[Commlist] new book: Rural Media Studies

Rural Media Studies: A Global Perspective - by Rashid Gabdulhakov & Marc 
Esteve del Valle
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/rural-media-studies-9781978763920/

Description

An interdisciplinary and international roster of contributors 
foregrounds rural and remote communities as dynamic sites of innovation, 
struggle, and cultural (re)negotiation amid digitalization.

Although media scholarship has long privileged urban spaces, more 
research is needed to examine how digital technologies, platform 
infrastructures, and evolving media practices are reshaping life beyond 
metropolitan centers. Contributors employ a range of global case studies 
from Italy to Kazakhstan to The Lithium Triangle and beyond to explore 
how rural actors engage with platforms, navigate shifting information 
ecologies, sustain journalistic practices, and adapt to technological 
transformations in everyday life, governance, and agriculture.

Through these explorations, this volume positions rural media studies as 
a distinct and urgently needed subfield with the potential to challenge 
urban biases and widen the conceptual and methodological horizons of 
media research.

Table of Contents
Introduction: Rural Media Studies From a Global Perspective
Rashid Gabdulhakov and Marc Esteve del Valle (both University of 
Groningen, Netherlands)

1. Towards a “Platform Rurality”: The Co-Design Experience of 
Community-Based Cooperatives from Abruzzo (Italy)
Antonio Opromolla (University of L'Aquila, Italy), Fabio Virgilio 
(CulTurMedia Legacoop, Italy) and Francesca Belotti (University of 
L'Aquila, Italy)
2. Digital Political Participation in Rural Kazakhstan: Evidence from 
Three Villages
Yerkebulan Sairambay (Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI 
Essen), Germany)
3. Balancing Ethics and Closeness: Voices from Rural Journalists in 
Norway and Spain
Cristóbal Mora Bieli-Bianchi (Nord University, Norway)
4. 'A Digital Threat?' The Impact of Technology on the Continuity of 
Folk Media in Ethiopia
Hagos Nigussie (Paderborn University, Germany)
5. Rural and Regional Media and First Nations Nation-Building in Australia
Holly Randell-Moon (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
6. The Structure of Rural Journalism: Population, Isolation, and 
Independence
Tyler W. S. Nagel (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Canada), 
Scott A. Eldridge II (University of Groningen, Netherlands) and Marcel 
Broersma (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
7. “Now We Are More Llike in the City”: Digitalization of Everyday Life 
in Rural-Indigenous Communities of the Lithium Triangle
Martina Di Tullio (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
8. Playing with and Reconstructing the Rural-Urban Duality: Thracian 
Village Women's Digital Media Performance
Feride Güner (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Turkey)
9. Smartphones, Surveillance, and Leisure: Rural Women's Digital 
Negotiations in Kerala
Renza Kalarikkandy Maliyekkal (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands)
10. Exploring Social Media as a Tool for Representation Among Rural Youth
Sindisiwe Mbili (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)
11. Digitalisation in Agriculture: Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer 
and Changing Communication Structures on Farms in Austria
Corinna Peil and Ricarda Drüeke (both University of Salzburg, Austria)

Conclusion: Rural Media Studies: Lessons, Challenges, and the Road Ahead
Rashid Gabdulhakov and Marc Esteve del Valle (both University of 
Groningen, Netherlands)

Review Quotes

"Too often, the rural is placed only in contrast to the urban, 
understood as an absence rather than a presence. Rural Media Studies 
corrects this, placing rurality at the center of a rich, global and 
deeply textured narrative. Blending inviting storytelling, vital 
empirical data and thoughtful theoretical discussions, Rural Media 
Studies dismantles the dated rural monolith, highlights the varied 
realities of communities across continents and demonstrates how 
structural inequalities play out across different media landscapes and 
platforms. The result is a fresh, important and genuinely urgent 
perspective that reshapes how we understand the rural in everyday life." 
--Nick Mathews, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, USA, and 
Author of Deserted: Life Without Local News in Rural America (2026)

"Rural Media Studies' multifaceted approach to rurality offers a welcome 
and much-needed anti-dote to urban-centrism and cityism. The book's 
shift away from the glorification of the digital, in combination with 
its attention for indigeneity, participation and rural journalism make 
it a precious contribution to a multitude of academic fields." --Nico 
Carpentier, Extraordinary Professor at Charles University, Czech Republic
---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely. The commlist has no responsibility for any damage caused by its postings. Subscription to the list automatically implies agreement with this rule.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------