Reclaiming Communication Ecumenical Involvement in Communication for Justice and Peace

This article focuses on the history of the ecumenical discussion on communication, as reflected in the assemblies of the World Council of Churches (WCC). It examines, in particular, the communication statements that emerged from the WCC assemblies in Uppsala in 1968 and in Vancouver in 1983, as well as the more tentative moves at the Harare assembly of 1998 to develop an understanding of communication as an integral part of an "ecumenical space." The article goes on to argue that the changing perspectives manifested at these assemblies, each 15 years apart, were linked to changing paradigms of social and theological reflection that were themselves the product of economic and political transformation. Finally, the article considers how the insights gained can be brought to bear on the challenges presented by digital transformation.