New Edited Volume: Rethinking Media and Communication: A Critical Sociological Lens 

We are pleased to announce the recent publication of Rethinking Media and Communication: A Critical Sociological Lens, edited by Paško Bilić (IRMO) and Thomas Allmer (Paderborn University), and published by Brill in their Studies in Critical Social Sciences series. This book brings together 17 international contributions that critically examine media and communication in capitalist societies, highlighting power, inequality, domination, and the deep connections between communication systems and economic and political structures. 

Contributions by CDK Members 

Two chapters in this important volume are authored by members of the Social Communication Research Centre: 

Sašo Slaček Brlek & Boris Mance: In the chapter “Contested Legacies – Marxian Influences on the Sociology of Media and Communication,” Slaček Brlek and Mance examine how Marxian theory has shaped and been marginalized within media and communication studies. Using bibliometric and network analysis of Web of Science data, they trace a clear historical trajectory: Marxism’s systematic exclusion during the Cold War due to political pressures, funding regimes, and the dominance of administrative research; its limited and peripheral presence after the Cold War; and its renewed prominence following the Great Recession of 2008. Rather than treating media sociology as a coherent subfield, the chapter maps the field by following the circulation of Marx’s ideas across research traditions. This reveals a fragmented but interconnected intellectual space in which Marxian concepts extend well beyond narrowly defined Marxist scholarship, informing work in political economy, cultural studies, feminism, postcolonial theory, antiracist research, and critical discourse analysis. 

Jernej Amon Prodnik & Igor Vobič: In the chapter “Re-examining News Sources in the Sociology of the Media: A Political Economy of Communication Approach,” Prodnik and Vobič offer a critical re-examination of journalistic sourcing practices. They demonstrate that dominant empirical studies of news sources often overlook the broader social context in which sourcing is embedded, particularly external power relations and information subsidies that shape what is considered legitimate news. Their analysis situates sourcing at the heart of sociological inquiry into media power and calls for integrating sociological and political-economic perspectives to understand inequalities in news production. 

About the Volume 

Rethinking Media and Communication challenges readers to reconsider how communication processes are shaped by and reflect broader patterns of domination and inequality. Drawing on sociology, political economy, media studies, and related fields, the book offers new insights into media commodification, media concentration, public spheres, symbolic power, and the role of technology in contemporary societies. It is an important resource for scholars in critical media studies, political communication, and the sociology of media.