Abstract

CALIFANO, Bernadette. POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMMUNICATION: FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE FIELD IN LATIN AMERICA. Perspect. comun. [online]. 2021, vol.14, n.2, pp.57-94. ISSN 0718-4867.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48672021000200057.

This article discusses the foundations that gave rise to the Political Economy of Communication (PEC), identifying its main authors and contributions, with emphasis on the investigations that allowed consolidating the field in Latin America. This paper traces a route that dates back to the mid-twentieth century, when a series of theorists trained in the assumptions of neoclassical economics and Marxist theory raised the need to analyze the media as industrial organizations that produce and distribute commodities. They began to inquire about the economic specificity of cultural industries and their products, and dealing into the relationships established between states, media companies, and large corporations. As the industries of the communication sector expanded and gained a relevant weight over the world economy, the EPC consolidated itself as one of the central approaches for studying the economic behavior of the media, its production processes, forms of growth and development, and the public policies in the area.

Keywords : Latin America; political economy of communication; cultural industries; Marxism; communication theory.

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