[Commlist] new book: InsUrgent Media from the Front: A Media Activism Reader

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

*InsUrgent Media from the Front***

A Media Activism Reader

*Edited by Chris Robé & Stephen Charbonneau***

*_https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9780253051394/insurgent-media-from-the-front/ 
<https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9780253051394/insurgent-media-from-the-front/>_**__*

*Receive a 20% discount online:*

*CSLS2020 *

“The ‘personal is political’ has become so trite, it is co-opted by the 
right. /InsUrgent Media from the Front/ traces the ethos of 
intersectional and indigenous politics historically and transnationally 
through the personal experiences of activists fighting to represent 
their struggles. It is urgent to understand the through lines of these 
alternative, activist and community media if we want to prevent social 
movements from becoming just another meme.”*—Vicki Mayer, author of 
/Almost Hollywood, Nearly New Orleans: The Lure of the Local Film 
Economy/**__*

“Chris Robé and Stephen Charbonneau’s edited collection /InsUrgent Media 
from the Front: A Media Activism Reader/ proposes that ‘visibility is 
clearly not enough’ when it comes to media activism. Their attention to 
media studies’ emphasis on technologies over practices helps focus media 
activism on an actual practice of activism rather than a detached 
understanding of activist media as cultural artifact. As they argue, 
media production, distribution, and exhibition “often serve as a means 
to activism rather than an ends.” In an era of hactivism and 
slacktivism, this volume makes a powerful reminder of the purpose of 
media activism and its urgency today, particularly as democracy is 
threatened in places like India and the United States.”*—**Dale Hudson, 
author of /Thinking through Digital Media: Transnational Environments 
and Locative Places/**__*

In the 1940s, it was 16 mm film. In the 1980s, it was handheld video 
cameras. Today, it is cell phones and social media. Activists have 
always found ways to use the media du jour for quick and widespread 
distribution.*__*

//

/InsUrgent Media from the Front /takes a look at activist media 
practices in the 21st century and sheds light on what it means to enact 
change using different media of the past and present. Chris Robé and 
Stephen Charbonneau's edited collection uses the term "insUrgent media" 
to highlight the ways grassroots media activists challenged and are 
challenging hegemonic norms like colonialism, patriarchy, imperialism, 
classism, and heteronormativity. Additionally, the term is used to 
convey the sense of urgency that defines media activism. Unlike slower 
traditional media, activist media has historically sacrificed aesthetics 
for immediacy. Consequently, this "run and gun" method of capturing 
content has shaped the way activist media looks throughout history.

With chapters focused on indigenous resistance, community media, and the 
use of media as activism throughout US history, /InsUrgent Media from 
the Front/ emphasizes the wide reach media activism has had over time. 
Visibility is not enough when it comes to media activism, and the 
contributors provide examples of how to refocus the field not only to be 
an activist but to study activism as well. *__*


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