Behaviorist communication models turned social scientists into servants of power

Evidence

I characterize such models in this way to emphasize one simple point: these models were not merely models of communication, representations of the communication process. They were also models for the enactment of the communication process, powerful models of an actual social practice. Finally, the growth of these models within the intellectual community and the marriage of this social science to imitations of the physical sciences signaled a shift in the nature of American social scientists in general and communication students in particular. I refer here to the transformation of social scientists from a prophetic to a priestly class. It signaled the ingestion of social science into the apparatus of rule and a surrendering of the critical function of independent intellectuals. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 588

Categorization

• XREF: The prophetic-to-priestly class shift connects to the broader theme of social science surrendering critique that recurs across this book. — connects to: Positive science supplied a model of uncoerced communication supporting democracy — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 425; Communication models themselves shape concrete human interaction. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 215; Mechanical communication growth did not necessarily expand freedom and knowledge — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 650 (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 588

Broader Connections

• Positive science supplied a model of uncoerced communication supporting democracy #contradicts (0.85) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 425
• Mechanical communication growth did not necessarily expand freedom and knowledge #corroborates (0.80) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 650
• Mass media research persists in behaviorism despite knowing media are not behavioral inputs #expands (0.70)
• Communication models themselves shape concrete human interaction. #expands (0.65) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 215