Culture, discourse and power: The rediscovery of elite culture and power in media studies?

This chapter looks at the topic of culture and power while also extending the arguments and thinking developed in Chapter 4. As such it sets out an alternative approach for conceptualising and researching the links between culture and power in media studies. It begins by re-examining the traditional conceptual parameters that have guided most research linking the two within the discipline. The argument is that such parameters have led to two unintended consequences. First, the cultures and belief systems of powerful elite groups have been largely neglected. Second, the usual conceptual mechanisms used for linking culture and power, such as ideology or discourse, have become increasingly redundant.