Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media
This is the claim: In the age of mass media the political economy of media has engaged with Marxist concepts in a rather limited way. In the age of digital media Marxist theory could and should be applied in a much broader sense to this field of research. The article will provide a rationale for thi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
2012-05-01
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| Series: | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/379 |
| _version_ | 1797761601915322368 |
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| author | Andreas Wittel |
| author_facet | Andreas Wittel |
| author_sort | Andreas Wittel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This is the claim: In the age of mass media the political economy of media has engaged with Marxist concepts in a rather limited way. In the age of digital media Marxist theory could and should be applied in a much broader sense to this field of research. The article will provide a rationale for this claim with a two step approach. The first step is to produce evidence for the claim that political economy of mass media engaged with Marxist theory in a rather limited way. It is also to explain the logic behind this limited engagement. The second step – which really is the core objective of this article – is an exploration of key concepts of Marx’s political economy - such as labour, value, property and struggle - and a brief outline of their relevance for a critical analysis of digital media. These concepts are particularly relevant for a deeper understanding of phenomena such as non-market production, peer production, and the digital commons, and for interventions in debates on free culture, intellectual property, and free labour. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:15:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2510d6182bd4ac3a1a124ccc959a7f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-670X 1726-670X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:15:44Z |
| publishDate | 2012-05-01 |
| publisher | Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2510d6182bd4ac3a1a124ccc959a7f72023-08-02T05:33:27ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X1726-670X2012-05-0110231333310.31269/triplec.v10i2.379379Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed MediaAndreas Wittel0Nottingham Trent UniversityThis is the claim: In the age of mass media the political economy of media has engaged with Marxist concepts in a rather limited way. In the age of digital media Marxist theory could and should be applied in a much broader sense to this field of research. The article will provide a rationale for this claim with a two step approach. The first step is to produce evidence for the claim that political economy of mass media engaged with Marxist theory in a rather limited way. It is also to explain the logic behind this limited engagement. The second step – which really is the core objective of this article – is an exploration of key concepts of Marx’s political economy - such as labour, value, property and struggle - and a brief outline of their relevance for a critical analysis of digital media. These concepts are particularly relevant for a deeper understanding of phenomena such as non-market production, peer production, and the digital commons, and for interventions in debates on free culture, intellectual property, and free labour.https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/379Marxlabourvaluepropertystrugglepolitical economy of mediadigitaldistributed mediamass mediainternetnetwork |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Wittel Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique Marx labour value property struggle political economy of media digital distributed media mass media internet network |
| title | Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media |
| title_full | Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media |
| title_fullStr | Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media |
| title_short | Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media |
| title_sort | digital marx toward a political economy of distributed media |
| topic | Marx labour value property struggle political economy of media digital distributed media mass media internet network |
| url | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/379 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreaswittel digitalmarxtowardapoliticaleconomyofdistributedmedia |