabar and Alabaster

half-fleshed skeleton:
Chp. 1 "how we came to write this book"

by running head-first, repeatedly, into institutional roadblocks when trying to do the kind of work that their topic of study and their personal/scholarly interests insisted that they do.

Chp. 2 "why study academic co-authors"

because they're accessible for a study by academics, because theirs is a contested work-site, and because their own theoretical understanding of what they do contrasts with their observed and institutionally-sanctioned practices--there's a lot going on here, & a lot (more collaborative work) that would be going on if a different mindset sunk in far enough, if a work like this changed the way enough people think about co-authorship to start to impact practices.

Chp. 3 "why call successful co-authoring feminine?"

because "feminine" is the name the academy (for better or for worse) has given to practices that highlight social interaction, caring about others, putting relationships before individual gain, and percieving/(re)presenting ideas and information as constructed of webs of interrelation rather than as singularities.

Chp. 4 "completion as caring: successful co-authoring as relationship"

co-authors write within relationships. really, all authors write within relationships, but the relationships of co-authors are always on the table, under examination, are part of what is written and how it's done in more tangible ways than those of other writers, & so the caring required in maintaining and nurturing such relationships is an integral part of the work that's produced.

Chp. 5 "what they do: how co-authors view their collaborative writing process"

differently, but with a lot of common ground; many male co-authors can trace environmental influences in their upbringing that made them more likely to seek out or be drawn to the theoretically "feminine" modes of writing. most collaborators report collaborating because it evolved "naturally" out of some other personal or professional interaction, report their process as mutually beneficial to degrees that far outweigh the personal & logistical struggles it entails (the interactional benefits of having a constant source of feedback are especially important for many authors), & report feeling capable of more--better writing, deeper thinking, more valuable work--working together than they feel they'd be capable of if working alone.

Chp. 6 "co-authored scholarship and academia"

the roadblocks are still everywhere, but there are ever-increasing numbers of experienced and potential co-authors willing to fight tradition--and willing to support one anothers' efforts to do so--with graduate schools, advisors, & institutional committees; "the time...has come" (166) & the pragmatic plausibility of the academy & scholarly community not only making room for but recognizing the genuine, generative validity of collaborative writing is on the rise.

Chp. 7 "learning to care"

the pedagogy chapter: bringing a pedagogy of caring into the classroom creates room for collaborative work; bringing genuine (feminist) collaboration into the classroom creates room & impetus for caring to characterize teachers' interactions with students & students' interactions with one another.