Description:
Going beyond Dewey's reputation in received histories in communication, this book documents his role beginning at the University of Michigan in 1884 until his death in 1952 in establishing a view of communication as the means by which associated life and adaptation to the environment is possible.
Review Quotes: "We owe Lana F. Rakow a debt of gratitude for this concise, well-written introduction to John Dewey as a pragmatist philosopher, activist, and public intellectual whose systematic thought on communication in relation to culture, technology, inquiry, art, community, and democracy is foundational to communication studies yet widely underappreciated. Grounding her argument in Dewey's correspondence and notes of his early lectures as well as his voluminous publications and relevant secondary sources, Rakow criticizes poorly documented claims and conventional wisdom about Dewey that pepper the communication literature. Every serious student of communication should read this book." --Robert T. Craig, University of Colorado Boulder