Marxism

Marxism is a philosophical and practical framework for analyzing and changing society that was developed from the ideas of Karl Marx in the 19th century. He synthesized Hegelian philosophy, English political economy, and French socialist thought to develop a critical analysis of modern capitalism. As a major strategic thought system, Marxism appears variously in media studies: as a systematic investigation of capitalist media economies and societies, as a materialist approach to media objects and processes, and as a source of activist aesthetics. Thus, Marxist media analysis provides pragmatic examples ranging from the study of commercial media markets; state policies and institutions governing communication; critiques of the ideological intent and effect of films, television, and new media; polemics for political activist art and communication; and socially motivated aesthetic criticism of specific works. Crucially framed by its long association with leftist change ranging from labor activism and political insurrection to official state party control of nations and responses to repressive anti-Communism, Marxism almost always carries a weight of challenge to ideas of the “purely aesthetic,” the “neutral,” or “disinterested.” Because it is so wide reaching as an explanatory system, Marxism has influenced and underpinned various critical developments that may be openly antagonistic to other trends within Marxist media analysis broadly construed. In addition to sectarian division, Marxism often operates as a taken-for-granted background in some areas such as Latin American and European media study and a good part of cultural studies: so much so that its Marxist premises are often not openly stated. Also, a history of anti-Communism, especially during the Cold War, pushed many to hide the radical origins of their thought. Another important distinction concerns those who use Marxism to consider economic and institutional structures in media communications, often with a concern for democratic equality in the public sphere and thus a concern for news and information, journalism, state regulation and censorship, mass communications, advertising, and political discourse. A different and contrasting approach uses Marxism for historical, aesthetic, and cultural analysis of film, television, and media ranging from case studies of individual works to issues that run through a variety of forms, such as gender or race images or narratives. Reflecting disciplinary and departmental traditions, in the past these trends have often been antagonistic or blind to the other one in a social science versus arts and humanities contrast. But younger researchers often draw easily from both quantitative and qualitative models, feeling free to cross disciplines, synthesize methods, and actively deconstruct national, racial, ethnic, and gender boundaries in pursuit of understanding.