Rethinking De-Westernization in Communication Studies: The Ibero-American Movement in International Publishing

Abstract

This study joins the emerging de-Westernization discourse within communication studies and empirically compares the diversity of Ibero-American, Western, and regional journals at three different levels: authorship, editorial board membership, and citations. Our findings show that through low geopolitical diversity and high regional shares in authorship, editorial board membership, and citations, the Ibero-American region uses its structural, linguistic, and cultural resources to offer an alternative universe to mainstream English-based communication research. The article argues that the process of trailblazing the pathways to de-Westernizing communication scholarship is best accomplished when it is actively led by peripheral regions.