Name: the reality of the mass media
Price: 507.92 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Niklas Luhmann
ISBN: 9780804740777

Type

Physical Book

Author

Niklas Luhmann

Translated by

Kathleen Cross

Publisher

Stanford University Press

Language

English

Pages

154

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

22.8 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm

Weight

0.24 kg.

ISBN

0804740771

ISBN13

9780804740777

Synopsis "the reality of the mass media"

In The Reality of the Mass Media, Luhmann extends his theory of social systems--applied in his earlier works to the economy, the political system, art, religion, the sciences, and law--to an examination of the role of mass media in the construction of social reality. Luhmann argues that the system of mass media is a set of recursive, self-referential programs of communication, whose functions are not determined by the external values of truthfulness, objectivity, or knowledge, nor by specific social interests or political directives. Rather, he contends that the system of mass media is regulated by the internal code information/noninformation, which enables the system to select its information (news) from its own environment and to communicate this information in accordance with its own reflexive criteria. Despite its self-referential quality, Luhmann describes the mass media as one of the key cognitive systems of modern society, by means of which society constructs the illusion of its own reality. The reality of mass media, he argues, allows societies to process information without destabilizing social roles or overburdening social actors. It forms a broad reservoir (memory) of options for the future coordination of action, and it provides parameters for the stabilization of political reproduction of society, as it produces a continuous self-description of the world around which modern society can orient itself. In his discussion of mass media, Luhmann elaborates a theory of communication in which communication is seen not as the act of a particular consciousness, nor the medium of integrative social norms, but merely the technical codes through which systemic operations arrange and perpetuate themselves.

Niklas Luhmann

(Author)

View Author's Page

Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998), studied law at the University of Freiburg and earned a doctoral degree. He is considered one of the most prominent pioneers of Sociological Systems Theory, whose innovative approach contrasted with that of Talcott Parsons, the most renowned theorist in the field during the 1960s, under whom he studied at Harvard University. He held various positions at the Universities of Münster, Frankfurt, and finally at the University of Bielefeld, where he remained until his retirement in 1993. His prolific work as a writer on diverse topics such as law, economics, politics, art, ecology, or mass media continued even after this date, culminating with his most important work: The Society of Society, published in 1997.

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