Cherian George - Böcker

The Internet has been used to democratize public discourse in Malaysia and Singapore, two countries in the zone between liberal democracies and authoritarian states. Web sites that have emerged on the margins of the political system engage in a contentious style of journalism challenging the consensus that prevails over and through mainstream media.Cherian George, a well-known Singaporean intellectual and journalist before he embarked on an academic career, provides detailed case studies of online alternative media sites in Singapore and Malaysia, and examines arguments that explain their development in terms of technology and of differing norms of journalism and democracy.This nuanced work draws on social movement studies and media studies to challenge current understandings of the relationship between media and the internet. The book’s lively style will make it relevant for anyone interested in politics and media in Malaysia and Singapore.

This study of Southeast Asian media and politics explores issues of global relevance pertaining to journalism's relationship with political power. It argues that the development of free, independent, and plural media has been complicated by trends towards commercialisation, digital platforms, and identity-based politics. These forces interact with state power in complex ways, opening up political space and pluralising discourse, but without necessarily producing structural change. The Element has sections on the democratic transitions of Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia; authoritarian resilience in Singapore; media ownership patterns in non-communist Southeast Asia; intolerance in Indonesia and Myanmar; and digital disruptions in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Communication is ubiquitous and information is abundant. Political and economic markets are more open than they have ever been. Yet, there is no escaping the fact that communication continues to flow across fields where power is distributed unevenly. This collection of articles analyzes and responds to asymmetries of power in a diversity of contexts. They are drawn from presentations at the 2016 Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, held in Fukuoka, Japan. The conference theme presented an opening for scholars from various disciplines and academic traditions to engage with the questions of power at different levels of analysis—from micro sites of power like a doctor’s consultation room, to the geopolitical arenas where nations wage war, make peace, and spy on one another. The resulting collection straddles different methodologies and styles, from survey research to essays. Leading scholars and junior researchers have combined to create a volume that reflects the breadth of communication scholarship and its contemporary concerns.

Communication is ubiquitous and information is abundant. Political and economic markets are more open than they have ever been. Yet, there is no escaping the fact that communication continues to flow across fields where power is distributed unevenly. This collection of articles analyzes and responds to asymmetries of power in a diversity of contexts. They are drawn from presentations at the 2016 Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, held in Fukuoka, Japan. The conference theme presented an opening for scholars from various disciplines and academic traditions to engage with the questions of power at different levels of analysis—from micro sites of power like a doctor’s consultation room, to the geopolitical arenas where nations wage war, make peace, and spy on one another. The resulting collection straddles different methodologies and styles, from survey research to essays. Leading scholars and junior researchers have combined to create a volume that reflects the breadth of communication scholarship and its contemporary concerns.

Polarisation seems to fix people in antagonistic us/them camps. But, around the world, there are groups of citizens who refuse to give up on the democratic promise of a larger ‘we’. Challenging received prejudices and resisting tribal appeals from political leaders and social media, they practise dialogue and deliberation to nurture reciprocal respect for difference.Guided by insights from deliberative democracy, social psychology, memory studies and other fields, Cherian George takes readers on a global, multi-sectoral tour of the fight against polarisation. On an American campus inflamed by war in the Middle East, a small group of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel students meet over meals to try to understand one another. In Indonesia, women join hands to overcome religious conflict in their hometown. In New Zealand, indigenous Mâori and the descendants of settlers serve as joint custodians of the country's longest river. The book reveals how lessons from this resistance movement help chart a path for democracies confronting division and hate.Fighting Polarisation is enlightening reading for undergraduate and graduate students of media and communication studies, comparative politics, political sociology, human rights, and conflict studies, as well as general readers concerned about the future of democracy.

Polarisation seems to fix people in antagonistic us/them camps. But, around the world, there are groups of citizens who refuse to give up on the democratic promise of a larger ‘we’. Challenging received prejudices and resisting tribal appeals from political leaders and social media, they practise dialogue and deliberation to nurture reciprocal respect for difference.Guided by insights from deliberative democracy, social psychology, memory studies and other fields, Cherian George takes readers on a global, multi-sectoral tour of the fight against polarisation. On an American campus inflamed by war in the Middle East, a small group of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel students meet over meals to try to understand one another. In Indonesia, women join hands to overcome religious conflict in their hometown. In New Zealand, indigenous Mâori and the descendants of settlers serve as joint custodians of the country's longest river. The book reveals how lessons from this resistance movement help chart a path for democracies confronting division and hate.Fighting Polarisation is enlightening reading for undergraduate and graduate students of media and communication studies, comparative politics, political sociology, human rights, and conflict studies, as well as general readers concerned about the future of democracy.