How context influences the practice of communication

The challenge of integration in our information society

Abstract

This article explores the importance of communication and information systems in the articulation of global relations with territorial practices. We adopt an essayistic format, which allows us to probe the tensions and collaborative dynamics that emerge from the coexistence between local institutions and connected society.  

The conditions under which the public conversation unfolds are modified in a context where the production and spread of information occupy center stage. There are new mechanisms in place that force us to rethink how political institutions and media organizations manage their channels for expression and discussion.  

In what follows, we seek to answer two different questions. First, can political systems substitute a representational dynamic for another one centered on negotiation, doing so without altering their function and importance? And second, can territories embed their practices within the record of connected society?  

There is an important distinction to be made between spaces that can survive and coexist within our information society and those that, instead, are excluded from it. This distinction allows us to reflect on the conditions of adaptation. The question is to what degree does the possibility of emergence, for local identities, depend on their capacity to express themselves and network in the context of a communicational practice that can associate global influence with the continued relevance of culture.  

The potential to transform the periphery into context, integrating the local through collaborative dynamics, emerges as a field that combines, in its analysis, both culture and communication.