Mapping global forms, local materials and digital culture: towards a theory for comparative media studies

This article intends to argue for a comparative approach to media studies to be based on the recognition of a global encounter of cultures with the imperatives of modernity and industrialisation. As different as the capitalist development in question may turn out in respective areas, it will be argued that the divergent histories of modernisation nonetheless generate a common experience that connects the Global South and the Global North, the West and the non-West, the First, Second and Third Worlds. The article therefore argues for a theoretical approach that pays attention to the power relations existing between different geopolitical areas, yet refuses to epistemologically privilege a Eurocentric prism. Instead, it explores in what ways comparative media studies might deal with cultural forms that are wholly industrialised and relatively capital intensive in their provision, such as digital mass media that rely on telecommunication networks, computer hardware and subscription fees. Aiming to br...