SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Gholam, Khiabany and Sreberny, Annabelle (2014) 'Beyond Metropolitanism and Nativism: Re-grounding Media Theory.' Asian Journal of Social Science, 41 (5). pp. 471-491.

[img]
Preview
Text - Accepted Version
Download (228kB) | Preview

Abstract

While de-Westernisation is an interesting political intervention in media theory, analytically it offers little. We critique this approach through six inter-related arguments. The first point of critique challenges the putative singularity of the West. The second line of enquiry raises questions about the emergence of new academic disciplines and their intellectual offerings. Our third point is that the call to de-Westernise Media Studies is naïve, ignores history and the long patterns of global interconnectedness that have mutually formed the West/Rest. The fourth argument is that “de-Westernisation” suggests that the theory and methods of Media Studies offer nothing of use outside their original birthplaces, while the fifth argument is the conceptual danger of nativism. The sixth critique centres on the problem of essentialising culture as a determinate object. Examining the contemporary media practices of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we suggest that the true alternative to a repressive theocracy is its internal challenge by women, students and other parts of civil society that offers a critical third way beyond the binary divide.

Item Type: Journal Article
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Arts
ISSN: 15684849
Copyright Statement: © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2014. This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Brill in Asian Journal of Social Science, available online: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-12341316
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-12341316
Date Deposited: 03 Aug 2018 08:48
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/26188

Altmetric Data

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
314Downloads
6 month trend
173Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item