International Communication Theories

International communication is the name given to a field of inquiry that includes the study of various forms of interaction globally, including global communication via mass media, cross-cultural communication, and telecommunications policy. Therefore, by its very nature, international communication is an interdisciplinary field of study, utilizing concepts, research methods, and data from areas as diverse as political science, sociology, economics, literature, and history. The field has two broad dimensions: (1) policy studies and (2) cultural studies. Policy studies refers to the analysis of how the actions of governance entities (such as governments and intergovernmental organizations) influence the nature of international communication. The cultural studies approach to international communication examines the relationship between culture and international communication. However, finding a definition of international communication on which there has been wide agreement among academic journals and scholarly associations—the entities that usually have the most power in defining fields and disciplines—has been elusive. Indeed, the Journal of International Communication acknowledged in 2008 that what it considers international communication often goes by different names and that a number of academic fields study “global communication.”

This entry defines theories of international communication as macro hypotheses about how best to understand global communicative relationships. This approach includes, for example, theories of internationalism and cultural imperialism, but it would not include theories of regional media systems or models of press freedom.

All paradigms in international communication place varying degrees of emphasis on three elements: (1) actors, (2) technology, and (3) modes of production.