Product Description

This book shows how the release of the free market in the last part of the twentieth century produced a rise in inequality and violence, the development of a huge criminal economy and the degradation of social and cultural life. It questions the silence of academics in the face of these changes and asks how much they have been incorporated into the priorities of commerce and governments. Many academics in the social sciences, media and cultural studies have avoided critical issues and become occupied in obscure theoretical debates such as post-modernism. The effect was to draw inellectuals and students away from the engaged and empirical work needed to identify key social problems and possibilities for change. The authors of this book point to the need for independent research which can criticise political policies and reveal their effects. They show, for example, why contemporary policies on drugs and education are creating more problems than they solve. The book features contributions from a wide range of academic disciplines including mass communications, sociology, politics, geography, philosophy and economics, and points to new directions for radical science. It also examines the possibilities for a free and democratic media and calls for the development of critical and open debate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #716449 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-17
• Binding: Paperback
• 262 pages

Synopsis
This book shows how the release of the free market in the last part of the twentieth century produced a rise in inequality and violence, the development of a huge criminal economy and the degradation of social and cultural life. It questions the silence of academics in the face of these changes and asks how much they have been incorporated into the priorities of commerce and governments. Many academics in the social sciences, media and cultural studies have avoided critical issues and become occupied in obscure theoretical debates such as post-modernism. The effect was to draw inellectuals and students away from the engaged and empirical work needed to identify key social problems and possibilities for change. The authors of this book point to the need for independent research which can criticise political policies and reveal their effects. They show, for example, why contemporary policies on drugs and education are creating more problems than they solve. The book features contributions from a wide range of academic disciplines including mass communications, sociology, politics, geography, philosophy and economics, and points to new directions for radical science.

It also examines the possibilities for a free and democratic media and calls for the development of critical and open debate.

From the Author
The free market, inequality and academic responses

This book shows how the release of the free market in the last part of the twentieth century produced a rise in inequality and violence, the development of a huge criminal economy ad the degradation of social and cultural life.

It questions the silence of academics in the face of these changes and asks how much they have been incorporated into the priorities of commerce and governments. Many academics in the social sciences and media and cultural studies have avoided critical issues and become occupied in obscure theoretical debates such as post-modernism. The book contains a detailed analysis of the post-modern turn and looks specifically at related areas such as the active audience, discursive practice, popular culture, identity and difference, the focus on pleasure and consumption. The authors argue that the effect of much of this work was to draw intellectuals and students away from the engaged and empirical work needed to identify key social problems and possibilities for change.

The authors point to the need for independent research which can criticise political policies and reveal their effects. It also examines the possibilities for a free and democratic media and calls for the development of critical and open public debate.

With additional essays by Noam Chomsky, Derek Bouse Angela McRobbie, John Corner, Chris Hamnett, Andrew Gamble, Philip Schlesinger, Barbara Epstein, James Curran, Danny Schechter and Hilary Wainwright

Greg Philo is Research Director of the Glasgow University Media Unit, University of Glasgow David Miller is a member of Stirling Media Research Institute, University of Stirling...

From the Back Cover
This book shows how the release of the free market in the last part of the 20th century produced a rise in inequality and violence the development of a huge criminal economy and the degradation of social and cultural life.
It questions the silence of academics in the face of these changes and asks how much they have been incorporated into the priorities of commerce and governments. Many academics in the social sciences and media and cultural studies have avoided critical issues and become occupied in obscure theoretical debates such as post-modernism. The effect was to draw intellectuals and students away from the engaged and empirical work needed to identify key and social problems and possibilities for change.
The authors of this book point to the need for independent research which can criticise political policies and reveal their effects. They show for example why contemporary policies on drugs and education are creating more problems than they solve. The book features contributions from a wide range of academic disciplines including mass communications, sociology, politics, geography, philosophy and economics and points to new directions for radical science. It also examines the possibilities for a free and democratic media and calls for the development of critical and open public debate

Customer Reviews

You won't believe they've written it!
Ever wanted to counter one of those often-trotted-out and ill-informed objections to the study of the media, but not been able to find anyone who's said it in writing? Then look no more, for Miller and Philo have come to the rescue. Pointing to each error in turn would be to take a sledgehammer to a stale Malteser, for this entire work betrays a startling misunderstanding of the practices and intentions of media and cultural studies. In terms of providing a critique of contemporary theory, this book is barely worth the glossy cardboard that encases it; but if you are lazily seeking that "straw man" for your literature review or undergraduate essay, it presents an ideal opportunity. Indeed, I would recommend its purchase for precisely that purpose. As I say, you won't believe they've written it.