Years communication study in Europe

Karl Bücher’s impact on the discipline’s reflexive project

Bibliographic Data

ID13056948
AuthorsThomas Wiedemann (0000-0002-8081-4981, Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationspolitik, corresponding author), Michael Meyen (Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationspolitik), Ivan Lacasa-Mas (0000-0002-9600-6049, Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationspolitik)
Year2018
Volume7
Issue1
Pages7-30
Publication date2018-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Communication and Media (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2192-4007 • E-ISSN: 2192-4007
PublisherNomos (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.5771/2192-4007-2018-1-7
OpenAlexW2795052240
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited12

Grounded in Giddens’ structuration theory and using Bourdieu’s analytical tools this paper argues that Karl Bücher’s launch of Europe’s first communication department at Leipzig University in 1916 had a structural impact on the discipline’s development across the continent, which goes far beyond content or citations. The evaluation of the literature on the field’s history reveals that Bücher was the starting point of the discipline’s isomorphic structuration, since he designed the look and orientation of European communication study with large consequences on its position in the academic field. This included, first, the requirement of meta capital to implement the discipline in academia. Furthermore, the launch of communication study was also strongly linked to the sociopolitical climate and the ongoing media expansion. Consequently, the practical application was the most important orientation pattern for a long time. However, to get recognition at university, the discipline finally had to focus on purely academic approaches. All these dimensions were already on the map when the discipline’s institutionalization process in Europe began 100 years ago. Therefore, Bücher’s launch of the communication department at Leipzig University can still be considered as a key element of the field’s reflexive project

Media studies · Political science · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Cultural and Communication Design Research · Language and Culture · Linguistic research and analysis

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Open DOIOpen Access