critical theory

on mass media
 the Marxist influence

the ideas of the ruling class are in every

epoch the ruling ideas; i.e., the class
which is the ruling material force of
society, is at the same time its ruling
intellectual force. The class which has the
means of material production at its
disposal, has control at the same time
over the means of mental production

(Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The German Ideology)

the model

the way a society organizes the means of

its economic production will have a
determining effect on the type of culture
that society produces or makes possible

the cultural products are deemed

ideological to the extent that they
implicitly or explicitly support the
interests of dominant groups, who
socially, politically, economically and
culturally, benefit from this particular
economic organization of society
the context

Marx argues that each significant stage

in history is constructed around a
particular mode of production

each mode of production brings into being

different ways to produce the necessaries
of life, but also produces different social
relationships between the different
classes, and different institutions
(including cultural ones)
the terrain

fundamental to this analysis is the claim

that the way in which a society produces
its means of existence (mode of
production) ultimately determines the
political, social and cultural shape of the
society and its possible future environment

this, however, does not mean that the

ideas of the dominant class will simply be
imposed to the subordinate classes; it is in
the ideological forms (legal, political,
cultural, etc.) that men and women
 Frankfurt School

mainly associated with the writings of

Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Leo
Lowenthal, Walter Benjamin and Herbert
Marcuse

looked to the capacity of the

superstructure (ideas and ideology
represented in the mass media) to subvert
material and historical forces of economic
change (Enlightenment project)
conceptual tools in their critique

from Marx: the early concept of alienated

labour (it produces itself and other workers
as commodities too) and from his later
writings, the concept of commodity
fetishism (the social relations of production
transforming into relationships between
things)

from Max Weber: the concept of

instrumental reason (the relation of means
to ends)

from Georg Lukacs: the concept of the

false consciousness

ideologies of the dominant class had

come to condition the economic base, by
promoting a false consciousness among
the working masses and helping to
assimilate them to capitalist society

commercialized mass culture was seen as

one important means by which this
success for monopoly capital had been
achieved
commodity

the main instrument of this process;

both art and oppositional culture could
be marketed for profit at the cost of
losing critical power

Marcuse described the mass

consumption society founded on
commerce and advertising as one-
dimensional
mass culture

cultural products (in the form of images,

ideas and symbols) are commodified by
acquiring an exchange value

they can be exchanged by consumers

for physic satisfactions and amusement

intrinsic value distinctions are replaced

by criteria of cost and demand
culture industries

Frankfurt School saw the importance of

what they called the culture industries in
the reproduction of contemporary societies

in which mass culture and

communications stand in the center of
leisure activity, are important agents of
socialization and mediators of political
reality

and should be seen as primary

institutions of contemporary societies with
dialectic of Enlightenment

Horkheimer and Adorno concerned with

the penetration of art and culture by the
methods, techniques and aims of industrial
capitalism

it was in this transformation of art and

culture, they argued, that the masses
were finally bought off by and made safe
for capitalism


mass culture provided false satisfactions

and pleasures for the masses, euphoria in
unhappiness

this worked to integrate them completely

into an unjust and unfree society, from
which there was no longer any possibility
of escape because the possibility of
resistance had been finally overcome
deception & manipulation

the deception that is perpetrated on the

masses by the culture industry, is
precisely the false promise of new kinds
of mass entertainment which appear to
offer freedom and enjoyment to the
multitude of people

at the heart of this argument is the thesis

that the mass of ordinary people can be,
and are, cynically manipulated; their
subordination can be bought by those
who have economic and political power at
- the case of music

Adorno, drawing on popular music,

makes three specific claims:

first, that popular culture is standardized

(pseudo-individualization is used by
music industry to suggest otherwise)

second, that it promotes passive

consumption

and third, that popular music operates as

a social cement


in contrast, authentic culture is an

utopian space keeping alive the desire
for a better world beyond the confines of
the present

it embodies both a critique of today

and the promise of tomorrow

but even authentic culture is threatened

by the culture industry, as it draws it
more and more into the realm of
production for profit
the task

the task of critical theory was to be critical;

it was a mix of philosophy, sociology and
cultural criticism whose aim was to expose
those social processes in an unjust world
that worked against justice and freedom

intellectuals must contribute to the

emancipation and liberation of the masses,
by identifying those forces in society that
worked against their true human interests
 role of mass media in political
life

Jrgen Habermas, German political theorist,

member of the second generation of
critical theorists

differs from the first generation in his desire

to construct a systematic social theory and
his willingness to use instrumental
conceptual tools in his scheme

developing normative accounts

public sphere

a space where access to information

affecting the public good is widely
available

where discussion is free of domination

and where all those participating in public

debate do so on an equal basis
the formation

represented mainly by the 18th century

coffee house or debating society

the formation of public sphere owed much

to the conditions of capitalism and
economic freedom and individualism

the first form of public space was

described as bourgeois public sphere
characteristics

within this public sphere, people

collectively determine through rational
argument the way in which they wish to
see society develop, and this shapes in
turn governmental policy

the media facilitate this process by

providing an arena of public debate,
and by reconstituting private citizens as
a public body in the form of public
opinion
however

Habermas was generally somewhat

pessimistic

about the consequences of the rise of

new corporate interests and powers for
democracy in modern times

the public was more likely to be

manipulated by the media than helped
to form opinions in a rational way
limitations

historically; idealizing an elitist form of

political life and neglecting the
intervention of non bourgeois social
actors in it

normatively; failing to recognize people are

represented primarily through political
parties, interest groups and the structures
of civil society
reconstituting public sphere

one of the strengths of public sphere,

universalism, at it is reflected in the
principle of the general accessibility of
information, has been illustrated by
public service broadcasting

still a single overarching public sphere

fails to accommodate the plurality of
competing publics within the society;
which respond to their marginalization
by setting up alternative public spheres
and media pluralism

media pluralism cannot be equated just

with competition

it should be conceived as a contest that is

open to different social groups to enter

conflict and difference need to be

embraced as integral elements of
pluralist democracy
 implications for media

media are not a single institution with a

common democratic purpose

rather, different media should be viewed as

having different functions within the
democratic system

calling for different kinds of structures

and styles of journalism
*
notes from the books:

- Calhoun, C. (ed.) (1996) Habermas and the Public Sphere. MIT Press

- Curran, J. (2002) Media and Power. London: Routledge

- Habermas, J. (1962/1989) Structural Transformation of the Public

Sphere. Cambridge: Polity Press

- Keane J. (1991) The Media and Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press

- McQuail, D. (1994) McQuails Mass Communication Theory, 4 th

edition. London: Sage
 coming next week

Political Economy of Mass Media

key text:
Garnham, N. (1990) Capitalism and
Communication. London: Sage (chapter 1)
thank you
for your attention
issues for discussion:

- what do you think about the critique of

mass culture by the Frankfurt School?

- lets draw on examples of public sphere

workshop

a pluralistic model of public sphere by

James Curran (2000)
the model
1. a core sector,
sector
constituted by general Private
interest TV channels sector

which reach a mass

audience
- this is where different Social Public
Civic
individuals and groups Market
sector
Service
TV
sector

come together to
engage in a reciprocal
debate about the
management of Professional
sector
society

the core sector is fed by peripheral
media sectors, three of which are
intended to facilitate the
expression of dissenting and Private
minority views sector

2. civic media sector:

sector consists of
channels of communication linked
to organized groups and social
networks Social Public
Civic
Market Service sector
sector TV
3. professional media sector:
sector
professional communicators relate
to the public on their own terms

4. social media sector:

sector subsidizes Professional
minority as a way of promoting sector
market diversity and consumer
choice
and,

5. private sector:
sector which relates to the
public as consumers
- general sector

above this specialist sector should be a

general media sector, which enables
different groups in society to come together
in a common debate

this should be staged in a form that promotes

mutual understanding, and furthers a
shared search for solutions

the general media sector should facilitate

democratic procedures for defining agreed
aims and regulating conflict
- specialist sector

one part of the media system should assist

social groups to constitute themselves
and clarify their objectives

a well-developed, specialist sector,

enabling different social groups to debate
within their terms of reference issues of
social identity, group interest, political
strategy and social-moral values
the perspective

such a media system is organized in different

ways and connects to different segments of
society, in order to enhance its diversity

publicly accountable in multiple ways, it is

intended to enhance its diversity

its architecture is designed to create spaces

for the incubation and communication of
opposed viewpoints, and a common space
for their mediation