人類社會的傳播行為因為大眾傳播媒介的強勢運作，而呈著重大眾效果的研究傾向，整個傳播研究圖譜卻也因而呈現偏頗的分配情形。社區傳播此一尚待開發的研究領域，其特質在於公共事件發生時，其間多元而複雜的訊息交流。而這些訊息會因為建構者的特定意向，基於既多元而複雜的訊息交流。而這些訊息會因為建構者的特定意向，基於既有的社區認同，藉以召喚新的認同及建構意義。美濃反水庫運動中，運動組織者所用的論述方式，是將論述植基於客家族群既有的認同上，提出反水庫即等同於維護生存權、延續族群命脈、展現客家精神的訴求。在策略上則區隔我群與他群，突顯美濃客家人的共同意識，並掌握對議題的詮釋權，藉由運動建構意義以召喚認同。運動的過程亦即社區中傳播的過程，在社區運動中可以顯現傳播的本質──建構的過程。
This paper, using the Mei-Lung Anti-dam Campaign as an example, argues that the study of community communication, which aims to build collective identity in response to an issue confronting the community, sheds more lights into the essence of communication. The campaign, in equating the protest against the dam with the survival of the Hakka community, appeals to the self-identity of the Hakka people. To the specific, the campaign discourse has been produced to distinguish between “we” and “they” and to construct a collective identity for the Hakka people. Consistent with this goal, the campaign has striven to maintain its power to interpret, to construct meanings, and to construct identity. The campaign is in essence a communication process. The study of community communication may thus shed lights on the identity building aspect of communication.
