The contributions of Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson to communication and social change theory and practice

Abstract

This article explores the contributions made by Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson to communication for social change theory. It argues that Williams’ critique of technological determinism, his notion of the ‘structure of feeling’, analysis of culture and cultural materialism as a mode of analysis contributes to the theorising of communication for social change. This article also examines Thompson’s contributions to historiography, his engagement with the contextualised histories of ordinary people and their contributions to the making of the public sphere in 18th-century England. This article argues that the contributions made by these two theorists enable a critique of structures and a re-centring of agency, both of which are critical to a renewal of communication for social change theory.