Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media

Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media

by JohnB.Thompson (Author)

Synopsis

What role have communication media played in the formation of modern societies? How should we understand the social impact of new forms of communication and information diffusion, from the advent of printing in fifteenth-century Europe to the expansion of global communication networks today? In this major new work, Thompson addresses these and other questions by elaborating a distinctive social theory of communication media and their impact. He argues that the development of communication media has transformed the spatial and temporal constitution of social life, creating new forms of action and interaction which are no longer linked to the sharing of a common locale. The consequences of this transformation are far-reaching and impinge on many aspects of our lives, from the most intimate aspects of personal experience and self-formation to the changing nature of power and visibility in the public domain. Combining breadth of vision with sensitivity to detail, this book situates the study of the media where it belongs: among a set of disciplines concerned with the emergence, development and structural characteristics of modern societies and their futures.

$35.58

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 324
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: Feb 1996

ISBN 10: 0804726795
ISBN 13: 9780804726795

Media Reviews
Thompson is foremost among sociologists in grasping and assessing the importance of the mass media in modern social life. He does so in this stimulating new book by moving back and forth systematically between analyses of concrete historical development and discussions of social theory in a way that tells a fresh and compelling story of modernity. As always, Thompson writes with tremendous scope, insight, and precisions. His thoughtful historical accounts and engaging theoretical arguments are matched by an insistent optimism which recognized that, while symbolic power has structured, institutional origins, the social consequences of the media are neither automatic nor apocalyptic.
--James Lull
, San Jose State University
Author Bio
John B. Thompson is Reader in Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.