Theorizing media, communication and social change: towards a processual approach

Abstract

Debates about the role of media and communication in social change are central to our discipline, yet advances in this field are hampered by disciplinary fragmentation, a lack of shared conceptual language, and limited understanding of long-term shifts in the field. To address this, we first develop a typology that distinguishes between approaches that foreground the role of media and communication as an agent of change, and approaches that treat media and communication as an environment for change. We then use this typology to identify key trends in the field since 1951, including the sharp downturn in work focusing on economic aspects of change after 1985, the decline of grand narratives of social change since 2000, and the parallel return to media effects. We conclude by outlining the key traits of a processual approach to social change, which has the capacity to offer the basis for shared language in the field. This language can enable us to think of media, communication and social change across its varied temporal and social planes, and link together the processes involved in the reproduction of status quo with fundamental changes to social order.

On the relativity of old and new media: A lifeworld perspective

“…The ‘newness’ of media as a catalyst of change explicitly or implicitly informs and shapes modes of inquiry into the role of contemporarily new media technologies or devices and new modes of usage and practices related to them. Furthermore, the impact of new communicative tools, possibilities for communication in public or private settings as well as the transformation and reconfiguration of various social domains against the background of mediatization and social change ‘have an enduring appeal for media and communication scholars’ (Mihelj and Stanyer, 2018). ‘New media’ as a term was strongly featured in research from the 1990s onward and also resonates in the names of relevant journals founded in that period of time (e.g.…”

Activist communication design on social media: The case of online solidarity against forced Islamic lifestyle

“…Based on the existing studies on activist format of digitally networked social movements to build solidarity, this study aims to grasp how social media can help the expressions of unvoiced interests and whether specific activist gestures can form their own specific mobilization format with the same opportunities that social media provides. Scholars have problematized differing logics of networked action as connective versus collective (Bennett and Segerberg, 2013) and the role of media and communication in the studies of social change (Mihelj and Stanyer, 2019). This article undertakes this problematic from the perspective of communication design along with the role of digital media in mobilization.…”

Distance Learning Challenges in Translation Teaching: Mediation Competence Development

“…The sets of beliefs and practices as regards information and communication are revised in different domains. In the sphere of media this trend has provoked a wide discussion among scholars to highlight and cognate different (social, cultural, political, infrastructural) dimensions of the digital platforms phenomenon [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. There is a vibrant academic debate about common dualism between 'online' and 'offline' as well as 'public sphere' and 'public space', about an exploration of publicness and processes of information circulation across digital and physical spaces [17].…”