Stressing the interrelatedness of the many facets of communication, this introductory text explores major theories by locating those ideas and concepts in the context of current, cultural issues. The authors' narrative approach helps students more easily see the connections to their daily lives, and public communication is reframed within this text as public advocacy, helping students become critical, active citizens in their communities. By recognizing that they are members of a complex system of power that both enables and constrains their actions, students are able to explore the ways their communication constitutes and frames their social world.

Communicating Culture provides a context to see communication as both productive of power and a productive way of envisioning social movement against unethical or unjust power.