Media Imperialism
- Oliver Boyd-Barrett - Bowling Green State University, USA
Revisiting the classic concept of media imperialism, Oliver Boyd-Barrett presents a thorough retake for the 21st century, arguing for the need to understand media and empires and how structures of power and control continue to regulate our access to and consumption of the media. It's no longer just Disney and Dallas - it's also now Alibaba, Apple, Facebook, Google, Samsung and Huawei.
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 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.
Digging deeply into the global landscape and emerging media markets to explore how media power works across transnational boundaries, this book gives a clear and sophisticated argument for why media imperialism still matters.
Combining new evidence with old, Oliver Boyd-Barrett's masterful exploration of the history and contemporary status of media imperialism highlights the fact that its obituary was premature. Its specific contours may have changed but Disney and Time Warner along with Google and Facebook and a smattering of regional media behemoths exercise the power to make agendas including the legitimisation of conquest through war and other means. This is a significant and timely book.
Boyd-Barrett brings together a remarkably wide array of media experiences and practices from around the planet, and invites us to look closely at their power, viewed on differing levels through the critical lens of ‘imperialism’.
Oliver Boyd-Barrett's Media Imperialism is both a sweeping and accessible introduction to the topic as well as a highly provocative assessment of a large range of issues concerning media and politics. As absurd as this sounds for a book of this nature, I found it difficult to put down. This is an ideal book for students.
An excellent account of the use fo media by political and economic actors.
An excellent account of the use of media by political and economic actors.
This is an extremely readable, up-to-date account of the role of the media in globalisation and imperialisms. The author gives a necessarily selective but coherent account of major theories in the field of media imperialism, a field of which he defends the ongoing relevance. The book will give students useful insights into the geopolitical and economic dimensions of the struggle to control information through the media.
Still reading this - but there is some good material which is relevant to those students looking at the media's impact on politics.
The book is proving to be a wonderful resource for my Political Economy of the Media module. It is well structured and my students find it easy to follow
