Writing the History of Communication Studies: A Sociology of Science Approach

摘要

Our study provides a model for the history of communication studies that is developed from the state of research and from the sociology of science, and that meets the demands ofintersub-jectivity. The model provides a system of categories for research and helps to systematically and transparently analyze the development of communication studies. After discussing traditional biographical, institutional, and intellectual approaches in German and U.S. American historiography of communication studies, we develop a model that integrates the existing perspectives and also considers influences from the constellation of surrounding disciplines and relevant fields of society. Finally, we demonstrate by means of a study on the history of critical theory in German communication studies how the model can be applied.