Global communication as a standpoint: A critical engagement with research,pedagogy,and the profession through a global communication lens

Grounded in the long tradition of embracing the global in communication and media studies and inspired by feminist standpoint epistemology, we argue that global communication can function as an epistemological standpoint. After summarizing the diverse and rich tradition of understanding the global in communication and media studies and beyond, we theorize that a global communication standpoint is characterized by a combination of four aspects that can be embraced across the discipline: contextualization, historical rootedness, attention to power, and engagement with issues of relationality and comparison. First, we offer examples of the four elements based on existing scholarship. Second, we analyze how these four elements can be embraced in pedagogy. Finally, we survey recent job market dynamics to analyze the definition of the global by professional practice. We conclude by arguing that the embracement of global communication as a standpoint can benefit research across our discipline, regardless of research questions, methods, contexts, or scholars’ identities.