128 Modia power. Ideology and markets ‘others are Nick Coal back as a consequence of inten tole superpower i favour of unrest It is beoon ig increas hers are negotil 1 argues that we should stand ou of media studies, The standard approach fn 0 better able to generate a new mapping of the role of s varity of media In our perspective of people's lives, 3 goud or bad lif, what opens up oF closes dawn, research rather than habitual ass ed globalisation, and the presiure exerted by the crott border floss o a clear acount of Chapter 9 Media and cultural theory in the age of market liberalism Jomes Curran Introduction This rhetoric is san exercise in propaganda, Its central defect i that & presents the development ofthe field as being determined solely by an intall was strongly influenced research agends. Four key influences 89, rejection of communis in ple hep was inne tegrated, ants regime was replaced by an authoritarian market democracy. China, the only remaining ced market rel from the130. James Curran 19896 onvards because, inthe words ofits reform) ny 8 i glorious’ (An be, in an economic sense, a communist society. “These developments consolidated the neo-liberal hegemony of the right. The 1980s were dominated by right-wing governments — Reagan inthe USA, Th in Britain, and their equivalents in many other parts ofthe developed world sv to a perma leader, Deng Xi 2004). Chi Bs cessed 10 “The market was the anchor of fred superior system of eral democracy. Pat of the seductive power ofthis rhetoric stemmed from the spurious way im which deregulated capital ap from the fortunate to the unfortunate, in order to create a fret, more fulfilled sociery. But in the post-Cold War per were beset by socal ‘The post-Cold War era was thus a perled of disorientation and disempower- Europe ~ though much less usa — by the lef's complex, subjective reactions to the hitoric defeat of communism. In the 1980s, rlanvely few radical intllectals in Western E sven for the left Tis was reinfor generation, to signify the closing down of possiblties, the limiting of what it was for, This is well expressed by the British playwright, David Edgar tnd never been, and Thad never felt that feel “Another key de es had take ‘Cultural theory and market liberaliem 131 hoc inthe 19605, al were p period, At the heart of this revolt was an Ilerarchy, bureaucracy, na registered atthe same ime arepu diston of the collecvism Yepresented by traditional socal democracy ial ambiguity became more appar individualism became one of the forces hegemony (Hall 1988), biguites ofthe 1960s cultural ted to the ambiguities of British cultural sues ae it devel 1. While this tra lently with the left, it travelled during the T9M0s and 199% « conaderabl distance from where it started. norms. While sharp gender disparities persisted in terms of power, responsibil hances, they were lesser ‘he position of women seated the academic staf employed in the pioneer media/e rmingham, Leeds and Leicester Universities, and the Polytechnic of Central London media department in 196, there were ven. This grotesque gener ital staff was mauified over tine. In addition, the large majority of students studying media and cultral studies in Britain were, almost from the outset, women, Meda andl eataral stuies — like En ure — was primarily «female option, These interrelated changes in socery and in the 3 hecatne ‘marked contrast to the situation before 1980. ‘The fourth key influence was the intensification of globalisation, This cary in which the nation was portrayed 3¢ culturally constructed rather than given’ (Curran 2002), I aloo resulted in glob alisation becoming 2 salient concer Aegree of parachiakim, our ey influences thus shaped the development of medi and exal 132 James Curran ory and market liberals 133 is the frst of these influences that we will mainly had een reinterpreted in away that bore Wte resemblance this work,? and by 000 he had largely ceased toe cited. One moment Grama was a uch admired ry; the next he mas, ike yesterdays pop star, arly mietioned Something comparable though occuring ina lee exteeie form ~ happ theorist, Jtrgen Habermas, cig on in this chapter, ee Exit strategies Media and cultural studies in Britain de ‘second-vave’ pioneers inthe 1970s tended to rough the press, colee-houses and salons of independent, reasoned “pl The version ofthis new ‘magpie tradition that ‘This analysis is curious bybeid public sphere owed such account of modern media drew heavily on the work of wm drew seh mn of the eighteenth-centuy is Frankfurt pes sphere tht is Bost should stage a ts description of the eighteenth-ce al history, whereas ~ in a celebrat and 19308 7) with significant. subsequer Gramsc, and those who took up der ceived asthe space between the economy and the sate. rational, univeralistc a ve) ual map in popular elu, fom broadcasting 36 ani debate (eg Sean dary | References to Habermas, once snost a “The original emphasis cn contested asendancy gave way came relatively infrequent by the lat 1990s, Surpis toa stress jut on contest, and the media were re: present Bri meds studies even tied 1989) his seminal work (Habermas 1989; 1 Jases receded from view inal analy for wining political control appeared, By 1990, Gears ‘Habermas 1986) The intellectual fashion Jos — had moved on, “This strange aking up, and parting down, of two untypical Marcin, accompanied by very fice tester their work, was a way of sting pst debs. Fortwo snd the intl134 James Curran Cultural theory and market iberalism (35 0 centred in cultural sties (Gramse hn meta statis (Habermas) ~ it represented away of rsponing tothe fing light of Marxism inthe wider ensronment ofthe British let Postmodernism serial i Alok tis cltact ey trumpeting the merits of postmodernist work (some of which had been published over a decade earlier). Especially inluentil was the Freack philosopher, Jean Lyotard, who emphasised the Fragmented pate ofthe social world, the impossibility of advancing claims to any usversal heortes and ge ineerutable nebula’ resulting inthe defusing of pol system of ea tnd oppostons bemeen terms cluding the dno between the media was ressoned that since old’ inking, from Marxism to traditional socialist fem hls, provided unreliable compass bearings For steering a ship in open se, Ht ge we social sciences Gach eaton theory and research), are greater than the benefits of eoasistent particulars ‘modernism Ieteragenety of ‘cautious specification semed safer than ineautious pen A key figure in thie postmadert a was social philosopher, (orho vehemently denied being » postmod: cenist). His powerful influence on media and culrral studies during the 1990s further undermined a tot standing historian a radical cultural stules when researchers sou lari. It registered not just an erosion of radical certainty but also a growing sense of powerlesmess during 4 perio’ of vight-wing ascendancy. Radial euturl stdies reveatch, coming out of Birmingham Uni yinunicated a sense of urgency and commitment. Baudriland’s ns of power would lead t9 human emancl postinoderniem in cultural studies represented 2 significant shift 6 the vanguard to the avant-garde, from collec tivnt to aestheti pois. pp as movement Loving the market towards postmodernism, another | ied by 8 weathervane book written by 1m cultural studies pioncer and the author of a 7 jenksn research project in which many of the great Wf one route a, This latter transition is exe 1990 volume, Cermon re, came out of a G and the good in radical cultural studies were invole ‘characteristic language the central themes of cultural136. James Curran 's whole social and cultural king sehich buts, In mediums 1g commen mean deflects, minces up or transforms outside oF top-down co lite or “offical” culture has lost its dominance’ Agel ground, the market is viewed as liberating It provides the raw ‘material that audiences work on, and transfigare, as of ket” opens up new vistas, It is uncon 1990; 128), alternatives together of caherence and identi? provided by na strand of ly mobile inthe 1980s, Another is 1g walls, towers, and ideas of the East sion tothe fll ofthe Belin Wallin the previous year Yet, in some ways revealing is hs dieistal of many" radical ler and his acknowl is Its more mainstream exponet War period was ues of eapitalm 1987: 261-2).A\ sive or reclitrant ways like an immune system pe iT ‘Audiences are able to impose thir own meaning, it eas explained, partly because media content is often gecesible to divergent imerpretation. Market pres: people, irrespective toot. This can give rise meaning ral goods i tansormed through local cultural appro prntons, While radical crtice ew Coct- Cola a «symbol of US capitals, many the des in Halt ivergent ways in different ower, rooted in che divergent traditions of Aifferent peoples around the world, ses linked to another theme: the dynam of Tals eo grasp, islomerates have al been forced to adapt to the demands of local consumers. For example, MTV: Europe shandoned its ater Western Europe, and fone 197% conc aout the USA's imperial power or about increasing indoobination into consumer vals, by Schiller (1976) can owehe given a deer ner expressed for exa The afin the view138. James Curran reaps, fist improvements in the wos inluenced media representations of gender Inthe 1970, radia to age that the an encouraged identifation with hearth and home” gTachnan 19 w 1980s aed ety 1980s fein tend to draw tention aig women, argulg that thet sometimes afforded vicarious idenufeation with ponerfa, ‘bad’ women (Moilesk 1982) or ipl ‘eled lout postion’ or dame the ‘enson between ing of we he entertainment of eppost (Landy 199%: 17 nd 485), Women’ media cou sment has given vay tothe claim that media representation of women have improved ( sly of a popolar British magazine standings of alysis of Jad coverage af fi Fratzer 2000: 1 women were bec [ine Shattue dass wo portrayals of 1995); while imed that day-time, issue-oriented TV talk shows gave working. new voice, and provided ‘some of the most radical popu ‘moments! in the history of US television between 1967 and 1995 (Shattuc 1% 2). sub-theme of much of this wore e that the market encouraged the respond - ng a user driven, “pl no longer sccept what is push 1995), The Web is transferring power tothe people, and flitting les (Poster 2001). It is fostering lobal activism and 2 new form of progressive politics (Donk ee al. 2004), 7 ernet has farltatel exciting new ex (Teagarousanou et al. 1998). Ie has bro people (Negro the construction of tronic democracy global vilge’, who are perve rous 7003) Its facitating the emergence ls 2000). Not all the Inst cited text, for example, is especially ‘of new communications ‘cated or susie ar of a networked world and a dysamic ‘new economy’ ( these ac i are unequivocal cloquent about unequal technology, But the general thrust af thie iterate la “T | | Cultural theory and marker liberalism 139 “The field thus hited from its radial moorings in the 70s, through free ieaion and new media —entored cant stage, Even allowing forthe debates tht have been pasted over for-the sake of brevity, the general tenor of medis and ‘more approving ofthe world in which we lve Gains and losses Were these sifes part of an unf researchers responded to the new isracs and concerns of a changed world? Or dit he Held become lest critical because was influenced by the assumptions of = predictable poarie beef balance sheet of snd cultural resea ative era Insts responses), pethaps it would be more useful draw vp & at was gained and los in the evolution of British meds ind spot in radical in the 1990s, and ‘more recently the emergence of comparative media research, chipped away atthe parochialian of much media and cultural theory. The booming literature on new ‘communications technology 8 mytheloged. To tis shor siready been made that the rccvived wisdom both overstates popular power over the media, and understates media influence on the publle (Curran 2002), This be rep ‘eo-biberal ascendancy has promoted favourable “The main body of work that subject the market to ere, stead, we warning has helpe this work, and discourages researchers from cven addresing the re?The answer given in most of the British ‘calurl studies iterature is implicitly ‘ao’, However, it should reilly be don't know’, les researchers la Betain, with occasional illuminating sHoce moat cultural140. James Curran texgfptions like Hesmondhaleh (2002), lack am economic dimension to thelr woe which sought to implant » public has generate arising re. His main theme are that se ‘market earnings expectation regulation and increased competition, contributed to a sharp increase of US television coverage of erime during the 1990s b vas both cheap and popular (Hamaton 2004 Bennett 2003), Seb 2002), ln 1992-3 there wasa thre: Fold increase in crime cy television networks (Patterson 2003a: 89) By them sof all load 997) This increased daily dosage of ‘the proportion of Americans vw sd ceven though crime Local TY news stanling of ‘cultare’ m gives more thon passing consideration to the gration has generat every umogually. By the Inte 1990s, Cultural theory and marie liberalism 141 sustained growth of the global economy (Stighte 2002; UNDP 2003; Wade anc toaddress case they were dominated by wealthy nations, fm, human rights, peace and transcending the ng new bases of pose? This i the constantly repeated argument which there is some evidence, firmative view nec also to take account of oounter-ar the vise of deregulated, global financial market har weakened the economic effective jon the democratic power ), connected by new communications technol ts, Fis ‘economic power (Keane 1 would seem that we are passing thro tional phase whose outcome is uncertain rather than the atsured, positive future Fovetold by some . On democratic power, national _gosernment, and ane progressive trad ocracy, are weakening Yet mocratle power and a new, progressive politics remain buds that overt, inthe influence, and the rise ‘Bu this is something that needs to be made concrete, and fought for, automatic comllary of toe set beside ts positive features analysis, In passing, i should be added that a le service, However, this pre ied ize by the colonsing activites of est media conglomerates and the chequered rise of Internet commerce supported by142 Jamos Curran 200%). cap fut development of ebermac, could not be mare import tended 1 be ignored case even the idea tat the virtual world hs a poll economy salen to most new media ste, nature of this con Negotiating hegemony The ideological ascendancy of market o penetrated media and cultural research by influencing the way in which society was understood. Market ly as an aggregs juals rather than abstract terms of socal groups. People now live, itis stresed, in open societies free of the rigidities asiociated with class because the market isan egalitarian Iiberalism sees society pri ce that promot ie relationship to the system of production wat increasingly rejected, mainly on the grounds 1 complexly stratified and difarentiated nature of contemporary the world of work, ie wae also a socal take account of the more society, Class and gender, ethnicity and sexuality that increasingly replaced class as a way of conceptuaising lvantage. This way ‘world individual agency, socal Muidty and the so incorporated ert ich were not part of the rl feminism and gay thor n. It thus ‘negodated' rather than reproduced a neo: ignored alge sccumilation of empirical evidence showing. strongly infences the distribution of life chances, temporary advanced societies. OECD countries, ween gen ‘generation, between 30 classes or income groups’ (the definition usuily employed by economists) — ie thers), Movers al theory and marker liberalism 143, re terme because the working class bas contracted) and the middle clas amore stable In Br the chances of a middle-class child staying middle cass are shout four times ing class child becoming middle cass (Roberts 2001 |, with some data projecting even hig ne reecons for restricted social mobility are complex, Social lass s assoc ors — self-esteem, confidence, expectation, sense of hone of Ms netivorks, access tend to be mutually reinforcing, na person's, te rchest 20 per cent earn nine times more than the poorest 20 per cent (Hotton 2003: 187). Class diference ako generates other forms of inequality, In Britain, people in unskilled and ser ased very rapidly, especial Wes became embedded (Cas sand even rewited in blue-collar workers earning on keohee terms during the 1980e and part of the ‘were 2 sn 1976, but had risen to 41 by 2001, In the same period, the number of nes below 40 per cent of the median rose 220 per cent idge 2004: 6) as heen seduced by the discourse of rnyths that mask infered privilege and legitimate inequality iswacted from investigating adequately the part played by the media in the gromth ofinequality in market liberal wc All market systems generate inequalities. These inequalities are all money and r144 Jamas Curran ‘with notble excep redock (2000) and Skeggs (1997), ceased to be intrested in class ncqualty, and inded displayed very limated interest in socal recognition came to be viewed as more import Retrospect [Numerous ad hor narratives of the development of media and culrural studies rn These narratives ar us seller lim a new insight, agen They tend alo tobe exclus intellectual development to 3 Progress in which error is ‘The contextual Pitre, On the one ba jena nthe ed. central cncern of media snd cultural research ethnic and sex 5 groups encouraged a revival of plural ressed both the heterogeneity of society groups Intensified globalisation caused Western, parochial definitions of culural ‘value and media cheory to be questioned, and promoted a do with tranmatioralis, detertitcraistion and the erosion of utional iden, (On the other hand, wider changes in society have alo given rte to bind spots nme emphasised in this chapter) tsrenty-five yeas, neo-hheral Kless acquired a grester ascendancy in Bi any time since the later rineteenth century. This hegemony promoted within ive view ofthe market as a naar mecha leading. Ie also an influence on contemporary society, ly accounts of ideas that make no attempt to relate ler context. Instead, they tll a simple story of emer a ory that Incerest ines to sm harmonising supply and demand that was sin resulted in clase being wnderestims courages greater losses as well as gus. The second thing th the fs Cuttral theory and market lide us ing to the new approve on, It might be better if some people decided to journey in the opposite direction, Notes [have not followed mumerou-rcislogcal soounts (ot expe Beck end Beck (Germs 2002) in seeing the ‘de mah ty aa bey di Featre of the cont w alaat ery er, wan for exemple, fn fundamental belief and sil practices overticcn, sack a Tim were strongly enced by the US doc sente omar hey tended to write fora cirre lft perspective, The ‘second wave' pioneers in the 1970, many of whom were enced by the Birmingham cara studies traditon, ended to be mre radical and huni (Cente and Haynes and, a mote theoreti mode, Baker (2002), 5 The rise of the Southeastern Asian economics, notably Kore, fllewed by rapid growth in Chine an al ‘versions of the global hess, Wat sew fake pores ae ih nd Wel 2003), References Albarn, . (1996) Melia Ene Wert Pre. mers Sty espa iecances oclmebiy pl Ang, and Hermer, (1991) "Gend al ‘orci es) Maw Med od Sy, Lo146 James Curran kyon. (2004) ‘Deng Xisoping quotes and quotations’, wwrwbrainyguote.com/ eet aldenpseoig tn x, C. Fewin (2002) Media, Mores and Democracy, New York: Cambridge University 1980) “The implosion of meaning in the medis and the implosion of the ‘masse, in K, Woodward (ed.) The Ath of fformacon, London: Rowt ledge & Kegan Pal Beck-Gernsheim, E. (200 fon, London: Sage 3 edn, Mahwah, NJ ier; H, (2000) ‘Media portrayal of ‘second wave” feminist groups’, in Deracracy aod the Medio, Lanham, MA: The Burnes of Medic, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge A. Calabrese and C. Sparks (ds) lal Ezonony of Calta, Lanham, MA: Rowman & Litefield. 1977) Mau Communleation ond Sociesy, » 6edn, London: Routledge. Media ond whe Bris Left, Eine Deacon, D. and Golding, Devine, F-and Waters, M. (eds) (2004) Soil Ineq 19) Taxation ond Repretenttion, London: John Libbey. etn Comparative Perpecse, Oxford: (2004) Gpbepete, London: Routledge. on: Sage, ‘elerision Culture, Landon: Routledge tmodernism and television’ in J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (ede) Mass London: Arnold. in Britain’, New Left Review 176. 719) Dipine and. yondsworth: Penguin, The End of Hitory ond the Last Mon, Harmondsio P, Golding, G. Mariock and P pub. in German in {962}. ‘Cultural theory and mad ewer Fares ond Norm, Cambridge: Polity [pub. in German in 1992). “Culture, the media and the “idcologial effec, in J. Curran, M. Gure- ‘Mas Communication and Sect, Landon: Eward Arnal ‘of “ideology”: the return’ of the repressed in media Bennet, J. Curran and J. Woollacot (eds) Culture, Sociey ral Industrie, London: Sage. TheWerldi' lo, rev. edn, London: Abacus. Iyengar, S. (2000) ‘Meda effects: paradigms for the analysis of loal television news! nS. ‘oetain (edt) Deliberation, Democracy and the Media, Lanham: MA, Ige: Cambridge University Press ment, Avckand: Auckland University Pres. 197) ‘Local TV news: getting aay vith murder’, NNio, |. and Leitner, D. (2003) ‘Seting the public fear age is of network TV crime reporting, public perceptions of crim BL erime mists’, journal of Commmiaton, March, 184) The Pormedecn Condition, Man structing the ruined tower: contemporary communications in J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds) Ae Madta and Sci, 3° ‘ed, London: Arnold.148 James Curran of women by the mass rh and Home, New York Chapter 10 Placing promotional culture Aeron Davis Introduction chapter aks what ie the core fom that of m0 Integral part ofthe evolution of mass communications (Curran 1986; sr Leis a 1990; Garnham 1990; Curran and Seaton 1999), in many cass providing a greater vas spent on he Cavtered Insitute of