Karen Jane Salutan08/14/14PoliEcon
Political economy is the study of the social relations,
particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the
production, distribution, and consumption of resources, including
communication resources. This formulation has a certain practical
value because it calls attention to how the communication business
operates, for example, how communications products move through a
chain of producers such as a Hollywood film studio, to wholesalers,
retailers, and, finally consumers, whose purchases, rentals, and
attention are fed back into new processes of production. A more
general and ambitious definition of political economy is the study
of control and survival in social life. Control refers specifically
to the internal organization of social group members and the
process of adapting to change.
Reference: Political Economy of the Media Vincent Mosco
http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405131995_yr2013_chunk_g978140513199521_ss57-1
Analysis:Political economy refers to the interdisciplinary
studies coming from economics, sociology and political science.
Economics is concerned with the production, distributuon and
consumption of wealth in the society. The government, public,
private institutions and the common people are both the consumers
and producers of economic and communication resources. Each member
of the society has a function in producing, distributing and
consuming the products of communication like newspapers, books,
magazines, films, audiences in order to control people, processes
and other things. As an example, movie consumers will go to cinema
houses, buy dvd, download and streaming the videos online. The
consumers buy film and the producers got ther money back and after
that they may produce and distribute another movie for the masses
that the latter will consume once again. Political economy is also
a social and power relations that refers to the free and creative
human activity that changes the world and makes history by using
media as a ppwerful tool to communicate and influence others.
