Communication and Peace. The Empirical and Theoretical Relation between Two Categories in Social Sciences
| Date | 01 September 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338201900302 |
| Published date | 01 September 1982 |
| Author | Jörg Becker |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Communication
and
Peace.
The
Empirical
and
Theoretical
Relation
between
Two
Categories
in
Social
Sciences*
JÖRG
BECKER
University
of
Marburg
If
mass-media
reception
as
well
as
production
are
at
once
expression
and
motor
of
structural
violence;
if
communications
technology
can
be
understood,
historically,
only
as
an
integral
part
of
the
emerging
military
industrial
complex;
if
the
access
to
and
the
power
over
the
mass
media
are
unequal
and
unbalanced;
if,
indeed,
the ’law
of
universal
violence’
(Adorno
and
Horkheimer)
obtains,
then
the
mass
media
can
fulfill
their
original
hoped
for
function
as
’peace-bringers’
under
rare
and
exceptional
circumstances.
The
representation
of
violence
in
the
mass
media,
then,
is
part
and
parcel
of
the
universal
violence
of
the
media
themselves.
Only
when
the
mass
media
open
up
to
a
process
to
democratization
on
all
levels -
to
the
so-called
New
International
Information
Order -
will
the
mass
media
fulfill
their
function
as
contributors
to
a
peaceful
society.
’In
this
country,
we
get
more
information
than
any
other
people
on
earth,
Swee’Pea.
And
I
am
going
to
explain
to
you
how
we
get
our
information.
We
can
talk
to
people
almost
anywhere
in
the
world
with
this
telephone,
Swee’Pea.
Communications
help
to
bring
people
of
the
world
closer
together
and
increase
our
understanding
of people of other
nation.
’I
The
Problem
The
constitution
of
UNESCO
dating
from
1945
contains
a
clear
and
unqualified
state-
ment
about
the
relationships
between
com-
munication
and
peace:
’That
since
wars
begin
in
the
minds
of
men,
it
is
in
the
minds
of
men
that
the
defence
of
peace
must
be
constructed;
(...)
For
these
reasons,
the
States
Parties
to
this
Constitution,
believing
(...)
in
the
free
exchange
of
ideas
and
knowledge,
are
agreed
and
determined
to
develop
and
to
increase
the
means
of
communication
between
their
peoples
and
to
employ
these
means
for
the
purposes
of
mutual
understanding
and
a
truer
and
more
perfect
knowledge
of
each
other’s
lives;
(...)
This
monocausal,
one-dimensional
per-
spective
that
assumes
an
almost
automatic
positive
impact
of
communication
on
inter-
national
peace
finds
its
echo
even
today
in
a
number
of
documents
concerning
interna-
tional law.
Thus,
for
example,
the
signers
of
the
Helsinki
accords
of
August
1st,
1975,
declare
in
the
preamble
to
Clause
III,
’that
increased
exchange
in
the
areas
of
culture
and
education,
dissemination
of informa-
tion
and
contacts
between
people’
would
contribute
to
a
strengthening
of
peace
and
understanding
between
peoples.
Quite
simi-
lar
arguments
appear
in
the
so-called
mass
media
declaration
of
UNESCO
(November
28th,
1978),
notably
in
Article
III:
The
mass
media
have
an
important
contribution
to
make
to
the
strengthening
of
peace
and
international
understanding
and
(...)
in
countering
(...)
incitement
to
war.
(:::)
The
mass
media,
by
disseminating
informa-
tion
on
the
aims,
aspirations,
cultures
and
needs
of
all
peoples,
contribute
to
eliminate
ignorance
and
mis-
understanding
between
peoples
(...)
thereby
pro-
moting
the
formulation
by
States
of
the
policies
best
able
to
promote
the
reduction
of
international
tension
and
the
peaceful
and
equitable
settlement
of
interna-
tional
disputes.
The
supposed
peace-inducing
properties
ascribed
to
communication -
here
particu-
larly
to
the
mass
media -
are
generally
as-
sumed
to
exist
not
only
in
the
realm
of
in-
ternational
relations,
but
also
appear
in
the
fundamental
premises
of
many
psychologi-
cal,
educational
and
sociological
theories.
The
communicative
act
per
se
is
frequently
said
to
possess
the
function
of
awakening
mutual
understanding,
of
helping
to
reduce
conflicts,
of
stimulating
social
action
and
even
of
helping
to
bring
about
a
state
of
har-
mony
where
previously
there
were
harsh
conflicts
of
interest
at
play.
A
consistent
To continue reading
Request your trial