Huspek, Ph.D.

Michael Huspek, Ph.D.  (1994)

Professor of Communication

Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in political science (with emphasis in political theory). University of Washington; B.A. summa cum laude, University of Minnesota.

Specialization in normative communication theory. Interests include: critical theory; language and social class; rhetoric of subaltern groups; immigration law and policy; alternative media, especially the black press; deformed communication in institutional settings. Teaches courses in Communication Theory (Comm 300); Political Communication (Comm 470); Language and Social Interaction (Comm 333). Published work is interdisciplinary. Numerous contributions to the popular press (e.g., Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune); works with human rights groups in San Diego. Currently completing a book-length manuscript on subaltern rhetoric and the challenges it presents to deliberative democracies.

Recent Publications:

"Habermas and oppositional public spheres: A stereoscopic analysis." Political Studies, Dec., 2007, 55(4): 821-843.

"Habermas and deliberative democracy: Introductory remarks." A symposium organized for Communication Theory, Nov. 2007, 17(4): 329-333.

"Normative potentials of rhetorical action in deliberative democracies." Communication Theory, Nov. 2007, 17(4): 356-367.

Special issue editor of Atlantic Journal of Communication: "Discourses of the state and contingencies of opposition." September, 2006. 14(3).

"From the 'white man's standpoint': Ideology, discourse and the black press." Journal of Intergroup Relations. 2005. 32(3):67-88.

Special issue editor of Atlantic Journal of Communication (double issue): "Oppositional discourse: Normative and analytical issues." March/June, 2006. 14(1/2).

Special issue editor of Journal of Intergroup Relations. Fall 2005: "Black press contributions to the advancement of human and civil rights." Fall, 2005. 32(3).

"Black press, white press, and their opposition: The case of the police killing of Tyisha Miller." Social Justice Fall, 2004. 31(1/2): 217-241.

Representative Publications

"Production of state, citizen and capital: The case of Operation Gatekeeper." Social Justice. Fall 2001, 28(2): 51-68.

"Oppositional codes: The case of the Penitentiary of New Mexico riot." Journal of Applied Communication Research. May 2000, 28(2): 144-163.

"Violations of human and civil rights along the U.S.-Mexico border, 1995-1997." Social Justice, Summer 1998, 25(2) 110-130. (Reprinted in: D. Baker and R. Davin (eds.), Crime, criminology, and criminal justice. McGraw-Hill, 2002; and A. Aguirre and D. Baker (eds.), Notable selections in race and ethnicity. McGraw-Hill, 2003.)

"What critical theory scholarship means to the discipline of communication." In special issue of Communication Theory (ed. M. Huspek), 1997, 7(4): 265-274.

"Oppositional codes and social class relations." British Journal of Sociology. 1994, 45(1): 79-102.

"Dueling structures: The theory of resistance in discourse." Communication Theory. 1993, 3(1): 1-25.

"On withholding political voice: An analysis of the political vocabulary of a 'nonpolitical' speech community." Quarterly Journal of Speech. 1991, 77(1): 1-19.

"The idea of ethnography and its relation to cultural critique." Research on language and social interaction. 1989/1990, vol. 23: 293-302.

"Language analysis and power." Semiotica. 1988. 72(3/4): 341-359.