Social Scientific and Interpretive Traditions in International Communication Research and Practice

Kent WilkinsonRegents Professor in Hispanic and International Communication – Texas Tech University

Universidad de Navarra Lecture – Day One, April 12, 2010

Educational & Teaching ExperienceEducation:

PhD – Univ. of Texas Austin, Radio-Television-Film, specialization in international communicationMA – Univ. of California Berkeley, Latin American StudiesBA – Univ. of Colorado Boulder, English/History

International Experience: Six months teaching English in Cuzco, PeruTwo years’ university-level teaching in Monterrey, Mexico

Undergraduate Courses:International Electronic MediaEthnicity, Race, Gender in MediaMedia Theories and Society

Research InterestsU.S. Spanish-language Media

Television industry development since its originsInter-group struggles for influence and control

International Communication Emphasis on Mexico and Latin AmericaLanguage difference in electronic media

Health CommunicationHow cultural and linguistic differences impact healthGrant Projects:

• Informing Hispanics about obesity and diabetes via media• Recruiting minority high school students to health careers

The Institute for Hispanic and Inter-national Communication’s Functions:

Teaching related to Hispanic and international communication (in classroom and individually)Research on Hispanic and international communication

IndividualCollaborative (within TTU and with other universities)Grant-supported

Community outreachOutreach to media industry professionals

Facts About Texas Tech and LubbockTexas Tech University:

Enrollment: 30,000TTU system includes Health Sciences Center with 7 campuses in W. TexasGoals: increase enrollment and gain Tier 1 status

Lubbock, Texas: Population: 218,327 (not counting students)Ethnic/racial groups: Anglo: 55.5% Hispanic: 32.3% African American: 8.7% Asian: 2%2nd most conservative city in U.S.Most famous citizen: Buddy Holly

You don’t have to die to be famous in Lubbock

FormerMayorAlanHenry (and wife)

Lake Alan Henry

11 pounds, 26 inches

You don’t have to die to be famous in Lubbock

Former “Lady Raider” Basketball Coach

Marsha Sharp

The Marsha Sharp Freeway

You don’t have to die to be famous in Lubbock

Former Lubbock County District Attorney and TTU Chancellor

John T. Montford

Montford got the nickname “Maximum John” while a prosecutor. He is currently a senior advisor to General Motors Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre, Jr.

You don’t have to die to be famous in Lubbock

Dr. Lauro Cavazos

Dr. Cavazos was President of Texas Tech when President Ronald Reagan appointed him Secretary of Education in 1988. He became the first Hispanic to serve in a presidential cabinet.

Overview of Topics

Day 1: (today) Social Scientific and Interpretive Traditions in International Communication Research and PracticeDay 2: Representation of Social Groups in U.S. and International MediaDay 3: Diaspora, Identity, Ethnicity and Health Communication

Factors leading to international communication emphasisWorld War I demonstrated the possibilities for large-scale persuasion (and carnage).

Economic Depression led to government intervention in economic, social issues in U.S. – opinion research grows.World War II showed the deep, negative influence mass media can have on societies. Cold War triggered political, economic, military competition between U.S. and USSR

Two TraditionsIn the U.S. media research focused on effects: how messages can elicit specific responses from the audience (attitude and behavior change). In Europe media research focused on political economy, how elites use media to maintain power, and interpretation, how audiences make sense of media content. Which tradition do most researchers at Univ. de Navarra work in?

Development CommunicationThe use of communication technology and practices to support national development, improvement in quality of life, etc.

Historically, development communication research and practice has been pursued through three basic paradigms:

Modernization

Dependency

Alternative

www.columbia.edu/itc/sipa/nelson/newmediadev/

Development Communication

Paradigm - a collection of major assumptions, concepts and propositions on a subject.

Often broad enough to cross disciplines

Orients research, theorizing, policy

Modernization ParadigmAssumed that to prosper, developing nations must become like developed (Western) ones. Thus, many programs sought to emulate conditions, institutions, etc. in the West.

Lerner and Rostow readings are examples

Walter Rostow’s 5-Stage Model1. Traditional Society

Agrarian; land ownership = power; family/clan are social base

2. PreconditionsExternal contact leads to change; econ./pol. institutions appear

3. Take-OffEconomic growth; production diversifies; middle class develops

4. Drive to MaturityContinued industrial diversification; increased trade; urbanization

5. Mass ConsumptionMore disposable income and consumption of consumer goods; welfare spending increases

Economic growth is principal measure of development

Dependency ParadigmEmulation of Western models will only lead to further dependency on developed nations.Developing nations should rely on themselves and each other for development, not outsiders.Radical View - The growth of developed countries (center) comes at the expense of the developing ones (periphery). The only solution is to disengage from the world economy.

Moderate View –Under capitalism both rich and poor countries grow, but the rich derive more benefits.

Dependency ParadigmExample of dependency-influenced communication research: How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic (Ariel Dorfman & Armand Mattelart, 1971).

Seminal work in applying economic dependency theory to the realms of culture and communicationAn early articulation of cultural imperialismKey Themes:

Capitalist ideology is presented as natural to kidsEconomic competition is normal and healthyNative peoples manage their resources poorly

New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO)Background:

1954 - Movement of Non-aligned Nations forms1946 United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Org. (UNESCO) forms – in 1970s-80s became a forum for heated debates over a NWICO

One member/one vote structure of UNESCO favored the non-aligned nations.Focus on the relationship between communication policies and economic, social and cultural development. Free press vs. government control of information became the major issue.

Arguments for Establishing a NWICOInequities existing in the international system keep developing nations in a constant state of underdevelopment (sound familiar?)An international monologue, not dialog, is dominated by those who control the economy and technology.As long as the status quo of one-way flow of communication “from the West to the rest” persists, it will be difficult for developing nations to:

improve their standards of livinginitiate and sustain political stabilitycurb ethnic violence

Proposals for Changing the Status QuoStructural changes in legal, trade, financial systemsImpose restrictions of the flow of certain types of information to:

• Promote circulation of news for and by developing nations.

• Allow broader access to scientific and financial info.• Foster democracy through greater internal equity• Place developing nations on stronger competitive

footing

How do you think the U.S. and other Western nations responded (and why?)

NWICOThe U.S. and Western allies’ response:

Supported the unrestricted right of all people to freely seek and distribute information. (Free speech and unrestricted access to media emphasized.)Media systems should be free of government control and interference.Opposed restrictions on (some, not all) information flow, licensing of journalists, and the formation of regional news agencies.

The U.S. withdraws from UNESCO in 1984 citing its:Politicization of issuesPromotion of state-centered policiesMismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility

Alternative Paradigm

A different development paradigm emerged from the NWICO conflicts--neither recreating or excluding the West is possible. Societies must implement changes on their own terms, at their own pace, using as many local resources as possible, and involving their own people.

Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed argues that education must accommodate objects, concepts, values etc. that are familiar to learners. Freire challenges the “banking metaphor” suggesting that knowledge can be deposited in people.

Alternative Paradigm

Luis Ramiro Beltrán’s concept of horizontal communication stresses the effectiveness of communication among people of similar standing as opposed to “top-down,” hierarchical (vertical) communication.

Participatory communication emphasizes involvement of community members who stand to benefit from the development project.

New, interactive technologies facilitate these dynamics. (More on this on Day 3.)

Effects v. InterpretationDifferences between the Modernization and Alternative paradigms in development communication illustrate an historical divide:

Social scientific “effects” research vs. humanistic “interpretive” research.

Prior speakers discussed the Sender-Message-Channel (SMCR) model, and variations of it, in some detail.Efforts to address “Ferment in the Field” have improved international communication research over the past 30 years. (Journal of Communication special issue vol. 33 no. 3, 1983)

Differences in Scientist/Humanist Approaches to Communication Theory & Research

Scholars grounded in behavioral sciences approach communication objectively.Scholars grounded in the humanities approach communication through the interpretation of “texts.”Ways of knowing

Scientific - Assumes that truth is singular and may be discovered through objective research. Good theory mirrors nature.Humanistic - Assumes that meaning is constructed by individuals (i.e. subjective) and varies by person, place, time and other factors.

Differences in Scientist/Humanist Approaches to Communication Theory & Research

Views of human natureScientific - Interprets behavior as a response to stimuli. External forces act upon individuals to provoke specific reactionsHumanistic - Attributes behavior to the individual’s conscious intent

Goals of theory buildingScientific - Tests theory by making predictions and testing them under controlled conditions.Humanistic - Applies theory to understand the various texts (intentional symbolic expressions) influencing people’s lives.

Symbolic InteractionismArgues that people give meaning to symbols and those meanings come to strongly influence if not control people. Developed to counter the stimulus-response assertions of traditional behaviorism (effects model).Argues that our actions in response to symbols are mediated (or controlled) largely by those same symbols.Symbols - arbitrary, often abstract representations of unseen phenomena. They mediate and structure our ability to perceive and interpret the world around us.

Symbolic Interactionism3 fundamental propositions regarding symbolic interaction and communication:

People’s interpretation and perception of the environment depend on communication.Communication is guided by and guides the concepts of self, role, and situations, and these concepts generate expectations in and of the environment.

Communication consists of complex interactions involving action, interdependence, mutual influence, meaning, relationship, and situational factors.

Do you see the connection with identity?

Semiotics (review)The science of signs--how they work and the ways people use them.“The study of everything used for communication: words, images, traffic signs, flowers, music, medical symptoms, and much more” (Ellen Seiter).Maintains that people construct language to produce meaning—things and events in themselves do not have inherent meaning.Begins with the smallest unit, the sign, and builds rules for the combination of signs and the meanings produced by those combinations.

Semiotics (review)

First asks how meaning is created rather than what the meaning is.Instead of asking what meaning is conveyed by a word, image, etc. semiotics examines the mechanics of how they communicate—an effort to develop a more scientific, methodological approach to the analysis of “texts.”A word’s meaning derives from its difference from other words in the sign system of language.

Semiotics (review)Sign – something that stands for something (or someone) else.Signifier - the physical part of the sign which indicates the person object or concept itself.

Pattern of sound comprising a word (speech)Marks on paper or a screen as we read as words (text)Patterns of shape and color used to represent people or objects (visual image)

Signified - the concept called forth (mentally) when a person perceives the signifier.Referent – the actual things—objects, beings, ideas or events—that signs refer to.

RoseRose

Rosa

HouseCasaMaison

Discussion of Day 1 Homework

Images/audio files related to TexasWhat did you find?What does it communicate to you/us about Texas?

Images/audio files related to Lubbock, Texas

What did you find?What does it communicate to you/us about Lubbock?

Texas Links

Chuck NorrisStevie Ray VaughnBarbara Jordan Speech to Democratic National Convention 1976Los Tigres del Norte

Thank You!

Nos vemos mañana