A Panacea Called ’Dialogic Communication’
Adopting a new language is the best way to put an end to the current predicament. By Maghsoud Farasatkhah.
We are in a precarious situation. A political dispute is still unresolved; protests have been repressed and driven to deeper social layers, and discontent is accumulating. A quick glance can help us to trace roots of the status quo. A massive wave rose from the Iranian society, one which was inspiring and pleasing. This wave demonstrated a nation’s spirit, passions of social life and political vibration. From a sociopolitical view it was a valuable social capital, and from the religious aspect, a divine blessing.
This wave had some unique features: it had a legitimate root, was inspired by an election held within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s boundaries (despite all its restrictions), it had no inclination to dispense from the establishment, was conspicuously replete with revolutionary discourse, a discourse which fostered and legitimized the Islamic revolution. Obviously, people’s political understanding has improved. They did not want to dissolve and rebuild political institutions one after another. They were not going to fall for trials and errors again.
But what made that beautiful wave tempestuous all of a sudden? We all know this was caused by the handling of elections and led to serious questions and widespread protests. However, senior politicians failed to resolve the problem in a satisfying way. Nowadays, all around the world conflict management in politics is a well-known and well-practiced subject. Even a schoolboy or an ordinary expert knows about it. Forming non-partisan agreed-upon committees could create an opportunity for dialogue and putting an end to the problem. Alas! Not only this did not happen, but also repressive measures, murders and beatings, massive detentions all aggravated the problem. A tight security dominates over the public sphere and newspapers, websites and communication systems are under close control. These have aggravated the situation and added to citizens’ anger and alienation from the establishment.
From a sociopsychological view, these circumstances will have severe effects, considering that international, regional and territorially, we are at a critical situation and facing potential threats. Economic problems compound our hardship. A god-given blessing has been waster and the society is facing a serious danger.
If no effective measure is taken now, tomorrow will be too late, and the social fundaments will face mortal threats which may not be easily solved. What should be done now? It seems that the only way is to adopt an "ideal verbal status". Here we face two different models. In one, language is a tool for domination, and in the other, it is the carrier to emancipation and agreement. Bother disunion and interaction are achievable by the language we use.
It is only a ’dialogic communication’ which can establish groundwork for withdrawing from an erroneous, irreversible path. The alternative platforms, either those advocated by circles of power or those promoted by their critiques, most probably have an instrumental ideological nature. These platforms inevitably impede the opportunity for communication and agreement between nation and state and exacerbate unrestricted divergence. They jeopardize national interests and put our country in a precarious situation.
This is the ’ideal verbal status’: each side should make efforts to establish informed, exploratory contacts with the other side. Interpreting and judging developments –which are endless in nature- should not be done unilaterally. Each side must try to listen to others. In the ’dialogic communication’ platform, there is a chance for ’satisfying joint pursuit’ of a solution to problems.
Against this normative model, there is our normal political discourse which is excessively instrumental. Each party tries to use words and propositions merely as a strategic tool to attain its objectives. The prevailing tendency is to corner the opponent. Nothing is going to occur except the preset goals. Decisions are made before dialogue and language is merely a tool to advance objectives. No one expects the communication to give out a satisfying result and lead to better decisions. No multilateral agreements are going to be made, no reconciliations.
In the ’ideal verbal status’ language is a tool for mutual understanding. It is used for negotiation, reconciliation, and judgment. Using language, each side makes the other understand its problems and its intention. Each utterance is considered as a frank representation of experiences and prospects. It is through a ’communicative and dialogic language’ that prospects are merged and final decisions are made.
In a ’dialogic communication’ propositions of each side are open to discussion and criticism. Dialogue is an ongoing process, reality is a complex thing, and there is always time for further talk. Interpretation is also an open-ended process. Agreements achieved by this means are diverse and pluralistic by nature.
The ’wave’ we referred to at the beginning of this article, despite all the transformations it has undergone, still has the potential to create an opportunity for dialogue at the nation-state level. Although it’s getting late, this movement can still bring openings. The current circumstances call for a timely critique and modification of procedures and behaviors which would afflict our society with severe problems in the future.
The transformation of Iranian society should not be ignored. New social groups such as youth, women, urban middle class and millions of educated call for diverse lifestyles, and transformation of communicative tools and many other developments demand a new way of governing the country. The government is no more a cybernetic system which can control the increasingly complex society of today. The society is not one which is homogeneous and has stable attitudes and interests. At an age of rapid transformation why have some started a dangerous game?
The basics of logic, ethics and politics say that we should return to a situation of dialogue. ’Dialogic communication’ and ’ideal verbal status’ are achieved if we release those who have detained and enforce the rights of those who have been killed, injured or falsely accused. Good deed in these circumstances need a spiritual and moral power, but its reward is as huge as the punishment for bad deed.
This wave had some unique features: it had a legitimate root, was inspired by an election held within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s boundaries (despite all its restrictions), it had no inclination to dispense from the establishment, was conspicuously replete with revolutionary discourse, a discourse which fostered and legitimized the Islamic revolution. Obviously, people’s political understanding has improved. They did not want to dissolve and rebuild political institutions one after another. They were not going to fall for trials and errors again.
But what made that beautiful wave tempestuous all of a sudden? We all know this was caused by the handling of elections and led to serious questions and widespread protests. However, senior politicians failed to resolve the problem in a satisfying way. Nowadays, all around the world conflict management in politics is a well-known and well-practiced subject. Even a schoolboy or an ordinary expert knows about it. Forming non-partisan agreed-upon committees could create an opportunity for dialogue and putting an end to the problem. Alas! Not only this did not happen, but also repressive measures, murders and beatings, massive detentions all aggravated the problem. A tight security dominates over the public sphere and newspapers, websites and communication systems are under close control. These have aggravated the situation and added to citizens’ anger and alienation from the establishment.
From a sociopsychological view, these circumstances will have severe effects, considering that international, regional and territorially, we are at a critical situation and facing potential threats. Economic problems compound our hardship. A god-given blessing has been waster and the society is facing a serious danger.
If no effective measure is taken now, tomorrow will be too late, and the social fundaments will face mortal threats which may not be easily solved. What should be done now? It seems that the only way is to adopt an "ideal verbal status". Here we face two different models. In one, language is a tool for domination, and in the other, it is the carrier to emancipation and agreement. Bother disunion and interaction are achievable by the language we use.
It is only a ’dialogic communication’ which can establish groundwork for withdrawing from an erroneous, irreversible path. The alternative platforms, either those advocated by circles of power or those promoted by their critiques, most probably have an instrumental ideological nature. These platforms inevitably impede the opportunity for communication and agreement between nation and state and exacerbate unrestricted divergence. They jeopardize national interests and put our country in a precarious situation.
This is the ’ideal verbal status’: each side should make efforts to establish informed, exploratory contacts with the other side. Interpreting and judging developments –which are endless in nature- should not be done unilaterally. Each side must try to listen to others. In the ’dialogic communication’ platform, there is a chance for ’satisfying joint pursuit’ of a solution to problems.
Against this normative model, there is our normal political discourse which is excessively instrumental. Each party tries to use words and propositions merely as a strategic tool to attain its objectives. The prevailing tendency is to corner the opponent. Nothing is going to occur except the preset goals. Decisions are made before dialogue and language is merely a tool to advance objectives. No one expects the communication to give out a satisfying result and lead to better decisions. No multilateral agreements are going to be made, no reconciliations.
In the ’ideal verbal status’ language is a tool for mutual understanding. It is used for negotiation, reconciliation, and judgment. Using language, each side makes the other understand its problems and its intention. Each utterance is considered as a frank representation of experiences and prospects. It is through a ’communicative and dialogic language’ that prospects are merged and final decisions are made.
In a ’dialogic communication’ propositions of each side are open to discussion and criticism. Dialogue is an ongoing process, reality is a complex thing, and there is always time for further talk. Interpretation is also an open-ended process. Agreements achieved by this means are diverse and pluralistic by nature.
The ’wave’ we referred to at the beginning of this article, despite all the transformations it has undergone, still has the potential to create an opportunity for dialogue at the nation-state level. Although it’s getting late, this movement can still bring openings. The current circumstances call for a timely critique and modification of procedures and behaviors which would afflict our society with severe problems in the future.
The transformation of Iranian society should not be ignored. New social groups such as youth, women, urban middle class and millions of educated call for diverse lifestyles, and transformation of communicative tools and many other developments demand a new way of governing the country. The government is no more a cybernetic system which can control the increasingly complex society of today. The society is not one which is homogeneous and has stable attitudes and interests. At an age of rapid transformation why have some started a dangerous game?
The basics of logic, ethics and politics say that we should return to a situation of dialogue. ’Dialogic communication’ and ’ideal verbal status’ are achieved if we release those who have detained and enforce the rights of those who have been killed, injured or falsely accused. Good deed in these circumstances need a spiritual and moral power, but its reward is as huge as the punishment for bad deed.