Critical Communication Studies

The development of communication studies has been a lively process of adoption and integration of theoretical constructs from Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Cultural Studies. Critical Communication Studies describes the intellectual and professional forces that have shaped research interests and formed alliances in the pursuit of particular goals. Hanno Hardt reflects on the need to come to terms with the role of history in academic work and locates the intellectual history within the context of competing social theories. The book provides a substantive foundation for understanding the field and will be a major text in all courses dealing with communication history and theory.

In this text, Sue Curry Jansen brings a different perspective to contemporary communication inquiry. She engages two questions at the heart of critical politics of communication: what do we know? And how do we know it?

Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction, Second Edition introduces communication, from intimate and interpersonal to the public and mediated, as cultural. Using contemporary critical theory, authors John T. Warren and Deanna L. Fassett focus on communication as advocacy—inherently influenced by culture, history and power. By situating communication concepts and theories within contemporary and engaging cultural scenes, the book is much more than a survey of ideas—it demonstrates the power of communication in our everyday lives.

In this autoethnographic work, authors Deanna L. Fassett and John T. Warren illustrate a synthesis of critical pedagogy and instructional communication, as both a field of study and a teaching philosophy. Critical Communication Pedagogy is a poetic work that charts paradigmatic tensions in instructional communication research, articulates commitments underpinning critical communication pedagogy, and invites readers into self-reflection on their experiences as researchers, students, and teachers.

Enriched by critical theory and the insights of cultural studies, and rooted in the power of historical explanation, this collection of classic and new essays contributes to the theory and practice of critical studies in communication, media, and journalism. The volume helps develop alternative ways of thinking about communication and media practices at a time when the conditions of communication, participation, and democracy are threatened by commercial and political interests. It is grounded in a critical theory of the media that addresses the potential of liberating individuals--consumers as well as newsworkers--by challenging their traditional roles in the hegemonic relationship of media and society. The culture of communication constitutes an arena of practices with its own knowledge that bridges traditional academic disciplines and demonstrates the power of an interdisciplinary vision. It also defines and places communication studies within a larger field of intellectual inquiry with its own dynamic as an integrating concept--a goal that Interactions well accomplishes. Interactions may be viewed, in fact, as a critical intellectual history of the 20th century through the lens of media, communication, and popular culture and in relation to the role of the individual on the cusp of a new millennium.

The personal anecdotes and candid reflections on the lives and work of these important critical scholars, and their predictions on the future of the field, make this book a valuable resource for scholars and students of communication, media studies, political economy, political science, and those interested in critical theoretical approaches.

Dallas Smythe, George Gerbner, Herbert Schiller, James Halloran, Kaarle Nordenstreng- these five seminal figures form the backbone of current scholarship in critical communication. From policy research to television demographics and from economic globalization to cultural imperialism, their insights and discoveries have given both scholars and the