The Liquefaction of Publicness: Communication, Democracy and the Public Sphere in the Internet Age, Vol. 25 - 2018, No. 1

Communication Research: Resignation or Optimism?

Cees Hamelink, pages: 218-225

The key argument is that in order to rescue our future we need to advance our understanding of human communicative behaviour in contemporary societies. Whatever the shortcomings of our academic efforts may be, in the face of current existential risks, resignation is no option. Communication research has made little or no advance towards a useful understanding of human communicative behaviour. Most important obstacles have been (and continue to be) the disciplinary approach, the lack of a “creative opportunistic” methodology, the marginalisation of the earth and life sciences, and the neo-liberal transformation of universities into bureaucratic protocol-driven organisations. As an international scholarly community, we have to commit ourselves to “desperate optimism” (Stanislav Andreski).

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