The Crisis-Ridden Capitalist Mode of Production as Driving Force for Restructurations and Transformations in and of the Media Industry
Explanatory Theoretical Elements of a Critique of the Political Economy of the Media
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21187649 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Manfred Knoche (0000-0002-7490-5967, University of Salzburg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 287-307 |
| Publication date | 2019-11-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | tripleC Communication Capitalism & Critique Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1726-670X • E-ISSN: 1726-670X |
| Publisher | Information Society Research (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.31269/triplec.v17i2.1137 |
| OpenAlex | W2986802554 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
The goal of this article is to explain long term restructurations and transformations of the media industry. In order to do so, the article uses theory elements of a critique of the political economy of the media. The paper is a contribution to the development of theoretical approaches that provide a theoretical analysis of the media in capitalism based on Karl Marx’s concepts. The capitalist mode of production is the primary driving force of media corporations‘ strategic action and of the media economy’s structural transformations. Factors that are of particular relevance in such structural transformations include profit orientation, capital accumulation, capitalist crises, state policies, behaviour of producers and consumers, private property, class relations, the antagonism between productive forces and relations of production, the antagonism of variable and constant capitalism, the antagonism of use-value and exchange-value, and competition. Competition, capital’s need to survive, and capitalism’s immanent crisis potentials force corporations try to create innovations such as new digital technologies. Informatisation, which includes the use of the computer as universal machine and the Internet, is the provisionally latest stage in the development of the productive forces that has affected media technologies and the media industry. The capital-driven structural digital transformation of the media industry has resulted in the convergence of production, distribution and consumption, the creation of a variety of non-tangible digital products, digital rationalisation and automation, and the universal real subsumption of labour under capital. These developments have also created the potential potentials for overcoming the capitalist character of the media economy and advancing decommodification based on the emergence of a universal digital media system
Capital accumulation · Capitalism · Capitalist mode of production · Digital economy · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Financial capital · Market economy · Means of production · Microeconomics · Mode of production · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Productive forces · Relations of production · Economic Development and Digital Transformation · Economic Issues in Ukraine · Law
Labor and monopoly capital
Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies
Kapitalisierung der Medienindustrie aus politökonomischer Perspektive
The Media Industry’s Structural Transformation in Capitalism and the Role of the State
Medien in Transformation . Radikaler Wandel als schrittweise Rekonfiguration
Capital
Intellectual and Manual Labour
Informatisierung, Formalisierung und kapitalistische Produktionsweise. Entstehung der Informationstechnik und Wandel der gesellschaftlichen Arbeit
Die ökonomische Doppelnatur des Spätkapitalismus
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |