Unhinged realities: Communication and the power of performance

Abstract

"In 1988, our field of vision was framed by two clearly opposed paradigms; on one side we had the so-called ‘dominant paradigm,’ driven by notions of development and the use of communication and media to persuade audiences to change or adopt behaviours, consumer patterns, health habits, and technology use. On the other side, we saw an ‘alternative paradigm,’ constituting a strongly politicized field with its own epistemology, research methods, theories, and modes of intervention driven by the need to improve the quality of life of marginalized communities in the Global South. Instead of using communication and media as tools of persuasion, this paradigm would employ communication and media to promote grassroots participation in dynamic public spheres where collective decision-making shapes local futures. Looking back more than twenty years later, I feel we allowed this polarized debate to consume too much of our energy and time, at the expense of other urgent matters. We have neglected key research and intervention areas which have the potential to bring the field of CfSC into more exciting and promising realms. In other words, what we see today as pioneering ideas could and should be the shared, almost taken-for-granted foundations of our field. One of these pioneering ideas is the notion of communication as performance. Let me explain."(pg 1)