ABSTRACT
The study of mediatization of culture and society has accelerated since the late 1990s. However, the development of theories to explain why mediatization does or does not occur, and to what extent, remain relatively limited. Inasmuch as the protean nature of contemporary communications permeates most aspects of cultural and social life, it is important to better explain this process. My main argument is that interdisciplinarity could be effective in furthering the development of theories on mediatization. I review literature on mediatization of politics, religion, and science to tentatively outline some explanatory factors, such as the capability and legitimacy of institutions in these fields. Mediatization being a long-term process, and potential predictors being related to organizational and national factors, research on mediatization requires cross-disciplinary, longitudinal, and comparative endeavors.
