The Rules Are No Game: The Strategy of Communications by Anthony Wilden

Review by: John D. Jackson

The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer,
1989), pp. 405-406
Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology
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Anthony Wilden, TheRules are No Game:The Strategyof Communications.

London:Routledge& KeganPaul, 1987, 432 pp., hardcover.
aremeant"
"Butmanymetaphors
(citedby AnthonyWilden)
"Wehadtheexperience
butmissedthemeaning"
MusicalCats)
(fromAndrewLloydWebber's
"Youreachpeoplethrough
metaphor"
novel,In TheSkinof a Lion)
(fromM. Ondaatje's
"Whateverelse it is, all behavioris communication,"is Anthony'sWilden's firstof 59
axiomsof communicationwhichconcludethis chef-d'oeuvre.TheRulesare no Gameis
a majoradditionto the literaturein culturalstudiesand generalsociology. The book is
composedof threerelatedworks- "TheNamingof thePartsandthe 20thCenturyWar"
(63 pp.), "The Strategy of Communications"(215 pp.) concluding with a 19-page
postscripton contexttheory,and"Womenin Production:The ChorusLine"(17 pp.).Add
to this75 pagesof bibliography,themostcompleteandup-to-datelistingto appearin any
recenttext.
This is a book written by a scholar and teacher for teachers and scholars. It
comprehendsinformationtheory, communicationstheory, cybernetics,kinesthetics,
semiotics,andsystemstheory.GrandTheory?Yes andno. Itis GrandTheoryin thedepth
and scope of its synthesis. It is not GrandTheoryin that it is well groundedin daily
experience.But most especially it is not GrandTheorybecause it has a recognizable
subject- the author.Those familiarwith the repositioningof the authoras the novel
historicallymoved into a prominentpositionvis-a-vis theepic, will know thatone of the
effects was a reductionof the hierarchicaldistancebetweenauthorandreader.Professor
Wilden accomplishesthis reduction,an uncommonpracticein "scientificwriting,"by
actively placinghimself in the text.
As I readthe book I was awareof his presenceas a thinkerand teacher.Writingin
"plainstyle," the authorintroduceshimself in "TheNaming of the Partsand the 20th
CenturyWar"as a person with grandparentsand parentswho grew up in a particular
cultural,economic, andpoliticalsetting.The authorand,therefore,his thoughtshave a
context. Is there a betterway to profess or teach?Contexttheory is the message - a
perspective
oriented
to information,
levelsof reality,levels
constraint,
goalseeking,
reciprocity,
relationships,
of responsibility,
andcontrol,requisitediversity,innovation,
levelsof communication
openness,
thecapacityto utilizeunexpected
survivaland
cooperation,
novelty,andthustowardslong-range
thefuture(p. 310).
The synthesisis carefullyandpatientlyconstructed,conceptby conceptandpropositionby proposition.Levels of reality,kinship,ideology,language,symbolization,subjectivityandobjectivity,discourse,signs, semiotics,systemandstructure,anddialecticsare
expoundedand integratedinto a strategyof communication- an open and enriching
perspectivecallingfora contextualandmany-sidedlogic, whilerejectingneitherdialectic
nor analyticlogic, butvoid of emptyrhetoricandnarrowpositivism.This is a textbook
which will serve well any teacherin the humansciences willing to work (i.e., it is not a
publisher'sformulatext with multiplechoice questionsreadyfor tomorrow'squiz).
The textbook-likequalitieslie in the pedagogicalexpertiseof the author.However,I
405

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wouldnotrecommendthattheworkbe putasidebecauseit is a textbook.Mostcertainly

use it as a textbook,butit is muchmore.It is the buildingof criticalsocial theoryat its
best.
At the core of ProfessorWilden'scontexttheorylies a conceptualization
of systems
whicha readerof my generationeducatedon this side of the Atlanticwouldbe inclined
to associatewith TalcottParsons'generalsystemof action.A close readingdispelsany
temptationto draw a parallel.To put this anotherway, one can read Wilden against
Parsons,butnot theotherway around.Readerswill recallParsons'notionof thegeneral
systemof actionas a hierarchyof controlin whichthebehaviouralorganismwasposited
as thepointof articulationwiththephysicalenvironment,theformersubsumedunderthe
personalitysystemwhichinturnoperatedunderthecontrolof thesocialsystem.Ultimate
controlwas locatedin the culturalsystem.
In contrast,Wilden'sdependenthierarchyof constraint(not control)linksnatureto
culture with complexity and the potentialfor emergentpropertiesincreasingfrom
inorganicto organicnature,to the meansof productionandreproduction,to the social
relationsof same, and to culture,the meansof representation.
The "lowerorders(as
forstructureandsurvival."Thelevel
systems)dependon higherorders(asenvironments)
of generalityandinclusionincreasesfromlowerto higherorders.Thus,the Extinction
Rule:
Totestfortheorientation
of a dependent
abolisheachlevel (ororder)inturn,
hierarchy,
mentally
andnotewhichlevel(s),ororder(s),
willnecessarily
becomeextinctif it becomesextinct.(p.74)
Absent is the humancentredmasteryof organicand inorganicnaturepresentin
Parsons'thinking.Absentis themechanisticanddeterministicconceptof control.Absent
is the mixingof logical types.Presentis the acknowledgement
of "emergentqualities,"
qualititiesnot predictablefromthe knowledgeof the systemsin which they arise and
increasingas the orderof complexityfromhigherto lowerordersincreases.
Parsonswas influencedby cyberneticsand the conceptof cyberneticcausality.Its
influenceon his workincreasedthroughouttheearlysixties.However,to takeParsonsas
intellectuallykin to Wildenwouldbe an error.Wildenwas a studentandcolleagueof
JacquesLacan.Accordingly,he bringsto his workall the insightsof Lacan'srewriting
I do not meanto implythatthe work
of Freudandthe richnessof the post-structuralists.
is derivative.Onthecontrary,thisis anoriginalcastingof contexttheory.I mightaddthat
ProfessorWildenescapesthebindof male-dominance
foundin Lacan'swork.TheRules
in "Womenin Production:
are No Gameis open to women,a factclearlydemonstrated
TheChorusLine 1932-1980,"a discussionof theproductionandshowingof a 55-minute
video montage of fifteen musical numbersfrom eleven Hollywood films and one
Broadwayshow.
Basedon adistinctionbetweentherealandtheimaginary,energyandinformation,and
ordersof complexityProfessorWildendiscussessystemandstructure,
codeandmessage,
metaphorandmetonymy,negationandthe dialectic.For the readernot specializedin
communicationsandculturalstudies,thisbookwill serveas anexcellentintroduction.It
will introducetheFrench,British,andAmericanliteraturein thefield.Theauthoris very
persuasive.
"TheInevitableRule:The systemthatdestroysits environmentdestroysitself."
Concordia University

406

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John D. Jackson