Suchergebnisse

The article takes into exam the current literature about Big Data and data capitalism, from the perspective of the critical Internet theory. Particular attention will be placed to the ideas of data exploitation and raw data, which will prove to betray a form of digital fetishism: in short, the focus on the final results of the production process, rather than on the social relations by which the very same process is fueled.

The aim of the article is to explore the theoretical tension between structure and agency as laid out by Manuel Castells, from The Rise of the Network Society (1996) to Networks of Outrage and Hope (2012). With agency and structure recognized as the two main axes around which general social theory rotates, Castells' work appears to be affected by discontinuity rather than continuity. The first part of his theory mainly deals with structure and with the "pre-eminence of social morphology over social action", while the second is rather based on agency, and namely on the role played by grassroots movements. I will retrace his theoretical evolution while also stressing the point that network and society are not one and the same. Therefore, any all-embracing theoretical perspective is destined to miss the target, considering that technical, political, and social affairs follow different rules and patterns.

The article will analyze the resurfacing of charismatic power through the Web 2.0, by paying attention to the rise of Beppe Grillo as a political leader. By focusing on both the historical side – the evolution of Italian public opinion and the spread of cyclical cascades – and the structural one – namely, the power law organization of the blogosphere, likely to promote a huge concentration of authority – the article will discuss the extent to which the case of Grillo can tell us something about the future evolution of the Web and its power configurations.

By focusing on the case of the Italian political movement "Five Stars", founded in 2009 by former comedian Beppe Grillo, this article will analyze the resurfacing of a particular kind of power – charismatic authority – through a platform such as Web 2.0 that was expected to promote more rational consensus strategies. Although the political action of the Five Stars movement pretends to be inspired by a participative culture, it is in fact directly ruled by the founder via his blog, with a little space allowed for discussions. In this sense, the rise of Grillo as a political leader seems to both retrieve and renew an old form of authority grounded in a very traditional legitimacy – the charismatic and undisputed leadership of the boss – while at the same time being able to spread through the network. This article will offer an overview of events and also provide a theoretical interpretation.

Il saggio analizza le teorie critiche sul ruolo di Google, e sul suo potere nell'organizzazione della cultura.

This open access book traces the evolution of the European media landscape in the last 30 years, from 1990 to 2020. It is based on the theoretical classical hypotheses of regional media systems provided by Hallin and Mancini and at the same time puts them to test. The book further defines the proportions between geocultural patterns – national, regional, European, and global – to outline evolutionary trends in media landscapes. It analyzes to which degree European media have become more European, in the historical course of administrative unification and breaks the results down into concrete indexes and indicators. The book discusses the media systems of the member states of the European Union through a regional perspective, identifying similarities, differences, as well as their convergence in the digital age. It sheds light on the evolution of media systems in Europe, introduces existing relevant theoretical perspectives, and offers an overview of the new developments in European media. The book will appeal to students, researchers, and scholars of political science, communication, media, cultural, and policy studies, as well as practitioners and professionals interested in a better understanding of the European media landscape's evolution.

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. On Western and Eastern Media Systems: Continuities and Discontinuities -- Chapter 3. Europe and the Media in 1990-2020 -- Chapter 4. The Media in North-western Europe in the Last Three Decades -- Chapter 5. Nordic Media Systems -- Chapter 6. Southern Media Systems; Continuities, Changes & Challenges -- Chapter 7. The Media in Eastern Europe -- Chapter 8. Conclusions.