Rethinking Media and Cultural Studies: A Journey through Paradigms and TurnsYiÄit KalafatoÄlu
Â
Considering the last century, we see that experts and scholars from various fields such as communication, philosophy, history, sociology, and psychology are interested on media and communication studies. Several movements like positivism, interpretivism, interactionism, Marxism and neo-Marxism has shaped the way scholars pointed out their theories.
Rethinking Media and Cultural Studies: A Journey through Paradigms and TurnsYiÄit KalafatoÄlu
Â
Considering the last century, we see that experts and scholars from various fields such as communication, philosophy, history, sociology, and psychology are interested on media and communication studies. Several movements like positivism, interpretivism, interactionism, Marxism and neo-Marxism has shaped the way scholars pointed out their theories.
Constructivist Political EconomyRawi Abdelal, Mark Blyth, .docxmaxinesmith73660
Â
Constructivist Political Economy
Rawi Abdelal, Mark Blyth, and Craig Parsons
January 14, 2005
13,330 words, including footnotes
Chapter One: The Case for a Constructivist International Political Economy
Introduction: Constructivism â Where to Find it, and Where Not
Social constructivism focuses on the social facts of the world. These social facts
exist only because everyone agrees that they exist. Social facts are very real, and they are
the product of intersubjectively (that is, collectively) held beliefs that cannot be reduced
to a series or summation of subjective, individual beliefs. Social facts differ
fundamentally from material facts, the reality that exists irrespective of collective beliefs
about its existence, but they nonetheless have causal properties.. As John Ruggie
observes, âcollectivities of individuals within states hold intersubjective understandings
that affect their behavior,â just as do âcollectivities of states.â
Although what we think of as âthe world economyâ is composed of both material
and social facts, the field of international political economy (IPE) within political science
has tended until recently to focus almost exclusively on the material facts of the
economy. Materialist scholars have attempted to map individual, firm, and government
preferences over outcomes onto these material facts, thereby privileging the rational,
goal-oriented pursuit of policies as the central causal mechanism in accounts of economic
policy making. In IPE, the combination of materialism and rationalism has become the
dominant, even orthodox, view of the world economy.
IPE has been remarkably impervious to inroads from sociological approaches to
economic policy making. The intersubjective beliefs that give the world meaning are
absent in almost all IPE scholarship. Indeed, IPE is increasingly the last bastion for the
materialists and rationalists, who have had increasingly to share the intellectual terrain
with the constructivists on virtually all other topics. Constructivists have made
contributions that are recognized as fundamentally important to economics and sociology,
as well as to every other sub-field in political science. Similarly, economic sociology has
produced a vibrant research program that has influenced policy and management
scholarship as well. As Frank Dobbin observes,
âSociologists began to explain economic behavior in terms of the same four social
mechanisms they had observed shaping all of social behavior. These mechanisms entered
the common lexicon under the terms institution, network, power, and cognition.
Sociologyâs core insight is that individuals behave according to scripts that are tied to
social roles. Those scripts are called conventions at the collective level and cognitive
schemas at the individual level.â
Similarly, cultural, ideational, and institutionalist theorists have made similar
claims in comparative politics for .
Ontology as a Hidden Driver of Politics: Commoning and Relational Approaches ...Zack Walsh
Â
This report offers a synthesis of findings from 18 experts who, at a three-day workshop, discussed how shifting the ontological premises of political and economic thought toward process-relational ontology could transform society. The workshop, called âOnto-seeding Societal Transformation,â was co-hosted by the Commons Strategies Group and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, in Neudenau, Germany, between September 9-12, 2019. It consisted of three successive sessions focused on process-relational approaches to ontology, design patterns, and politics. A final, fourth session focused on the integration of ontology, patterns, and politics in concrete case studies. This report concludes with new questions and next steps for strategically advancing relational approaches to governance and the commons.
J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol. 38(2) 133-148, 20.docxchristiandean12115
Â
J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol. 38(2) 133-148, 2008
TOWARD A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CULTURE:
CONTRAST OR COMPARE RHETORICS
JUNHUA WANG
University of Minnesota Duluth
ABSTRACT
Kaplanâs framework of contrastive rhetoric has been widely accepted in the
field of cross-cultural technical communication. However, in the last four
decades, contextual factors such as economic globalization trend and the
advances of communication technologies are changing our ways of inter-
acting with others. As a result our understanding of culture and cultural
differences need to be adjusted. In this research, I start by recommending
a workable definition of culture in the present contextâculture as a process,
which establishes a foundation for cross-cultural rhetorical research in the
new era when communication across cultures transcends national boun-
daries. Based on the critical perspective of culture, I continue to point out
the limitations of contrastive rhetoric and argue that contrastive rhetoricâs
view of culture and its research purpose and methodology need to be modi-
fied to overcome its constraints and better meet the needs of the present
social context.
INTRODUCTION
Kaplanâs [1] seminal article, âCultural thought patterns in intercultural educationâ
initiated the study of contrastive rhetoric. For about 40 years, contrastive rhetoric
has been widely used in ESL/EFL settings. As a scholarly discipline, contrastive
rhetoric undertakes to contrast rhetorics across linguistic and cultural boundaries
based on the notion that each language or culture has its own unique rhetorical
patterns. Since the 1960s, contrastive rhetoric has been continuously expanding to
133
ïżœ 2008, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.
doi: 10.2190/TW.38.2.c
http://baywood.com
include more genres to contrast besides the original ESL studentsâ academic
writing. It has been gaining the popularity of serving as a research framework
in fields other than ESL/EFL, such as cross-cultural technical communication.
Kaplanâs 1966 snail like âdoodleâ is still used today to explain some Asian
countriesâ (e.g., China) indirect communication style. Some scholars claim that
contrastive rhetoric is âa must in cross-cultural inquiriesâ [2]. In the field of
technical communication, a lot of research based on contrastive rhetoric has been
done to emphasize the significance of cultural differences. The latest example is
Barnum and Liâs [3] article on cross-cultural comparison between Chinese and
American technical communication. The article was published in the May issue
of Technical Communication in 2006, which demonstrates the prevailing per-
spective embraced by scholars in the field.
However, in the last four decades, we have seen great changes happened to
various aspects of our life. Contextual factors such as the economic globalization
trend and convergent communication styles such as online communication and
homogeneous mass media are changing o.
Debate on Peace and Political Conflicts, in the era of Globalization and Digi...AJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT : With globalization, the integration of countries, cultures and markets generates cultural, social
and political conflicts, since people are not trapped in the particular reality and individual characteristics,
because they are part of a global community, that is, they become citizens of the world. Globalization poses very
important issues in socio-cultural terms (language, use, customs, legislation and social), economic (creation and
distribution of wealth) and political (political systems, security, and defense of borders) that can represent real
barriers to global integration, which can generate conflicts and wars.
Cultural, philosophical, and scientific changes can be seen as a reaction to the loss of faith in the ancient systems
of meaning or great narratives, which have long shaped our understanding of the world. The very notion of the
existence of truth was questioned, when the role of interpretation in understanding the truth became increasingly
apparent (the objective truth â the glass is half full, or subjective truth â the glass is half empty). Truth has
become a question of perspective shaped by a wide range of intersectional forces. This focus on the plurality and
relativity of truth(s) gave rise to many fields of critical research, including the Studies of Peace and Conflicts.
KEYWORDS: Information, Peace, Conflict, Political Leadership, Political Decision, Digital Society.
On the role of personal epistemology in the study of Science, Technology and ...AJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT : The study of the social influence on the scientific praxis is an important branch of social
sciences. This branch, however, has focused mostly on large scale phenomena or otherwise individual ethics. In
this work we propose a way to approach this topic from individual psychological constructs using the
cognitiveframe of personal epistemology. In particular, we show that the insertion of psychological variables to
account for the self-control over personal epistemology is a useful tool facing the modern tendencies of the
scientific work. The pertinence of this approach for a complete analysis of the science agents is discussed in
several perspectives. We recall that, even when socio-scientific dynamics is not reducible to its constituents, it is
precisely within the individuals that many important clues can be found to understend complex collective
behaviors.
KEYWORDS : Personal epistemology, interdisciplinary research, cognitive processes, social sciences
Debate on Political Leadership,in the era of Digital CapitalismAJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT: In this article, the leadership of political formations is described in the era of Digital Capitalism.
The history of political formations corresponds to the way in which collective spaces of action, between
politicians and citizens of each country, geographical region or world political organization, which is the
expression of a "we" resulting from the interactions and conflicts of the actors (politicians, political
organizations, state and citizens). Knowledge and information are determining factors of social transformations,
not only of their distribution in the social space, but also of collective agents possessing knowledge and
information, with the support of information and communication technologies (ICT's).
This issue arises, as relevant due to the accelerated development of Information and Communication
Technologies, and its dissemination among people, which is contributing to the globalization and development
of the Knowledge Society in the digital age. We have new types of issues, especially about the relationship
between action / technology / society. As we will argue, a new way of understanding the world, human beings
and the relationship between them is coming up.
Keywords: Information, Knowledge, Political Leadership, Political Decision, Digital Capitalism.
Development of Social Sciences in Dissertations of Immanuel Wallerstein - Imp...RemigiuszRosicki
Â
This paper presents an analysis of the social science development concept of Immanuel Wallerstein. In general terms we can say that the development of social sciences was based on a process of emancipation of individual subjects of research and validation of research methods.
I. Wallerstein drew attention to the process of emancipation of individual disciplines, therefore
we can talk about the separation of philosophy, followed by social sciences and, negatively evaluated by I. Wallerstein, applied social sciences. With the constitution of individual disciplines
we dealt with the process of polarising methodological positions, which can be roughly described as the concept of two cultures. The text describes the following issues: (1) the directions
of emancipation of scientific disciplines, (2) the processes of emancipation of scientific disciplines, (3) the dynamics of changes in social sciences, (4) the effects of changes occurring in sciences. In addition to the main assumptions of I. Wallerstein on science, the text attempts to confront these assumptions with the achievements of T. S. Kuhn, R. K. Merton and C. W. Mills. The aim of the article is to point out the implications for the âtheory of international relationsâ deriving from the general trends in the development of social sciences. This issue has come down to only selected issues of: microscopisation, idealisation, metaphorical use, deformation, transcendentalisation, fictionalisation and fetishisation of notions in the âtheory of international relationsâ.
Objective This activity is designed to help you understand th.docxmccormicknadine86
Â
Objective:Â
This activity is designed to help you understand the process of communication that you will be exploring in your final project.
Background:
Please begin this exercise by reading the following information carefully.
Although the study of effective communication practices dates back to such ancient scholars as Aristotle and Cicero, communication as a separate field of study is relatively modern, propelled in part by interest in twentieth-century advances in electronic communications. Scholars look at particular combinations of people communicating with each other in specific contexts. Our readings this week in the
Encyclopedia of Communication Theory
tell us the resulting theories can be categorized according to
communication
context
:
intrapersonal communication focuses largely on our cognitive abilities;Â
interpersonal communication addresses the communication between dyads and triads (two-three people);Â
group communication deals with small group interactions;Â
organizational communication addresses communication across organizations;Â
public/rhetorical communication examines face-to-face communication to a large group of listeners;
mass/mediated communication encompasses messages produced for mass or mediated audiences; andÂ
intercultural communication looks at communication among people of different cultures. Â
Some researchers also specialize in gender communication, which focuses on communication issues of women and between the sexes, health communication, and computer-mediated communication.
Whatever the context, most scholars agree there are
five facets
to
communication
that come together to define it as a
social
process
in which individuals employ
symbols
to establish and interpret
meaning
in their
environment.
Let's see if we can collaborate on enhancing our understanding of these terms!
Activity:
Select and respond to
of the following questions:
1. Communication is
social
in that it involves people and interactions, whether face-to-face or mediated. Â Can you think of a few more categories for the social patterns of human communication?
2. Communication uses
symbols
, arbitrary labels or representations of phenomena that are sometimes
concrete
in that they represent an actual object, and sometimes
abstract
because they can represent ideas and thoughts. Â Explain a time when you did not understand a "symbol" -- what was it, and how did you realize you did not understand what was being communicated?
3. Communication is a
process
that is an ongoing, dynamic, and unending occurrence. It also is complex and continually changing. If it were not dynamic, compromise and resolution would not be possible. Communication also is irretrievable, irreversible, and unrepeatable; as such, each communication "episode" is unique. Describe a communication interaction â perhaps one you have had -- that exemplifies how people can end up in a very different place once a discussion gets underway..
Constructivist Political EconomyRawi Abdelal, Mark Blyth, .docxmaxinesmith73660
Â
Constructivist Political Economy
Rawi Abdelal, Mark Blyth, and Craig Parsons
January 14, 2005
13,330 words, including footnotes
Chapter One: The Case for a Constructivist International Political Economy
Introduction: Constructivism â Where to Find it, and Where Not
Social constructivism focuses on the social facts of the world. These social facts
exist only because everyone agrees that they exist. Social facts are very real, and they are
the product of intersubjectively (that is, collectively) held beliefs that cannot be reduced
to a series or summation of subjective, individual beliefs. Social facts differ
fundamentally from material facts, the reality that exists irrespective of collective beliefs
about its existence, but they nonetheless have causal properties.. As John Ruggie
observes, âcollectivities of individuals within states hold intersubjective understandings
that affect their behavior,â just as do âcollectivities of states.â
Although what we think of as âthe world economyâ is composed of both material
and social facts, the field of international political economy (IPE) within political science
has tended until recently to focus almost exclusively on the material facts of the
economy. Materialist scholars have attempted to map individual, firm, and government
preferences over outcomes onto these material facts, thereby privileging the rational,
goal-oriented pursuit of policies as the central causal mechanism in accounts of economic
policy making. In IPE, the combination of materialism and rationalism has become the
dominant, even orthodox, view of the world economy.
IPE has been remarkably impervious to inroads from sociological approaches to
economic policy making. The intersubjective beliefs that give the world meaning are
absent in almost all IPE scholarship. Indeed, IPE is increasingly the last bastion for the
materialists and rationalists, who have had increasingly to share the intellectual terrain
with the constructivists on virtually all other topics. Constructivists have made
contributions that are recognized as fundamentally important to economics and sociology,
as well as to every other sub-field in political science. Similarly, economic sociology has
produced a vibrant research program that has influenced policy and management
scholarship as well. As Frank Dobbin observes,
âSociologists began to explain economic behavior in terms of the same four social
mechanisms they had observed shaping all of social behavior. These mechanisms entered
the common lexicon under the terms institution, network, power, and cognition.
Sociologyâs core insight is that individuals behave according to scripts that are tied to
social roles. Those scripts are called conventions at the collective level and cognitive
schemas at the individual level.â
Similarly, cultural, ideational, and institutionalist theorists have made similar
claims in comparative politics for .
Ontology as a Hidden Driver of Politics: Commoning and Relational Approaches ...Zack Walsh
Â
This report offers a synthesis of findings from 18 experts who, at a three-day workshop, discussed how shifting the ontological premises of political and economic thought toward process-relational ontology could transform society. The workshop, called âOnto-seeding Societal Transformation,â was co-hosted by the Commons Strategies Group and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, in Neudenau, Germany, between September 9-12, 2019. It consisted of three successive sessions focused on process-relational approaches to ontology, design patterns, and politics. A final, fourth session focused on the integration of ontology, patterns, and politics in concrete case studies. This report concludes with new questions and next steps for strategically advancing relational approaches to governance and the commons.
J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol. 38(2) 133-148, 20.docxchristiandean12115
Â
J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol. 38(2) 133-148, 2008
TOWARD A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CULTURE:
CONTRAST OR COMPARE RHETORICS
JUNHUA WANG
University of Minnesota Duluth
ABSTRACT
Kaplanâs framework of contrastive rhetoric has been widely accepted in the
field of cross-cultural technical communication. However, in the last four
decades, contextual factors such as economic globalization trend and the
advances of communication technologies are changing our ways of inter-
acting with others. As a result our understanding of culture and cultural
differences need to be adjusted. In this research, I start by recommending
a workable definition of culture in the present contextâculture as a process,
which establishes a foundation for cross-cultural rhetorical research in the
new era when communication across cultures transcends national boun-
daries. Based on the critical perspective of culture, I continue to point out
the limitations of contrastive rhetoric and argue that contrastive rhetoricâs
view of culture and its research purpose and methodology need to be modi-
fied to overcome its constraints and better meet the needs of the present
social context.
INTRODUCTION
Kaplanâs [1] seminal article, âCultural thought patterns in intercultural educationâ
initiated the study of contrastive rhetoric. For about 40 years, contrastive rhetoric
has been widely used in ESL/EFL settings. As a scholarly discipline, contrastive
rhetoric undertakes to contrast rhetorics across linguistic and cultural boundaries
based on the notion that each language or culture has its own unique rhetorical
patterns. Since the 1960s, contrastive rhetoric has been continuously expanding to
133
ïżœ 2008, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.
doi: 10.2190/TW.38.2.c
http://baywood.com
include more genres to contrast besides the original ESL studentsâ academic
writing. It has been gaining the popularity of serving as a research framework
in fields other than ESL/EFL, such as cross-cultural technical communication.
Kaplanâs 1966 snail like âdoodleâ is still used today to explain some Asian
countriesâ (e.g., China) indirect communication style. Some scholars claim that
contrastive rhetoric is âa must in cross-cultural inquiriesâ [2]. In the field of
technical communication, a lot of research based on contrastive rhetoric has been
done to emphasize the significance of cultural differences. The latest example is
Barnum and Liâs [3] article on cross-cultural comparison between Chinese and
American technical communication. The article was published in the May issue
of Technical Communication in 2006, which demonstrates the prevailing per-
spective embraced by scholars in the field.
However, in the last four decades, we have seen great changes happened to
various aspects of our life. Contextual factors such as the economic globalization
trend and convergent communication styles such as online communication and
homogeneous mass media are changing o.
Debate on Peace and Political Conflicts, in the era of Globalization and Digi...AJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT : With globalization, the integration of countries, cultures and markets generates cultural, social
and political conflicts, since people are not trapped in the particular reality and individual characteristics,
because they are part of a global community, that is, they become citizens of the world. Globalization poses very
important issues in socio-cultural terms (language, use, customs, legislation and social), economic (creation and
distribution of wealth) and political (political systems, security, and defense of borders) that can represent real
barriers to global integration, which can generate conflicts and wars.
Cultural, philosophical, and scientific changes can be seen as a reaction to the loss of faith in the ancient systems
of meaning or great narratives, which have long shaped our understanding of the world. The very notion of the
existence of truth was questioned, when the role of interpretation in understanding the truth became increasingly
apparent (the objective truth â the glass is half full, or subjective truth â the glass is half empty). Truth has
become a question of perspective shaped by a wide range of intersectional forces. This focus on the plurality and
relativity of truth(s) gave rise to many fields of critical research, including the Studies of Peace and Conflicts.
KEYWORDS: Information, Peace, Conflict, Political Leadership, Political Decision, Digital Society.
On the role of personal epistemology in the study of Science, Technology and ...AJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT : The study of the social influence on the scientific praxis is an important branch of social
sciences. This branch, however, has focused mostly on large scale phenomena or otherwise individual ethics. In
this work we propose a way to approach this topic from individual psychological constructs using the
cognitiveframe of personal epistemology. In particular, we show that the insertion of psychological variables to
account for the self-control over personal epistemology is a useful tool facing the modern tendencies of the
scientific work. The pertinence of this approach for a complete analysis of the science agents is discussed in
several perspectives. We recall that, even when socio-scientific dynamics is not reducible to its constituents, it is
precisely within the individuals that many important clues can be found to understend complex collective
behaviors.
KEYWORDS : Personal epistemology, interdisciplinary research, cognitive processes, social sciences
Debate on Political Leadership,in the era of Digital CapitalismAJHSSR Journal
Â
ABSTRACT: In this article, the leadership of political formations is described in the era of Digital Capitalism.
The history of political formations corresponds to the way in which collective spaces of action, between
politicians and citizens of each country, geographical region or world political organization, which is the
expression of a "we" resulting from the interactions and conflicts of the actors (politicians, political
organizations, state and citizens). Knowledge and information are determining factors of social transformations,
not only of their distribution in the social space, but also of collective agents possessing knowledge and
information, with the support of information and communication technologies (ICT's).
This issue arises, as relevant due to the accelerated development of Information and Communication
Technologies, and its dissemination among people, which is contributing to the globalization and development
of the Knowledge Society in the digital age. We have new types of issues, especially about the relationship
between action / technology / society. As we will argue, a new way of understanding the world, human beings
and the relationship between them is coming up.
Keywords: Information, Knowledge, Political Leadership, Political Decision, Digital Capitalism.
Development of Social Sciences in Dissertations of Immanuel Wallerstein - Imp...RemigiuszRosicki
Â
This paper presents an analysis of the social science development concept of Immanuel Wallerstein. In general terms we can say that the development of social sciences was based on a process of emancipation of individual subjects of research and validation of research methods.
I. Wallerstein drew attention to the process of emancipation of individual disciplines, therefore
we can talk about the separation of philosophy, followed by social sciences and, negatively evaluated by I. Wallerstein, applied social sciences. With the constitution of individual disciplines
we dealt with the process of polarising methodological positions, which can be roughly described as the concept of two cultures. The text describes the following issues: (1) the directions
of emancipation of scientific disciplines, (2) the processes of emancipation of scientific disciplines, (3) the dynamics of changes in social sciences, (4) the effects of changes occurring in sciences. In addition to the main assumptions of I. Wallerstein on science, the text attempts to confront these assumptions with the achievements of T. S. Kuhn, R. K. Merton and C. W. Mills. The aim of the article is to point out the implications for the âtheory of international relationsâ deriving from the general trends in the development of social sciences. This issue has come down to only selected issues of: microscopisation, idealisation, metaphorical use, deformation, transcendentalisation, fictionalisation and fetishisation of notions in the âtheory of international relationsâ.
Objective This activity is designed to help you understand th.docxmccormicknadine86
Â
Objective:Â
This activity is designed to help you understand the process of communication that you will be exploring in your final project.
Background:
Please begin this exercise by reading the following information carefully.
Although the study of effective communication practices dates back to such ancient scholars as Aristotle and Cicero, communication as a separate field of study is relatively modern, propelled in part by interest in twentieth-century advances in electronic communications. Scholars look at particular combinations of people communicating with each other in specific contexts. Our readings this week in the
Encyclopedia of Communication Theory
tell us the resulting theories can be categorized according to
communication
context
:
intrapersonal communication focuses largely on our cognitive abilities;Â
interpersonal communication addresses the communication between dyads and triads (two-three people);Â
group communication deals with small group interactions;Â
organizational communication addresses communication across organizations;Â
public/rhetorical communication examines face-to-face communication to a large group of listeners;
mass/mediated communication encompasses messages produced for mass or mediated audiences; andÂ
intercultural communication looks at communication among people of different cultures. Â
Some researchers also specialize in gender communication, which focuses on communication issues of women and between the sexes, health communication, and computer-mediated communication.
Whatever the context, most scholars agree there are
five facets
to
communication
that come together to define it as a
social
process
in which individuals employ
symbols
to establish and interpret
meaning
in their
environment.
Let's see if we can collaborate on enhancing our understanding of these terms!
Activity:
Select and respond to
of the following questions:
1. Communication is
social
in that it involves people and interactions, whether face-to-face or mediated. Â Can you think of a few more categories for the social patterns of human communication?
2. Communication uses
symbols
, arbitrary labels or representations of phenomena that are sometimes
concrete
in that they represent an actual object, and sometimes
abstract
because they can represent ideas and thoughts. Â Explain a time when you did not understand a "symbol" -- what was it, and how did you realize you did not understand what was being communicated?
3. Communication is a
process
that is an ongoing, dynamic, and unending occurrence. It also is complex and continually changing. If it were not dynamic, compromise and resolution would not be possible. Communication also is irretrievable, irreversible, and unrepeatable; as such, each communication "episode" is unique. Describe a communication interaction â perhaps one you have had -- that exemplifies how people can end up in a very different place once a discussion gets underway..
Similar to A Blank Sheet Of Paper The Phenomenological Foundation Of Comparative Media Theory (20)
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Operation âBlue Starâ is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Â
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
Â
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
Â
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using âinvisibleâ attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Â
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
Â
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
2. 10
opposing the ideology of communication as information transfer with a
constitutive conception (1989), arguing that the notion of communication as
mediation is rooted in an institutional complex that has passed (1992a), or
the extension, from Innis, of a thory of space that can ground a contem-
porary critique of empire (forthcoming d). In some cases, this has also
extended toward the articulation of new perspectives in a sympathetic
relation to new social movements - the exploring of a new political prin-
ciple that could compensate audiences for their expelling from democratic
participation, for example (forthcoming a), the exploring of the cultural
basis of a postmodern ethics (forthcoming c), or the critique of in-
dustrialism through the articulation of a concept of wilderness (1991). In all
of these concerns the linkage between particular issues in communication
and culture and the wider historical issues of social transformation is
developed through a focus on the perceptual, institutional and cognitive
aspects of media of communication in the context of the interplay between
a plurality of media. This linking of particular issues with the historical
epoch is a key component of a contemporary theory of ideology-critique
(Angus, forthcoming b). It is not too much to say that this question of
"linkage" is the instituting question from which comparative media theory
is articulated (see Angus, 1992b).
All of this amounts more to a research program, or an intellectual
perspective, than a strictly defined set of methods and problems, and
implies an indefinitely large set of concrete and theoretical investigations.
In the approach of comparative media theory, the study of communication
is turned towards, in Innis's (1973) words, "Why do we attend to the things
to which we attend?" understood not only in a psychological, but also in an
institutional, historical and intellectual, sense (1973, p. xvii). In my version,
however, it is as important to ask "What might we be attending to?" and
even "Where are the limits of our attention?" Through such questions,
comparative media theory becomes at once more philosophical and more
political. It is at the intersection of these two concerns that all of the essays
alluded to above were written.
Let us consider this name "comparative media theory" for a moment.
First, why "comparative"? Because the forming influence of a medium of
communication is invisible as long as one "lives inside" it. Only by looking
at it "from outside," as we say, can its influence be defined. But, if it is
indeed true that our abilities to see, perceive and think are formed by media
of communication, then this "outside" cannot be outside media of com-
munication as such, but only outside the medium which is at present being
analyzed. Thus, every study of the forming influence of a medium of
communication is always at least implicitly comparative, and often bringing
this comparative dimension explicitly into concern sharpens the issues.
3. 11
Second, what does "media" mean? Though related to technology, a medium
is not simply a technology, but the social relations within which a technol-
ogy develops and which are re-arranged around it. A "medium" is thus a
mode of social organization, defined not by its output or production, but by
the relations obtaining within it. These two terms, "medium" and
"technology," while conceptually distinct are thus concretely closely bound
together, and comparative media theory has the effect of emphasizing the
role of technology not only in production, but in its perceptual, institutional
and cognitive consequences. Third, why "theory"? Primarily to emphasize
that descriptive focus on media is not sufficient. To the extent that the thesis
holds up, the standpoint of the theorist is also formed by media. Thus, there
is needed an explicit account of the reflexive dimensions opened up by this
theory, of how the standpoint of analysis interacts with the phenomenon
described. Comparative media theory is concerned with various dimensions
of continuous translations in the media environment which, at any stage of
relative fixity, define a culture through what it assumes as common sense
and what it explicitly poses as problems to be addressed.
Let us take just one example of the rhetoric of oscillation that is charac-
teristic of comparative media theory. Harold Innis (1972) wrote in the
introduction to Empire and Communications that "the subject of com-
munication offers possibilities in that it occupies a crucial position in the
organization and administration of govemment and in turn of empires and
Western civilization." Two pages later he claimed that "We can con-
veniently divide the history of the West into the writing and the printing
periods" and four pages after that concluded the introduction by summariz-
ing his general task as "to suggest the roles of different media of com-
munication with reference to civilizations and to contrast the civilizations"
(pp. 5, 7, 11). In this argument communication begins as "subject," albeit
one with a "crucial position" among, we may assume, a very large other
number of subjects. The general intellectual value of this subject could only
be determined by comparing it with the contributions made by study of the
other subjects. The argument very soon becomes a "convenient" manner of
historical periodization for the "West" and, while it is not suggested that
this is the only periodization that may be relevant, it is insinuated that
something crucial to the "West" is to be discovered thereby. Finally, when
he suggests that the "different roles" of media provide a standpoint from
which to "contrast civilizations," the expansion of significance is complete.
Communication has become the most macroscopic study imaginable and
the presumption that it must be evaluated in relation to other intellectual
projects pales behind its claim to order all intellectual and practical projects
as belonging to the civilizations that it studies. This rhetoric is made
possible by the focus on a previously ignored or undervalued subject-matter
4. 12
in a manner that does not confine it to a specialized study but syncretically
expands to influence and, perhaps, integrate all specialized studies into the
most general, or even universal, evaluations.
It might be objected that Innis was eccentric in this regard and that this
rhetoric of oscillation is a minor one. However, it seems to me that it is not
only characteristic, but even constitutive, of studies which focus on the role
of "media of communication" in social formations and their transformation.
Leaving aside the institutional issues for the present,1 I am arguing that the
rhetoric of oscillation is occasioned by-the undecided role of communica-
tion in the human sciences between specialized inquiry and integrating
synthesis. This can be seen in as cautious a classical scholar as Eric
Havelock in the foreword to his influential Preface to Plato. While ack-
nowledging that the transition from Homer to Plato can be described in
other terms, such as the contrast of shame and guilt cultures, he neverthe-
less claims that "it remains true that the crux of the matter lies in the
transition from the oral to the written" and that related changes are
"generated by changes in the technology of preserved communication"
(Havelock, 1982:xi). The oscillation begins by setting a new contribution
alongside many others and concludes by asserting that it is the foundational,
or generating, factor that can explain all the rest. However, when forced to
defend the latter universal claim, a counter-movement is often initiated
through the defensive argument that this specific factor has not been well
enough covered by existing studies.
Such an oscillation between specific and universal claims is an interest-
ing feature of arguments for the constitutive role of media of communica-
tion in social formations and their transitions. The rhetoric of oscillation is
rooted in the postmodern location of comparative media theory' s reformula-
tion of the relationship between philosophy and the human sciences.2 Innis,
for one, was aware of this reflexive paradox and he addressed it through his
concept of "bias" by which societies are said to be oriented to space or time
through their media of communication. "The significance of a basic
medium to its civilization is difficult to appraise since the means of ap-
praisal are influenced by the media, and indeed the fact of appraisal appears
to be peculiar to certain types of media" (Innis, 1972:9). Thus, what I have
called the rhetoric of oscillation is a characteristic of the reflexive ex-
planatory power of the focus on media of communication. This sugests that
the theoretical standpoint which selects media of communication as a, or
the, focus for inquiry can, or should, be accounted for with the tools of the
inquiry itself. As I have argued elsewhere, Innis's theory of civilization is
also a diagnosis of the present state of civilization which requires the
communication theory of civilization and in which it may serve a healing
function (Angus, forthcoming d).3
5. 13
For this reason, Innis's communication theory merits comparison with
Edmund Husserl's work The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcenden-
tal Phenomenology (1970a) in which the loss of meaning of science for
human life was diagnosed as a result of the separation of specialized
scientific inquiry from its universal and reflexive foundation in philosophy
due to the modern instrumental ideal of knowledge that has prevailed since
the Renaissance. Overcoming this dominant conception requires rethinking
the relation between totality and particularity in order to show how par-
ticular inquiries can be imbued with universal concerns and the articulation
of universality in philosophy remains tied to its origins. Such a postmodern
connection between specific inquiry and universalizing theory, which is
both reflexive and situated, I initially termed "judgment." "To mark this
expansion of the constitution of self and world beyond the delimited and
assumed domains of tradition and instrumental reason, self/world constitu-
tion can be substituted as the wider judgmental relationship formerly
designated as subject/object. Each thematic constitution of self/world in
explicit judgments unthematically transforms the entirety of life-world
experience" (Angus, 1984:142). The relation betweeun cultural expressions
and the social totality can also be formulated in terms of this theme/horizon,
or figure/ground, relationship in a way that replaces the usual postmodern
rejection of totality with a reconceptualization of the specificity/universality
nexus (Angus, 1990).4
The relation of comparative media theory to phenomenology, at its most
basic, concerns the point at which phenomenology might branch off from
being mainly a theory of science and critique of scientific civilization
toward being a theory of communication and critique of social relations.
Considerable work in this area has already been done in phenomenological
philosophy and human science, of course. Rather than survey these contribu-
tions, I want to describe the precise point at which such an intellectual
agenda would diverge from that of Husserl.
At the outset of Investigation 1 of the Logical Investigations, Husserl is
concerned to define and delineate the phenomenon of "expression" because
it is the root phenomenon of the knowledge-claims operative in scientific
discourse. An expression, as with any sign, fuses a mark with something to
which the mark refers - a relation between signifier and signified in
semiotic terminology - such that it has a meaning and "in so far as it means
something, it relates to what is objective" (Husserl, 1970b:280). Thus,
Husserl is able to investigate the correlations given in the expression, "the
expression itself, its sense and its objective correlate" (p. 284). This lays the
foundation for the entirety of the subsequent inquiry into the theory of logic
and science.
However, in order to fix his sights on the phenomenon of expression,
6. 14
Husserl first distinguishes it from the phenomenon of "intimation." On the
first page of the First Investigation, he points out that not every sign has a
meaning that the sign expresses. "[S]igns in the sense of indications (notes,
marks, etc.) do not express anything, unless they happen to fulfil a sig-
nificant as well as an indicative function" (p. 269). Indication thus refers to
a state wherein something indicates something to a thinking being. Or, more
technically, "certain objects or states of affairs of whose reality someone
has actual knowledge indicate to him the reality of certain other objects or
states of affairs, in the sense that his belief in the reality of the one is
experienced (though not at all evidently) as motivating a belief or surmise
in the reality of the other" (p. 270, emphasis removed). In indication, the
unity between the two states of affairs is a motivational unity, rather than a
logical one.5 Clearly, this has to be left aside in order to focus on scientific
discourse as a logical edifice interwoven through the meaningful content of
signs.
By way of contrast, the motivational unity operative in intimation refers
to the "wider group of facts that fall under the historical rubric of the
'association of ideas'" and occurs by suggesting that "certain things may or
must exist, since other things have been given" (pp. 273,270). Plainly, this
type of association between ideas is operative throughout ordinary life.
Since this is obviously distinct from the relations between judgments with
meaningful content that constitute science, what is the relation between
these two types of judgments? Most important, Husserl denies that expres-
sions are a sub-class of intimations (p. 269) and claims that intimations
pertain specifically to communicative speech (pp. 276, 277, 281).6 In
communicative speech, the hearer intuitively perceives the speaker as
manifesting certain inner experiences. "Mutual understanding demands a
certain correlation among mental acts mutually unfolded in intimation and
in the receipt of such intimation, but not at all their exact resemblance"
(p. 278). While the mutuality of communicative interaction requires
perception of the other's state of mind, it by no means requires that such
perception function as knowledge, or be expressible as a set of verifiable
scientific judgments.
It is not important whether these two functions of signs are really
separable from each other in concrete cases (Husserl, 1970b:278-280;
Evans, 1991:42, 68-72). The key point is that they are different functions:
expression points to the ideal unity of sense that it contains, whereas
intimation refers to the mental states whose existence is perceived by
someone else. The former is the basis for a theory of science; the latter is
the basis for a theory of communication. If one were to argue that science is
itself a social institution and thus requires communication, this would not
impale the distinction, which requires only that these are distinct functions
7. 15
in a given concrete case. As Husserl said, "an expression in living speech
also functions as an indication" (1970b:276).
Looking at this conceptual distinction in a wider context, intimation is
the kind of "occasional expression" - whose meaning is tied to the here and
now of its utterance - operative in the mutual communication that con-
stitutes society (Husserl, 1970b: 313; Toulemont, 1981: 227). It is through
this sharing of our minds that society becomes human society, a society of
conscious beigns who each understand, in some fashion, the conscious lives
of others in their world and thus the society in which they live. Toulemont
(1981) summarizes the phenomenological account in this way:
"Communication opens access to the state of society. For society to exist, it
is necessary, in addition, that the unity of subjects be made and developed
through the content of the communications, and it is necessary that the
unity, which is evanescent in communication, acquire a certain per-
manence" (p. 229). It is on the basis of such communication that the
"higher-level persons," in Husserl's phrase, such as the nations, classes and
associations that form human society, are constituted (1969:132;
1970a: 188).
This phenomenological account of communalization converges with a
Marxist account of language as communicative utterance. Volosinov (1973)
makes a similar distinction between an identical ideal content, which he
calls "meaning," and the unique and unreproducible "theme," which refers
to "the concrete historical situation that engendered the utterance" (p. 99).
As dialogic, every utterance has an evaluative accent whereby it expresses
the way of life of a social group in a constant tension with its rivals (pp. 95,
103, 106).
Thus, by describing the precise point at which a theory of communica-
tion diverges from a theory of scientific meaning, it is possible to note a
significant convergence between phenomenology and a Marxist critique of
a semiotic theory of language. Such a phenomenological Marxism is
concerned with the function of language in constituting social groupings
through intuitive participation and in conflict with other groups. Language
is understood here not as a representation of previously existing social
relations, but as constitutive in its own right. The utterance is not concerned
with "internal" meaning, but with the "lateral" construction of social
relations through the indication of the content of other minds and the
evaluative accent given to a certain way of life. In this manner, the
phenomenological foundation of comparative media theory thus takes up, in
its own manner, many of the issues addressed by the phenomenological
Marxism of Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. 7 Put another
way, it is a synthesis of the "sensuous materialism" of Marx with the
"critique of experience" of Husserl, into a critical cultural theory.
8. 16
However, while "communication" is understood as constitutive, lateral
and agonistic through this synthesis, there is not, in either Husserl or
Volosinov, a focus on the medium of communication as such. As Havelock
(1986) has noted, the literature that argues for such a focus sprang onto the
stage in 1963 and has grown by leaps and bounds ever since (pp. 24-29).
The rediscovery of orality that characterized this literature emerged in the
contemporary historical shift away from a predominantly literate civiliza-
tion under the influence of new electronic media such as radio and televi-
sion, and which has accelerated more recently with the introduction of
computers, satellites and so forth. His appreciation of the prior oral culture
of Homeric Greece led Havelock to suggest that philosophy itself was
formed by the shift from orality to writing. The separation of the knower
from the known, the condition for the emergence of philosophy, lies in the
new conception of language as descriptive, material and visual rather than
rhetorical, agonistic and acoustic. From this shift emerged both the Socratic
practice of "essential definition," whereby an answer to the "What is x?"
question was sought, and the Socratic conception of the self which, through
the process of dialectic, formed itself in the image of justice (Havelock,
1963:208-210; 1986:105-116). It was thus suggested that the very form of
knowledge in the culture of the West was initiated by a civilizational shift
which was not itself fully comprehended by those who underwent it.
Though this argument has not generally been pursued in philosophical
terms, it suggests an affinity with the nineteenth century critique of
philosophy by Marx, Nietzsche and Freud who suggested that the project of
knowing could only be formulated under conditions that prevented its
adequate self-knowledge. For this reason the inception of comparative
media theory is a key theme in the story that has been called the "end of
philosophy" and which underlies the contemporary reformulation of
"postmodern" social thought (see Angus, 1993).
The separation of knower and known emerges with the decline of mythic
narrative and provokes the philosophical attempt to close the gap. Plato
likened knowledge to vision and pointed out that the seer and the seen could
only coincide in the presence of light. Similarly, the co-presence of knower
and known can only occur in the presence of a medium of connection that
Plato called the Good (Plato, Republic, 1966, 507b-509b: 742-744). When
the philosopher emerges from the cave and gazes on the sun, the soul is
formed to resemble the order of the cosmos.8 But the sight of the sun is not
"another" knowledge, however exalted. It is the point of coincidence
between the ability to see and the source of light that makes any and all
connections between knower and known possible. Philosophy thus grounds
the very possibility of rational civilization through the encounter with the
origin of connection between human perception and extra-human order.
9. 17
Comparative media theory, if it is to be more than a catalogue of tech-
nological inventions, must link historical changes in media of communica-
tion to human perception of Being. Insofar as a given medium becomes
metaphorically illuminative of the ground of this connection between
humanity and Being it circumscribes an epoch of awareness. The history of
Being, in Heidegger's phrase, is thus the history of these media of connec-
tion that open the possibility of, and assign a characteristic form to, the
multiplicity of connections between knower and known that characterize an
epoch. Communication, in this sense, is not a question of the transmission
of a priorly articulated thought. It is the form of awareness that shapes the
articulation of thought. Thought itself is understood less as an "internal"
activity than as the multiplicity of connections that is "spread out" through
the materiality of social communication. From this perspective, the media
of communication that have been developed throughout human culture are
intimations of the socio-historical Being of human life. They are the
embodied form of human thought.
The rhetoric of oscillation is thus rooted in the postmodern turning
whereby the epochal forms of awareness, which are articulated through
media of communication, become "visible" as we turn from one epoch into
another. Even deeper, it expresses the inevitability of expressing the forms
of awareness in terms drawn from the history of expression. This reflexive
paradox of communication stems from the fact that every "communication"
as expression is a metaphorical formation of the very possibility of
"communication" as connection. A contemporary rhetoric thus has less to
do with persuasion in the sense of yielding assent to a given content, than
with a deeper persuasion, inherent in every expression, to assent to the form
of awareness that is manifested through the content. It is a rhetoric of
discursive forms, a rhetoric of inquiry, or of the human sciences (see
Angus, 1993). It is also within this loop that the postmodern connection
between the human sciences and philosophy is
a thorough rethinking of the relation between
relation whose terms have been largely settled
territory (Angus and Langsdorf, 1993).
to be found, which requires
rhetoric and philosoph - a
since the Greek division of
It is in this postmodern context of a newly unsettled relation between
rhetoric and philosophy that the literature comprising comparative media
theory poses radical issues for the relation between philosophy and the
human sciences. Comparative media theory is, from this point of view, a
concern with rhetoric expanded to deal with media forms, rather than their
contents. McLuhan's famous phrase "the medium is the message"
condenses this thought rather nicely, though I would really prefer it to be
"the message is the medium," which also emphasizes that the rhetoric of
media forms is only itself expressable as/through a content. The metaphori-
10. 18
cal, and even allusive, level at which comparative media theory is articu-
lated, since it is discourse about the historical forms of the very possibility
of discourse, remains tied to the contents of human expression - though in a
reflexive manner.
The thesis proper to communication in this expanded sense is that media
of communication constitute human experience in its perceptual, institu-
tional and cognitive aspects, which are elaborated in the dimensions of
space and time, such that a specific cultural form is given to the lifeworld of
a social groups. "Culture," in this usage, is not understood as distinct from
society, economics, politics and so forth, but in a more anthropological
sense as the specific pervasive style that pervades these areas and unifies
them into a "whole way of life." Any communication, besides taking place
within the horizon of this cultural form, contributes to the definition of the
cultural form through its medium. If the thesis proper to rhetoric in its
historical form concerns the persuasive power of language, comparative
media theory is a "media rhetorics" insofar as it pertains to the institution of
a cultural form - not the persuasion to see the world in a certain way, not
the image-ing of the world as such.
The notion of the institution of a cultural form through a medium of
communication suggests that the making-common that is communication
occurs more at the level of the type of social interaction that predominates
rather than the contents of specific communications.9 The study of com-
munication, insofar as it is more than a new specialized subject-matter,
becomes relevant to the human sciences as a whole as the study of interac-
tion of a plurality of media of communication. Insofar as a dominant media
complex defines a historical epoch, we may conclude by recalling
Nietzsche's remark concerning communication. Arguing that consciousness
is a product of the need to communicate, he suggested that consciousness is,
by its very nature, oriented to what is communicable and therefore superfi-
cial and average. Grammar is the metaphysics of the people, from which
epistemologists do not extricate themselves (Nietzsche, 1974:298-300).
Each communicative form, each consciousness, is thus traversed by a non-
communicable, an unconsciousness, whose uncommon-ness may be taken
to define the limit of the form.
If this were taken to refer to a communicative content, the argument
would not refer to more than an empirical limit. It would express the
difficulty, but not the impossibility, of expanding the limit. If Nietzsche's
"pressure of the need for communication" (p. 298) is interpreted as such, it
must refer back to a presupposed, and dubious, anthropological psychology.
But if the "pressure of the need" is interpreted in a constitutive manner, it
refers internally to the reciprocal need constitutive of a human group as
such, where it is not primarily the content of expressions that forges socio-
11. 19
cultural relations, but their form. In short, it is the dominant medium of
communication, patterning the media ecology, that circumscribes the
perceptual, institutional and cognitive style of a culture. This limit is not
empirical and is not definable from within a culture. Every cultural form is
haunted by its unconsciousness, every communication by that which
escapes expression. This unheard, unfelt, unthought limit can be ap-
proached through the medium of communication and, in this way, com-
munication studies can address the interdisciplinary project of self-
knowledge that defines the human sciences. The thesis proper to com-
munication studies does not stop short of the incommunicable, not being
limited to the culture in which it comes to expression.
Ordinarily we read the marks on paper, being oriented through their
materiality to the meaning they signify. Occasionally, this inscription itself,
the wonder of meaning's embodiment comes to consciousness. Rarely, we
focus behind the marks to the paper which has been inscribed. Here the
transcendental limit to the cultural inscriptions may be encountered. The
event of communication occurs at the moment when pen touches paper. To
write of a blank sheet of paper is to tum communication toward that which
makes it possible, the point at which it emerges from the incommunicable,
the unsaid, the unconsciousness from which human events emerge.
Notes
1. While I cannot address the strictly institutional aspects of this issue in this
essay, it may well be that the rhetoric of oscillation is rooted ultimately in the
institutionalization of specialized inquiry in the contemporary university, state
and corporate structure and the problems that this poses for the allocation of
resources, on the one hand, and the difficulties of wider intellectual discussion,
on the other. For one contribution to theorizing this issue with regards to the
discipline of communication see Angus and Lannamann (1988) and Lan-
namann and Angus (1990).
2. The project of the human sciences produces a doubling of the subject since
humanity is both known and knower. This doubling is characteritic of moder-
nity. It is called by Foucault the empirical-transcendental doublet and by
Hussefl the transcendental and concrete egos (Foucault, 1973:318-322;
Husserl, 1970a:178-186). While this essay does not address this issue directly,
it agrees with Husserl that this issue cannot be dissolved and reformulates it
through the distinction between communication content and medium, or
expression and form of expression. See note 7 below.
3. It is precisely this dimension of Innis's work that is lost in James Carey's
(1988a) influential essay "A Cultural Approach to Communication." There, the
space and time orientations are presented alongside each other as two different
emphases of communication history in the United States. Innis, however, used
time to criticize space and located his own work in a reflexive moment, not
simply as positive history. In such a domesticating interpretation the critical
12. 20
and reflexive components of Innis's work are excised and the way is paved for
an accommodation with Deweyan cultural studies. The neglect of the issue of
power, which has commonly been pointed out in the context of comparison
with British cultural studies and which is acknowledged by Carey (1988b), is
apposite here also. Innis never forgot the origin of his own work in the political
economy of dependency, as opposed to the triumphalism of U.S. westward
expansion.
4. This attempt to rethink the relationship between specificity and universality is
a characteristic preoccupation of Canadian thought due to the incorporation of
Canada as a colony into successive empires - France, Britain, the United
States. It is a particularly insistent theme in the work of George Grant. See, for
example, Grant's Lament for a Nation (1970) for this connection and my
(1987) account and critique of Grant's philosophy.
5. Husserl (1970b) suggests that intimations are of two main types, those in
which the indication is brought about deliberately - such as memorials, marks
etc. - and those in which there is no intention at work such as fossils, animal
tracks, and so forth. He denies that the latter type should be regarded as signs
in the proper sense at all (p. 270). The utilization of the notion of intention, or
deliberate action, to circumscribe the phenomenon of the sign is questionable.
This issue pertains to the very origin of signification and cannot be pursued at
this point.
6. Jacques Derrida's (1973) account of Husserl begins from precisely this point,
suggesting that expression is "really" a form of intimation and that scientific
discourse is "really" another form of intuitional association of ideas. Thus, he
implies an overthrowing of philosophy by rhetoric. J. Claude Evans (1991:xi
ff., passim) has shown conclusively that, despite the widespread admiration
expressed for the rigour of Derrida's work on Husserl, the argument fails on
every point. The standpoint of comparative media theory discussed here,
though it covers some of the same terrain as Derrida's writing, requires no
such denial of the basis and possibility of science. It requires only that the
basis for communicative interaction be distinguished from scientific discourse
- and this is thoroughly consistent with Husserl's work. Thus, it implies, by
way of contrast, the subordinating of rhetoric to a philosophy of communica-
tion.
7. One major difference is the rejection of the transcendental turn by French
phenomenologicai Marxism, which both Sartre and Merleau-Ponty thought
necessary to turn phenomenology toward concrete history. In contrast,
comparative media theory articulates the relation between the human sciences
and philosophy through the distinction between concrete and transcendental
life. It is only through this distinction that historical events can be seen as
initiating a historical epoch as the pervasive form of the lifeworld in which
events occur. The decisive shift, in the present analysis, is from the critique of
scientific judgments to the critique of social relations.
8. See, for the philosophical intuition of cosmological order, Republic, 518c,
540a, 585a-586a, 611a-612d; Phaedo, 79d, 81a, 83b; Timaeus, 90-a-d;
Seventh Letter, 344b.
9. This suggests that the medium of communication is actually the transcendental
aspect of a communication act, always presented through a specific content,
but never in it.
13. 21
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