John B. Thompson

Vilken roll spelar medierna i de moderna samhällenas uveckling? Vilka är de sociala effekterna av nya former av kommunikations- och informationsspridning, från uppfinningen av tryckpressen till de globala kommunikationsnätverkens expansion idag? Dessa frågor griper sig den engelske sociologen John B. Thompson sig an i denna bok. Han visar hur medierna har omvandlat samhällslivets rums- och tidsdimension och skapat interaktionsformer som inte längre är knutna till ett gemensamt rum. Denna omvandling har vidsträckta konsekvenser och påverkar olika sidor av våra liv, alltifrån de mest intima personliga erfarenheterna till maktens former. Thompsons bok har blivit ett samhällsvetenskapligt standardverk om medier och kommunikation genom att förena ett brett och historiskt förankrat perspektiv med insikter från modern samhällsteori. John B. Thompson är verksam i Cambridge. Han har vid sidan av denna bok utgivit böcker om hermeneutik och ideologiteori och senast en bok om politiska skandaler.

Medierne og moderniteten viser hvordan udviklingen af kommunikationsmedierne - fra den tidligste bogtrykkekunst til de seneste former for elektronisk kommunikation – på yderst kompliceret vis var vævet sammen med en række andre udviklingsprocesser, som under ét har været bestemmende for det vi benævner ”moderniteten”. Ønsker vi derfor at forstå modernitetens natur – dvs. det moderne samfunds institutionelle karakteristika og de livsbetingelser det har skabt – er det nødvendigt at give udviklingen af kommunikationsmedierne og deres effekt en fremtrædende plads. Det lyder ganske indlysende, men sandheden er, at kun et fåtal af de samfundsteoretikere, der har beskæftiget sig med det moderne samfunds tilblivelse, har tillagt kommunikationsmedierne den betydning, der tilkommer dem. For fuldt ud at forstå de samfundsmæssige konsekvenser af medieudviklingen, må man forkaste den umiddelbart besnærende idé, at medierne formidler information og symbolsk indhold til mennesker, hvis forhold til andre grundlæggende forbliver uforandret. Et af bogens hovedargumenter er netop, at når folk ’anvender’ kommunikationsmedier, indgår de i interaktionsformer, der på væsentlige måder afviger fra den type ansigt-til-ansigt-interaktion, der kendetegner de fleste møder i hverdagen. Anvendelsen af kommunikationsmedier forandrer grundlæggende det sociale livs rumlige og tidsmæssige organisation. Derved opstår nye måder at forholde sig til andre og sig selv på, nye former for handlen og interaktion, såvel som nye måder at udøve magt på. Alt dog med den fællesnævner, at intet længere forudsætter aktørernes tilstedeværelse samtidig på samme lokalitet. At analysere denne forandring og spore de konsekvenser, den allerede har haft for det sociale og politiske liv, og måske ane dens fremtidige virkninger er bogens fortjeneste. John B. Thompson er lektor i sociologi ved University of Cambridge. Sammen med Anthony Giddens står han i spidsen for det markante akademiske forlag, Polity Press. Oversat fra engelsk efter The Media and Modernity. A Social Theory of the Media af Stig W. Jørgensen.

Political scandals have become a pervasive feature of many societies today. From Profumo to the cash-for-questions scandal, from Watergate to the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, scandals have come to play a central role in politics and in the shaping of public debate. What are the characteristics of political scandals and why have they come to assume such prominence today? What are the social and political consequences of the preoccupation with political scandal in the public domain? In this major new book Thompson develops a systematic and wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon of political scandal. He shows that the rise of political scandal is linked to the changes brought about by the development of communication media, which have transformed the nature of visibility and altered the relations between public and private life. He analyses the characteristics of scandals as mediated events and he explains why mediated scandals in the political field have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Distinguishing between three basic types of political scandal, Thompson reconstructs the development of sex scandals, financial scandals and what he calls 'power scandals' in Britain and the United States, showing how scandals unfold and how they form part of distinctive political cultures of scandal. In the final chapter, Thompson develops an original theoretical account of political scandal and its consequences which highlights the connections between scandal, reputation and trust. This book is a path-breaking analysis of a troubling phenomenon which has become a central feature of public life in our societies today. It will be of great interest to students of sociology, politics, and media and cultural studies. It will also appeal to a wider readership interested in social and political issues.

Political scandals have become a pervasive feature of many societies today. From Profumo to the cash-for-questions scandal, from Watergate to the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, scandals have come to play a central role in politics and in the shaping of public debate. What are the characteristics of political scandals and why have they come to assume such prominence today? What are the social and political consequences of the preoccupation with political scandal in the public domain? In this major new book Thompson develops a systematic and wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon of political scandal. He shows that the rise of political scandal is linked to the changes brought about by the development of communication media, which have transformed the nature of visibility and altered the relations between public and private life. He analyses the characteristics of scandals as mediated events and he explains why mediated scandals in the political field have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Distinguishing between three basic types of political scandal, Thompson reconstructs the development of sex scandals, financial scandals and what he calls 'power scandals' in Britain and the United States, showing how scandals unfold and how they form part of distinctive political cultures of scandal. In the final chapter, Thompson develops an original theoretical account of political scandal and its consequences which highlights the connections between scandal, reputation and trust. This book is a path-breaking analysis of a troubling phenomenon which has become a central feature of public life in our societies today. It will be of great interest to students of sociology, politics, and media and cultural studies. It will also appeal to a wider readership interested in social and political issues.

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.

In this major work, informed by materials from several disciplines and theoretical orientations, the author develops a distinctive new account of the theory of ideology and relates it to the analysis of culture and mass communication in modern societies.In the two centuries since is first appeared in France, the concept of ideology has undergone many transformations. It has been twisted, reformulated, recast, and finally filtered back into the everyday language of social and political life. Although there is much that is misleading and erroneous in the traditions of ideology, the author shows that it still defines a terrain of analysis that remains central to contemporary social sciences and continues to be the site of lively theoretical debate.The key to his analysis is what he terms the "mediazation" of the culture-the general process by which the transmission of symbolic forms becomes increasingly reliant on the technical and institutional apparatuses of the media industries. Building on the work of Geertz and others, the author asserts that symbolic forms are embedded in such structured social contexts as power relations, forms of conflict, and inequalities in the distribution of resources, and that any discussion of mass communication must embrace its political as well as epistemological content.

In this major work, informed by materials from several disciplines and theoretical orientations, the author develops a distinctive new account of the theory of ideology and relates it to the analysis of culture and mass communication in modern societies. In the two centuries since is first appeared in France, the concept of ideology has undergone many transformations. It has been twisted, reformulated, recast, and finally filtered back into the everyday language of social and political life. Although there is much that is misleading and erroneous in the traditions of ideology, the author shows that it still defines a terrain of analysis that remains central to contemporary social sciences and continues to be the site of lively theoretical debate. The key to his analysis is what he terms the "mediazation" of the culture—the general process by which the transmission of symbolic forms becomes increasingly reliant on the technical and institutional apparatuses of the media industries. Building on the work of Geertz and others, the author asserts that symbolic forms are embedded in such structured social contexts as power relations, forms of conflict, and inequalities in the distribution of resources, and that any discussion of mass communication must embrace its political as well as epistemological content.

In this major new work, Thompson develops an original account of ideology and relates it to the analysis of culture and mass communication in modern Societies. Thompson offers a concise and critical appraisal of major contributions to the theory of ideology, from Marx and Mannheim, to Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas. He argues that these thinkers - and social and political theorists more generally - have failed to deal adequately with the nature of mass communication and its role in the modern world. In order to overcome this deficiency, Thompson undertakes a wide-ranging analysis of the development of mass communication, outlining a distinctive social theory of the mass media and their impact.

In this major new work, Thompson develops an original account of ideology and relates it to the analysis of culture and mass communication in modern Societies. Thompson offers a concise and critical appraisal of major contributions to the theory of ideology, from Marx and Mannheim, to Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas. He argues that these thinkers - and social and political theorists more generally - have failed to deal adequately with the nature of mass communication and its role in the modern world. In order to overcome this deficiency, Thompson undertakes a wide-ranging analysis of the development of mass communication, outlining a distinctive social theory of the mass media and their impact.

In this volume John B. Thompson examines some of the outstanding contemporary contributions to the study of ideology. He focuses primarily on European social theorists and philosophers, providing concise and critical appraisals of their work. In addition to assessing the contributions of the well-known thinkers, such as Habermas and Ricoeur, Thompson introduces the reader to a rich variety of authors who have been neglected in the English-speaking world: Cornelius Castoriadis, Claude Lefort, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Pecheux, Jean Pierre Faye. The work of these authors is analysed with a constructive aim: through a sympathetic assessment of their views. Thompson formulates the elements of a novel account of ideology. By addressing substantive and methodological issues as well as abstract questions of justification and critique, this account seeks to integrate sociological and philosophical considerations in a unified framework for the analysis of ideology. Studies in the Theory of Ideology will be essential reading for anyone interested in the most important developments in European philosophy and modern social thought.

A comparative critique of ordinary language philosophy, hermeneutics and critical theory.