MYLES HORTON AND THE HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL: A SEMANTIC ENVIRONMENT OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATION, ACTIVISM, AND CHANGE

General semantics, although it might be ignored by those traditionally aligned with the study of political communication, offers a great deal to the study of politics and communication. This paper argues that Neil Postman's notion of context analysis serves as a direct corollary to the traditional method of content analysis in that it helps communication and media scholars understand political communication. To illustrate the value of context analysis, this essay seeks to contribute to both the study of general semantics and political communication through a case study analysis of the educational philosophy of Myles Horton (1905-1990) as he and others practiced that philosophy at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee during the labor movement and Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century. In particular, this paper constructs a context analysis of the semantic environment surrounding the political education of members of those social movements conducted at Highlander as an approach to understanding political organizing, collective action, and change. By articulating the educational practices at the Highlander Folk School as a semantic environment, general semantics educators and political communication scholars can begin to identify how the environment can produce communication and talk that leads to successful political action in the face of anti-democratic forces.