Dreams of democratic togetherness: Communication hope from Cooley to Katz

Abstract

From at least the Progressives through recent media effects research, American thought about mass media has been marked by attention to the nexus of community, communication and democracy. Thinkers from Cooley and Dewey to Lazarsfeld and Katz have worried about the relation between local forms of civil society and far‐flung solidarity, argued about the role of communication in each, and addressed all these concerns in light of broader political visions. That tradition is marked by a recurring dream that mass communication might overcome the finitude of local civil society and bring about nationwide community. I call that dream communication hope.