1.6. The Chapters in this Book
1.6.5. Chapter 6: Beyond Habermas: Rethinking Critical Theories of Communication
This chapter asks, what is the relationship of labour and communication? This question is one about how the economy and culture are causally connected in society in general and contemporary society in particular. The chapter dis-cusses several critical theories of communication and provides a classification of approaches. It engages especially with the approaches of Alfred Sohn-Rethel, Jean Baudrillard, Jürgen Habermas, Lev Vygotsky, Valentin Vološinov, Ferruc-cio Rossi-Landi, and Raymond Williams.
It applies a reading of these theorists to foundations of a dialectical criti-cal theory of communication. Such a theory is dialecticriti-cal in a manifold sense.
It theorises the dialectics of work/communication, body/mind, individuality/
sociality, internalisation/externalisation, subject/object, practices/technology, communication/media, agency/structures, communication/communications, instrumental communication/co-operative communication that are funda-mental determinants of communication.
Notes
1 See: Geschichte des Instituts für Sozialforschung, http://www.ifs.uni-frankfurt.
de/institut/geschichte/, accessed on 6 January 2016.
2 Google Scholar, accessed on 19 March 2016.
3 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky
4 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Voloshinov
5 See: http://www.ferrucciorossilandi.com
6 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Williams
7 This section is based on parts of the following two articles. The passages are reproduced with kind permission of the journal tripleC: Communica-tion, Capitalism & Critique: Fuchs, Christian. 2015. ‘Martin Heidegger’s Anti-Semitism: Philosophy of Technology and the Media in the Light of the “Black Notebooks” ’. Implications for the Reception of Heidegger in Media and Communication Studies’. tripleC: Communication, Capital-ism & Critique 13 (1): 55–78; Fuchs, Christian. 2015. ‘Anti-SemitCapital-ism, Anti-Marxism, and Technophobia: The Fourth Volume of Martin Hei-degger’s Black Notebooks (1942–1948)’. tripleC: Communication, Capi-talism & Critique 13 (1): 93–100.
8 ‘Das Ende des Heideggerianterums’. Badische Zeitung Online, 23 January 2015.
9 Translation from German: ‘Die zeitweilige Machtsteigerung des Judentums aber hat darin ihren Grund, daß die Metaphysik des Abendlandes, zumal in ihrer neuzeitlichen Entfaltung, die Ansatzstelle bot für das Sichbreitmachen einer sonst leeren Rationalität und Rechenfähigkeit, die sich auf solchem Wege eine Unterkunft im, Geist‘ verschaffte, ohne die verborgenen Entsc-heidungsbezirke von sich aus je fassen zu können’.
10 Translation from German: “Die Juden, leben” bei ihrer betont rechner-ischen Begabung am längsten schon nach dem Rasseprinzip, weshalb sie sich auch am heftigsten gegen die uneingeschränkte Anwendung zur Wehr setzen’.
11 German original: ‘Allein was bedeutet Verdinglichung? Woraus entspringt sie? Warum wird das Sein gerade‚ zunächst’ aus dem Vorhandenen‚ beg-riffen’ und nicht aus dem Zuhandenen, das doch noch näher liegt? Warum kommt diese Verdinglichung immer wieder zur Herrschaft? Wie ist das Sein des‚ Bewußtseins’ positiv strukturiert, so daß Verdinglichung ihm unangemessen bleibt? Genügt überhaupt der “Unterschied” von “Bewußt-sein” und “Ding” für eine ursprüngliche Aufrollung der ontologischen Problematik?’ (Heidegger 1927, 576).
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