Since the very beginning of its history, Canadian communication has been developing and shaping in the increasingly controversial and ambiguous social conditions. Canadian communication has come to exemplify the gradual formation of self-consciousness, political power, and individuality. It was probably due to political pressures and social constraints that the Canadian people has been able to realize the value of their own identity, and it is due to the negative experiences and events the Canadian people had to go through that the present Canadian ethnic identity comprises the features of cultural cohesiveness, solidarity, and transnational resistance. Two historical periods selected for analysis are radio communication and early oral tradition.
Early oral tradition reflects the uniqueness of the nation and identity. Traditionally, immigrant experiences result in the formation of the three distinct varieties of ethnic identity. First, some immigrants view themselves and their immigration as a kind of exile. Second, immigration results in the formation of the so-called transnational community; these identities are being continuously torn between the cultural commitments of their old and their new country due to the fact that they view immigration as a temporary state. “There is the type of ethnic community which is usually called “ethnic Americans”, who do not pursue any collective immigration goals; nor do they seek to identify themselves with any specific cultural form (Boyce 5). In the context of the Canadian ethnic identity, the choice of the immigration topic is not accidental, for it was due to the immigration that the Canadian have come to exemplify the unique combination of resistance and alienation, which in turn united them in their new country. “Today, it is possible to speak about a single Canadian identity influenced by different national traditions but shaped by single history” (Hackett 76). By 1900, the process of formation for the Canadian ethnic identity in immigration was almost finished. “While American Canadian successfully established themselves in the new land, the Canadian people in their native country fought against British domination” (Boyce 87). Again, and this is no longer surprising, this growing opposition paved the way to the creation of cohesive relationships between different social classes, and beyond cohesion, solidarity and unity became the distinctive feature of the Canadian ethnic identity. It should be noted, that while American Canadian immigrants used the Catholic Church as the reflection of their growing ethnic solidarity, those residing in Ireland viewed the Church as another motive to unite against Britain. Following Friesen: “stories of Aboriginal movement sound familiar to most Canadians. They are on the surface, the mirror image of European-, African-, and Asian-Canadian family sagas” (18).
A single Canadian identity exists and is formed by national traditions of diverse cultural groups. The major part of mature historiographies is characterized by the prevalence of new and interesting models that shape the future behavior of the children. The same thing can be told about a useful contribution to this literature. In many cases, Canadian people are being viewed from a comparative perspective. That is the main reason why many Canadian-Americans have shown the tendency to become different from all other overseas Canadian groups. The same thing can be told about European economies, many of which were present in the nineteenth century. “Many of the Canadian people who are living on the territory of the United States showed the tendency to differ from other ethnic groups in the country” (Boyce 56). Many of the studies that have been conducted in the state are characterized by the presence of a comparative approach.
In the context of ethics as a crucial element of people’s behavior and attitudes towards society and its members, interpersonal communication also plays a significant part. This type of communication is defined by “attentive concern for the relationship between persons”. (Arnett, 2008) Interpersonal communication occurs between two or more (as many as four) individuals who see each other and it can be both verbal and non-verbal, as well as both one-way and two-way. The importance is that in aboriginal culture “culture and land were inextricably bound together” (Friesen 50). Interpersonal communication still is not only subject-object interaction, but a more serious interaction which implies mutual approval of companions. Friesen states that: “many of these societies placed great store on continuity and duration” (35). And this as well places a serious importance on responsibility towards the relationship of companions because any interpersonal communication which happens between people can be called a relationship. “Interpersonal responsibility lies in care for interpersonal relationships’ ‘ (Hackett 74). And in different types of relations and communications, interpersonal relationship responsibility means the distance and closeness in these relationships, and this is the factor which identifies the quality of any individual’s personal life.
The emergence of radio technology has changed communication. This level of commitment to interdependent living means a lot for people as members of a society because their interaction and mutual respect is vital for the society to exist. Interpersonal domain includes these two issues. One of them is social interactions of people (engagement with others – people who differ from an individual – and the degree of cultural sensitivity as well). This is one more aspect of interpersonal relationships – respect to representatives of other cultures, with who the interpersonal relationship may occur. “The other aspect is communication – focus not on the relationship alone, but on responsibility for the relationship to the companion” (Hackett 66). If group communication is considered, it is as well closely related to the issue of social responsibility, and in this context it is often contemplated as group social responsibility or corporate social responsibility. Often companies, which co-operate within a country or represent different countries in their work, form groups. And these groups in their turn have their social responsibility at the group level.
When corporate social responsibility is examined, it is usually an essential part of any business, or at least is supposed to be so. In this context the impact of a company’s operation is viewed in conjunction with its influence on society and environment. The entire strategy of business dealing usually has its impact on the company’s environmental and societal footprint. “As well, it can be good, if social responsibility of the company is integrated in the processes of work such as investment or decision-taking” (Lorimer and McNulty 54). Furthermore, successful partnerships may depend greatly upon the politics of social responsibility the company conducts, such as connected with its influence on environment and society. It is understandable that corporate social responsibility is just an abstract notion in the sense of its composite nature. Friesen claims that: “Canadian experience with the production of culture was mixed as an example of film and radio reveal” (191). This composite nature means that even the smallest organizations, let alone serious corporations, are a collection of participants, or stakeholders, who influence the operation of the company. “And in many cases, individual social responsibility in particular plays the key part in the formation of corporate social responsibility” (Boyce 54). This happens because of the fact that any corporation consists of individuals, who help it work and progress, and thus, their individual social responsibility impacts the corporate operations at all levels and in all forms. Any employee makes one’s contribution in corporate social responsibility, and as a result, social, environmental as well as economic goals of the company will be reached. And the examples of this opinion can be many. For instance, to reduce a company’s carbon footprint, an employee may save electricity and reduce the bills, and in order to prove that the company is socially committed, this employee may participate in social camps organized by the company. As well, supporting the company in difficult economic situations and being committed and loyal, the employee can improve the company’s economic situation. This is the proof that corporate social responsibility depends on individual social responsibility of the company’s employees.
Communication within groups here implies communication of people of an organization, or communication of social workers who work in certain organizations and realize their kind of group social responsibility – helping other society members, less provided or those who for some reason have lost everything. “In this case, group social communication of people is to improve the society, and people operate in groups and share the same ideas and ideals” (Boyce 71). At type of social relations is a crucial thing for the society to be consistent of adequate people who understand what is the best for the society and who are committed to what they do, for any type of social responsibility implies an individual’s or a group’s responsibility to the society in general, and to each of its members in particular and to the environment. “And in this context, it is vital for every person to understand and live to one’s communication uniqueness” (Lorimer and McNulty 72).
Choices are manifestations of a developmental impetus arising from internal drives and reflections, on one side, and the possibilities that society presents, on the other. While no analysis cannot account for every variation, we can see the underlying pattern of issues on the individual side. Adult criminal behavior, for example, is highly correlated with the experience of an abusive childhood. “On the social side, we can identify patterns of response that lead, in often predictable directions, toward certain kinds of results” (Hackett 11). As an illustration, constitutional democracies have a better track record than dictatorships in protecting individual rights. “Perhaps the central struggle of twentieth-century Western political thought has been to develop a conception of the human condition that can support a redefinition of politics so that democracy becomes its central characteristic” (Lorimer and McNulty 87). The argument is that the human condition is characterized by a developmental sequence involving known needs, aspirations, and behaviors. Individualists, in contrast, take the position that the uncertainty and open-endedness of human nature defy systematic understanding. To see identity as the equivalent of class is to engage in economic and sociological determinism of a kind that leaves only class conflict as a solution to political problems. While this may be warranted in given historical situations, recent history has shown us that regimes that rule in the name of class are just as likely to be repressive as those that rule in the name of race. Similarly, identity-as-gender in a militant essentialist form leads away from the institutions and practices that make it possible for both sexes to live together on the basis of shared needs and interests. The question identity-as-class raises is about how the distribution of economic rewards fits with the achievement of competence, the enhancement of integrity, and the sustenance of mutuality. “Economic “means” are just that–means to these developmental ends” (Hackett 63). To resolve, through class warfare, differences in the distribution of these economic means leads into the repressive political environment that classical liberals, as well as conservatives, would criticize. The market rewards capital, whether acquired by labor, fraud, chance, inheritance, or the proceeds of a monopolistic or oligopolistic position in the marketplace. All but the first of these has no standing in developmental theory, with the exception of those limited forms of inheritance that contribute to the maintenance of the family. “The forces of capital reinforced by political power can violate developmental norms just as surely as egalitarian regimes intent on erasing authentic differences among people” (Lorimer and McNulty 99).
.What radio communication analysis has to offer, then, is a theory of market regulation and constraint. Viewed from a developmental perspective, those aspects of the market that encourage the cultivation and maintenance of competence are socially beneficial. Those forms of buying and selling that undermine the social structures that support competence are harmful. “We know that limits must be placed on child labor, for example, because it can undermine education and health, both of which are critical to achieving competence in a broad array of human activities” (Hackett 61). As we see below, there are other measures for the regulation of the market arising from considerations of integrity and mutuality. “The political manifestations of this urge are everywhere to be seen” (Lorimer and McNulty 88).. Nations of people organize around ties of ethnicity expressed politically, artistically, and literally. States, generally composed of nations, make citizens of their subjects and integrate them into frameworks of roles, rights, and responsibilities embodied in law. Ideologies gather up philosophical positions, symbols of power, visions of the future, and programs of action in a grand synthesis that places each of us in a comprehensible world. Governments may not be able to make people love one another–indeed, they have often been rather better at helping people hate one another.
Works Cited
Boyce, Robert. The Communications Revolution at Work: The Social, Economic and Political Impacts of Technological Change. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999.
Hackett, Robert. Sustaining Democracy?: Journalism and the Politics of Objectivity (Culture and Communication in Canada. Garamond Press; 1 edition, 1998.
Friesen, Gerald. Citizens and Nation: An Essay on History, Communications, and Canada. Lorimer, Rowland, McNulty, Jean. Mass Communication in Canada. Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition, 1996.