7 From the Modern to the Postmodern

I nternational communication theory and research historically have done well with those subjects that characterize modernity, such as the nation-state and "the fact." Today, however, it is the postmodern condition within which communication takes place-a condition also known as the information society, for many of the critical features of postmodernity are the effects of the use of new information technologies. Under either designation, international communication theory and research must respond to circumstances qualitatively and quantitatively different from those of the past. The current environment may be described as "pan demonic," following Hookway (1999), because it is ubiquitously filled with information that makes things happen in ways that are often invisible, incomprehensible, and/or beyond human control"demonic" in the classic sense of nonhuman agency, and "pan" because this agency is everywhere. This chapter reviews international communication theory and research as they have dealt with key features of modernity-the nation-state, the fact, the universal, and power. Each of these elements must now be reconsidered.