Mediated Democracy
August 24, 2005, Danish Architecture Center, Strandgade 27B, DK-1401 Copenhagen
Final conference of the research program on ‘Media and democracy in the network society’ (MODINET)
Traditionally, politics has been understood as the ways in which people negotiate and legitimate the allocation of values in society - often focusing on the institutions of parliamentary democracy. In recent decades, however, a somewhat broader understanding has gained ground, associating politics with more diverse social goals and with equally diverse means of attaining them. Politics includes what people practice in a range of social contexts where they conceive of themselves as citizens, consumers, and cocreators of culture. The field of politics does not have one center, but is distributed, partly because of the presence of the media.
Politics is, to a significant degree, conducted in and through the media. And, the media have themselves contributed to new practices of political participation that involve a growing range of actors and interests. From the local newspaper to the internet, the media represent a meeting ground and battleground that is an integrated part of political activities involving both established and emerging social interests and groups.
This development has been addressed by a national research program in Denmark, ‘Media and Democracy in the Network Society’ (MODINET), during 2002-2006, with contributions by close to 50 researchers from media studies and social sciences. The conference presents findings from and implications of the research program.
Keynote speaker Professor Michael Schudson, University of California, San Diego.
For further information contact Annet Krogsdam Jørgensen (aykj@hum.ku.dk)
Press contact: Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen (kbj@hum.ku.dk)
RELATEREDE LINKS
Keynote speaker Professor Michael Schudson
Project leader Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen