Media and Modernity (eBook)

John B. Thompson is Reader in Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Preface.

Introduction.

1. Communication and Social Context.

2. The Media and the Development of Modern Societies.

3. The Rise of Mediated Interaction.

4. The Transformation of Visibility.

5. The Globalization of Communication.

6. The Re-mooring of Tradition.

7. Self and Experience in a Mediated World.

8. The Re-invention of Publicness.

Notes.

Index.

"This book is comprehensive and magisterial, and at the same time
enormously readable. It will undoubtedly become one of the very few
definitive texts in the rapidly growing field of media and cultural
studies, providing a crucial link to critical theory and to social
theory as a whole." Professor William Outhwaite, University of
Sussex

"An extremely powerful and sustained diagnosis of mass media at
the turn of the twenty-first century, a diagnosis that is neither
idealizing nor apocalyptic. Thompson's book deserves to become a
definitive text and should have a lasting impact in the sociology
of media and culture." The Australian

"A new book by Thompson in which he compresses and refines his
ideas on theorising the media is ... particularly welcome. In this
book we have an example of someone writing with tremendous
confidence, in self-evident command of both a broad historical
sweep and a wide range of relevant studies and theories. With the
publication of his book Thompson should move the sociology of mass
communication onto a new level of sophistication ... an important
publication." Sociology

"The Media and Modernity is refreshingly optimistic in
offering a constructive, yet sensible, alternative to the doom and
gloom with which the modern media are often regarded. It is
impressive in its scope, often insightful in its analysis, and
solidly grounded in its arguments, and so makes a valuable
contribution to the fields of both media sociology and social
theory." British Journal of Sociology

"As an introduction to and an overview of the literature on the
interrelations between society, democracy and the media, this book
is an invaluable text and may stimulate further reading in more
specialist literature." Acta Politica