In this wide-ranging work, John B. Thompson expands on the original account of ideology and relates it to culture and mass communication in modern society. Thompson gave a concise and critical evaluation of the major contributions of Marx, Mannheim, Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas in the theory of ideology. He argued that these thinkers, and social and political theorists more generally, did not adequately address the nature of mass communication and its role in modern society. To overcome this shortcoming, Thompson conducted an extensive analysis of the development of mass communication and outlined a unique social theoretical framework of mass communication and its impact, thereby extending and expanding the critical theory of the Frankfurt School.
Reader comments
This book is very inspiring! Thompson's analysis of ideology is quite profound and links it to mass communication, which reminded me of Amusing Ourselves to Death. The analysis of the development of mass communication in the book is also very good, and the social theoretical framework outlined is very interesting. I especially like the author's critical evaluation of various thinkers' theories, which is very insightful. In short, this is a book worth reading and will make you think more deeply about modern culture.
This book is very inspiring! Thompson's analysis of ideology is quite profound and links it to mass communication, which reminded me of Amusing Ourselves to Death. The analysis of the development of mass communication in the book is also very good, and the social theoretical framework outlined is very interesting. I especially like the author's critical evaluation of various thinkers' theories, which is very insightful. In short, this is a book worth reading and will make you think more deeply about modern culture.