Page 178 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

Chapter 7

Globalisation, media
transnationalisation and culture

Introduction

Critical political economy is closely associated with a critique of imbalances and
inequality in the global flow of media and cultural goods. This cultural imperi-
alism thesis was advanced by prominent CPE scholars in the 1960s and 1970s. It
was challenged and lost ground in the 1980s as various critiques coalesced
around a cultural globalisation thesis (Tomlinson 1991, 1999). In the conven-
tional version told, crude, neo-Marxist accounts of cultural imposition, American
hegemony and ‘one-way’ cultural flows have given way to an appreciation of
multidirectional cultural flows. Yet such framing offers a misleading account of
the analysis and contribution of critical scholarship: past and present. Both theory
and analysis have developed to try to match the ever more complex patterns and
implications of media globalisation. Critical political economy is not char-
acterised by adherence to formulations of cultural imperialism from the 1970s
but rather to exploring problems of power in communications that belie more
benign accounts of reciprocation and cultural exchange.
Rival perspectives on cultural domination have structured debates on media
transnationalisation and so reviewing these serves as a good way into making
sense of contemporary analysis. Yet approaching these debates through media
and cultural studies literature alone makes it all too easy to disconnect them
from their historical and political economic contexts and their relevance
to interventions in policy arenas. This chapter seeks to place contemporary
debates on globalisation and media in a wider framework, encompassing the
geopolitical shifts to neoliberalism and the political challenges to inequalities in
media and cultural flows. Rival polarities of cultural imperialism and cultural
globalisation still influence debates but, after reassessing their legacy, this chapter
goes on to examine divisions (not least amongst radical scholars themselves)
between ‘strong’ globalisation theories and those emphasising the continuing
importance and influence of the state and ‘national’ media systems. The chapter
also assesses current developments in the transnational political economy
of media.