Mediatization and the Absence of the Environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigrid Kannengießer ◽  
Patrick McCurdy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Social World ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Ecological Effects ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

Abstract Mediatization remains a key concept for theorizing how our ever-evolving and intensifying media and communications environment underwrites and (re)constructs our social world, yet the socio-ecological effects of mediatization processes remain relatively unacknowledged within this research field. However, mediatization must be conceptualized as a cogent process whose impact extends beyond the confines of the “media environment” to the natural environment. We make this argument by reviewing how three dominant traditions of mediatization scholarship: (a) institutionalist, (b) cultural/social constructivist, and (c) materialist conceptualize “the environment.” We argue that scholars rarely acknowledge the materialist dimension of mediatization despite it being a fundamental aspect of mediatization processes. Consequently, we bring discourse surrounding the materiality of mediatization to the fore by drawing on theories of materiality from media and communication studies in general and highlighting three material dimensions of mediatization processes in particular: (a) resources, (b) energy, and (c) waste. In doing so, we make explicit the implicit material dimensions of mediatization processes that have been largely overlooked but are directly linked to how we understand, theorize and react to the societal, cultural, economic, environmental transformations brought about by media.

Contemporary Social Movements in a Hybrid Media Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 443-465
Author(s):  
Neal Caren ◽  
Kenneth T. Andrews ◽  
Todd Lu
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
New Media ◽  
Organizational Forms ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Analytical Skills ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication ◽  
New Media Technologies

Media are central to the dynamics of protest and social movements. Contemporary social movements face a shifting environment composed of new media technologies and platforms that enable new identities, organizational forms, and practices. We review recent research focusing on the ways in which movements shape and are shaped by the media environment and the ways in which changes in the media environment have reshaped participation, mobilization, and impacts of activism. We conclude with the following recommendations for scholarship in this burgeoning area: move toward a broader conception of media in movements; expand engagement with scholarship in neighboring disciplines that study politics, media, and communication; develop new methodological and analytical skills for emerging forms of media; and investigate the ways in which media are enhancing, altering, or undermining the ability of movements to mobilize support, shape broader identities and attitudes, and secure new advantages from targets and authorities.

scholarly journals Introduction: Researching online worlds: challenging media and communication studies

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (47) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Kjetil Sandvik
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Asynchronous Communication ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

Digital media and network communication technology have not changed this setup, but rather have opened the possibility for encountering and experiencing additional types of worlds and performing additional types of spatial practices. Being situated online and being globally networked with the possibility of both synchronous and asynchronous communication, digitally mediated worlds provide possible interactions between users which are radically more independent of time and place than the ones facilitated by older media. From this perspective, the concept of online worlds both challenges and broadens our understanding of how media shape the world and how the media technology creates new social structures.

scholarly journals Critical Media and Communication Studies Today. A Conversation

1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs ◽  
Dwayne Winseck
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

This article documents a conversation between us that was first published in parallel on our two blogs http://dwmw.wordpress.com and http://fuchs.uti.at/blog. The conversation deals with our assessments of the status of Critical Media and Communication Studies today. We discuss the work of Dallas Smythe, how to study and assess Google, research dimensions of Critical Political Economy of the Media, how important each of these dimensions should be, the role of ideology critique for Critical Political Economy of the Media, the commonalities and differences between Political Economies of the Media and Critical Political Economy of the Media/Critique of the Political Economy of the Media, the role of Karl Marx for Political Economies of the Media, Nicholas Garnham's recent comments on the field of Critical Political Economy of the Media, neoliberalism and capitalist crisis as contexts for Political Economies of the Media. Comments are very welcome on our blogs, URLs to the specific blog postings can be found in the article sections.

scholarly journals Strong and Weak Forms of Mediatization Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (s1) ◽  
pp. 111-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Ampuja ◽  
Juha Koivisto ◽  
Esa Väliverronen
Keyword(s):  
Social Institutions ◽  
Weak Form ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Logic ◽  
Media Research ◽  
To Come ◽  
Media And Communication

AbstractDuring recent years, the concept of mediatization has made a strong impact on media and communication studies, and its advocates have attempted to turn it into a refined and central theoretical framework for media research. The present article distinguishes two forms of mediatization theory: a strong form based on the assumption that a ‘media logic’ increasingly determines the actions of different social institutions and groups, and a weak form that questions such a logic, though the latter form emphasizes the key role of the media in social change and singles out mediatization as a central ‘meta-process’ today. Exponents of the weak form have convincingly criticized the notion of media logic. However, the weaker version of mediatization is itself problematic, as its advocates have failed to produce a clear explanatory framework around the concept. We argue that, although the analytical status of mediatization is unclear, fascination with the concept will, in all probability, continue in the years to come, due to the promises of heightened disciplinary coherence and status that this notion has conveyed for media and communication studies.

Medialisierung und Mediatisierung

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Birkner
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Media Change ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

Mediatization is of the most successful yet most often discussed approaches used in media and communication studies. The issues of media change and societal change are central in this respect, with two traditions having developed, which examine the role of the media in our modern society in different ways (qualitative v quantitative methods). The research focus could be divided between a) changes to communication in humans’ daily lives, for example through smartphones, and b) influences of the mass media in different areas of society such as politics, the economy and sport. The second edition of this book, which has been revised and updated, explains the origins of these approaches, presents key studies and findings on them and discusses their similarities and differences.

scholarly journals Protest logics and the mediation opportunity structure

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Cammaerts
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Media And Communication

This article aims to bridge a gap between social movement studies and media and communication studies. A conceptual framework is presented that integrates the political opportunity structure approach and the logics of contentious action with the concept of mediation. The author argues that mediation opportunity structure is a fruitful concept to encompass a wide variety of ways in which media and communication are relevant to protest and social movements. It refers to mainstream media representations of protest and movements, to movements ‘becoming the media’ and counter-spinning, as well as to media and communication practices that constitute protest and resistance in their own right. The manifold articulations of mediation illustrate that media and communication are not merely relevant to the symbolic and discursive realms in which social movements operate, but that they are also instrumental and material to realizing their immediate goals. Activists are becoming more aware and conscious of the mediation opportunity structure, through their lay-knowledge of how the mainstream media and technologies operate, partially adapting to them or appropriating them. The nature and degree of mediation opportunities for activists and the structural constraints impeding the opportunities varies according to the type of protest logic that is being used.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document