Global Communication Paradigms

Abstract

In order to describe the relations between the local, the national and the global one needs to look at the various theories to trace established ways of how thinkers have approached the issue. This chapter provides a brief historical account of global communication and an assessment of the various paradigms that have dominated the field in the past half-century or so: modernization theory; cultural or media imperialism; critical political economy and cultural studies; media globalization. The short sections on the theories of modernization, cultural imperialism, political economy and cultural studies are followed by an analysis of the cultural, economic and political dimensions of globalization, which has become a catchphrase of scholars, politicians and media regulators.