A Political Economy of Radical Media Is a Small Contribution to This Infinitely Greater Struggle
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A Political Economy of Radical Media Presented by Seamus Farrell, MSc A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dublin City University, School of Communications Supervisor of Research Dr Declan Fahy School of Communications Dublin City University 2020 1 Declaration I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctoral of Philosophy is entirely my own work, that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: _______ (Candidate) ID No.: ___________ Date: _______ Seamus Farrell 15212647 25/08/2020 2 Acknowledgements I owe a debt of gratitude to my supervisor of three years Dr Eugenia Siapera. Eugenia guided the work, developed my capacity to think and write critically and put up with all the meandering ideas. She has been a true radical mentor. Dr Declan Fahy deserves particular mention too, for his important work at the transfer stage and then for stepping in to the supervisor role in my final year, guiding the thesis through the dark final months of drafts and redrafts. I couldn’t have done this without my partner Eve who has been my emotional anchor and occasional editor. My family Mary, Thomas, Eoghan and Aideen have been an amazing support. Their pride in the work, and the potential of a first Farrell PhD, kept me going even when the financial strains and neo-liberal constraints dampened the intellectual curiosity. I also have to thank my friends and the many Dublin, US and European radicals who make up an extended network of acquaintances. I often kept the PhD out of conversation, but it has been shaped by the context of its time: the pain of austerity, the hope of new movements, and the countless conversations and actions in which we have all tried to build a collective response to our domination and subjugation. A political economy of radical media is a small contribution to this infinitely greater struggle. 3 Abstract This thesis offers a Marxist humanist political economic analysis of radical media. Radical media has been under-researched and underappreciated as a subject. Modern theorists have positioned it either as a fringe subject or as a diffuse topic without definitional clarity used interchangeably with concepts such as alternative and independent to describe non-mainstream media, communications and digital society. This thesis aims to clarify the conceptualisation of radical media and consider the concrete publications and platforms, shaped by radical media actors, that have developed in the digital age. This analysis is grounded by an understanding of the historic development of theories of and practices of radical media. A multi-methods research design is used as a basis for three analyses of three radical media samples: a typology analysis of concepts of radical media in the digital age (1995–2019), a content analysis of radical media publications and platforms in the UK, USA and Ireland (2016–2019) and thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with radical media actors in the UK, USA and Ireland (2016–2019). Radical media is re-defined and a typology containing radical critical, community, activist and institutional media is proposed. Shifts in radical media production are explored and the emergence of semi-professionalised, intellectual publications and platforms, interlinked politically to the revival of Marxism and Social Democracy is noted. These radical media publications and platforms from above are in tension with a ‘periphery’ with emphasis on reporting from everyday experiences and struggles, from below and outside the state. These are significant advances in our understanding of radical media as part of the field of critical communication and politics within digital society. 4 Contents List of Figures…………………………………………………………….10 Introduction………………………………………………………………11 i.1 Background................................................................11 i.2 Theoretical Framework, Definition & Argument................13 i.3 Significance of the Research..........................................15 i.4 Chapter Outline...........................................................16 Chapter One: Political Economic Theories of Radical Media ……..........................................................................21 1.1 Introduction..............................................................21 1.2 Political Economic Analysis and the Radical....................23 1.2.1 Political Economic Analysis.................................23 1.2.2 Marxist Humanism.............................................25 1.2.3 Radicalism........................................................28 1.3 Political Power and Early Theories of Radical Media..........31 1.3.1 Dominant Media: Marx, Gramsci and Lukacs..........32 1.3.2 Working-Class Radical Media: Marx, Gramsci and Lukasc......................................................................37 1.4 Cultural Power and Cold War Radical Media Theories……….42 1.4.1 Dominant Media: The Frankfurt School, Hall and Bourdieu...................................................................43 1.4.2 Cultural Resistance: The Frankfurt School, Hall and Bourdieu.............................................................49 1.5 Radical Media Theories in the Digital Era…………………........53 1.5.1 Dominant Media: Castells, Fuchs, Fenton...............55 1.5.2 Digital Alternatives: Castells, Fuchs, Fenton...........61 1.6 Conclusion................................................................66 Chapter Two: The History of Radical Media Practice………..70 2.1 Introduction..............................................................70 2.2 Early Modern Radical Media (1800-1860)......................72 2.2.1 Early Radical Media Content................................73 2.2.2 Early Radical Media Production............................74 5 2.2.3 Early Radical Media Political Relations...................75 2.3 The First Socialist & Anarchist Radical Media (1860–1914).............................................................77 2.3.1 The First Socialist & Anarchist Radical Media Content.....................................................................78 2.3.2 The First Socialist & Anarchist Radical Media Production..................................................................81 2.3.3 The First Socialist & Anarchist Radical Media Political Relations.........................................................83 2.4 World War and Interwar Radical Media (1914–1945)………..84 2.4.1 World War and Interwar Radical Media Content……….85 2.4.2 World War and Interwar Radical Media Production…..88 2.4.3 World War and Interwar Radical Media Political Relations………………......................................................91 2.5 Liberation and New Left Radical Media (1960–1980)…………92 2.5.1 Liberation and New Left Radical Media Content……..93 2.5.2 Liberation and New Left Radical Media Production.................................................................97 2.5.3 Liberation and New Left Radical Media Political Relations ..................................................................99 2.6 Anti-globalisation and Digital Radical Media (1995–2005)…101 2.6.1 Anti-globalisation and Digital Radical Media Content.102 2.6.2 Anti-globalisation and Digital Radical Media Production..................................................................104 2.6.3 Anti-globalisation and Digital Radical Media Political Relations…………………....................................................106 2.7 Conclusion, Research Gaps and Implications ....................107 2.7.2 Implications of Literature Review ............................108 2.7.3 Research Gaps and Questions................................111 Chapter Three: Methodology…………………………………………..113 3.1 Introduction..................................................................113 3.2 Political Economic Analysis and Multi-Methods Design………..116 3.3 Sampling and Data Collection Procedure .....................120 6 3.3.1 Selection of Non-mainstream Models..........................120 3.3.2 Selection of Publications and Platforms.......................123 3.3.3 Selection of Semi-structured Interviews......................137 3.4 The Analysis of Radical Media........................................143 3.4.1 Typology Analysis...................................................145 3.4.2 Content Analysis ...................................................149 3.4.3 Thematic Analysis........................ ..........................154 3.5 Limits of the Methodology.............................................157 3.6 Ethical Considerations..................................................160 3.6.1 Emancipatory Research Methods and Ethics………………..160 3.6.2 Internet-based Research Ethics.................................161 3.6.3 Semi-structured Interview Protocol...........................162 Chapter Four: Typology Analysis of Radical Media..................164 4.1 Introduction................................................................164 4.2 An Analysis of Models of Non-mainstream Media……………….167 4.2.1 Downing’s (2000) Model of Radical Media..................167 4.2.2 Atton’s (2002) Alternative Radical Media Model………….170 4.2.3 Curran’s (2002) Countervailing Media Model……………...173 4.2.4 Fuchs & Sandoval’s (2015) Alternative Media Model............................................................176