Wow! eBook
Globalization and Media: Global Village of Babel
Author(s): . Lule (Author)
- Publisher: Rl
- Publication Date: 10 Nov. 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 188 pages
- ISBN-10: 9780742568365
- ISBN-13: 0742568369
Book Description
This lively and accessible book argues for the central role of media in understanding globalization. Indeed, Jack Lule convincingly shows that globalization could not have occurred without media. From earliest times, humans have used media to explore, settle, and globalize their world. In our day, media has made the world progressively “smaller” as nations and cultures come into increasing contact. Yet despite optimistic predictions, the world has not become flat, with playing fields leveled and opportunities for all. Instead, the author argues, globalization and media are combining to create a divided world of gated communities and ghettos, borders and boundaries, suffering and surfeit, beauty and decay. By breaking down the economic, cultural, and political impact of media, and through a rich set of case studies from around the globe, Lule describes a global village of Babelinvoking the biblical town punished for its vanity by seeing its citizens scattered, its language confounded, and its destiny shaped b
Editorial Reviews
Review
Globalization is a hot topic. Add the panache of media, and the subject is sure to attract an audience… Lule (Lehigh Univ.) has provided an easily accessible book with lots of pop culture examples, a study that will lend itself to young people’s exploration of the topic. His premise is a rather simple one: ‘globalization and media act in concert and cohort.’ Globalization is facilitated and supported by media writ broadly. The book includes examples new and old. Particularly important is the inclusion and extensive discussion of the role of cellular telephones as a medium of more than just talking with acquaintances. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates; general readers. CHOICE What this book does that no one has quite done until now is to make a direct case for media’s role in globalization studies… Lule’s approach: he uses news stories that illustrate his method of analyzing discourse about globalization and media’s role in this discourse… It seems from the ending that the author is more the optimist than the pessimist after an interesting and enlightening tour of globalization and the media. Communication Research Trends This book offers a lucid, amazingly engaging, and carefully balanced overview of key issues and cutting-edge debates on globalization and media. With fascinating stories, colorful tidbits, and witty analysis, Jack Lule skillfully unpacks the media’s central and conflicting role in the multifaceted processes of globalization. The writing is simply superb. — Yuezhi Zhao, Simon Fraser University; author of Communication in China: Political Economy, Power, and Conflict In this empirically rich and multilayered book, Jack Lule expertly captures the complexities of globalization of media in a manner that reflects his global approach, enlivened by excellent examples and engaging prose. — Daya K. Thussu, University of Westminster, London Globalization and Media offers a comprehensive, lively, and insightful introduction to the complex field of global media studies. Impressive in its historical sweep, its geographical coverage, and its theoretical depth, the book avoids easy dismissals or celebrations of media globalization. Instead, Jack Lule concentrates on both the promises and the pitfalls that globalization poses to modern human society-all the while demonstrating the central role that media have played in the globalization processes for centuries. — Timothy Havens, University of Iowa
About the Author
Jack Lule is professor and director of global studies and professor and chair of journalism and communication at Lehigh University.
