A generative conceptual framework for empowering diverse groups and individuals to make productive and creative choices together Communication Theory at the Crossroads proposes a new way of thinking about communication to generate new insights, promote new interaction practices, and directly address a new set of human problems. Rooted in a systemic constructionist perspective, this groundbreaking volume provides the theoretical foundation for fostering mutually beneficial solutions to contemporary issues of divisiveness, interdependence, rapid social change, technology-mediated human experience, and other contemporary social difficulties. Rather than merely explicating a novel conceptual framework, Communication Theory at the Crossroads positions students as active and engaged social scientists equipped with a unified, fully integrated theory they can use across traditional divisions of communication to navigate their complex, rapidly changing world. Throughout the text, the authors identify the limits of the communication theories currently in use, discuss the critical choices facing today’s communication students and scholars, explain the theory of relational constructionism, and much more. Helping students frame their understanding of life difficulties and use theory-based concepts to inform their choices, Communication Theory at the Crossroads is an essential textbook for mid-level undergraduate courses in Communication Theory and Human Communication.

Table of Contents:
Author’s Preface xiii 1 Theorizing as an Everyday Activity 1 Preview 1 Implicit Theories and Window Bashing 1 Implicit Theorizing and Phronesis 9 Phronesis in Aristotle 10 John Dewey and Theory-in-Use 11 Phronesis, Preunderstanding and the Possibility of Productive Communication 13 Assumptive Preunderstandings 14 Assumptions About the Nature of Things 14 Assumptions About Determining What is True 17 Assumptions about the Just, Good, and Beautiful 19 Communication Theorizing as a Form of Phronesis 20 Explicit Reflection on Theories 21 Normalization of Failure 22 Changing Problems, Changing Theories 22 Review 23 Discussion Questions 24 Exercise 24 References 25 2 New Social Conditions and the Challenge to Existing Implicit Theories 26 Preview 26 Everyday Theorizing and Repetitive Failure 26 Why Do People Continue to Window Bash? 27 Common Sense and Unwitting Consent 28 Self-Referentiality of Systems 31 System Reproductivity 33 Intervention in Repetitive Failures 34 A Transformed Social World 35 Rapidity of Contemporary Life Changes 35 Interdependence and Pluralism 37 Growth of Mediation 42 Interaction Design 44 Review 49 Discussion Questions 49 Exercise 50 References 50 3 Evaluation of Theories 51 Preview 51 Making the Implicit Explicit 51 Mirrors and Lenses 52 Theory as a Mirror of Nature 54 Explanation/Prediction/Control 56 Domain Specification 56 Hypothesis Testing 56 An Example 57 Theory as a Lens on the World 59 Making the World We Want 65 Developing a “Communication” Theory 66 Review 68 Discussion Questions 68 Exercise 69 References 69 4 A Typology of Theories 70 Preview 70 Ways of Thinking about Communication 70 Common Native Theories of Interaction 71 Teleology of Interaction 72 Teleology of Influence 72 Teleology of Participation 73 Dominance of Influence 74 Conceptions of Meaning and Human Experience 75 Prototypical Theories of Communication 80 Quadrant 1: Strategic Communication 81 Quadrant 2: Liberal Democracy 84 Constructionism and the Limits of Liberal Democracy 85 The Primacy of Personal Experience 86 Freedom of Speech and Speaking Forums 86 Persuasion and Advocacy 87 Scale and Representation 88 Quadrant 3: Cultural Management 88 Quadrant 4: Generative Democracy 91 Review 93 Discussion Questions 94 Exercise 94 References 94 5 Relational Construction of Human Experience 95 Preview 95 Common Implicit Story of Communication 95 Relational Constructionism 97 Relational Encounter 97 Indeterminant Nature of the Outside 98 Subject Positions and Experience 99 The World as Attended To 101 Political Nature of Subject Positions 102 Politics of Institutional Practices 104 Language as Positioning the Subject 107 Language as Representation 108 Language as a Tool of Personal Expression 109 Language as Constitutive of Experience 110 Review 116 Discussion Questions 116 Exercise 117 References 117 6 The Politics of Experience 118 Preview 118 Pluralism and Difference 118 Differences and Claims in Life Arenas 120 Types of Claims and Arenas of Difference 122 Relation to the Interior: The Politics of Authenticity 123 Relation to Specific Others: The Politics of Identity and Recognition 128 Relations to Generalized Others and Society: The Politics of Order 130 Relation to the Outer World: The Politics of Knowledge 132 Relation to the Future: The Politics of Life Narratives 135 Relation to Morality: The Politics of Distribution and Justice 139 Review 141 Discussion Questions 141 Exercise 142 References 142 7 Constructing Worlds Together 143 Preview Relation of Relational Claims 143 People Frequently Confuse Claims 146 Consequences of Articulation 147 Disarticulation and Interaction Design 150 Interpretive Processes and the Fluid Nature of Meaning 152 Aligning Meaning Processes 155 Alignment and Framing 156 Alignment of Claims in Systems 158 Complex Flow of Meaning Making Over Time 159 Competing Meanings Often Exist 160 Meaning Production has no Clear Beginnings or Ends 161 Working with Confusing Claims 162 Nonalignment is Often Repeated Over Time 164 Review 165 Discussion Questions 166 Exercise 166 References 166 8 Developing Free and Open Communication 168 Preview 168 Working with Difference 168 Returning to Interaction Teleology 170 Moral Foundation for Free and Open Communication 172 Reciprocity as an Implicit Normative Claim 174 Implications of Reciprocity 176 Genuine Conversation 177 Genuine Conversation at the Breakfast Table 178 Difference and Conceptions of Genuine Conversations 180 Contestation: The Opening of Communication Where Before None Seemed Needed 183 Free and Open Communication Designs 185 Deliberation 186 Dialogue 188 Collaboration 189 Collaborative Versus Strategic Orientation 189 Representation and Who is at the Table 190 Problem-Talk and Outcome-Talk 191 Distinguishing Wants and Interests 192 Grade Change to What End? 193 Collaboration Beyond Resource Limited Situations 193 Review 194 Discussion Questions 195 Exercise 195 References 196 9 Strategic Communication 197 Preview 197 Stopping of Communication Where It Is Needed 197 Openly Strategic Communication 198 Latently Strategic Communication 200 Discursive Advantages 202 Discursive Closures 205 Disqualification 205 Naturalization 206 Natural Laws of Basketball 207 Neutralization 207 Nondiscussibility 208 Subjectification of Experience 210 Meaning Denial 211 Strategically Reopening Communication 212 Resistance 212 Metacommunication 213 Rhetoric 214 Strategic Action 214 Review 214 Discussion Questions 215 Exercise 215 References 216 10 Interpersonal Interaction 217 Preview 217 Interpersonal Relationships 217 Interaction Systems 218 Holism 218 Equilibrium 219 Recursivity 219 Emergence 220 Alignment Processes 220 Acceptance, Rejection, and Disconfirmation 221 Taken-For-Granted-Knowledge 223 Coherence Expectations 225 Episodes and Scripts 228 Casting 230 Mixed Messages and Meaning Denial 233 Undesirable Repetitive Patterns 235 Review 240 Discussion Questions 240 Exercise 240 References 241 11 Interaction in Organizations 242 Preview 242 The Organizational Context 242 Relational Construction and Organization 243 Communication in Organizations 245 The Turn to Culture 249 Culture as Relational Construction 251 Emotions 252 Identity 253 Social Order 254 Knowledge 255 Life Narratives 256 Justice and Distribution 257 Neoliberalism 258 Corporate Colonization 258 Free and Open Communication 261 Collaboration in and Between Organizations 262 Getting Social Values into Decision Making 263 Traditional Forms of Public Value Inclusion 264 Stewardship 264 Consumer Choices 265 Limits of Government Intervention 266 Emerging Forms of Public Value Inclusion 268 Benefit Corporations (B-Corps) 268 Stakeholder Models 269 Review 270 Discussion Questions 271 Exercise 271 References 271 12 Social and Mass Media 273 Preview 273 The Growth of Mediation 273 Mediation and Latent Strategy 275 The Myth of Transparency 275 Transforming the Sensual 276 Content and Latent Strategy 279 The Blurring of Message Types 279 Culture Industries 280 Promises and Concerns 281 More Connectivity281 Increased Capacity to Respond 282 More and More Widely Shared Information 284 More Diverse Content and Receiver Selectivity 287 Ownership and Commercial Interests 288 Ownership Bias 288 Commercial Bias 290 Medium Design Biases 292 Increasing Choice and Content Diversity 295 Greater Integration of Systems 296 Democratic Potential 298 Media Literacy and Media as a Change Agent 299 Communication as a Public Utility 300 Development Choices 302 The Facilitation of Democracy 303 Review 304 Discussion Questions 305 Exercise 305 References 306 13 Analysis of Cases and Interaction Design 307 A Final Word 314 Reference 314 Appendix: Chapter Briefs 315 Index 327