Raymond Williams' communicative materialism

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5784997
AutoresCatherine Fuchs (0000-0003-0589-4579, University of Westminster, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen20
Número6
Páginas744-762
Fecha de publicación2017-11-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEuropean Journal of Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1367-5494 • E-ISSN: 1460-3551
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1367549417732998
OpenAlexW2769243522
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas24
Referencias citadas22

Raymond Williams is one of the most important and influential cultural theorists. Although he wrote on communication(s), the main reception of his works is today predominantly focused on his works on literature and culture. This article therefore presents an overview of his notion of communication and asks: How does Raymond Williams conceive of communication? How can we use his communicative materialism today for understanding digital communication? Williams advanced a materialist understanding of communication. His elements of a materialist communication theory help us to illuminate communication in the context of the base/superstructure problem, and ideology as a peculiar form of instrumental communication. He provides concepts that we need for a materialist understanding of digital media. The article concludes that we need the approach of communicative materialism for grounding a Marxist theory of communication that is relevant to the analysis of digital media. This article forms part of 'On the Move', a special issue that marks the twentieth anniversary of the European Journal of Cultural Studies

Communication theory · Materialism · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Social Media and Politics