Sociología de la comunicación

This provocative text considers the state of media and cultural studies today after the demolition of the traditional media paradigm, and engages with the new, active consumer culture.

Media Studies, particularly within schools, has until recently been concerned with mass media and the effects of ‘the media’ in society and on people. As new media technology has blurred the boundaries between the audience and the media, the status of this area of education is threatened. Whilst some have called for a drastic re-think (Media Studies 2.1), others have called for caution, arguing that the power dynamics of ownership and gatekeeping are left intact.

This book uses cultural and technological change as a context for a more forensic exploration of the traditional dependence on the idea of ‘the media’ as one homogenous unit. It suggests that it would be liberating for students, teachers and academics to depart from such a model and shift the focus to people and how they create culture in this contemporary ‘mediascape’.

The authors work through the classic conceptual framework of media studies considering a wide variety of topics, including:

•genre
•narrative
•audience
•representation
•identity
•ideology
•power
For each concept, using a rich range of texts and events, this book wrestles with the pressing question of how media education should deal with these areas ‘after the media’.

La tecnología actual nos brinda la posibilidad de reprogramar la materia, animada o no, visible o invisible, y modificar sus patrones básicos de funcionamiento. Si queremos llevarnos bien con ella, habremos de dejar de considerarla como un instrumento, renunciando a cualquier ilusión de dominarla o de ser dueños de ella, y estableciendo unos límites razonables para que no nos sobrepase y terminemos prisioneros de sus servidumbres y víctimas de sus excesos. En un mundo donde la única felicidad posible parece ser la tecnológica, este ensayo aborda la relación que el hombre mantiene con ella, examina con mirada crítica el desarrollo tecnológico que promueve el capitalismo y señala que es el momento de dejar de vivir en una sociedad anónima, para empezar a vivir en una sociedad donde sea el hombre el que dote de sentido a la tecnología en vez de la tecnología al hombre. Porque la técnica perfecta y la máquina perfecta no existen.

O I Seminário Internacional Centro Ruth Cardoso rendeu frutos. Um deles é o livro Políticas sociais: ideias e prática, que será lançado no dia 16 de junho, às 18 horas, no auditório do Centro Ruth Cardoso. A publicação é composta por textos dos participantes do Seminário e discute os temas Educação e cidadania; Democracia e novas formas de participação social; Empreendedorismo social e desenvolvimento sustentável; e Redes sociais e sociedade em rede.

¿Por qué triunfan Avatar, Shakira, Spielberg, Mujeres desesperadas, Slumdog Millionaire, Disney, Michael Jackson o MTV? ¿Cómo se fabrican los best sellers, los discos superventas y los grandes éxitos de taquilla? ¿A qué se debe el predominio de la cultura estadounidense y por qué está ausente Europa de esta gigantesca batalla cultural a escala mundial?

Para responder a estas preguntas, el sociólogo y periodista Frédéric Martel ha llevado a cabo una ambiciosa investigación de más de cinco años por treinta países, entrevistando a mil doscientas personas en todas las capitales del entertainment, de Hollywood a Bollywood, de Tokio a Miami, del cuartel general de Al Yazira en Qatar a la sede del gigante Televisa en México. Y su conclusión es inquietante: la nueva guerra mundial por los contenidos ha comenzado.

En el corazón de esta lucha: la cultura mainstream, originalmente diseñada y comercializada por potentes industrias del entretenimiento en Estados Unidos que extienden su influencia hasta el último rincón del planeta gracias a productos cuyas estrategias de creación y difusión resultan fascinantes. A la vez, nuevos países emergen con sus medios de comunicación y sus propias diversiones masivas. Internet multiplica su poder. Todo se acelera. En India, en Brasil o en Arabia Saudí se compite por dominar la web y ganar la batalla de la influencia cultural. Se quiere controlar las palabras, las imágenes y los sueños.

Este libro cuenta esta guerra global de la cultura. Y explica lo que hace falta hacer para gustar a todo el mundo… en todo el mundo.

Participation has become fashionable again, but at the same time it has always played a crucial role in our contemporary societies, and it has been omnipresent in a surprisingly large number of societal fields. In the case of the media sphere, the present-day media conjuncture is now considered to be the most participatory ever, but media participation has had a long and intense history. To deal with these paradoxes, this book looks at participation as a structurally unstable concept and as the object of a political-ideological struggle that makes it oscillate between minimalist and maximalist versions. This struggle is analysed in theoretical reflections in five fields (democracy, arts, development, spatial planning and media) and in eight different cases of media practice. These case studies also show participation’s close connection to power, identity, organization, technology and quality.

‘Communication and Citizenship: Rethinking Crisis and Change’ was the general theme of the 2110 IAMCR Conference that was hosted by the Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, Portugal,
18-22 July. This book comprehends Plenary Addresses on the general theme hoping that their publication will keep the debate alive. In a time of profound economic and social crisis, the scientific community is expected to shed light on contemporary deadlocks and uncertainties. These texts are part of the indispensable continuous critique.

O livro, organizado por Alexandre Barbalho, Bruno Fuser e Denise Cogo, reúne artigos de professores/pesquisadores brasileiros sobre a influência da comunicação na formação da cidadania contemporânea. Com uma escrita agradável e impactante, os autores relacionam o conceito clássico de cidadania com a comunicação popular, alternativa e comunitária e refletem sobre a importância das redes sociais na sociedade globalizada. Seu lançamento em Fortaleza acontecerá no dia 17 de junho, às 19h, na Livraria Cultura localizada na Av. Dom Luís, 1010.

Quali sono i meccanismi e le dinamiche che governano la comunicazione politica contemporanea? Che rapporto c'è tra quest'ultima e la comunicazione elettorale? Si tratta solo di una tecnica di propaganda per costruire il consenso? Il libro affronta in maniera chiara e semplice i temi più importanti della comunicazione politica: dalla sua definizione agli elementi che la compongono, dall'analisi del media management al ruolo degli spin doctor, fino al marketing elettorale e alle nuove forme di comunicazione politica nel web 2.1.

In cooperation with the hosts of the World Summit on Media for Children and Youth in 2110, Karlstad, Sweden, The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media organized a Research Forum with different sessions in the summit programme. The aim was to provide a space for an exchange of knowledge and a dialogue between the different groups of delegates at the summit and for researchers to reach out to interested parties in and outside the research community. Under the overriding theme of the introductory Plenary Session "New Questions, New Insights, New Approaches", The Clearinghouse Research Forum had four more sessions with panels on different themes:

• Children, Media, Consumption and Health
• Media Ethics and Social Responsibility
• Communication for Social Change
• Media Literacy and Education

The current Yearbook is based on the twenty-five presentations given by a range of the most outstanding scholars from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. For this book, they reworked their contributions to provide slightly extended articles.

Les séries américaines plongent les publics dans des univers médiatiques qui déforment la démocratie réelle et qui font l'éloge de héros abandonnés, de personnages en crise, ballottés au gré de conflits psychologiques ou physiques que leur impose leur quotidien précaire. Les spectateurs s'exposent dès lors aux messages explicites et implicites contenus dans ces récits. Comment la fiction contribue-t-elle alors à façonner l'opinion?