help with communication disconnects, high context communication

[Karen Pennesi]

Hi Kate,

 

I have published some things in a related vein.  I work with Brazilian small
farmers and meteorologists who are all speaking the same language
(Portuguese) but using it in different ways, sometimes without realizing it,
resulting in confusion about the interpretation of forecasts or even
accusations that the meteorologists are lying. Though the details are
different, I think you might find that the theoretical approach to the ways
language is used by different groups (in an unequal power relationship) is
relevant. See below.

 

Pennesi, Karen. 2007 Improving Forecast Communication: Linguistic and
Cultural Considerations. Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society
88(7):1033-1044.

 

Pennesi, Karen.  2011 A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Forecast Communication.
In Weather and Society*Integrated Studies Project Compendium. J. Demuth, S.
Drobot, and E. Gruntfest, eds. Pp. 2.1-2.14. Boulder, CO: National Center
for Atmospheric Research.

http://anthropology.uwo.ca/faculty/pennesi/WASIS%20Compendium_Pennesi.pdf

 

 

Pennesi, Karen.    2011 Making Forecasts Meaningful: Explanations of
Problematic Predictions in Northeast Brazil. Weather, Climate and Society
3(2):90-105.

 

In another area, here is one about bureaucratic definitions of "severe"
weather and "vulnerable" populations (Inuit communities in Canada's Arctic)
in which we argue that local perceptions and social processes lead to
different definitions of these terms compared to government or media
definitions. We call for consideration of locally relevant indices when
creating policy or assessments of vulnerability.

 

Spinney, Jennifer, and Karen Pennesi

            2012   When the River Started underneath the Land: Social
Constructions of a 'Severe' Weather Event in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada.
Polar Record. doi:10.1017/S0032247412000320

 

 

I hope this helps. You might want to look into other related literature on
indigenous people communicating with various government agents or
scientists. For example:

 

Nadasdy, Paul. 2003   Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge, and
Aboriginal-State Relations in the Southwest Yukon. Vancouver: UBC Press.

 

Again, the issues are similar I think, in terms of defining and describing
experience and knowledge.

 

Karen Pennesi

Department of Anthropology

Social Science Centre

University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario

Canada