Federica Buongiorno, "Communication in the Digital Age. Byung-Chul Han's Theory of Power and Information Exchange" (original) (raw)
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Course outline: Information society; an introduction ------- شرح درس مبانی جامعه اطلاعاتی
This course will generally discuss the nature of information society as well as critically review the main notions proposed to understand the different aspects on this ‘new society’. To this end, we will read writings from Giddens, Habermas, Castells, Schiller, Lyotard, etc. Moreover, we will investigate the ongoing debates on information society from a critical lens. Thus, we will use Marx, Frankfort thinkers (e.g., Althusser), post-modernists and post-structuralists scholars (e.g., Foucault) and Hannah Arendt’s ideas to better understand what information society is, how it works and the networks and mechanisms in which such a society entangles and embodies. Finally, we will focus on new conceptualization of such society like networked or platform society. Overall, this course will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of information society and will enable them to discuss the relevant theories and concepts critically.
Abstract: This paper explores the debates around civil society and corporatism as ways of understanding changes in social association, including non-governmental organisations and protest groups, and information management in relation to the development of the Internet. Both concepts have been used to examine the changes that have taken place since the implementation of the Open Door Policy and more recently the development of the Internet, and have shed light on the way in which new forms of social association operate, and on their relationship to the government. However, both concepts tend to be deterministic and reductionist positions. Instead, I use a centre-margin analysis based on medium theory to explore the relationship between the state and society as a way of shedding light on the interaction between the government and NGOs and on how the state manages the flow of information in order to shape public discourse.
Emerging Chinese Theory and Practice of Media = Media in Cina: nuove teorie e nuove pratiche
2018
This paper presents arguments to evaluate soft power as perceived by the European Union (EU) and by China. Since the presentation of Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power, it has become apparent that notions of audience and message reception are important. We will further argue for the relevance of the psychological idea of dissonance. We will compare and contrast soft power discourses for their alignment with reality, and assess them for discrepancy. Ultimately, we will conclude that such contradictions exist and create a “dissonance” or disjunction, which we will explore in relation to the concept of credibility. In the second section, an analysis of China’s soft power serves to highlight the effects of the implementation by a “hard” state, in a centralized and controlled manner, of a soft power policy. We will examine tables in an effort to extend our comparison beyond the discourses perpetuated and promoted by both China and the EU. We will challenge these discourses using indices,...
Communication Theory and Social Change
Communication theory is not only about society; it is also in society and contributes to the evolution of the communication practices that constitute society, thereby participating in processes of social change. This theme is illustrated by examining the ideas of network and ritual to show how each emerged as a practical concept in Western culture long before it was theorized explicitly for scientific purposes, and how each concept has developed in conjunction with profound changes in the communicative constitution of society. Next, it is argued more generally that communication theory and practice interact in the medium of metadiscourse, and that the discourse about communication, on both theoretical and practical levels, also engages critically with other discourses such as traditional authoritarianism and political realism, thus being caught up in social conflicts. In this complex scene of metadiscursive controversy and social conflict, communication theory participates in social change. Finally, it is suggested that this view on the role of communication theory in social change can contribute to recent conversations about the development of Asian communication theory.
Students of communication and related studies (journalism, media studies, development communication, etc.) study a plethora of theories coming from various social science disciplines for their slight or extensive reference to communication. One common observation among students of these theories is their seeming disconnect and lack of relationship with one another. This observation that communication is not yet a coherent field is proof of the fact that communication lacks a metatheory. Constructing communication's metatheory, also known as metanarrative or grand theory, however, though welcome, runs contrary to post-structuralism, today's celebrated philosophical rage that frowns on such metatheory formulations. Thus, in the context of the current philosophical milieu, communication's metatheory ends up being constructed and deconstructed at the same time. This paper analyzes the issue of unifying communication theories as the answer to the lack of coherence of communication studies. It holds that metatheory development may not necessarily make communication coherent as it did other disciplines. Communication is shaping up to be a discipline defined by the philosophical theses of post-structuralism, which frowns on metatheory formulation and sees in discourse the validity of post-structuralist studies. Communication as a metadiscourse can explore the discourses in Philippine society and help enrich them.