Shifting Power Through Expanding Focus: The Social Economics Approach to Information and Media Policy Research

As noted by Gramsci and others, one way in which power is maintained is through cultural hegemony, through the determination of appropriate paradigms and approaches. One area where this is evident is in the approach to debates about media and information policy and economics, particularly in discussions about intellectual property rights. Specifically, arguments and beliefs that the only meaningful value of information and media goods and services are those that emerge from commercial markets empowers commercial sectors while disempowering alternative sources and systems.

Over the years, I have been developing a “social economics” approach to studying media and information markets and policy (Bates, 1988, 1999a, 1999b, 2006). It is based on the idea that, for media and information goods and services, not all value is commercial, nor are the value implications of exchange limited to the immediate parties. The exchange and use of information creates a range of impact, and a comprehensive analysis needs to identify, and include, these other sources of value. This approach is based on work in several areas of economics (valuation, information economics, social economics), the political economy of media, and the social implications of new technology (particularly the empowering of social production potential). These provide a foundation for identifying and including these alternative sources of value in research on behaviors, markets, and policy.

The main focus of this paper will be on outlining this approach, grounding it in various established perspectives and theories and discussing how it integrates and extends them in a coherent manner. I will argue for the validity of the social economic approach in media and information research, discussing the implications of such an approach for studies addressing valuation. At the very least, this approach argues for the expansion of considerations of value, and perceptions about value are at the heart of production, distribution and exchange behaviors, it is clear that such an approach could be transformative. In fact, the social economics approach directly challenges the dominant hegemonic view that only commercial valuations matter.

The paper will conclude by discussing the implications for economic, policy, and political economy studies. I will argue that such an approach can provide an alternative approach to studying how power is manifested through determinations of value, an approach that may be independent of political structures or systems. Finally, I will argue that this approach can effectively challenge the dominant hegemony, and thus should be more widely used in political economy research.