A cross-disciplinary account of how people in Western societies respond to the distant violence of the new world disorder, and the role of media coverage of war in forming people's responses. The author stresses the critical role of the media, in particular the roles of television and newspapers. He presents a set of arguments which challenge academic orthodoxies, arguing that the media are of growing importance because of the decline of other institutions in civil society, and the inability of parties, churches and even social movements to represent the victims of complex international crises. The book concentrates in particular on a multi-dimensional study of responses in one Western society, Britain, to the Gulf War of 1991 and its aftermath. It also argues that the civil wars in Iraq - the revolts of the Shias and Kurds against Saddam Hussein - were as important as the Gulf War itself.
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Martin Shaw is, somewhat inexplicably, the first scholar to turn his attention to the Iraqi Civil war of 1991, which began a few days after the end of Operation Desert Storm. Shaw's primary interest is in how civil society -- particularly the press -- "respresents" distant events. This representation is understood as characterization, description, framing and other devises used in lingusitic communication that enable us to develop an understanding about something of which we have no first hand knowledge. Shaw explains this is very important because globalization -- here defined, essentially, as increased propinquity, or contact with one another -- makes distant events "local" and therefore places a new burden on those who represent these events to do so in a manner that is beneficial to society writ large. His choice of focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on the Kurdish exodus, which involved some 2 million people, is noteworthy because it the only substantial work that traces the first two months of the Iraqi Civil War and its aftermath and seeks to determine whether the media may have had an effect on the decisionmaking process of the British executive.
The citation and research is excellent. Its primary flaw is that the study overreaches its conclusions. By examining only the media -- and not Parliament, diplomatic communication, and inter-office material at White Hall -- Shaw attributes changes in British policy to the one variable he examines: namely media. While there is reason to suspect the media may have had an impact, such a conclusion cannot be drawn from his approach. On the whole, however, a valuable argument, a highly worthy subject matter, and extremely well cited for use by interested researchers.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > History > Military History
- Books > Reference > Writing > Journalism
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Media & Communication Industries > Press & Journalism
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Media & Communication Industries > Television
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Warfare & Defence
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
