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Recent debates surrounding human security have focused on the satisfaction of human needs as the vital goal for global development. Peter Wilkin highlights the limitations of this view and argues that unless we incorporate an account of human autonomy into human security then the concept is flawed. He reveals how human security is a concern with social relations that connect people in local, national and global networks of power, structured through capitalism and hierarchical inter-state systems. Autonomy, as an aspect of human security, depends upon the ability of citizens to gain information about the processes that shape their lives. In this respect autonomy and communication are inherently linked and are prerequisites for the establishment of meaningful democratic systems. To what extent do developments in global communication enhance or undermine autonomy? As the world's media companies continue to merge, we are moving towards an ever more commercially driven system of global information. Wilkin argues that private ownership provides an increasingly powerful obstacle to human autonomy, and that the neo-liberal institutional and policy framework – now a global tendency – raises major problems for the attainment of human security. At the same time it has provided the ideological justification for the extension of private power into ever wider areas of public life. Changes in global communication reflect wider tendencies to enhance the power of global elites at the expense of working people and the author illustrates how and why these changes have taken place and the forms of opposition that have arisen in response to them.
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The Political Economy of Global Communication An Introduction Peter Wilkin Pluto P Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA First published 2001 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Peter Wilkin 2001 The right of Peter Wilkin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wilkin, Peter. The political economy of global communication : an introduction / Peter Wilkin. p. cm. – (Human security in the global economy) ISBN 0-7453-1406-6 1. Telecommunication–Mergers. 2. Mass media–Mergers. 3. Consolidation and merger of corporations. 4. Globalization–Economic aspects. 5. Telecommunication–Political aspects. I. Title. II. Series. HE7631 .W535 2001 384’.041–dc21 2001002157 ISBN ISBN 10 10 0 7453 1406 6 hardback 0 7453 1401 5 paperback 09 9 08 8 07 7 06 6 05 5 04 4 03 3 02 2 01 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG Typeset from disk by Gawcott Typesetting Services Printed in the European Union by TJ International, Padstow, England Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements Introduction vii ix 1 1. Understanding Human Security Human security and international relations Defining human security Security and the study of international relations Global communication and human security Global communication and world order Communication, human security and the public sphere 4 4 5 7 16 18 21 2. Towards a Global Communications Industry Global communication – a historical overview States and mass communications The political economy of global communication – understanding the transformation of media markets Technology, ideology and social power in the political economy of communication Neo