Political Economy of Communication and Critical Theory of Media

This article examines two critical research traditions in communications, as well as the relations between them: on the one hand, the Frankfort School’s Critical Theory of Media and, on the other, the political economy of communication. While it is commonly acknowledged that the latter has roots in the former, this acknowledgement often lacks epistemological depth. As a result, research on the subject is sometimes ambiguous as to what exactly the political economy of communication, especially in the English, French and Quebec traditions, has appropriated of the concepts and epistemologies of the Critical Theory. By focusing on two specific elements of importance to both approaches (the relation to materialism, and the place and role of cultural and media production), the author proposes here to epistemologically embrace this heritage, over and above mere usual effects of display.