Media and Social Justice [Hardcover]

Jefferson Pooley (Editor), Lora Taub-Pervizpour (Editor), Sue Curry Jansen (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: June 15, 2011

This book is an anthology of work by critical media scholars, media makers, and activists who are committed to advancing social justice. Topics addressed include but are not limited to international media activist projects such as the Right to Communication movement and its corollaries; the importance of listening and enacting policies that advance democratic media; regional and local media justice projects; explorations of the challenges the era of participatory media pose to public media; youth and minority media projects and activism; ethical dilemmas posed by attempts to democratize access to media tools; the continued marginalization of feminist perspectives in international policy venues; software freedom and intellectual property rights; video activism in both historical and contemporary contexts; internet strategies for defending dissenting voices; and five accounts by prominent scholar/activists of their lifelong struggles for media justice.  

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Media justice is one of the most important issues on the contemporary agenda. It drew the attention of researchers only slowly, but is now a field of intellectual excitement as well as practical significance--and this book is the best available guide to the emerging field.”--Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council

 

"This books restores a forgotten agenda--media and social justice--and does so with new research, insight, and verve."--Professor James Curran, Director, Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre

“In our changing media environment, Media and Social Justice arrives at just the right time. Sue Curry Jansen, Jefferson Pooley, and Lora Taub-Pervizpour have crafted a wonderfully rich collection that confronts vital questions for critical media scholars and media activists alike. The essays offer genuinely fresh insights about media justice and they affirm the value of collaborative work along the scholar-activist border. Taken together, these essays are a powerful reminder of the enduring significance of media for social justice movements. If you care about media and democracy, this is a book you will want to read and talk about.”--William Hoynes, Professor of Sociology and Media Studies, Vassar College

 

“In this important book, seasoned scholars and veteran media activists join together to give us what Raymond Williams called ‘resources of hope’--rich lessons in why and how we must reclaim the communications system in behalf of the more encompassing project to attain social justice.”--Dan Schiller, Professor, University of Illinois and author of How To Think about Information

 

“This book looks at the intersections between social justice and critical media studies and activism, and (re)frames media activism as a social justice issue. The editors have also assembled a number of well-known scholars, as well as key on-the-ground activists to contribute to the book. The book will appeal to media and communication scholars, activists, students, and professors.”--Laura Stein, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin

About the Author

Sue Curry Jansen is a Professor of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College. She is the author of Censorship (1991) and Critical Communication Theory (2002). She served on the board of the short-lived but far-sighted Cultural Environmental Movement.

 

Jefferson Pooley is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College. He is co-editor of The History of Media & Communication Research (with David W. Park, 2008). His research centers on the history of communication studies, as the field’s emergence has intersected with the twentieth century rise of the other social sciences. His particular interest is in the field’s memories of itself, as these serve to privilege certain approaches while closing off others. He is an active member of the local media reform movement. 

 

Lora Taub-Pervizpour is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College. She directs the RJ Fellows program, an honors program focused on social change. A recent publication growing out of her social justice commitments appears in Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World (2009). She has been engaged in collaborations with young people making media for more than a decade in communities as diverse as San Diego, California and Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In Allentown, Pennsylvania, she collaborates with community partners on HYPE (Healthy Youth Peer Education), a youth leadership development program that mobilizes new digital media as tools for advocacy and community change.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (June 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230108636
• ISBN-13: 978-0230108639
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,290,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)