Growing Ourselves to Death? Economic and Ecological Crises, the Growth of Waste, and the Role of the Media and Cultural Industries

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-81
Author(s):  
Trish Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Media Industries ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Discourses

Since the financial crash of 2008, large sectors of capitalist economies have been enveloped by a crisis that is typically represented by media discourses in purely economic and financial terms. However, the crisis is also ecological. Yet, while media discourses frequently embrace and propose small-scale environmental remedies, it is rarely pointed out that such calls stand at odds with the consumer capitalist system under which the media industries operate. Adopting a ‘business as usual’ approach to consumption, the media industries encourage the public to shop their way out of recession, despite crippling austerity measures that have been imposed on them. This is in the face of an unprecedented ecological crisis which is now largely accepted as due to anthropogenic factors. In light of this ecological crisis, continued growth-based economic paradigms are increasingly deemed unsustainable. Yet frequently, media discourse uncritically takes growth and waste as two aspects of an unchanging and necessary paradigm. Against this backdrop of economic and ecological crises this paper draws on a set of critical cross-disciplinary literature from Harvey's political economy, to Foster and Moore's political ecology to Baran and Sweezy on waste, through to Adorno, Bourdieu and Garnham, to identify and engage with the strategic role of the media. It outlines crisis theories of economy and ecology, moving on to discuss crucial, if neglected aspects of the role of the media and cultural industries with respect to these crises. This paper advances the view that the role of the media in construction of norms with respect to consumption practices and waste is of significance and arguably needs to be incorporated into crisis theory of both economy and ecology.

scholarly journals Image, krop og maskulinitet. Mediediskurser om skihoppere

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gertrud Pfister ◽  
Rikke Schou Jeppesen
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Teenage Girls ◽  
Ski Jumping ◽  
Fan Communities ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Discourses ◽  
The 19Th Century

Artiklen beskriver og forklarer de forandringer, som sporten har gennemgået, og den indflydelse, som disse forandringer har haft på udøvere og på deres kroppe og images. Der er særlig fokus på mediernes rolle i forhandlingen om konstruktion af ambivalente maskulinitetsformer. Gertrud Pfister & Rikke Schou Jeppesen: Images, Bodies and Masculinities. Media discourses about Ski JumpersToday ski jumping can be considered a typical media sport: it has very few participants and no basis to become a »sport for all« movement. Nevertheless, the few specialists and their main events attract masses of spectators and great media attention. The high demands of skill and strength as well as the danger involved have made ski jumping a typical male sport. Since its beginnings in the 19th century a ski jumper was looked upon as the epitome of »true manhood«. Today ski jumpers are celebrities with fragile egos, skinny bodies, boyish looks, ambivalent masculinities and fan communities of teenage girls. With a constructivist theoretical approach, we will describe and explain the changes that have taken place in ski jumping and the effects of these changes on the athletes, their bodies, their images and their masculinities. The focus will be on the media representation of two German ski jumpers, Martin Schmitt and Sven Hannawald who dominated this sport between 2000 and 2003. Sources are the articles about these athletes in 6 German print media. With a qualitative content analysis, we explore the media coverage of ski jumping and the way the athletes are presented. The correlations between the images and the »doing gender« of the athletes and their presentations in the media along with the role of the media in constructing new and ambivalent masculinities will be the key issues of this article.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and Everyday ICT Use: The Discursive Construction of Old Age in German Media

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Köttl ◽  
Verena C Tatzer ◽  
Liat Ayalon
Keyword(s):  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Active Lifestyles ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Discourses ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
German Newspapers

Abstract Background and Objectives Media discourses have the power to construct and perpetuate positive and negative aging images and influence public and individuals’ attitudes. This study aims to critically examine the media portrayal of older persons’ everyday information and communication technology (EICT) usage during the first and second waves of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Research Design and Methods A total of 51 articles published in 3 leading German newspapers between March 2020 and November 2020 were identified from the LexisNexis Academic database. Data were analyzed employing critical discourse and thematic analysis. Results EICT use was associated with youthful, consumption-orientated, and active lifestyles, while nonuse was constructed as failures on the policy or individual level. The pandemic seemed to have acted as an amplifier, further exacerbating and perpetuating stereotypical, dichotomous, but also empowering aging images. Discussion and Implications Neoliberal rational and binary distinctions of active users and nonusers opened and encouraged critical discussions on positive aging trends, the concept of the third and fourth ages, and aging-and-innovation discourses. Moreover, the crucial educative role of the media in raising awareness about power imbalances and reducing EICT-related ageism is stressed.

The Politics of Fear, Mobility, and Media Discourses

Transfers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Stjernborg ◽  
Mekonnen Tesfahuney ◽  
Anders Wretstrand
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mental Maps ◽  
Daily Newspaper ◽  
The Media ◽  
Politics Of Fear ◽  
Media Discourses ◽  
The City

This study focuses on Seved, a segregated and socioeconomically “poor” neighborhood in the city of Malmö in Sweden. It has attracted wide media coverage, a possible consequence of which is its increased stigmatization. The wide disparity between perceived or imagined fear and the actual incidence of, or exposure to, violence attests to the important role of the media in shaping mental maps and place images. Critical discourse analysis of daily newspaper articles shows that Seved is predominantly construed as unruly and a place of lawlessness. Mobility comprises an important aspect of the stigmatization of places, the politics of fear, and discourses of the “other.” In turn, place stigmatization, discourses of the other, and the politics of fear directly and indirectly affect mobility strategies of individuals and groups.

scholarly journals Media innovation and social impact: the case of living documentaries

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Frédéric Dubois
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
Media Industries ◽  
Innovation Research ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Internal Production

This scholarly essay discusses one particular form of documentary production: interactive documentary. It does so in the larger context of media innovation research. Its main aim is to shed light on how those thinking and creating living documentaries define and frame social impact. The thesis behind this essay is, that contrary to media innovation happening within the paradigm of what scholars and practitioners call the ‘media industries’ - which are largely tributary to capitalist impact criteria, living documentary producers are mainly driven by the potential social impact that their work might have. By presenting and analysing the living documentary Field Trip (2019), a project in which I assumed a combined role of practitioner-researcher, I offer a case study that illustrates and tests my assumptions. I complement my observations within the case study with interviews and other practices. My findings indicate that from a media production perspective, the impact expectations of those making living documentaries can loosely be as associated with a commons-based production paradigm. Yet, producers of these documentaries constantly need to renegotiate and compromise on their social impact expectations because of internal production affordances and the (external) dominance of the ‘media industries’ paradigm.

scholarly journals Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa: Reflections Inspired by Studies of Xenophobia in Cameroon and South Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Politics Of Recognition ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
National Citizenship ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Economic

This paper demonstrates the extent to which the media and belonging in Africa are torn between competing and often conflicting claims of bounded and flexible ideas of culture and identity. It draws on studies of xenophobia in Cameroon and South Africa, inspired by the resilience of the politicization of culture and identity, to discuss the hierarchies and inequalities that underpin political, economic and social citizenship in Africa and the world over, and the role of the media in the production, enforcement and contestation of these hierarchies and inequalities. In any country with liberal democratic aspirations or pretensions, the media are expected to promote national citizenship and its emphasis on large-scale, assimilationist and territorially bounded belonging, while turning a blind eye to those who fall through the cracks as a result of racism and/or ethnicity. Little wonder that such an exclusionary articulation of citizenship is facing formidable challenges from its inherent contradictions and closures, and from an upsurge in the politics of recognition and representation by small-scale communities claiming autochthony at a historical juncture where the rhetoric espouses flexible mobility, postmodern flux and discontinuity.

Community Attitudes Towards Trade Unions

1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Davis
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Community Attitudes ◽  
Economic Background ◽  
The Media

While polls have frequently been conducted on the attitude of the community towards trade unions, there have rarely been any detailed discussions of the results gathered. In addition, and more importantly, there have been few attempts to examine the range of factors which may have influenced the opinions and attitudes expressed. This paper discusses two potential sources of influence on the formation of attitudes towards unions; it examines a range of polls conducted in Great Britain, the United States of America and Australia on attitudes towards unions; and reports on a relevant small scale survey carried out in Melbourne in 1977. The aim of the paper is to identify an area where very little research has been done, and where it is clearly needed. It inquires into the potential influence of socio-economic background and the media on the formation of attitudes towards trade unions. The role of the media, as the primary dispenser of news and information about trade union affairs and activities, is discussed in some detail.

scholarly journals The Role of Halal Living on Muslim Millennial in Applying Halal Lifestyle

2018 ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Fitri Sarasati
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Women ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Media Industries ◽  
The Public ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
The Media ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Attitude And Motivation

Halal has currently become lifestyle and trend that spread out in the community. Realizing the new tendency, NetTV as one of the media industries in Indonesia presents a program called Halal Living. The program contains information about travel, halal culinary, fashion hijab, health and beauty closely related to the life of Muslim women. An impression is expected to spread a positive and acceptable message by the public. According to the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory, humans will produce certain behaviors if there is a certain stimulus; thus, the effect is a reaction to the stimulus. Stimulus in this research is the message delivered in program; the organism an informant who is a Muslim millennial; while the response awareness of halal lifestyle. In this research, halal living impressions will be seen from knowledge, attitude, and motivation of the informant. Informant's knowledge concerns the informant’s understanding about the impressions and messages presented. Informant’s attitudes deal with likes or dislikes regarding the impressions and messages presented. Motivation of informant concerns the desire of informants to apply the message or information delivered throughout the program. This study aimed to analyze the role of halal living show on Muslim millennial in applying halal life. It used qualitative descriptive approach. The data were collected using observation and semi-structured interview with Muslim millennial born in 1980-1995. The results reveal that Muslim millennial are interested in watching halal living program because the values it contains is well-packaged; the host is the hijaber, who is an Indonesian Muslim influencer; and messages it delivers are applicable and effective.

scholarly journals Direito, devir negro e conflito ecológico distributivo

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-140
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Vidotte Blanco Tárrega
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Black People ◽  
World System ◽  
Western World ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
The Face ◽  
Capitalist World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Globalized World

O escravismo colonial, como vetor de um processo de organização do capital e de construção de um sistema mundo, engendra uma perene desqualificação do Negro e o coloca às margens do mundo ocidental, transformando-o, no mundo globalizado contemporâneo, em sujeito de conflitos ecológicos distributivos, na luta por seus direitos. A partir disso e na perspectiva do direito, propõe-se refletir sobre a condição histórica do Negro como agente central e sujeito da luta e da resistência na conformação do capitalismo, para ressignificar o papel desses sujeitos de direito e de suas lutas nos conflitos originários do desenvolvimentismo globalizado. Faz-se uma abordagem analítica na literatura especializada sobre escravidão. Os conflitos ecológicos foram pensados a partir da ecologia política e o racismo foi abordado a partir da filosofia e da história críticas. Dos resultados, têm-se que o regime escravocrata foi central na construção do sistema mundo capitalista e que o direito estatal moderno serviu a instituição desse regime, negando a condição de sujeitos de direito aos escravizados.  O direito moderno legitimou a hegemonia dos senhores de escravos e a inexistência de direitos aos cativos, mas criou as condições necessárias para a insurgência e o devir de resistência do ser escravizado, no âmbito de sua humanidade prorrogada.  Essa resistência é perene diante do avanço das fronteiras do progresso, que invadem os territórios tradicionais ocupados pelos excluídos do direito no sistema capitalista, sobretudo os Negros. Instalam-se conflitos ecológicos distributivos e no âmbito deles as gentes resistem e os massacres acontecem. O racismo, como processo histórico continua. Abstract: The colonial slavery, as a vector of a process of capital organization and the construction of a world system, engenders a perennial disqualification of the Black people and places it on the margins of the Western world, transforming it into a subject of ecological conflicts in the contemporary globalized world distributive, in the fight for their rights. From this and from the perspective of law, it is proposed to reflect on the historical condition of the Negro as a central agent and subject of struggle and resistance in the conformation of capitalism, to re-signify the role of these subjects of law and their struggles in the conflicts originated in the development. An analytical approach is made in the specialized literature on slavery. The ecological conflicts were thought from the political ecology and the racism was approached from the critical philosophy and history. From the results, it is shown that the slave system was central to the construction of the capitalist world system and that modern state law served the institution of this regime, denying the condition of subjects of law to the enslaved. Modern law legitimized the hegemony of the slave owners and the lack of rights to the captives but created the necessary conditions for the insurgency and the becoming of resistance of the enslaved, within the scope of his extended humanity. This resistance is perennial in the face of the advance of the frontiers of progress, which invade the traditional territories occupied by those excluded from law in the capitalist system, especially the Blacks. Distributive ecological conflicts are set up and within them people resist and massacres happen. Racism as a historical process continues.

scholarly journals Vote-buying Enterprise and Voting Behaviour among Electorate: Evidence from Southern Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-24
Author(s):  
Akinde Sunday Israel ◽  
Micah, Damilola John
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Southern Nigeria ◽  
The Media

This paper specifically reviews activities of political parties in terms of voters’ inducement during elections period in Nigeria. The paper deconstructs voters’ inducement as political economy created to attract electorates purposely to swing votes to benefit political party. The paper relied on secondary data retrieved through content analysis. It was evidently established that political parties in Nigeria especially the case in Edo, Ondo and Ekiti State, discretely engaged in voters’ inducement which come in the form of financial and material gifts. Financial gift was often distributed during voting period such that eligible voters were whisked and wooed by parties’ agents to swing votes. Some willing voters negotiated depending on the highest bidders. Yet some voters grabbed the opportunity to create economy for themselves such that they invested the fund in small scale business and ventures to survive. Besides, mega political parties with robust financial elbow were fingered as major perpetrators of voters’ inducement. Some voters apparently were overshadowed by the inducement due to tight economic condition and poverty. This paper recommends voters’ education to enlighten electorates and expose the consequence. The role of the media, church, mosque and schools is indispensable in this situation.

scholarly journals Responses to health risk and suffering: ‘China’ in the Italian media discourses during the early stage of the Covid-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372110537
Author(s):  
Maria Paola Pofi ◽  
Leung Wing-Fai
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Discourses

Italy was one of the first European countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic after the beginning of the outbreak in China in January 2020. Applying critical discourse analysis and theories of the mediation of suffering, this article explores the discursive strategies used by the Italian media to represent China and Chinese people in relation to the outbreak in the early stage of the pandemic. Employing the theoretical frameworks of Mary Douglas, Michel Foucault, and other thinkers on biopolitics, racism, and emergency, the results bring to light the persistent ideologies behind the media representations of an imagined Other, which reflect existing discourses toward the Chinese community in Italy. In this study, the contentious discourses around China and the Chinese amidst the pandemic reveal the role of the Italian media in presenting risks, mediating suffering as a distant event and, later, as a national concern.

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