Abstract
This article reconsiders critical communication theory with reference to
the theoretical turn of Stuart Hall’s communication model. The focus is on
three aspects: social and political change in post-war UK; neo-Marxist concept
of “discourse” and “ideology”; Hall's political project as New Left. During the
late 70’s to early 80’s, Hall had changed his communication theory
dramatically in order to stand against the political project of Thatcherism. I
examine that Hall’s perspective had changed from “encoding/decoding” model,
which leads to “semiotic democracy,” to “struggle over meaning,” which can be
connected with new theoretical trends.
