The Cultural Industries: An Introduction

by N/A

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $3.25

  `This is both a smashing textbook and also an impressive contribution to thinking in a range of subjects. This book should influence the way we construct the undergraduate curriculum as well as rethink the polarizaton between political economy and cultural studies'- Frank Webster, City University

  `A wonderfully clear, insightful and original synthesis of work on the cultural industries, representing the perspectives of the new generation of researchers' - James Curran, Goldsmiths College, University of London

  `The Cultural Industries is an indispensable guide to the main forces at work in the production of media today. This lucid, careful, and sophisticated book orders the entire field, for the US as well as Europe, and at one stroke becomes the state of the art, the standard' - Todd Gitlin, New York University

  `David Hesmondhalgh offers us a valuable resource and a timely provocation... [A] very well organised and clearly written introduction to this increasingly important area of study. Students and teachers wanting a comprehensive and accessible guide to what we know and where we might be heading will welcome it with open arms... His book deserves to be required reading on every media and cultural studies course' - Graham Murdock, University of Loughborough

  ' The arguments within [this book] provide both a timely overview of current scholarship and offer a unique multidisciplinary approach to the topic in a clear and concise manner' - TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies

  What are the 'cultural industries'? What role do they play in contemporary society? How are they changing?

  The Cultural Industries combines a political economy approach with the best aspects of cultural studies, sociology, communication studies and social theory to provide an overview of the key debates surrounding cultural production. The book:

  -Considers both the entertainment and the information sectors

  -Combines analysis of the contemporary scene with a long-range historical perspective

  -Draws on an range of examples from North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere.

  Hesmondhalgh's clearly written, thoroughly argued overview of political-economic, organizational, technological and cultural change represents an important intervention in research on cultural production, but at the same time provides students with an accessible, indispensable introduction to the area.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.25

  'The first edition of The Cultural Industries moved us irrevocably past the tired debates between political economy and cultural studies approaches. This second edition takes on new and vital targets, for example claims that the Internet is replacing television in everyday media consumption.... In the process, Hesmondhalgh provides us with an essential toolkit for making critical sense of the digital media age, and our places within it' - Nick Couldry, Goldsmiths College, University Of London

  'This book sets a valuable standard for communication studies. Hesmondhalgh integrates cultural research with political economy, organizational sociology with public communication policy studies, global with comparative analysis, and intellectual property law with technology changes. I've successfully taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the USA and France using the first edition, and this one is better still' - John D.H. Downing, Global Media Research Centre, Southern Illinois University

  Praise for the first edition:

  'This lucid, careful and sophisticated book orders the entire field, for the US as well as Europe, and at one stroke becomes the state of the art, the standard' - Todd Gitlin, Columbia University, USA

  This book is a powerful antidote to journalistic hype about change in the cultural industries. Significantly expanding, updating and revising an acclaimed first edition published in 2002, it

  * analyses how, why and in what ways cultural production has changed since the 1980s

  * guides the reader through existing approaches

  * scrutinises facts and debates about the role of culture and creativity in modern societies

  * provides new material on copyright, cultural policy, celebrity power, the digital distribution of music and many other issues

  Like its predecessor, this exciting new edition of The Cultural Industries places transformation in the cultural industries in long-term political, economic and cultural context. In doing so, Hesmondhalgh offers a distinctive critical approach to cultural production, drawing on political economy perspectives, but also on cultural studies, sociology and social theory.