SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 240-3

Yuezhi Zhao	Spring 2001
RCB 6155; 604-291-4916	Burnaby, Day
yzhao@sfu.ca

 

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMMUNICATION

Prerequisite:

CMNS 130 required. CMNS 230 recommended.

Overview:

This course provides an introduction to the political economy of communication and areas of macro communication and analysis. The course is organized in two parts. The first half explores the social historical and intellectual foundations for the development of the political economy of communication perspective in the twentieth century. In the second part, we will employ the political economy perspective to analyze the organization of communication systems and make sense of current transformations in a range of media and telecommunications industries in both national and global contexts. While the course focuses broad social historical processes and macro-structural issues, it relates political economic analysis to our daily experiences and our roles as consumers and citizens in a media and commodity-saturated market society.

Course Requirements:

Tutorial Attendance and Participation: 10%
Tutorial Assignments: 25%
Mid-term Quiz (in class): 25%
Final Term Paper: 40%

Required Text:

Naomi Klein, No Logo, Knopf Canada, 2000.
In addition, students are asked to purchase a courseware package from the SFU Bookstore.
Recommended Reference Books: The following books are on reserve for additional reading. Students may also find them useful for term paper preparation.
Wallace Clement, Understanding Canada: Building on the New Canadian Political Economy
Robert Heilbroner, The Making of Economic Society (9th edition)
Vincent Mosco, The Political Economy of Communication: Rethinking and Renewal
Gerald Sussman, Communication, Technology, and Politics in the Information Age
Robert McChesney: Rich Media, Poor Democracy

Lecture Topics:

Part I

1. Introduction to the Course
2. The Rise of Capitalism as a Global System
3. Technology, Markets, and States: A Historical Perspective
4. Communications and the Transformation of 20th Century Capitalism
5. Political Economy as a Framework for Analysis
6.The Marxist Perspective on Political Economy

Part II

7. The Commodification Process in Communication Industries
8. Changing Patterns of Ownership in Communication Industries
9. Globalization, Digitalization, and Multimedia (Re)convergence
10. The Evolving Role of the State in the Allocation of Communicative Power
11. Class, Gender, Race in the Constitution of Communication Industries and Markets
12. Consumers, Citizens, and the Struggle for Alternatives

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty,” and “Academic Discipline” (see current calendar, General Regulations Section).