"Cultural imperialism was once the subject of a vibrant debate in international scholarship. Yet, the debate on cultural imperialism has lost much of its previous influence and centrality. This does not mean that cultural imperialism has lost its relevance. On the contrary, in the wake of the neolib
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eral globalization process, cultural imperialism is now stronger than ever. This article argues that cultural imperialism comprises two dimensions: media imperialism and intellectual imperialism, and it is important to understand how they interact. To illustrate how their interplay works and what consequences follow, the article examines how US academic institutions educated and organized Brazilian media elites who helped to legitimate Lava Jato, a politically driven judicial operation that led to the downgrade of Brazilian democracy, and ultimately paved the way to the rise of Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency." (Abstract)
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"Tracing, first, the formative development of an international and global media landscape throughout the 20th century from the telegraph, television and film export, and transnational television to the Internet, the book then focuses on developments in the 21st century. This includes: the digitizati
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on of the global media and communications sector; the popularization of the Internet and digital infrastructure such as the smartphone and platforms; the emergence of global online media and services; the production and distribution of digital media content; and the exploitation of user data. Case studies illustrate key developments throughout the book. The book shows how the field is characterized by a continuity of critical concerns in relation to power, influence, and domination; media user empowerment and exploitation; and social and sustainable development and democratic conditions, as well as geopolitical shifts, in a global context." (Publisher description)
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"When questioning the relationship between media, development, and democracy, especially in the ill-defined “Global South,” it’s important to go beyond the commonly held meta-narratives that frame these concepts as common sense. In a quest to investigate alternative characterizations of these
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terms, this chapter uses Ghanaian political economist Lord Mawuko-Yevugah’s (2014) theoretical framework of “developmentality” to explain how development has been used as an ideological instrument to promote the Western liberal media model in the “Global South.” Using a case study of Malawi, which is heavily dependent on foreign aid from the same countries who have defined and promoted this liberal media model aboard, raises important questions about a media model that is characterized by high objectivity and political neutrality on one side, but subjects countries to high levels of competition and free market principles on the other. By outlining the temporal sequence of events that have unfolded since the arrival of missionary media in the 1800s, the presence of international donors and the rise in non-governmental organizations, this chapter reveals how certain ideologies and practices have been legitimized through development to preserve the unequal balance of power between the “Global South” and their former colonial powers." (Abstract)
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"Media Imperialism: Continuity and Change advances applied theoretical research on 21st century media imperialism. The volume includes established and emerging researchers in international communications who examine the geopolitical, economic, technological and cultural dimensions of 21st century me
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dia imperialism. The volume highlights and challenges how news, entertainment and social media uphold unequal power relations in the world. Written in an accessible style, this volume marries conceptual, theoretical sophistication, and concrete illustration with rich case studies and global examples. Chapters cover the complete media spectrum, from social media to Hollywood, to news and national propaganda in national and transnational analyses. Readers will find discussions that range from soft power and China to the USA's empire of the internet to the rise of "Chindia" in a post-American media world." (Publisher description)
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"Examining the interplay between communications industries and the hierarchies and networks of political, corporate and plutocratic power in a globalized world, the book explains: the historical context of the relationship between media and imperialism; contestation and collaboration among new media
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empires; the passion for social justice that inspired the original theories of media and cultural imperialism, and how it has been embraced by a new generation." (Publisher description)
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"In Global Entertainment Media, Tanner Mirrlees undertakes an analysis of the ownership, production, distribution, marketing, exhibition and consumption of global films and television shows, with an eye to political economy and cultural studies. Among other topics, Mirrlees examines: paradigms of gl
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obal entertainment media such as cultural imperialism and cultural globalization; the business of entertainment media: the structure of capitalist culture/creative industries (financers, producers, distributors and exhibitors) and trends in the global political economy of entertainment media; the "governance" of global entertainment media: state and inter-state media and cultural policies and regulations that govern the production, distribution and exhibition of entertainment media and enable or impede its cross-border flow; the new international division of cultural labor (NICL): the cross-border production of entertainment by cultural workers in asymmetrically interdependent media capitals, and economic and cultural concerns surrounding runaway productions and co-productions; the economic motivations and textual design features of globally popular entertainment forms such as blockbuster event films, TV formats, glocalized lifestyle brands and synergistic media; the cross-cultural reception and effects of TV shows and films; the World Wide Web, digitization and convergence culture." (Publisher description)
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"Popular Media, Democracy and Development in Africa examines the role that popular media could play to encourage political debate, provide information for development, or critique the very definitions of 'democracy' and 'development'. Drawing on diverse case studies from various regions of the Afric
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an continent, essays employ a range of theoretical and methodological approaches to ask critical questions about the potential of popular media to contribute to democratic culture, provide sites of resistance, or, conversely, act as agents for the spread of Americanized entertainment culture to the detriment of local traditions. A wide variety of media formats and platforms are discussed, ranging from radio and television to the Internet, mobile phones, street posters, film and music." (Publisher description)
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"We have argued throughout this book that the various versions of the cultural convergence thesis are deeply flawed, whether one has in mind the ‘media imperialism’ argument that was fashionable during the 1970s, the ‘Coca-colonization’ claim that was popular during the 1990s, or contemporar
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y approaches advocating ‘cultural protectionism.’ The convergence thesis rests on the premise that repeated exposure to the ideas and images transmitted by CNN International, MTV, and Hollywood will gradually undermine indigenous values and norms. Consequently, many deeply conservative cultures fear that opening the floodgates to the American or Western media will erode faith in religion, respect for marriage and the family, and deference toward traditional sources of authority. But earlier chapters demonstrated how lack of access to globalized mass communications persists in many poor nations, limiting the diffusion of Western ideas and images. This book has documented the existence of multiple firewalls that prevent the mass media from penetrating parochial societies and thus influencing the culture in these places." (Page 261)
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"This book gives a comprehensive and critical account of the theoretical changes in communication studies from the early theories of development communication through to the contemporary critiques of globalization. It looks at the ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development,
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and traces the evolution of thinking from attempts to spread 'modernity' by way of using the media through to alternative perspectives based on encouraging participation in development communication. It explores the theory of media imperialism, the criticisms that it provoked, and its replacement as the dominant theory of international communication by globalization.." (Publisher description)
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"The information revolution is transforming the world, especially the industrialised world. But what are its implications for the implementation of an African renaissance? Based on a Foucaultian analytical framework this book argues that the Internet has become a major Western instrument of dominati
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on in Africa. By extending the reach of Western hegemonic discourses, the Internet adds another dimension to Western discursive power. However, by allowing for the active participation in the process of naming the world, the Internet also affords unprecedented means of transcending dependency." (Publisher description)
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"Die voranschreitende Globalisierung der Medienkommunikation verlangt eine Revision vieler sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Konzepte, die in ihrer Argumentation historisch von einer nationalen Gesellschaft ausgingen. Hierzu gibt es auf internationaler Ebene eine umfassende wissenschaftliche Disk
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ussion. Der Band führt sowohl theoretisch als auch auf aktuelle Beispiele bezogen in diese Diskussion über die transkulturelle Kommunikation ein. Er enthält zentrale Beiträge von Vertreterinnen und Vertretern aller Kontinente und verschiedener Disziplinen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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