Hybrid Politics
Media and Participation
- Laura Iannelli - University of Sassari, Italy
SAGE Swifts
Hybrid Politics examines the combinations and competitions between older and newer media technologies, practices, actors, contents and logics, by exploring their potential and practical implications in terms of political participation.
In this Swift, Laura Iannelli analyses the 'hybridity' of politics in democratic societies from a multidisciplinary perspective, identifying the diverse forms of power and political participation that coexist within the contemporary complex media sphere, and which influence participation in the spheres of institutionalised and protest politics.
Building upon renowned global research and original case studies, the book proposes an innovative and challenging analytic strategy to understand, explain, and problematise the contemporary complexity of political participation and communication.
This rich, original, and engaging volume provides a new vernacular for understanding hybrid politics; paths to civic engagement that frequently fly under the radar and do not count as political. Through her discussion of pop protests, performative publics, polymedia, and civic engagement, Iannelli expertly synthesizes contemporary work to contribute her own, original take on the always-current question of the political. Smart, informed, and a must read for those interested in the political character of the net.
Hybrid Politics covers the modern history of media and publics, from the mass media era to the age of social media. This comprehensive review of research in the field makes for a valuable sourcebook. Ianelli’s discussion of the changing relationships between citizens and media points out the need for new models to explain emerging forms of politics.
This scholarly book brings together concerns for political activism, democracy, new [and old] media and changing cultural practices. It makes an invaluable contribution to multidisciplinary social science thinking about ways in which our world is moving. Iannelli’s case studies – especially those from outside the US and UK – offer much needed illumination and understanding.
Iannelli provides us with an insightful theorization and valuable resource for understanding the increasingly vital role played by communication in contemporary democratic politics.
Hybrid Politics: Participation and Communication Practices is a thorough, theoretically rich and pointed analytical intervention into the crowded terrain of participation research spanning media and communication studies, political science and sociology. The book achieves two very important goals. It assembles a minute chronology of media hybridity culminating with aspirations for democratic participation in their workings. At the same time, Laura Iannelli is able to navigate a very complex theoretical landscape to produce a truly interdisciplinary reading of intersecting media and the political, economic and social relations at their heart.
From the Occupy Movement in the US to The Island of Redundant Workers in Sardinia, Iannelli draws a powerful picture of contemporary instances of unconventional political participation where different media ecologies play an undisputed role. With its innovative take on hybrid politics, this volume successfully tackles the challenge to talk about politics, communication and the media with a fine-grained, interdisciplinary and theoretically-driven approach. Hybrid Politics is a remarkable work that provides a needed contribution to the study of political participation in contemporary democracies.
A worthy reference book… offering sophisticated analysis and asking important questions
