Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2024 - CMNS 240 D100

The Political Economy of Communication (3)

Class Number: 1117

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    Nine CMNS units with a minimum grade of C-.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examination of the political and economic processes that have generated the policies and structures of mass media, telecommunications and related industries; the relationship between the dichotomies of state and market, citizen and consumer, capitalism and democracy, global and local, and sovereignty and globalization in media industries and policies; overview of influences on State and international policies towards the media.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will introduce the scholarly field of political economy and how this framework can be applied to the study of media, communication industries, and cultural production. The course will commence with an overview of classical political economy and its evolution, moving on to an application of critical political economic concepts to the study of media and communication. This will be followed by an examination of the power structures and business practices of a range of creative and cultural industries, with a particular focus being paid to technological development in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Some of the fundamental questions we will address are: How should we understand the relationship between media and information technologies and capitalism and neoliberal globalization? What have been the political-economic and socio-cultural implications and consequences of the current trend toward digitalization and platformization? Students will be introduced to key concepts, including political economy, digital capitalism, the audience commodity, feminist political economy, sharing economy, gig economy, outsourcing, precarious labor, and the political economy of AI. The course is focused on broad socio-historical processes and macro-structural issues. It also relates political economic analysis to our daily experiences and our roles as consumers, citizens and workers in a media and commodity-saturated capitalist society.

Grading

  • Tutorial Attendance & Participation 15%
  • Mid-Term Exams 40%
  • Final Paper Proposal 15%
  • Final Paper 30%

NOTES:

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 S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03 and S10.04 as regards Student Discipline (note: as of May 1, 2009 the previous T10 series of policies covering Intellectual Honesty (T10.02) and Academic Discipline (T10.03) have been replaced with the new S10 series of policies). For further information see: www.sfu.ca/policies/Students/index.html.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

All readings will be available digitally in the ‘files’ section on Canvas.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html