Rhetoric (Dis)Appearing

The institutional history of rhetoric is isolated to appreciate its future value to critical communication and cultural studies. Four institutional encounters are highlighted: 1) its role in the creation of this journal under the auspices of the National Communication Association; 2) its shape shifting character as disciplinary knowledge, practice, and process for engaging democratic imaginaries; 3) its governmentalization under the sign of communication; 4) its ability to escape the ways institutions govern.     

Phantom Conflict: Lippmann,Dewey, and the Fate of the Public in Modern Society

Contrary to the prevailing view in media and cultural studies, philosopher John Dewey and journalist Walter Lippmann did not represent different schools of thought. They were not adversaries in a great public debate about the fate of the public in modern democracies in the 1920s. Rather, their exchange about the “phantom” public was reframed as a conflict in the early 1980s, a reframing which has achieved broad interdisciplinary acceptance even though its rests on a casual rhetorical trope, not historical documentation. The reframing provides a salutary but inaccurate origin story for American media and cultural studies, illustrates the hazards of relying on secondary interpretations of historical sources, and deflects attention away from realistic assessment of the problems confronting democracy today. Dismantling this disciplinary folklore is essential to the integrity of the emerging “new history” of media and communication.     

When Poststructural Theory and Contemporary Politics Collide—The Vexed Case of Global Warming

Policy debate about global warming has been framed in the public sphere in the manner of most political topics, as a matter of “skeptics” and “supporters,” making it very difficult for many US publics to know what to believe. This essay critically reads a preeminent public policy debate—that of global warming—with a twofold purpose. I first array the extensive commercial and political efforts to manipulate public information about global warming in order to illustrate that this debate is a “disingenuous” or “pseudo-controversy,” which can be seen in the asymmetrical resources, motives, and authority behind the scenes. Second, I ask what institutional and discursive conditions have enabled this moment, in which the ideals of academic freedom and protocols of scientific inquiry hold precarious authority in the public arena, and argue that contemporary critical perspectives on knowledge and truth have been co-opted in public discourse, making it more difficult to intervention in commercial and political efforts to obfuscate and mislead US publics.     

Outlining a Dialogic Framework of Difference: How do Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India Constitute and Negotiate Difference?

Abstract

This article addresses the pedagogical aspects of cross-cultural communication, dialogue and democratic pluralism. Analysis of a classroom conversation about unrepaired levees in New Orleans and the media demonstrates the complexities that can arise when addressing race. Intercultural communication research has offered useful attention to these complexities, which have a direct link to the objectives of dialogue and pluralism. The article asserts that pluralism requires affective and cognitive recognition of that which offends and is beyond one's imagination, and that acts of racialized misrecognition often hold within them the practices of justice and hope.     

Saved at Home: Christian Branding and Faith Nights in the “Church of Baseball”

Baseball has enjoyed its status as the “national pastime” in part because it has been associated with democracy. To the extent that baseball, as an institution of civil religion, fosters pluralism and inclusion, it can indeed be viewed in democratic terms. In recent years, the advent of conservative Christian events called “Faith Nights” threatens the democratic health of the “church of baseball.” In particular, Faith Nights depend on a logic of branding that masks the political commitments that support the events. Thus, although many baseball fans and followers may not be aware of all aspects of Faith Nights, they are constituted in a hegemonic relationship with Christianity in ways that demand critical attention.     

Consider This: A Comparison of Factors Contributing to Employees' Expressions of Dissent

In this study, full-time employees were surveyed to determine the degree to which different considerations factored into their decisions to express upward or lateral dissent. Employees rated considerations similarly when reportedly dissenting to either supervisors or coworkers, with organizational climate and organizational attachment considerations being comparatively stronger than concerns associated with being perceived as adversarial and experiencing retaliation. A comparison across types of dissent revealed that organizational climate, organizational attachment, and adversarial perception/retaliation were more important considerations when employees expressed upward versus lateral dissent. Additionally, results suggested no significant differences in the way management and non-management employees weighed considerations when expressing dissent.     

试析印尼威权政治转型的特点

1998年5月苏哈托下台后,印尼进入了威权政治转型时期。从1998年5月迄今,哈比比、瓦希德、梅加瓦蒂和苏西洛都采取了一系列政治改革措施,致力于推动印尼的政治民主化进程。本文试图从六个方面——转型方式、推动力量、泛政治化、程序民主、军队和伊斯兰教来分析印尼威权政治转型的特点。     

美国宪法解释中的原旨主义

美国宪法解释中的原旨主义理论是以宪法文本中的作者意图为根据的解释理论,并不同于非原旨主义者所理解的意图主义和解释主义.这一理论在完政价值上有利于维护宪法权威、增强人们对宪法文本的法律信仰;并且这一理论以潜在的主权理论作为政治哲学上的理论依据,有利于反驳非原旨主义者的批评,可以消解美国宪法解释中的"麦迪逊困境".原旨主义理论通过区分宪法解释和宪法阐释,明确了宪法解释的边界,最大限度地实现了完法解释的去政治化,维护宪法解释的司法属性,为处理释宪和修宪的关系提供了理论根据.     

新民主主义时期中国共产党土地革命的经验

新民主主义时期党废除了封建土地所有制,实现了耕者有其田,解决了农民的土地问题,在此时期积累了许多经验,对于解决当今农民问题仍具有借鉴意义。