This subject introduces current theoretical approaches to the study of the fields of communication and information, and compares and contrasts some of the major paradigms in use in the analysis of the issues in the communication and information environments in which we live. The subject helps students understand the range of social science and social and cultural theoretical approaches relevant to the field, including liberal pluralism, Marxist and post-Marxist approaches, post-modernist and post-structuralist approaches, as well as those helpful in taking a user-oriented approach to communication and information, such as cognitive science and interpretive-constructivist traditions. In order to anchor these theoretical approaches, the subject concentrates on one or two of the major issues introduced in the subject Communication and Information Environments, e.g. questions of globalisation and national identity in relation to communication and information, questions of power and access, especially in relation to cultural diversity, and freedom of information and censorship. The theoretical paradigms are compared and contrasted in terms of their historical origins, their epistemological soundness and their effectiveness as methodologies for investigating problems and issues in the field.

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