W. Barnett Pearce

Starting with the premise that we live in communication (rather than standing outside communication and using it for secondary purposes), Pearce claims that people who live in various cultures and historical epochs not only communicate differently but experience different ways of being human because they communicate differently. This century, he notes, ushered in the "communication revolution," the discovery that communication is far more important and central to the human condition than ever before realized. Essential to the communication revolution is the recognition that multiple forms of discourse exist in contemporary human society. Further, these forms of discourse are not benign; they comprise alternative ways of being human. Thus communication theory must encompass all that it "means to live a life, the shape of social institutions and cultural traditions, the pragmatics of social action, and the poetics of social order."

Communication and the Human Condition

Michael Weiler

Contributors: J. Jeffery Auer, Jeff D. Bass, Jane Blankenship, Robert J. Branham, DeLysa Burnier, Robin Carter, David Descutner, G. Thomas Goodnight, James Jasinski, Deborah K. Johnson, Janette Kenner Muir, Catherine Helen Palczewski, W. Barnett Pearce, Michael Weiler, Marilyn J. Young

Reagan and Public Discourse in America

Stephen W. Littlejohn

In an original synthesis of communication theory and their own research and experience as intervention agents, the authors of Moral Conflict describe a dialectical tension between the expression and suppression of conflict that can be transcended in ways that lead to personal growth and productive patterns of social action. Several projects are described as practical examples of these ways of working.

When Social Worlds Collide

Moral Conflict

Uma Narula

A compilation of authoritative reports from seasoned researchers working in eight different countries on five continents, this volume examines the concept that conditions of local feasibility are constitutive of research practices not simply obstructions to the realization of an ideal. The result documents the effects of political and cultural factors on research projects and offers culturally sensitive researchers a wealth of practical knowledge.

W. Barnett Pearce

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