Sociología de la comunicación

El inicio del siglo XXI ha venido marcado por los debates que, en el plano internacional, están sometiendo a revisión la comunicación para el desarrollo con el fin de proponer otras alternativas como comunicación para el cambio social o comunicación para el empoderamiento ciudadano y ecosocial. El debate conceptual que tiene lugar está lejos de resolverse con una respuesta fácil e inmediata, en la medida en que todos los términos que entran en escena requieren de un trabajo genealógico que permita identificar las tensiones, los actores sociales y las perspectivas de investigación en conflicto.

Este volumen constituye una importante aportación a estos debates en marcha planteados en la línea de reflexión que rescata, reconoce y valora lo que De Sousa Santos define como «Epistemologías del Sur».

«El campo de la comunicación para el cambio social, el cual hemos considerado huérfano de pensamiento profundo y escaso de aproximaciones epistemológicas, logra con este trabajo de Tufte dar un paso significativo, seguro y legitimador tanto en la academia como en el mundo de las políticas y prácticas de este tipo de comunicación.» Amparo Cadavid Bringe, Uniminuto (Colombia)

This volume draws on issues and cases from more than 21 countries to provide empirical evidence and theoretical insights into why discourse matters. Covering a wide range of concepts and topical issues, contributors from media studies, journalism, and linguistics address the following key questions: Why and how does discourse matter pertaining to identity in a mediatized world? Who makes discourse and identity matter, for what reason, in what way, and with what consequences?
The volume provokes a new proposition that it is necessary to go beyond the safe havens of disciplinary strongholds with familiar terminology, methodology, and questions to address future inquiries into discourse and identity from a combination of linguistics and journalistic media studies.

This landmark collection brings leading scholars in the field of political communication to debate one of the most important questions of our age: Can the media serve democracy? For the media to be democratic, they must enter into a positive relationship with their readers, viewers and listeners as citizens rather than consumers who buy things, audiences who gaze upon spectacles or isolated egos, obsessed with themselves. The media's first task is to remind people that they are inhabitants of a world in which they can make a difference. By enabling citizens to encounter and make sense of events, relationships and cultures of which they have no direct experience, the media constitute a public arena in which members of the public come together as more than passing strangers.

"A new generation of truly global sociology, grappling with the contemporary world through the lenses of critique, contestation, and social movements. A significant contribution."
– Göran Therborn, Univerity of Cambridge

"This is a truly global and politically challenging book, bringing together top level researchers and sharply tackling its themes. People from every corner of the planet and from all walks in the social sciences will surely profit from reading it."
– Carolina Mera, University of Buenos Aires

How can we link contemporary social processes – which have typically been theorized in terms of the concept of modernity – with contemporary social movements, conflicts, and mobilizations which aim at social change? This text:

links the social theory of modernity to critical theory and to recent class and citizenship politics as well as to identity politics
uses concrete social processes to illustrate theoretical discussion with relevant empirical studies and applies theoretical analysis to different interactions, tensions and possibilities to provide an integrated understanding of global modernity and social contestation
includes contributions from distinguished international scholars working in sociological theory and modernity, as well as social movement studies and political contestation, with a strong emphasis on global issues

This is a key resource for research in both social theory and the sociology of modernity, as well as social movements and social contestation, and readers interested in globalization and global studies.

This book unpacks the role of the media in social, cultural and political contexts and encourages you to reflect on the power relationships that are formed as a result.

Structured around the three cornerstones of media studies; production, content and participation, this is an ideal introduction to your studies in media, culture and society. The book:

Evaluates recent developments in media production, industries and platforms brought about the emergence of interactive media technologies.
Examines the shifting relationship between media production and consumption instigated by the rise of social and mobile media, recasting consumption as ‘participation’.
Explores the construction of texts and meanings via media representations, consumer culture and popular culture, as well as the relationship between politics and public relations.
Assesses the debates around the creative and cultural labour involved in meaning-making.
Includes a companion website featuring exercise and discussion questions, links to relevant blogs and web material, lists of further reading and free access to key journal articles.

This book explores the paradox of mediated authenticity – the idea that our understanding of society is based on mediated representations of reality. Enli argues that mediated authenticity is established through negotiations between producers and audiences in what is coined the ‘authenticity contract’. Sometimes the contract is broken, leading to authenticity scandals and the need to renegotiate this contract. These moments of truth, some of which are analysed in this book, are important moments in media history. Through case studies, this book examines mediated authenticity in broadcast and online media, from the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast, quiz show scandals, to manufactured reality-TV shows, blog hoaxes and fake social media, and the construction of Obama as an authentic politician. The book demonstrates that authenticity has become an increasingly important factor in the media, and that solving ‘authenticity puzzles’ – separating the fake from the real – has become an inherent practice of media use.

En un presente cibernético histérico, cuando la obtención de un trending topic en Twitter o miles de likes en una foto de la marcha de ayer se celebran como una importante victoria política, este ensayo nada a contracorriente de la euforia digital.

Publicado originalmente por la editorial independiente Capitán Swing y seleccionado en El País como uno de los mejores libros de 2113, Sociofobia cuestiona el dogma ciberfetichista que dice que todo lo digital es oro. Por el contrario, de acuerdo con el autor, la ideología WWW ha generado una realidad social disminuida, no aumentada: "Internet no fomenta los proyectos en común, en todo caso hace que nos importe menos su ausencia".

Así, tras poner en evidencia el espejismo de que la red puede solucionar los principales desafíos del vivir juntos, Sociofobia hace una reevaluación crítica de diversas tradiciones políticas antagonistas y se atreve a pensar en las posibilidades del llamado postcapitalismo como un proyecto factible, cercano y amigable.

"Internet puede ofrecer las bases materiales y sociales para que ocurra algo, pero quedarnos sentados a esperar que aparezca una pestaña de Google para la transformación social no ayudará mucho."

Los usos que realizan los jóvenes de Internet son diversos: desee búsqueda de información, hasta búsqueda de amigos y “novios”, pasando por los juegos y la “bajada” de música y videos.
Sin embargo lo más importante es LA FUERTE IMPRONTA GENERACIONAL que tiene la red para estos jóvenes. Este es un SABER-HACER que los SEPARA de los adultos.
Pero hay algo que no se puede soslayar en esta cuestión: como ya se dijo, los usos de Internet son de los más variados y satisfacen casi todas las necesidades que pueda tener un joven hoy en día: amigos, información, diversión, música, etc. Pero toda esta libertad y esta sensación de que la red es suya pueden traer sus peligros.
Los jóvenes como protagonistas de la revolución científico-técnica, los medios y la televisión como agentes socializadores, tecnocultura, Internet, hipertexto y nuevos tipos de relaciones, son algunos de los tópicos abordados en esta obra resumida, cuya base es el artículo "De DJS, floggers y ciberchabones. Subjetividades juveniles, y tecnoculturas", de Sergio Balardini.

No cabe duda de que la aparición de Internet ha producido importantes cambios en los comportamientos sociales. Pero, ¿se han cumplido las expectativas que inicialmente dibujaban un Internet dirigido hacia el conocimiento libre, constituyendo un instrumento radicalmente democrático, ajeno a las leyes del mercado? O, más bien, ¿Internet ha caído en las redes del capitalismo monopolista y, aunque se mantienen retazos de aquellos propósitos iniciales, se ha convertido principalmente en un instrumento de acumulación para el gran capital y de control sobre las sociedades contemporáneas? Y, ¿ha resultado positivo para el desarrollo del periodismo o, por el contrario, está ayudando a destruirlo? Incluso, ¿puede considerarse a Internet como un instrumento que, en contra de las intenciones de sus iniciadores, puede acabar laminando la democracia?

The first national recognition of disparities in access to information technologies – a digital divide – surfaced in a 1995 report by The National Telecommunication and Information Administration. Despite efforts to close the gap and promote digital inclusion, statistical data over the course of nearly 21 years indicate a significant disparity remains in poor and minority communities. In this accessible yet scholarly work, Joy Pierce illustrates the need to examine the societal status of information technologies at the micro level. Digital Fusion is a sustained and integrated project that combines more than a decade of community participatory research in two regions of the United States. Using qualitative research methods and drawing from critical cultural studies and social theory, Digital Fusion is an interdisciplinary project that engages digital literacy and social justice issues related to race, ethnicity, language, class, and education. Thought-provoking, multi-vocal, and multi-lingual narratives from racial and ethnic minorities as well as institutional administrators lay the groundwork for potential policy implications and digital infrastructure and design. Digital Fusion illuminates the complexities of digital access and use at the micro-level and offers a participatory project that seeks to co-create a digital space; one that speaks to the specific cultural, linguistic, and social needs of underrepresented communities.