Media, Power and International Politics

Recommended Prerequisites

Basic notions of international politics. Good English (reading and listening) comprehension and (speaking and writing) expression skills.

Teaching Methods

Theoretical-practical classes combine a first expository part accompanied by multimedia resources referring to the class material and a second part dedicated to the discussion of texts and case studies. Students should prepare the discussion of texts, videos or other materials identified as being discussed in the classroom. Some classes will have a more pronounced practical component, with these sessions being indicated as “Workshops” in the program schedule.

Learning Outcomes

This course critically analyzes the articulation between media, the internet, and international relations through the study of representations, agency, political communication, and data and information governance. Stemming from the permeability of the international sphere to information flows and mediated or mediatized narratives, it emphasizes how media and the internet are constitutive elements of power and counter-power dynamics. The course explores how these forces shape global narratives around war, peace, security, and gender.Combining theory and practice, concepts such as framing, mediatization, algorithms, and counterpublics will be used alongside analytical tools including the Propaganda Model, NWICO, and the CNN and Al-Jazeera effects to comprehend how representation and information governance are shaped within (in)visible, ever-present, and contestable global structures. Case studies will be paired with opportunities to develop practical skills in political communication.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1.Media Power and International Relations

a. Fundamental analytical concepts and perspectives

b.The international sphere and its permeability to the media

c. How the different IR Theories understand and conceptualise media power and its potential to counter-power

2.The International Politics of News: trends and tools

a.News’ hierarchies, the Propaganda Model and the NWICO

b.CNN and Al-Jazeera Effects

c.Digital media, sources and (global)public opinion

3.Popular culture and the construction of (counter)narratives

a.Streaming platforms as (counter)power

b.“Nation branding” and political satire

c.Music and Films as political languages

4.Internet as a place of political dispute

a.The geopolitics of cables, apps and data

b.Internet governance, algorithms and the surveillance society

c.Contentious digital international politics

5. Zooming into thematic cases

aThe politics of truth

b.Gender from feminist lenses

c.Securitisation,war and peace.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Akinson, J.D. (2011) Alternative Media and politics of resistance.PLang

Chouliaraki, L. (2006) The Spectatorship of Suffering.SAGE

Chouliaraki, L., & Georgiou, M. (2022). The Digital Border: Migration, Technology, Power. NYP

Epstein, C. (2008) The power of words in international relations: Birth of an anti-whaling discourse.MIT Press.

Fraser, N. (1990) Rethinking the public sphere, Social Text, (25/26), 56–80.

Gilboa, E. (2000) Mass Communication and Diplomacy: A Theoretical Framework, ComTheory, 10(3).

Highfield, T. (2016) Social Media and Everyday Politics. Polity

Howartd, P. (2020) Lie Machines.Yale UP.

Kensi, K. & Jamieson, K.H. (2017) The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication.

Robinson, P. (2002) The CNN Effect: The Myth of News Media, Foreign Policy and Intervention. Routledge.

Starosielski, N. (2015) The Undersea Network. Duke UP

Saha, A. (2018) Race and the Cultural Industries. Polity Press.

Tufte, T (2017) Communication and Social Change: A Citizen Perspective.Polity.