Revisiting the Political Economy of Communication: A Conversation with Nicholas Garnham Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014. 14:00-16:00 CAMRI Research Seminar University of Westminster, Harrow campus (Metropolitan Line, tube stop: Northwick Park) Room A6.08 (6th floor, A block) http://www.westminster.ac.uk/camri/research-seminars/revisiting-the-politica... Registration at latest until January 19th, per e-mail to christian.fuchs@uti.at Nicholas Garnham has played a major role in British Media and Communication Studies, the emergence and development of what James Curran has termed the Westminster School of Media and Communication Studies, and the Political Economy of Communication. His works have focused on and have influenced the intellectual debates on topics such as capitalism and communication, the cultural industries, information and communication technologies, information society theory, media and modernity, media and telecommunications policy, public service media, the public sphere, the relationship between Cultural Studies and Political Economy in Media and Communication Studies, and the theory and sociology of culture. The Political Economy of Communication is today an established field of study that has been institutionalised in the form of research networks such as the International Association of Media and Communication Research’s (IAMCR) Political Economy Section, journals, conferences, handbooks, the regular publication of new books, chapters and articles, undergraduate and postgraduate modules, textbooks, continuous works by PhD students, etc. The task of this seminar is to revisit some of Nicholas Garnham’s ideas, writings and contributions to the study of the Political Economy of Communication and to reflect on the concepts, history, current status and perspectives of this field and the broader study of political economy today. Christian Fuchs will chair this conversation. Recommended Readings: Garnham, Nicholas. 1979. Contribution to a Political Economy of Mass Communication. Media, Culture & Society 1 (2): 123-146. Available at: http://www.uk.sagepub.com/devereux/website%20material/Proofed%20web%20materials/Journal%20articles/Chap%203%20-%20Garnham%20'Contribution%20to%20a%20Political%20Economy....pdf Garnham, Nicholas. 2011. The Political Economy of Communication Revisited. In The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications, eds. Janet Wasko, Graham Murdock and Helena Sousa, 41-61. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Biographies: After studying English Literature at Cambridge University Nicholas Garnham worked from 1963-70 in Television as film editor and film director. He joined the Polytechnic of Central London (that is now the University of Westminster) in 1972 to teach film making and film theory. In 1974 he was made head of the newly created Department of Communications and headed the team that created the first Media Studies degree in the UK. He is founding editor of the journal Media, Culture and Society. In 1986 he founded the Centre for Communication and Information Studies (CCIS) – that today is the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) – and remained its director until he retired from the University of Westminster in 2002. In 1987 he started with William Melody the annual European Communication Policy Research Conference. Since 2002, Nicholas Garnham is Emeritus Professor of Media Studies, University of Westminster. He is author of many contributions to Media and Communication Studies, including the books The Economics of UK Television (Sage 1987, with R. Collins and G. Locksley), Capitalism and Communication: Global Culture and the Economics of Information (Sage 1990), Emancipation, the Media and Modernity (Oxford University Press 2000). Christian Fuchs is Professor of Social Media at the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute and the Centre for Social Media Research. He is the editor of the journal tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique (http://www.triple-c.at), chair of the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18 – Sociology of Communications and Media Research, Vice Chair of the EU COST Action “Dynamics of Virtual Work” and author of books such as “Social Media: A Critical Introduction” (Sage 2014), “Digital Labour and Karl Marx” (Routledge 2014) and “Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies” (Routledge 2011).