ABSTRACT
This chapter clarifies the perspective on media literacy that corresponds with interests, as involving critical consciousness, creation, communication, and civic engagement. It reviews scholarship that addresses understandings of civic engagement in contemporary society. The chapter identifies terms such as self-actualizing citizenship, fan activism, and DIY citizenship that attempt to account for the political perspectives and practices of today. It discusses the scholarship related to remix, and then articulates the significance of political remix. The chapter explores the relationships between political remix, media literacy, and civic engagement. It utilizes a number of examples from contemporary popular culture, from popular mash-up videos to political memes, to introduce an analytical framework for understanding media practices. Critical media literacy, informed by this engagement with political remix, is one way we, like Katniss, might create communities, develop our skills, challenge inequality and oppression, and become the 'informed, reflective and engaged participants essential for a democratic society'.
