Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

Mediatization, society, and meaning: Transversal concepts 75 2. Transversality Today, an adequate perspective to study, analyze, and understand communication is to address it from its transversal themes; that is, to determine, or just enumerate, the transversal themes around which the reality of a mediatized society can be nucleated T . herefore, before moving forward in this connection, let us briefly address what is meant by cross-cutting concepts . The notion of transversal concepts was born outside the universe of communication and, consequently, of mediati- zation. Its origin was found in the field of education, whereas a pedagogy that sought to address complexity was postulated based on themes that are tackled in the transversality of the cur- riculum. For some authors, the idea of rhizome, web, or neural networks may be the most appropriate way to understand the principles of transversality. The characteristic of the network is to be in constant construction, where the nodes and the concep- tions are heterogeneous and mean a multiplicity of intercon- nection possibilities. Each node can be composed of an entire network, open to the outside, to the sum, and connections with other networks. The network has no center or can have several centers that add small branches to itself, with no hierarchy be- tween points and paths. The field of education, where the concept of transver- sality emerged and disseminated, understands it as a way of organizing didactic work in which some themes are integrated into conventional areas to be present in all. In the context of edu- cation, it is necessary to redefine what is meant by learning and, also, to rethink the contents taught to students. From the elaboration of Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação (LDB), 1996, National Curriculum Parameters (PCNs) were defined, which, in turn, guide the application of transver - sality. In the context of PCNs, transversality concerns the possi- bility of establishing, in the educational practice, a relationship between learning theoretically systematized knowledge (learn- moter of this position was the Mexican researcher Guillermo Orozco Gómez, a disciple of Martín-Barbero.