Understanding a Man in Time: James W. Carey and the Media Ecology Intellectual Tradition

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Carey's remarkable ability to recognize intellectual connections is readily apparent in the two major collections of his work, Communication as Culture (Carey, 1989 Carey, J. W. 1989. Communication as culture: Essays on media and society, Boston: Unwin Hyman. [Google Scholar]) and James Carey: A Critical Reader (Carey, 1997 Carey , J. W. ( 1997 ). James Carey: A critical reader ( E. S. Munson & C. A. Warren ). Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press . [Google Scholar]). 2. I discuss the relationship of Carey's work and American cultural studies to the field of media ecology in greater depth in Echoes and Reflections (Strate, 2006a Strate, L. 2006a. Echoes and reflections: On media ecology as a field of study, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. [Google Scholar]), and see also Frederick Wasser's (2006 Wasser , F. ( 2006 ). James Carey: The search for cultural balance . In C. M. K. Lum Perspectives on culture, technology, and communication: The media ecology tradition . 255 – 274 . Cresskill, NJ : Hampton Press . [Google Scholar]) chapter along with Casey Man Kong Lum's Introduction in Perspectives on Culture, Technology, and Communication: The Media Ecology Intellectual Tradition (Lum, 2006 Lum , C. M. K. ( 2006 ) . Perspectives on culture, technology, and communication: The media ecology tradition . Cresskill, NJ : Hampton Press . [Google Scholar]), and the special issue of Explorations in Media Ecology devoted to James Carey (Strate, 2006b Strate , L. (2006b) . Explorations in Media Ecology 5(2) [special issue on James W. Carey] . [Google Scholar]) which includes the text of his Keynote Address to the 4th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association (Carey, 2006 Carey , J. W. ( 2006 ). Globalization, democracy and open communication: Can we have all three? Explorations in Media Ecology 5(2) [special issue on James W. Carey] , pp. 103 – 114 . [Google Scholar]). 3. Paul Heyer's (2003 Heyer, P. 2003. Harold Innis, Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. [Google Scholar]) recent study of Harold Innis notes the centrality of Carey's views to subsequent scholarship relating to Harold Innis. It is also worth noting, in this context, Carey's (2004 Carey , J. W. ( 2004 ). Introduction to the Rowman & Littlefield edition . In Innis H. A. Changing concepts of time (rev. ed., pp.vii–xx) . Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield . [Google Scholar]) introduction to the new edition of Changing Concepts of Time (Innis, 2004 Innis , H. A. ( 2004 ). Changing concepts of time (rev. ed.) . Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield . [Google Scholar]). 4. Paul Grosswiler (2006 Grosswiler , P. ( 2006 ). The transformation of Carey on McLuhan: Admiration, rejection, and redemption . Explorations in Media Ecology 5(2) [special issue on James W. Carey] , pp. 137 – 148 . [Google Scholar]) discusses this largely undocumented shift in Carey's thinking, which was readily apparent in his 1998 Keynote Address, “Where Do We Go With Marshall McLuhan?” (Carey, 1998 Carey , J. W. ( 1998 ). “Where do we go with Marshall McLuhan?” Keynote Address given at the 56th Annual Convention of the New York State Communication Association, October 9–11, 1998, Monticello, NY. [Google Scholar]) given at the 56th Annual Convention of the New York State Communication Association at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, NY, in which Carey discussed the book about Innis and McLuhan that he had been working on (which he was not able to complete before he passed away). Additional informationNotes on contributorsLance StrateLance Strate is Professor of Communication and Media Studies and Director of the Graduate Program in Public Communication at Fordham University