aeo This book offers a wide--ranging overview of current theoretical work in media and communication studies, which is one of the most rapidly growing areas of the social sciences today. aeo The volume is interdisciplinary in character, and the authors show how communication theory intersects with social theory and cultural studies.

Notes on Contributors. Acknowlegements. Communication in a Post-Mass Media World: David Crowley and David Mitchell. Part I: Communication and the Mediation of Social Worlds:. 1. Social Theory and the Media: John B Thompson. 2. Medium Theory: Joshua Meyrowitz. 3. A Recursive Theory of Communication: Klaus Krippendorff. Part II: Messages, Meanings, Discourse:. 4. Discourse and Cognition in Society: Teun A Van Dijk. 5. Risk Communication and Public Knowledge: William Leiss. 6.Talk, Text and History: Conversation Analysis and Communication Theory: Deidre Boden. Part III: Contingency, Reflexivity, Post-Modernity:. 7. The Mode of Information and Postmodernity: Mark Poster. 8. In the Realm of Uncertainty: The Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity: Ien Ang. 9. By Whose Authority? Accounting for Taste in Contemporary Popular Culture: James M Collins. Part IV: Communication and Public Interests:. 10. Mass Communication and the Public Interest: Denis McQuail. 11. Electronic Networks, Social Relations and the Changing Structure of Knowledge: William Melody. 12. Communication and Development: Majid Tehranian. Index.

Communication Theory Today offers a wide-ranging overview of current theoretical work in media and communication studies. It provides the methods and the theoretical resources for understanding the dramatic changes which are taking place in the sphere of information and communication in the late twentieth century. At the same time, it shows how these changes are linked to broader developments - both at the level of global transformation and at the level of everyday interaction, where individuals negotiate matters of identity, knowledge and shared meaning. Interdisciplinary in character, the contributions to this volume are concerned to show how the key questions in communication theory and research intersect with central themes in social theory and critical cultural studies. The contributors, all of whom are internationally renowned in their respective fields, include Ien Ang, Deirdre Boden, James M. Collins, Klaus Krippendorff, William Leiss, Denis McQuail, William Melody, Joshua Meyrowitz, Mark Poster, Majid Tehranian, John B. Thompson and Tuen van Dijk.