ABSTRACT
Because of the social relatedness of corporeal bodies concerned, the embodied objectivations, and even the material objectifications, communicative action always also has a spatial dimension. Communicative action is, thus, not only put into effect in the diachronic succession of sequences, it is also always in a synchronous coexistence with others, the other and objectivations. This means that communicative action not only expands and adds temporally in sequences of action to forms, institutions and structures. In addition to this temporal order, communicative action also always has a spatial order.
By considering space, we return, first, to our basic reflections on the social theory of communicative action. It starts with the premise that space is tied to the body’s presence. For this reason, physical co-presence is often taken to be at the core of social space. We want to add, however, that media allow the mediation of communicative action beyond the co-presence of embodied actors. Media also allow for the expansion of social space. Technology is the means by which communicative action is mediated. Media differ analytically from technology as, in addition to mediation, they involve some kind of signs. Therefore, we distinguish different kinds of mediation and shall consider both technology and media, which are common forms of mediation. The concept of mediatization refers to the media change of communicative action. This change can be described structurally, but it can also be described historically, for example, as a process of increasing or decreasing technization, or an increasing or diminishing density of signs, objects and infrastructures. By sketching the role of mediatization in affecting social structure and culture, we return to sociological theory. The last phase of mass media and (mass) communication culture, then, forms the background for our diagnosis of contemporary communication society.
