Power and Protest in a Media Driven World

Undergraduate / Graduate

Media technologies have revolutionized ways of belonging together, with intimacy, community and collaboration no longer limited by physical proximity. However, apart from being a space where these relations play out, media can also be weaponized to galvanize citizens, build movements, imagine nations, manufacture consent, and even forge new gods. Deployed in different ways, media can serve the political agendas of neoliberal regimes, while also being platform for disempowered and resisting groups to form alliances and engage in collaborative and heterogenous world-making projects. This course will navigate the complex landscape of media's dual role. We will begin by examining early debates on media's influence in shaping society and progress to understanding its growing prominence in anthropological inquiry. Students will explore the tension between media as a tool of power and as a crucial medium for transnational resistance movements. The course will provide a critical journey into the multifaceted roles of media in contemporary society, equipping students with the analytical tools to decipher and engage with media's complex impact on global and local scales.