A Theory of Communication and Justice

319 Pages·2021·27.063 MB·English

by  Klaus Bruhn Jensen

A THEORY OF COMMUNICATION

AND JUSTICE
This book outlines a theory of communication and justice for the digital age,
updating classic positions in political philosophy and ethics, and engaging thinkers
from Aristotle through Immanuel Kant and the American pragmatists to John
Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, and Amartya Sen.
In communication seeking to define justice and call out injustice, there is such
a thing as the last word. The chapters in this book trace the historical emergence
of communication as a human right; specify the technological resources and
institutional frameworks necessary for exercising that right; and address some
of the challenges following from digitalization that currently confront citizens,
national regulators, and international agencies. Among the issues covered are
public access to information archives past and present; local and global networks
of communication as sources of personal identities and imagined communities; the
ongoing reconfiguration of the press as a fourth branch of governance; and privacy
as a precondition for individuals and collectives to live their lives according to plans,
and to make their own histories.
This book will be of interest to students and researchers in media and
communication studies, cultural studies, political philosophy and ethics, and
interdisciplinary fields examining the ethical and political implications of new
information and communication infrastructures.
Klaus Bruhn Jensen is Professor, Department of Communication, University
of Copenhagen, Denmark. His research centers on communication theories and
research methodologies regarding digital media. Previous publications include Media
Convergence: The Three Degrees of Network, Mass, and Interpersonal Communication
(2010), International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy (2016,
coedited with Robert T. Craig), and A Handbook of Media and Communication
Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies, 3rd ed. (2021). He is Life
Member for Service of the Association of Internet Researchers and a Fellow of the
International Communicology Institute.
“A timely and scholarly work that focuses attention on the imperative to deepen
the normative turn in communication studies and the communicative turn in phil-
osophy, with focus on the articulation and practice of the contested concept of
justice. Drawing on a diverse range of philosophical traditions and thinkers through
a communications lens, Jensen succeeds in bringing together philosophy and
communications research to propose a seminal theory of justice that speaks to our
contemporary global dilemmas.”
Anjali Monteiro, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
“In a world seemingly dominated by polarization and disinformation, Klaus Bruhn
Jensen’s impressive mastery of both classic philosophy and modern communication
science gives his readers a new perspective on how human communication and
social justice are fundamentally intertwined.”
W. Russell Neuman, New York University
“How can communication research and theory advance the cause of justice in the
world? Klaus Bruhn Jensen’s theory of communication and justice illuminates many
possibilities in the spaces between what is, what ought to be, and what could be.”
Robert T. Craig, University of Colorado Boulder
“Grounded in a compelling narrative arc from Charles Sanders Peirce to John
Rawls, Klaus Bruhn Jensen provides us with a fresh pragmatist philosophy that
recognizes communication and its accompanying goods not only as human rights
but as engines of civilizational growth.”
John Durham Peters, Yale University
“In an era marked by disturbing shifts towards populism, nativism, identity politics
and cancel culture, justice must be done and seen to be done. Communication on
and of justice are therefore key. Drawing deeply on philosophical theories and the
core foundations of the discipline of communication, Klaus Bruhn Jensen provides
us with a reflective and provocative exposition of how justice and communication
are deeply intertwined.”
Sun Sun Lim, Singapore University of
Technology and Design
“Klaus Bruhn Jensen presents a timely deliberation on communication and justice
that links philosophy and communication studies to explore theories and practices
pertaining to this crucially important matter. Drawing on ethics and pragmatist
inquiry, Jensen considers communication as action and suggests a communicative
turn that may help us to better understand various forms of justice, including essen-
tial environmental concerns. This insightful book should be taken very seriously by
academics, policy-m akers and the public.”
Janet Wasko, University of Oregon
“Jensen offers us a normative theory of communication informed by an historically
informed analysis of philosophy and communication theory. His goal is to under-
stand how human communication can better contribute to fairness and justice.
Treating communication both as a condition of being and becoming and as delib-
erative action, its potentials and limitations are critically weighed to assess how
communication might make a practical difference. An inspiring and provocative
foundation is provided for assessing entitlements to reflection and deliberation in a
way that also will spark novel empirical research agendas.”
Robin Mansell, London School of
Economics and Political Science
“In this timely volume Klaus Bruhn Jensen proposes nothing less than a theory
of communication and justice. The volume travels through the history of ideas to
explore the meeting points and different avenues of communication research and
classic philosophy, as they relate to justice. In a theory-rich, yet practice-oriented
manner, Klaus Bruhn Jensen convincingly argues that the study of communication
can and should engage with debates about justice.”
Rikke Frank Jørgensen, The Danish Institute for
Human Rights
A THEORY OF

COMMUNICATION
AND JUSTICE
Klaus Bruhn Jensen
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Klaus Bruhn Jensen
The right of Klaus Bruhn Jensen to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Jensen, Klaus Bruhn, author.
Title: A theory of communication and justice/Klaus Bruhn Jensen.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020037184 (print) | LCCN 2020037185 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138807242 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138807266 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781315751207 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Communication–Political aspects. |
Communication–Social aspects. | Justice. | Human rights.
Classification: LCC P95.8 .J46 2021 (print) |
LCC P95.8 (ebook) | DDC 302.23/1–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037184
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037185
ISBN: 978-1 -1 38-8 0724- 2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1 -1 38-8 0726- 6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1 -3 15-7 5120- 7 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS

List of illustrations xi

List of analysis boxes xii

Preface xiii

Note on the text xv

1 The end of communication 1

What is, what ought to be, and what could be 2
Turns of philosophy 7
Theories of communication 10
Justice – an essentially contested concept 13
Communication as action 15
The chapters of the volume 18
2 A brief history of justice 23

Between chance and necessity 23
The prehistory of justice 28
Three traditions of justice 31
Do good – virtue ethics 31
Do the right thing – deontology 34
Do the math – consequentialism 38
The global futures of justice 41
Migration as communication 41
Communication as migration 44
Does the world still need a theory of justice? 47
viii Contents
3 The structural transformation of Jürgen Habermas 50

From the coffeehouse to the internet 50
The rise and fall of the bourgeois public sphere 52
Historical norms 52
Retrospective systematics 57
Reconstructed interests 59
Interested knowledge 59
Disinterested communication 62
From the categorical imperative to communicative action 65
“A third, somewhat less demanding way” 65
How to do things with other people’s words 67
Laws of communication 74
The power of communication 74
Speaking of ideals 77
Communicative action in the public sphere 83
Religious communication 83
Global communication 86
Remember Habermas! 92
4 John Rawls behind the veil of communication 96

Habermas vs. Rawls 96
Justice as fairness 98
Principles and consequences 98
Procedures and communications 103
An overlapping consensus 108
The rational and the reasonable 108
The public uses of reason 112
The laws of the lands 115
The veil of communication 125
5 The long legacy of pragmatism 127

Erro, ergo sum 127
Theoretical, practical, and productive sciences 129
The modern inversion of theory and practice 132
The American revival of pragmatism 135
The pragmatic maxim 135
Communication as representation and resource 137
Individual beliefs and collective actions 140
Priests, prophets, and heirs of pragmatism 143
Cambridge pragmatisms 143
Postmodernist pragmatism 147
Transcendental pragmatism 150
Pragmatism, communication, and justice 158
Contents ix
6 Media of justice 162

Medium theory 162
The in- formation of justice 165
Saying, writing, and printing it 165
Mediated modernity 168
Media of discovery, justification, application, and dissemination 170
Communication flows 172
One- to- one, one- to- many, and many- to- many communications 172
Information flows, user flows, and context flows 177
Many- to- one communication 181
Performing justice 182
Positive and negative freedoms 182
Branches of governance 185
The mediation of agency and structure 188
7 The communicative position 190

The right to communicate 190
The capability of communication 193
Principles of communication and justice 196
Justice as representativity 201
Rights of information 201
Rights of communication 204
Rights of participation 207
Rights of privacy 212
Communication as condition and constituent of justice 214
8 Justice – measure for measure 218

Measures and meanings 218
The reality of justice 220
The empirical, the actual, and the real 220
Institutional, technological, and discursive mechanisms 223
The empirical goods of justice 226
Information goods 226
Communication goods 228
Participation goods 231
Privacy goods 233
Monitoring injustice 237
Inferring justice 237
Identifying injustice 241
Practicing justice 243