Vacuous communication is communication that is empty, gutted of materiality, located in networks of symbolic references that are equally empty. Through these interpenetrating chains of vacuous symbols, power finds strategies of retaining and ensconcing itself. Vacuous communication is an essential communicative strategy of hegemonic structures. The various combinations of otherwise disconnected words make up the formations that serve the agendas of power. In digital networks, the vacuous formations travel quickly from the elite structures of authoritarian regimes to think tanks propped up by such regimes, to the academic-business thought leadership panels of the 1% in the picturesque meeting rooms of the Swiss Alps. Vacuous communication thrives on word play. Wordsmiths, particularly credentialed academic experts, are integral to building infrastructures of vacuous communication. Vacuous communication is often a collection of words. Words that are arranged in meaningless
This blog offers Mohan Dutta's reflections on the theoretical framework of the culture-centered approach, examining the interplays among Structure, Culture, and Agency in shaping marginalisation and the ways in which communities at the margins challenge structures. Writings on the blog are continually being revised to reflect the organic analysis of structure and agency.