[Commlist] New book: Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination

We would like to announce a new publication from New York University 
Press, which we hope will be of interest.

*Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination***

Case Studies of Creative Social Change

*Edited by Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova & Gabriel Peters-Lazaro***

*_http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/popular-culture-and-the-civic-imagination_**__*

One cannot change the world unless one can imagine what a better world 
might look like. Civic imagination is the capacity to conceptualize 
alternatives to current cultural, social, political, or economic 
conditions; it also requires the ability to see oneself as a civic agent 
capable of making change, as a participant in a larger democratic 
culture. /Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination /represents a call 
for greater clarity about what we’re fighting for—not just what we’re 
fighting against.

Across more than thirty examples from social movements around the world, 
this casebook proposes “civic imagination” as a framework that can help 
us identify, support, and practice new kinds of communal participation. 
As the contributors demonstrate, young people, in particular, are 
turning to popular culture—from Beyoncé to Bollywood, from Smokey Bear 
to Hamilton, from comic books to VR—for the vernacular through which 
they can express their discontent with current conditions.*__*

A young activist uses YouTube to speak back against J. K. Rowling in the 
voice of Cho Chang in order to challenge the superficial representation 
of Asian Americans in children’s literature. Murals in Los Angeles are 
employed to construct a mythic imagination of Chicano identity. Twitter 
users have turned to #BlackGirlMagic to highlight the black radical 
imagination and construct new visions of female empowerment. In each 
instance, activists demonstrate what happens when the creative energies 
of fans are infused with deep political commitment, mobilizing new 
visions of what a better democracy might look like.*__*

**

*Henry Jenkins* is the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, 
Cinematic Arts and Education at the University of Southern California. 
He is the author or editor of 20 books including /Textual Poachers: 
Television Fans and Participatory Culture//, Convergence Culture: Where 
Old and New Media Collide, Spreadable Media: Creating Meaning and 
Value in a Networked Society/, and /By Any Media Necessary: The New 
Youth Activists/. He blogs at henryjenkins.org and co-hosts the podcast 
/How Do You Like It So Far?/*__*

**

*Sangita Shresthova* is the Director of Research of Civic Paths@USC. Her 
previous books include /By Any Media Necessary: The New Youth Activism/ 
(with Henry Jenkins et al.) and /Is it All About Hips?: Around the World 
With Bollywood Dance./*__*

**

*Gabriel Peters-Lazaro* is Assistant Professor at the University of 
Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts where he researches, 
designs and produces digital media for innovative learning. His current 
research interests include civic imagination and hypercinemas. He is a 
practicing documentary filmmaker and his courses deal with critical 
media making and theory.*__*


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