Coordinated Management of Meaning

The theory of Coordinated Management of Meaning says basically that persons-in-conversation construct their own social realities. Pearce and Cronen (1980) believe that CMM is useful in our everyday lives. People within a social situation first want to understand what is going on and apply rules to figure things out. They act on the basis of their understanding, employing rules to decide what kind of action is appropriate.

This can be associated with community participation. We must allow community member to construct their own meanings and realities. The best way to do this will always be in person, or at least person to person.

This can be applied to intergroup dialogue work. In intergroup dialogues, you allow people to use their experiences to understand how social identities interact in the world. Everyone's an expert at their own experience, so that is used as the basis of “figuring things out.”

Pearce, W. B., & Cronen, V. (1980). Communication, action, and meaning: The creation of social realities. New York: Praeger.