This information is for the 2019/20 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Seeta Peña Gangadharan FAW 7.01I
Availability
This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Data, Networks and Society, MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and Fudan), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and UCT), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and USC), MSc in Inequalities and Social Science, MSc in Media and Communications (Data and Society), MSc in Media and Communications (Media and Communications Governance), MSc in Media, Communication and Development and MSc in Politics and Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Pre-requisites
Students should apply by answering a few questions during Course Choice. Prior to the first class, students must also view a recorded lecture and complete select readings.
Course content
This course addresses questions of justice and inequity in relation to communication technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries. It begins with two premises: 1) communication technologies are critical in shaping the conditions for individual and collective self-government, and 2) policies that regulate such technologies influence the nature of democracy and inclusion in society today. The course engages historical perspectives, normative theories of justice and democracy, and legal theories of technology and innovation to assess the power of communication technologies and consider their costs and benefits to historically marginalized groups. In so doing, this course questions the adequacy of regulation in the development and deployment of technologies which exacerbate existing social, political, and economic divides, on the one hand, or address or alleviate such divides, on the other. The course will primarily focus on histories and contexts of marginalized groups in the United States and the Global South.
The first part of the course will introduce students to the theoretical and historical frameworks for the course and concentrate on mass communication technologies of the 20th century, such as print and broadcasting, and policy debates highlighting issues of justice and inequity. The second part of the course will centre on digital communication technologies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and examine the intersection between networked communication, justice, and rights in historically marginalized communities. The third part will investigate innovations in automated technologies with respect to redistribution and recognition, issues core to the notion of social justice. By the end of the course, students will be able to evaluate differences between justice-based and rights-based approaches, explore the nature of digital inclusion, and compare the nature of communication inequalities across technologies.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT.
Formative coursework
All students are expected to complete advance reading, prepare for and participate in seminar activities, and contribute to online discussion on Moodle. Students are also expected to produce 1 piece of coursework in MT, which consists of short answers to four essay questions. Questions will be made available to students up to seven days prior to the due date.
Indicative reading
Additional content:
Assessment
Presentation (30%) in the MT.
Essay (70%, 3000 words) in the LT.
Key facts
Department: Media & Communications
Total students 2018/19: 34
Average class size 2018/19: 17
Controlled access 2018/19: No
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills