Networking the WorldMediatization and Globalization

André JanssonMKAD 01Fall 2009

Structure

• The universalist vision • Means of Globalization• The realms of mediatization• Networks and power geometries• Globalism and the future of network society• Reponse papers + Group project

A universal society?

• Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825)

• Universal association through industrialism- rational administration - infrastructure- trade

• From religion to modern communications

Communication and the shrinking of distances

• Geographical distances

• Social distances

• Cultural distances

”Universal society” within a European/imperialist framework

The utopian outlook – World Expos

• Imperial and industrial power demonstrations

• The role of communications and media

• Early ’place wars’

• Accentuated travel and tourism (e g Cook)

Universal exhibitions I• London 1851 ’the Great Exhibition (of the works of industry of

all nations)’

- Crystal Palace(cathedral of free trade)

- Victorian empire

- Miniaturization

Universal exhibitions II

• Paris 1889 (centennial of the revolution)- Electric communication (e g Bell exhibit)- Eiffel tower

Universal exhibitions III

• Montreal 1967 - ”Man and his World”

- The last great expo – success story- Negotiated universalism: the abolishment of national pavilions vs Francophone power-struggle in Quebec- Advanced communication infrastructure – ”megastructure” architecture

Man the Producer pavilion with Expo Express tracks

in the foreground (Montreal 1967)

Means of universalization

• GMT/UTC – Meridian conference 1884

• Standard measurments (e g metric scale)

• Technological standards (e g for radio transmission, telegraphy)

Abstract systems for social disembedding (Giddens)

Schivelbusch (1981) The Railway Journey

• The spiral of universalization/disembedding in the late 19th century:

• Time zones (timetables)• Technological standardization (tracks)• Administration and synchronization of trade• Wired telegraph networks (Morse code)• Print industries (newspapers, literature)• Tourism industry

The globalization triangle

Connectivity Networks

Universality Spaces Mobility Flows

The rise of network society

• From ”space of place” to ”space of flows” (Castells)

• E g cities are altered into nodes or exchange points

• New networks and nodes tend to follow old ones (Graham et al)

• Becoming a node is a crucial power resource (e g Sassen’s ”global cities”)

Realms of Mediatization

Culture Politics

Economy Technology

The case of the telegraph• Optical telegraphy – late 18th century France (semaphores, light)

• Electric telegraphy – 1830s Preussia – cables and Morse signals

• International Telegraph Union 1865 – standards, rates, stations

• Atlantic cable 1866

• London established as the hub of the world

• Radio telegraphy – Marconi around 1900

French foreign minister, ITU opening 1865:

”We are gathered here in a genuine congress of peace. If it is true that war, more often than not, is born out of misunderstanding, are we not removing one of its causes by facilitating the exchange of ideas between people and by placing at their disposal this amazing transmission system, this electric wire through which thought can travel across space at the speed of lightning, and which permits swift and uninterrupted dialogue between the scattered members of the human family?”

Influences of telegraphy• Military (e g Krim war, 1853-56 – Black Sea cable)• News agencies (e g Havas 1835, Wolff 1849, AP 1848, Reuters

1851) – news as commodity, information trade• ”Yellow press” – Pulitzer vs Hearst, 1890s• Altered world-view of citizens – immediacy and drama• Acceleration of economic processes, e g stock-exchange,

trade news• Power balance:

- control of colonies (railway, post, telegraphy)- world divided through news agencies and communication networks

Mattelart’s key point

• The ideology or utopia of networking – disembedding

versus

• The social and political realities of networking – re-embedding

Media, networks and power geometries

• The media as an instrument of power – e g propaganda (cinema), imperial control (telegraph)

• The media as an object of power – e g technological standards

• The media as a symbol of power – e g brands, industries

• The media as the power – ’mediacracy’ and media empires.

The control of the media • Pathé Frères, 1896 – patent on film• French monopoly: from cinema ownership to manufacturing

and sale of cameras, film• International dominance/dependence

before 1914

Geopolitics and competition

• 1919: 90% of films in Europe of US origin• American film industry after WWI: world dominance

through size and diversity.• 1928: French decree of 120 US films annually • Marshall plan after WWII: US demanded increased

access – screen quota replacing export quota• Crisis in French film industry • 1948 a new agreement was signed and French film

industry survived

Cultural imperialism• Dominance of European and US news agencies• American dominance in film and television – export of culture

and ideology (1970s: Schiller, Tunstall, McChesney)• UNESCO: New World Information and Communication Order

(MacBride report 1980)• Democratization of production, strengthening of national

media, ’Communication for development’• 1984-1985: USA and UK left UNESCO in protest• Few recommendations were realized• The hegemony of ”globalism” – ”free flow of information”

Media as the power

• Media empires and the control of information: e g Randolf Hearst and Spanish-American war in Cuba (Mattelart p 25)

• Pseudo-events (Boorstin): press conferences, staged

events, celebrity production…

• Simulations (Baudrillard) – ”The Gulf War Did Not Take Place”

How to understand contemporary network society?

• Cultural imperialism?

• Hybridization?

• Digital divide?

• Globalism?

Looking forward…

• What are the potentials of new digital media and participatory cultures?