[ecrea] New book: Neoliberalism, Media and the Political

Neoliberalism, Media and the Political

Sean Phelan



Neoliberalism, Media and the Political presents a novel critical 
analysis of the condition of media and journalism in neoliberal 
cultures. Emphasizing neoliberalism's status as a political ideology 
that is simultaneously hostile to politics, the argument is grounded in 
empirical illustrations from different social contexts, including 
post-Rogernomics New Zealand, Celtic Tiger Ireland, the Leveson Inquiry 
into the UK press, and the climate-sceptic blogosphere. Phelan draws on 
a variety of theoretical sources, especially Laclau and Bourdieu, to 
affirm the importance of neoliberalism as an analytical concept. Yet, he 
also interrogates how critiques of neoliberalism – in media research and 
elsewhere – can reduce social practices to the category of neoliberal. 
Against the image of a monolithic free-market ideology that imposes 
itself on other domains, the book identifies the potential sites of a 
cultural politics within neoliberalized media regimes.



Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Disfiguring Neoliberalism
1. Articulating Neoliberalism in Critical Media and Communication Studies
2. Neoliberal Discourse: Theory, History and Trajectories
3. Neoliberal Logics and Field Theory
4. Neoliberalism and Media Democracy: A Representative Anecdote from 
Post-Rogernomics New Zealand
5. The Journalistic Habitus and the Realist Style
6. Media Cultures, Anti-Politics and the 'Climategate' Affair
7. Neoliberal Imaginaries, Press Freedom and the Politics of Leveson
8. Media Rituals and the 'Celtic Tiger': The Neoliberal Nation and its 
Transnational Circulation
Conclusion: The Possibility of a Radical Media Politics



'Understanding how the concept and mechanics of neoliberalism work 
through and in the media and the consequences for our political lives is 
one of the key issues of our times. Phelan manages to weave political 
economy with cultural studies, discourse theory with field theory 
alongside an historical analysis of the concept of neoliberalism, to 
offer an incisive and insightful empirical critique of how neoliberalism 
gets mediated through contemporary issues… It should be required reading 
for any scholar interested in a critical media politics…'
- Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK



'If political theorists have sometimes been inclined to ignore the work 
of media and communication researchers, this book shows why they can no 
longer do so. Phelan offers a powerful analysis of the political role 
media and journalism play in the performance of neoliberal logics.'
- Jason Glynos, University of Essex, UK



'Neoliberalism, Media and the Political is a theoretically astute, 
politically engaged, and empirically grounded guide to the 
often-perplexing world of neoliberalized media. Sean Phelan goes beyond 
neoliberalism's willful misrepresentations, and beyond the ways that it 
likes to look at itself in the mirror, to deliver a penetrating analysis 
of the actually existing, variegated, and often 'disfigured' forms of 
mediatized market rule.'
- Jamie Peck, author of Constructions of Neoliberal Reason



Palgrave Macmillan

November 2014

£60.00 |$95.00



For review copies, please contact Lauren Pettifer at 
(lauren.pettifer /at/ palgrave.com)

For further information, see 
http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/neoliberalism-media-and-the-political-sean-phelan/?K=9781137308351



Sean Phelan (PhD)

Senior Lecturer

School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing

Massey University

PO Box 756

Wellington

Aotearoa New Zealand



Room: 5E07

Phone:  +64 4 801 5799 ext 63539

Fax:  +64 4 801 2693

E-mail: (s.phelan /at/ massey.ac.nz)



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