Abstract
This article the Doomsday Clock and the Nuclear Football as interconnected technical communication artifacts that function as two sides of a "spurious coin" in the securitization of nuclear deterrence. While the Clock externalizes existential risk through apocalyptic rhetoric, the Football internalizes it within exclusive military command structures—together legitimizing perpetual nuclear crisis. Drawing on technical communication scholarship and critical security studies, the analysis argues that both artifacts sustain nuclearist ideology by reinforcing deterrence as common sense. The Clock's ominous countdown and the Football's ever-present launch capability are mutually validating and together normalize nuclear brinkmanship as the price of global security.
Recommended Citation
Cheek, Ryan. "Apocalyptic Technical Communication from Clockface to Briefcase: Revealing the Spurious Coin of Nuclear-Security Rhetoric." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, SAGE Publications, 2025.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816251384930
Department(s)
English and Technical Communication
Publication Status
Available Access
Keywords and Phrases
apocalyptic rhetoric; critical security studies; Doomsday Clock; Nuclear Football; nuclearism; nukespeak; technical communication
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1541-3780; 0047-2816
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 SAGE Publications, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2025
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Technical and Professional Writing Commons
