This volume provides an overview of the complex relationship between Asian Americans and the media. It looks at the involvement of Asian Americans in the media industries and how alternative and independent media counteract traditional stereotypes.
- Kent A. Ono
· 2009
Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past examines contemporary representations of colonialism, by developing a historically and culturally specific theory of neocolonialism in U.S. media culture. Noting how colonialism never officially ended in the United States, Kent A. Ono draws together race, gender, sexuality, and nation to examine neocolonialism in popular media narratives. The book asks, «What are the lingering traces within contemporary culture that provide evidence not only of what colonialism was but also of what it continues to be today?» Offering five case studies on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the sale of the Seattle Mariners, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Pocahontas, and Star Trek: The Next Generation--and providing current media examples in the introduction and conclusion, the book documents the persistence of colonialism in media culture. White vigilantism, prototypical colonial rescue plots, and cloaked and not-so-hidden anxieties about racial and national miscegenation all contribute towards a continuation of colonialism and a neocolonial mind-set. The book's critical examination from a historical and cultural perspective makes it possible to alter colonialism for future generations.
Like articles representing the positions of proponents of the measure, those representing opponents construct the nation as potentially in danger as a result of undocumented immigration. How do we learn to recognize the damning effects of good rhetorical intentions? And where will we find arguments which escape this trap that permeates the liberal social policy world? Shifting Borders uses an evaluation of the debate over California Proposition 187 to demonstrate how this quandary is best understood by close interrogation of mainstream reports and debates and by bringing to the fore voices that are often left out of mediated discussions. It is these voices outside the mainstream, so called outlaw discourses, that hold the best possibilities for real social change. To illustrate their claim, the authors present dominant and outlaw discourses around Proposition 187, from television reports, internet chat sites, and religious discourse to coverage of the Los Angeles Times. Their critique ably demonstrates how difficult it is to maintain a position outside the mainstream, but also how important it is for the press, citizens, and scholars to actively search out such voices. The find
Critical Administration: Negotiating Political Commitment and Managerial Practice in Contemporary Higher Education explores the challenges that higher education administrators face when negotiating political commitments in the day-to-day practice of university life. Jay Brower and W. Benjamin Myers have collected reflections from 12 administrators, all of whom identify as critical/cultural scholars, about how ideological commitments affect their identities as administrators and the work they conduct. Contributors reflect on how their academic training helps them understand their role as administrators in higher education in terms of central issues surrounding power, ethics, and identity, and how they entwine with managerial responsibilities. Each contributor focuses on specific experiences where their managerial duties intersect with political commitments. Ultimately, this collection provides opportunities to observe the challenges and opportunities of performing ethical leadership in contemporary higher education. Scholars of education, critical/cultural communication, and administration will find this book particularly useful.
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