Beyond and After Media Literacy – Media Competence – Building Civil Society Faculdade Caspar Líbero São Paulo Feb 2012 Thomas A. Bauer, Dr. O. Univ. Prof. Department of Communication Faculty of Social Sciences University Vienna / Austria www.thomasbauer.at thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

Essentialist / Cognitivist Concepts Theorize Communication MEDIA – THE SYMBOLIC-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION 1. Essentialist / Cognitivist Concepts Theorize Communication as a Universal Code of Action (Interaction, Transaction) In the Interest of Cosmological Practice as a Connective System of Remarkable Characters (“Musts”, Rules, Procedures, Rights and Obligations, Functions, Effects) Relating them to the Features of Power, Precedence, Authority and Success: Information, Knowledge, Action, Position Repeating the Ground-Model of Relation: Expectation of and Fulfilling of Action: Role Models (as culturally ritualized habits of social order) - in cultural framing (partner-partner-model) - or in professional framing (journalism-audience, producer- consumer model, industrially taylorized model) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

Connecting (Just by First-Level-Observation of Practice) MEDIA – THE SYMBOLIC-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION Connecting (Just by First-Level-Observation of Practice) Media to Communication and Communication to Media Understanding Media is then verifying it as real object functionally related to communication as a real object - framing the cultural phenomenon as a self-explaining, in-itself-closed objective structure (in theory of practice and in practice of theory), - as an instrument (metaphors: tool, platform, agency, system, procedural operation) used in the interest of those models of (repeating) social order and have to be controlled (in public practice: media politics, media economy, media governance etc. and observed (in theoretical research: media order, systems development thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

MASS-MEDIA CULTURE – MEDIA MASS-CULTURE - THE CODE OF MEDIA SOCIETY The model of hierarchical and industrial society? MassMediaCommunication: Journalism: organizational system for distribution of information and news shaping public opinion (technology & organisational strategy (system of trust) - - media in an industrial manner - professionalism of production (technological perfection) - against ignorant / dependent audience? - shaping the responsibility for mutual understanding: socialized use of media through professionalism / quality in context of production, media literacy (capacity, skills) in context of consumption (media education) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

MASS-MEDIA CULTURE – MEDIA MASS-CULTURE: THE CODE OF MEDIA SOCIETY Beyond hierarchical and industrial society? MediaMassCommunication: Social Media: network organism for sharing information, news, conversation and diverse meaning - media as a network (community building) - casual, instant, ubiqitious option to get and stay connected - producer-consumer-model becoming obsolete - sharing the capacity/responsibility/habit for mutual understanding in context of construction of reality: professionalism and media competence as connected system of trust (from hierarchy to heterarchy, from distribution of news to social balance of communication right/duty/responsibility thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

Constructivist - Hermeneutical Concepts Theorize Communication MEDIA – THE SYMBOLIC-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION 2. Constructivist - Hermeneutical Concepts Theorize Communication following the interest of understanding the cultural programs, the notion-models in behind of -, and the competence motifs of - constructing reality (competence: supposition of ability, capacity, habitus, responsibility, moral commitment) - human competence motif: definition against uncertainty (self-confidence) - social competence motif: sociability as a moment of trust (self- awareness) - cultural competence motif: decisionability of meaning (semantic and pragmatic paradigms of notion, models of knowledge, cultural programs) against unexpected surprise - organizational competence motif: selectiveness against need as a proof of sovereignty (models of proof as references of experience) - technical competence motif: feasibility and causality of syntactic structures against coincidence and casualness (determination of reality) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

Constructivist / Interpretative Concepts Theorize Communication MEDIA – THE SYMBOLIC-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION Constructivist / Interpretative Concepts Theorize Communication as a Universal Code of Observation - in relation to oneself (identity concept) - in relation to natural, social, cultural and symbolic environment (concept of ambient and of generalized other) - in relation to constructability of meaning (concept of value of difference) - in relation to the situational, social, cultural or organizational setting deciding the meaning of mutual observation (media concept) - in reference to the system of symbolic interaction (concept of socialization of diversity and difference) (V. Flusser, S.J. Schmidt, J. Mitterer, A. Schütz, G.H. Mead, Th. Luckmann, J. Habermas) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

MEDIA – THE SYMBOLIC-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION Connecting Media to Communication and Communication to Media by Observing the Observation (Next Level Observation) In Constructivist Perspective Any Construction is Related / Mediated to the Social, Cultural, or Symbolic Environment Understanding Media then is - Framing the construction of reality through the Media Code (Media Perspective) of any Communication: Mediality as the modus of sociability/ society, the conditional moment of decision on opinion, meaning and sense - Understanding Communication as Doing the Media in the Interest of Constructing Meaning - in a adaptive / repressive interest of usage: socialized practice - in an elaborated / emancipative interest of usage: social social practice (H. M .Enzensberger, A. Hepp, F. Krotz, B. Bernstein, J. Habermas, Thomas A. Bauer, St. Hall, Cultural Studies authors) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

MEDIA CULTURE – THE SYMBOLIC ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATION MEDIA COMPETENCE - A Cultural Good of Communication The Communication Education and Development Programme for the Civil Society: A Public Value Concept - Sovereignty: Downsizing of organizational / institutional / economical technological overkill within the practice of social communication Authenticity: Upgrading the meaning of individuality as a source of difference for the dialogical /dialectic construction of meaning Diversity: The social usage of media – the condition of creative habitus - Participation: Make usage of media becoming a factor in construction of public meaning beyond ritualized practices of unification / uniformation Emancipation: Society is, what its communication is like – critical observation and reflection of communication – the emancipative principle of social change (N. Chomsky, P. Bourdieu, M. de Certeau, M. Castells, J. Piaget, Th. A. Bauer, D. Baacke) thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA CHANGE The Cultural Studies Thesis Social Change: The concept of understanding reality: Change does not happen to the reality and to its observation; it happens through observation and is the structure of reality Media Change (economically driven, technologically performed) is the cultural / relational and communicational performance of social change – it mirrors the paradigms of change (action and observation) in mind, attitude, habit and behaviour. The question is not, what is the media impact (effect) in change , the question is, how changing discourse rules ( effect the use of media (cf. M. Foucault)?  thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

CULTURAL PERSEPCTIVES OF MEDIALITY Media - Identity : How to save/develop the authenticity of real self under conditions of mediated relation? Media - Ecology : How to save/preserve/develop the emancipative resources of social communication against the repressive mechanism of technicity and economy Media Competence: How to use media as an agency of realizing individuality under conditions of a media organized society? Media Culture: How does the everyday usage of media effect the culture of sociability? Media Learning: What attitudes are we able to develop, in order to create an societal learning process out of it (media competence)? thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA COMPETENCE Competence Models in general Competence - a normative term: is directed to social agreements of social and individual values Competence - a critical term: is directed to distinction between systems demands of assimilation and and challenge of accommodation Competence – a pragmatic term: is directed to the possibility of learning and of development. thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

UNDERSTANDING COMPETENCE MEDIA COMPETENCE IS CULTURAL GOOD The term of competence includes aspects: Ability (to know what operations and how to do them in case of – skills) Capacity (to have the cognitive, affective and active means and preparedness: skills) Responsibility (to be conscious of what it means for oneself and/or for others: consequences and possible effects Moral Commitment (to be aware of the implicated values when making personal decisions) In media knowledge, media participation and media usage thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at

Exemplaric Back-Ground Referencies Baacke, Dieter (1997): Medienkompetenz. Tübingen: Niemeyer Verlag Bauer, Thomas A. (2011): In Zukunft mehr Kommunikation. Gesellschaft im Spiegel des Medienwandels. In: Koschnik, Wolfgang J. (ed.): Focus Jahrbuch 2010, S. 1 – 83 Bauer, Thomas A. (2011): O valor publico da Media Literacy. In Líbero 27, p. 9 – 21, São Paulo:: FCL Bourdieu, Pierre (1998): Praktische Vernunft. Zur Theorie des Handelns. Frankfurt: siuhrkamp Bernstein, Basil: Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Their Origins and some Consequences. In: Gumperz, J.J. / Hymes, D (ed.): The Ethnography of Communication. In: American Anthropologist. Special Publication, 66, 1964,/6, Part II, S. 55- 69 Castells, Manuel (2001): Der Aufstieg der Netzwerkgesellschaft. Opladen : Leske + Budrich. Castells, Manuel (2005): Die Internet-Galaxie: Internet, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden: Verlag f. Sozialwissenschaft Certeau, Michel de (1989): Die Kunst des Handelns. Berlin Chomsky, Noam (1972): Aspekte der Syntax-Theorie. Frankfurt: suhrkamp Enzensberger, Hans M. (1970): Baukasten zu einer Theorie der Medien. In: Kursbuch 20,: suhrkamp, p. 159 – 186 Foucault, Michel (1974): Die Ordnung der Dinge. Eine Archäologie der Humanwissenschaften. Frankfurt: suhrkamp Hall, Stuart Hall, Stuart.(1993): Encoding, Decoding. In: During, S.: The Cultural Studies Reader. London: Routledge Habermas, Jürgen Habermas, Jürgen (1981): Thorie des kommunikativen Handelns (1981): Bd 1: Handlungsrealität und gesellschaftliche Rationalisierung. Bd 2: Kritik der funktionalistischen Vernunft. Frankfurt: suhrkamp Hepp, Andreas (2008): Netzwerke der Medien. – Netzwerke des Alltags: Medienalltag in der Netzwerkgesellschaft. In Thomas, Tanja (ed): Medienkultur und soziales Handeln. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, p. 63 - 89 Horkheimer, Max / Adorno, Theodor W. (1969 / 2003): Dialektik der Aufklärung. Philosophische Fragmente. Frankfurt: Fischer Krotz, Friedrich: Mediatisirung von Alltag, Kultur und Gesellschaft. Ein gesellschaftlicher Metaprozess wird besichtigt. Wiesbaden 2001 Mead, George Herbert (1973): Geist, Identität und Gesellschaft Frankfurt: suhrkam Luhmann, Niklas (2004): Die Realität der Masenmedien. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften ( 3 ed.) Piaget, Jean (1947): La représentation du monde chez l’enfant. Pariis: Presses Universitaires de France Schmidt, Siegfried J. (2003): Geschichten und Diskurse. Abschied vom Konstruktivismus. Frankfurt Schütz, Alfred / Luckmann, Thomas 1984) : Strukturen der Lebenswelt. Bd 2. Frankfurt/M.: suhrkamp   thomas.bauer@univie.ac.at