Transnational Communication in Europe: Practice and Research

Citation

Oliver, S. (2001), "Transnational Communication in Europe: Practice and Research", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 107-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij.2001.6.2.107.4

This book predominantly emerged from a conference funded largely by the German Research Foundation and the European Commission in Berlin but is published bilingually with German‐English translations. It aims to “fill a gap in research of political, economic and social relevance” globally. Edited by Barbara Bearns and Giuliana Raupp of the Free University of Berlin, the authors concern themselves with cross‐cultural information and communication in Europe, as well as the way in which information and communication overcomes national barriers of language, media and culture.

Descriptions of the relationship between information and communication “avoids the use of fashionable crisis semantics and all the familiar slogans” to produce a scholarly but readable text highlighting problem solving strategies. Costing 41 Euros or £21 sterling, the 36 chapters are divided into five sections, namely: Statements on Communication Policy; Information Access in Europe; Communication and Information Campaigns in Europe; Images Stereotypes and Power; and Requirements for Transnational Communication.

This is a valuable resource for university lecturers, blue chip practitioners and advanced level strategic public relations or communications students. It is bound to stimulate discussion around the visibility and transparency of the processes which are said to be taking place around disclosure of information and communication in Europe. The editors believe that the “ties that bind citizens to Europe have weakened. Information and communication are going through a crisis while the occupational field of communication management is expanding.” This book not only addresses issues around structural conditions and influences in the field but attempts to analyse the processes involved and the types of problem solving strategies and techniques that might contribute to a healthy transnationalism. Anyone interested in the European Union and what it means to be Europeanised will find much to value in this comprehensive collection of articles.