Beyond technophilia: A critique of media globalization

Abstract

In this paper, I revisit discourses of media globalization through a cultural approach. I do so by contextualizing theoretical possibilities of grasping media globalization by engaging with the conceptual categories of notable scholars. In doing so, I reposition the globalization debate from its decidedly technophilic and economic determinisms to a nuanced, culturally situated discussion. The paper provides a wider context for grasping how the globalization of the media shapes, configures, and reconstitutes everyday practice and conditions of local and globalized practices. Issues raised in this light include historical contexts framing globalization (for instance, is it a question of homogeneity, heterogeneity, cultural imperialism, hybridity, or what?), political economic perspectives on transnational media conglomerates and their work of empire as well as the work of resistance by nation states in regulating global flow.

Keywords

• Culture
• globalization
• media
• homogeneity
• heterogeneity