
Media and Communication Studies
Media and Communication Studies at Södertörn University conducts research and doctoral education in the area of Critical and Cultural Theory.
Our research is varied and extensive, encompassing many different theoretical perspectives and empirical areas. Most current research is distinguished by its basis in the extensive presence of the media in our daily lives, rather than focusing on a particular medium, format or platform. The areas of scholarly interest associated with this can be grouped into four main themes: Technoculture, Identity, Media History and Power.
- Technoculture deals with how everyday consumption and production practices, norms and behaviour are developed and maintained through various communication technologies, with the emphasis on digital media cultures.
- Identity examines how individual and collective self-awareness is established using the media, in interpretive analyses of different forms of media practices and associated narratives, symbols and spatial environments.
- Media History examines how the media, audiences and media production cultures change over time, and studies how media presence affects the understanding of history, memory and temporality.
- Power deals with how societal structures, power relationships, values and citizenship are produced, reproduced and challenged through the media’s organisation and content.
In association with the abovementioned main themes, work is being conducted in two areas that are also linked to strong international flows. One is the current discussion about mediatisation that focuses on the interaction of changes in the media with other sociocultural transformations, the other is research around media and information knowledge (MIK) that covers elements of media pedagogy, as well as media criticism and various forms of activism.
Page updated
10-05-2023