Media and the Restyling of Politics: Consumerism, Celebrity and Cynicism

Within media research and cultural studies, the mediation of politicians and the play-off between versions of high and low politics are attracting increasing interest. Media and the Restyling of Politics brings together the work of leading academics in media and cultural studies to pursue an agenda of research, analysis and debate about the changing nature of political culture and its mediation. The contributors question the ways in which emerging forms of political style relate not only to new conventions of celebrity and publicity but to ideas about representation, citizenship and the democratic process. Topics covered include: celebrity politicians, the marketing of politics, identity and popular culture.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - John Corner and Dick Pels The Re-Styling of Politics Democracy′s Inner Voice - Frank Ankersmit Political Style as Unintended Consequence of Political Action Aesthetic Representation and Political Style - Dick Pels Re-Balancing Identity and Difference in Media Democracy Mediated Persona and Political Culture - John Corner The Celebrity Politician - John Street Political Style and Popular Culture `After Dallas and Dynasty We Have… Democracy′ - Liesbet van Zoonen Articulating Soap, Politics and Gender Citizen Consumers - Margaret Scammell Towards a New Marketing of Politics? Lifestyle Politics and Citizen-Consumers - W Lance Bennett Identity, Communication and Political Action in Late Modern Society Reconfiguring Civic Culture in the New Media Milieu - Peter Dahlgren Popular Culture and Mediated Politics - Jon Simons Intellectuals, Elites and Democracy Marked Bodies - Bronislaw Szerszynski Environmental Activism and Political Semiotics

About the Author :
Dick Pels is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Human Sciences at Brunel University, West London, and a Senior Research Affiliate of the Amsterdam School of Social Science Research. He is the author of Property and Power in Social Theory. A Study in Intellectual Rivalry(Routledge, 1998), The Intellectual as Stranger. Studies in Spokespersonship (Routledge, 2000) and Unhastening Science. Autonomy and Reflexivity in the Social Theory of Knowledge (forthcoming Liverpool University Press, 2002). He has edited books on Bourdieu, basic income, and political style, and has widely published in international journals on social and political theory, the sociology of knowledge and intellectuals, and intellectual history. His current research interests are in theories of performativity and performance, the social status of ′things′, intellectuals and media, and the role of celebrity culture.

Review :
"The authors deal with a number of important concepts- e.g., aesthetic politics, celebrity politician, cool politics, the president as ′entertainer-in-chief,′ ′the supermarket state,′ permanent campaigns, and political brands- and discuss their implementation and far-reaching sociocultural implications... this work deserves to be widely read, especially during election seasons. Highly recommend."