Communication Theory at the Crossroads

Stanley Deetz, is Professor Emeritus and a President’s Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar and a Past-President and Fellow of the International Communication Association. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 essays and several books, including the award winning Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonialization. Gary P. Radford, is Professor of Communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is the author of On the Philosophy of Communication and On Eco and the co-author of Library Conversations: Reclaiming Interpersonal Communication Theory for Understanding Professional Encounters. Radford is the founding editor of The Atlantic Journal of Communication. Michael Vicaro, is Associate Professor of Communication at Penn State, Greater Allegheny. He is the author of numerous academic articles and book chapters on rhetorical and communication theory. He is currently writing a scholarly book that applies the insights of philosopher Jacques Rancière to present-day political equality movements.

• Author’s Preface xiii1 Theorizing as an Everyday Activity 1Preview 1Implicit Theories and Window Bashing 1Implicit Theorizing and Phronesis 9Phronesis in Aristotle 10John Dewey and Theory-in-Use 11Phronesis, Preunderstanding and the Possibility of Productive Communication 13Assumptive Preunderstandings 14Assumptions About the Nature of Things 14Assumptions About Determining What is True 17Assumptions about the Just, Good, and Beautiful 19Communication Theorizing as a Form of Phronesis 20Explicit Reflection on Theories 21Normalization of Failure 22Changing Problems, Changing Theories 22Review 23Discussion Questions 24Exercise 24References 252 New Social Conditions and the Challenge to Existing Implicit Theories 26Preview 26Everyday Theorizing and Repetitive Failure 26Why Do People Continue to Window Bash? 27Common Sense and Unwitting Consent 28Self-Referentiality of Systems 31System Reproductivity 33Intervention in Repetitive Failures 34A Transformed Social World 35Rapidity of Contemporary Life Changes 35Interdependence and Pluralism 37Growth of Mediation 42Interaction Design 44Review 49Discussion Questions 49Exercise 50References 503 Evaluation of Theories 51Preview 51Making the Implicit Explicit 51Mirrors and Lenses 52Theory as a Mirror of Nature 54Explanation/Prediction/Control 56Domain Specification 56Hypothesis Testing 56An Example 57Theory as a Lens on the World 59Making the World We Want 65Developing a “Communication” Theory 66Review 68Discussion Questions 68Exercise 69References 694 A Typology of Theories 70Preview 70Ways of Thinking about Communication 70Common Native Theories of Interaction 71Teleology of Interaction 72Teleology of Influence 72Teleology of Participation 73Dominance of Influence 74Conceptions of Meaning and Human Experience 75Prototypical Theories of Communication 80Quadrant 1: Strategic Communication 81Quadrant 2: Liberal Democracy 84Constructionism and the Limits of Liberal Democracy 85The Primacy of Personal Experience 86Freedom of Speech and Speaking Forums 86Persuasion and Advocacy 87Scale and Representation 88Quadrant 3: Cultural Management 88Quadrant 4: Generative Democracy 91Review 93Discussion Questions 94Exercise 94References 945 Relational Construction of Human Experience 95Preview 95Common Implicit Story of Communication 95Relational Constructionism 97Relational Encounter 97Indeterminant Nature of the Outside 98Subject Positions and Experience 99The World as Attended To 101Political Nature of Subject Positions 102Politics of Institutional Practices 104Language as Positioning the Subject 107Language as Representation 108Language as a Tool of Personal Expression 109Language as Constitutive of Experience 110Review 116Discussion Questions 116Exercise 117References 1176 The Politics of Experience 118Preview 118Pluralism and Difference 118Differences and Claims in Life Arenas 120Types of Claims and Arenas of Difference 122Relation to the Interior: The Politics of Authenticity 123Relation to Specific Others: The Politics of Identity and Recognition 128Relations to Generalized Others and Society: The Politics of Order 130Relation to the Outer World: The Politics of Knowledge 132Relation to the Future: The Politics of Life Narratives 135Relation to Morality: The Politics of Distribution and Justice 139Review 141Discussion Questions 141Exercise 142References 1427 Constructing Worlds Together 143PreviewRelation of Relational Claims 143People Frequently Confuse Claims 146Consequences of Articulation 147Disarticulation and Interaction Design 150Interpretive Processes and the Fluid Nature of Meaning 152Aligning Meaning Processes 155Alignment and Framing 156Alignment of Claims in Systems 158Complex Flow of Meaning Making Over Time 159Competing Meanings Often Exist 160Meaning Production has no Clear Beginnings or Ends 161Working with Confusing Claims 162Nonalignment is Often Repeated Over Time 164Review 165Discussion Questions 166Exercise 166References 1668 Developing Free and Open Communication 168Preview 168Working with Difference 168Returning to Interaction Teleology 170Moral Foundation for Free and Open Communication 172Reciprocity as an Implicit Normative Claim 174Implications of Reciprocity 176Genuine Conversation 177Genuine Conversation at the Breakfast Table 178Difference and Conceptions of Genuine Conversations 180Contestation: The Opening of Communication Where Before None Seemed Needed 183Free and Open Communication Designs 185Deliberation 186Dialogue 188Collaboration 189Collaborative Versus Strategic Orientation 189Representation and Who is at the Table 190Problem-Talk and Outcome-Talk 191Distinguishing Wants and Interests 192Grade Change to What End? 193Collaboration Beyond Resource Limited Situations 193Review 194Discussion Questions 195Exercise 195References 1969 Strategic Communication 197Preview 197Stopping of Communication Where It Is Needed 197Openly Strategic Communication 198Latently Strategic Communication 200Discursive Advantages 202Discursive Closures 205Disqualification 205Naturalization 206Natural Laws of Basketball 207Neutralization 207Nondiscussibility 208Subjectification of Experience 210Meaning Denial 211Strategically Reopening Communication 212Resistance 212Metacommunication 213Rhetoric 214Strategic Action 214Review 214Discussion Questions 215Exercise 215References 21610 Interpersonal Interaction 217Preview 217Interpersonal Relationships 217Interaction Systems 218Holism 218Equilibrium 219Recursivity 219Emergence 220Alignment Processes 220Acceptance, Rejection, and Disconfirmation 221Taken-For-Granted-Knowledge 223Coherence Expectations 225Episodes and Scripts 228Casting 230Mixed Messages and Meaning Denial 233Undesirable Repetitive Patterns 235Review 240Discussion Questions 240Exercise 240References 24111 Interaction in Organizations 242Preview 242The Organizational Context 242Relational Construction and Organization 243Communication in Organizations 245The Turn to Culture 249Culture as Relational Construction 251Emotions 252Identity 253Social Order 254Knowledge 255Life Narratives 256Justice and Distribution 257Neoliberalism 258Corporate Colonization 258Free and Open Communication 261Collaboration in and Between Organizations 262Getting Social Values into Decision Making 263Traditional Forms of Public Value Inclusion 264Stewardship 264Consumer Choices 265Limits of Government Intervention 266Emerging Forms of Public Value Inclusion 268Benefit Corporations (B-Corps) 268Stakeholder Models 269Review 270Discussion Questions 271Exercise 271References 27112 Social and Mass Media 273Preview 273The Growth of Mediation 273Mediation and Latent Strategy 275The Myth of Transparency 275Transforming the Sensual 276Content and Latent Strategy 279The Blurring of Message Types 279Culture Industries 280Promises and Concerns 281More Connectivity281Increased Capacity to Respond 282More and More Widely Shared Information 284More Diverse Content and Receiver Selectivity 287Ownership and Commercial Interests 288Ownership Bias 288Commercial Bias 290Medium Design Biases 292Increasing Choice and Content Diversity 295Greater Integration of Systems 296Democratic Potential 298Media Literacy and Media as a Change Agent 299Communication as a Public Utility 300Development Choices 302The Facilitation of Democracy 303Review 304Discussion Questions 305Exercise 305References 30613 Analysis of Cases and Interaction Design 307A Final Word 314Reference 314Appendix: Chapter Briefs 315Index 327