communication and class struggle

446 Pages·2017·37.42 MB·English

I
COMMUNICATION AND
CLASS STRUGGLE
1. Capitalism, Imperialism
An
Anthology
In 2 Volumes
Edited by
Armand Mattelart
And
Seth Siegelaub
1
j
IG/IMMRC
ARMAND MATTELART, bom 1936 in Belgium, has a Ph.D. in law
and political economy from the Universite de Louvain, and a
post-graduate degree in sociology from the Universite de Paris. He was
professor at the Universidad de Chile from 1962 until the fascist coup
d’etat in 1973. During the Popular Unity period he led various initiatives
aimed at creating new forms of popular communication. He is presently
a professor and researcher in the Audio Visual Department at the
Universite de Paris VII. He is the author of many studies on
communication, ideology and imperialism published in several
languages. Among the most recent are Mass media, ideologies et
mouvement revolutionnaire (Paris, Anthropos, 1974), and
Multinationales et systemes de communication (Paris, Anthropos, 1976),
both of which will be published in English in 1978 (London). He is also
co-author of How To Read Donald Duck (New York, International
General, 1975). In addition, he is the director of a feature-length film on
Chile, La Spirale (France, 1976, USA, 1978), and co-editor of the Latin
American review Comunicacidn y Cultura, currently published in
Mexico.
SETH SIEGELAUB, bom in New York City 1941, was educated in the
New York City public school system. He has worked as a plumber.
During the 1960s he organized and published art exhibitions and'art
books, and towards the late 1960s, became active in anti-war fund-raising
in the art community as part of the growing mobilization against
the U.S. war in Vietnam. This activity led to his involvement in the
political aspects of art generally, and in 1971 he co-authored the Artists
Rights agreement. After an extensive period of research in 1972 he edited
and published the first issue of the Marxism and the Mass Media
bibliography, and in 1973 founded the International Mass Media
Research Center (IMMRC), a research institute and library of marxist
studies on communication. Presently, he is director of IMMRC,
and of International General.
COMMUNICATION AN D
CLASS STRUGGLE
I. Capitalism, Imperialism
An
Anthology
In 2 Volumes
Edited by
Armand Mattelart
And
Seth Siegeiaub
IN T E R N A T IO N A L G E N E R A L
new york,
IMMRCinternational mass media research center
bagnolet, FRANCE.
The second volume, COMMUNICATION AND CLASS STRUGGLE:
2. LIBERATION, 1. CAPITALISM, IMPERIALISM
SOCIALISM, Selection, Introduction and Preface
will be published in Copyright © Arm and Mattelart and Seth Siegelaub 1979
1979-80, and will Bibliography Copyright © International General 1979
analyse the All Rights Reserved.
development of No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
popular and means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording or
working-class by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in
communication writing from the Publisher, LG. Editions, Inc. For information please
practice and address International General, P.O.B. 350, New York, N.Y. 10013; or
theory. the International Mass Media Research Center, 173 ave de la Dhuys,
93170 Bagnolet, France.
ISBN: 0-88477-011-7, Paperback
March 1979
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
Preface 11 SETH SIEGELAUB
A Communication On Communication
v' Introduction 23 ARMAND MATTELART
For A Class Analysis Of Communication
A. BASIC ANALYTIC CONCEPTS
Mode of Production/ 73 KARL MARX (1859)
Structure and1 (from) A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Superstructure
74 FREDERICK ENGELS (1894)
(from) Letter to Heinz Starkenburg
75 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1929-35)
Structure and Superstructure
Capitalist Accumulation 75 V.I. LENIN (1913)
and Surplus Value Marx’s Economic Doctrine
' Commodity Fetish 80 KARL MARX (1867)
The Mystery of the Fetishistic Character of Commodities
Monopoly Capitalism 84 V.I. LENIN (1916)
Imperialism The Place of Imperialism in History
Classes, The State, and 87 FREDERICK ENGELS (1888)
Civil Society (from) Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy
90 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1934-5)
History of the Subaltern Classes: Methodological Criteria
91 V.I. LENIN (1917)
Class Society and die State
97 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1930-4)
Hegemony (Civil Society) and the Separation of Powers
Ideology 98 KARL MARX, FREDERICK ENGELS (1845)
Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas
99 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1929-35)
The Concept of “Ideology”
100 V.I. LENIN (1913)
National Culture
102 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1929-35)
The Formation of the Intellectuals
Theory and Practice 105 MAO TSE-TUNG (1937)
(from) On Practice
Relations of Force 108 ANTONIO GRAMSCI (1933-4)
Analysis of Situations, Relations of Force
B. THE BOURGEOIS IDEOLOGY OF COMMUNICATION
General Concepts 115 ARMAND MATTELART (Chile, 1971)
Communication Ideology and Class Practice
Public Opinion 124 PIERRE BOURDIEU (France, 1972)
Public Opinion Does Not Exist
Journalism 130 REVOLUTIONARY LEFT MOVEMENT (MIR) (Chile, 1971)
On Journalism and'Objectivity
Leisure/Entertainment 135 HENRI LEFEBVRE (France, 1958)
Work and Leisure in Daily Life
"Mass" Culture 141 LEONARDO ACOSTA (Cuba, 1973)
Mass Media and Imperialist Ideology
158 MICHELE MATIELART (Chile, 1971)
Notes on “Modernity": A Way of Reading Women’s Magazines
Communication Science 171 DALLAS W. SMYTHE (Canada, 1971)
The Political Character of Science (Including Communication Science)
or Science is Not Ecumenical
Communication 176 SIDNEY F1NKELSTEIN (USA, 1968)
"Revolution"/ McLuhan McLuhan’s Totalitarianism and Human Resilience
C. THE FORMATION OF THE CAPITALIST MODE OF COMMUNICATION
1. The Rise of
Bourgeois Hegemony
Historical Modes 185 ROBIN MURRAY, TOM WENGRAF (UK, 1970)
Notes on Communications Systems
Printing 188 FRANZ MEHRING (Germany, 1900)
In Memory of Gutenberg’s Five-Hundreth Birthday
The Book 195 ROBERT ESCARPIT (France, 1965)
The Mutations of the Book
-/ The Public 198 JURGEN HABERMAS (FRG, 1964)
The Public Sphere
The Press 201 YVES DE LA HAYE (France, 1977)
The Genesis of the Communication Apparatus in France
2. Colonialism
Culture 205 AMILCAR CABRAL (Cape Verde Islands, 1972)
The Role of Culture in the Liberation Struggle
Education 212 RENATO CONSTANTINO (Philippines, 1970)
The Mis-Education of the Filipino
The Press 220 CARLOS ORTEGA, CARLOS ROMERO (Peru, 1976)
History of the Evolution of Mass Communication in Peru
News Agencies 225 PIERRE FREDERIX (France, 1959)
Agence Havas
3.The Industrialization
'
of Communication
Energy Monopolies: 227 V.I. LENIN (1916)
Electricity and Oil The Division of the World Among Capitalist Combines
The Telegraph 231 J.D. BERNAL (UK, 1953) .
Electric Light and Power
J
Advertising 232 STUART EWEN (USA, 1969)
Advertising as Social Production
Teiephone/Electronics 241 NOOBAR RETHEOS DANIELIAN (USA, 1939)
American Telephone and Telegraph Co.: Science in Business
Film 252 THE FILM COUNCIL (UK, 1936)
A Brief History of the American Film Industry
, Radio 260 ROLF LINDNER (FRG, 1974)
Fifty Years of German Radio
Early Broadcasting 265 RAYMOND WILLIAMS (UK, 1974)
Institutions of the Technology
4. Fascism
Mass Indoctrination 268 ROBERT A. BRADY (USA, 1937)
The Arts and Education as Tools of Propaganda
Radio 272 DERRICK SINGTON, ARTHUR WEIDENFELD (UK, 1942)
Broadcasting in the Third Reich
D. MONOPOLY CAPITALISM/IMPERIALISM AND GLOBAL IDEOLOGICAL CONTROL
1. The Concentration and
Standardization Process
Entertainment industry 281 FREE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (UK, 1970)
The Grade Dossier
Records 292 RENE PERON (France, 1976)
The Record Industry
Printing 298 FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY COMMITTEE OF
CHAK PRINTERS (France, 1976)
The Book: The Workers Struggle Against the Crisis, Waste, Monopolies
and Authoritarianism
Paper 305 ARMAND MATIELART (France, 1977)
The Geopolitics of Paper
Publishing 308 ROBERT BONCHIO (Italy, 1973)
^ A Publishing in Italy
2. The Implantation of the
New Technology
Cable TV 314 JUDY STRASSER (USA, 1971)
Cable TV: Stringing Us Along
Computers 322 MANUEL JANCO, DANIEL FURJOT (France, 1972)
Computers: Historical Conditions and Profit Realization
News Agencies 326 JEAN-MICHEL CAROIT (France, 1977)
The Computerization of a News Agency: The Example of AFP
TV Satellites 328 ARMAND MATIELART (France, 1977)
The Satellite System
3. The Imperialist
Communication System
Cultural Identity 331 MAOLSHEACHLAINN O CAOLLAI (Ireland, 1975)
Broadcasting and the Growth of a Culture
The University 334 SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE (USA, 1972)
Science as Cultural Imperialism
. Tourism 339 LOUIS A. PEREZ, JR. (USA, 1975)
Underdevelopment and Dependency: The Colonial Construct,
of Tourism
Free" Flow of Information 345 HERBERT I. SCHILLER (USA, 1975)
Genesis of the Free Flow of Information Principles
Advertising 353 RAFAEL DRINOT SILVA (Peru, 1973)
Advertising: The Production and Consumption of Daily Life
Film 359 THOMAS H. GUBACK (USA, 1973)
Film as International Business
Educational TV 367 SAMUEL PEREZ BARRETO (Peru, 1973)
Plaza Sesamo in Peru
4.7he Militarization
of Culture
The Cold War 374 JAMES ARONSON (USA, 1970)
The Making of Joe McCarthy
Cultural Genocide 384 PHONG HIEN, LE VAN HAO, H.N. (Viet Nam, 1974)
Aspects of Neocolonialist Culture
Social Science Warfare 394 CAROL BRIGHTMAN, MICHAEL KLARE (USA, 1970)
Social Research and Counterinsurgency
National Security 402 ARMAND MATIELART (France, 1977)
Notes on the Ideology of the Military State
APPENDICES
Selected Bibliography 431
Notes on Contributors 442
Preface 11
Seth Siegelaub ongoing process, for it fails to communicate the great
variety of human conditions which give rise to
communication. By stressing and reflecting only the
PREFACE:
more advanced, developed aspects of the communi­
A COMMUNICATION cation process—i.e., that concerning, how people
transmit information between themselves—this
ON COMMUNICATION
special definition tends to hide the equally important
fact that from the dawn of civilization until the nine­
■ \ teenth century,2 the transmission of information
1. PRE-CAPITALIST COMMUNICATION between people meant concretely the “transmission”
of people themselves, 3 that is, transportation. But
(TRANSPORTATION)
even this additional facet does not convey all the
The struggles of the oppressed classes are the different aspects of communication. For along with
living foundation upon which is built the communi­ the physical movement of people on land, water and
cation process. The history of these struggles is long, air, there is also the movement and exchange of
difficult, contradictory, and especially, cumulative-. goods by and between people, which in our epoch
In its genesis, this history begins with die individual takes the form of commodities and the circulation of
and collective struggle to satisfy physical needs, and capital. It is only by considering these four moments
progresses to include the struggle for the satisfaction —the movement of people, of goods, of information,
of intellectual and emotional needs as well. Through­ and last, but certainly not least today, of capital—as
out these struggles, first against nature, and then also simultaneous components Of an overall communica­
between, tribes, clans, nations, castes, and finally, tion process, can we even attempt to reconstruct and
between classes, the role of communication has understand communication as it is really lived at a
always been central. The reason for this, in a word, is given moment by people: men and women, groups,
that communication is nothing more, nor nothing and especially, classes.
Although this anthology concerns the specific
less, than the articulation of the social relations
communication forms which have unfolded and are
between people. In a profound sense,
unfolding within only two broad historical epochs—
communication is one of the most unique products—
capitalism, and then, socialism—-these modes of pro­
and producers—of society’s development. One
duction include within them, other earlier modes of
could further say that along with human labor, com­
communication inherited from pre-capitalist social
munication’s evolution is a characteristic unique to
formations. The accumulation of these experiences
the human species.
is thus a world process which embraces not only the
Communication,‘as a bond between real people, •
recent cultural experiences of North America and
taking place in real time and real space, however,
Europe, but equally the old, often unpublicized,
can never be a general, abstract phenomenon. Just
cultural lives of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin
as, in the words of Marx, “In the social production of
America.
their existence men inevitably enter into definite
In broad succession, these pre-capitalist
relations which are independent of their will, namely
formations are the Primitive Communal, Asiatic,
relations of production appropriate to a given stage
Ancient, and Feudal societies, each with its own
of development of their material forces of produc­
mode of material production (economic structure;
tion,” 1 it can also be said that men and women enter
the productive forces and relations of production)
into communication relations which are likewise
and corresponding legal, State, political and ideolo­
independent of their individual will. How people
gical production (superstructure). It is ' the
communicate, where and when they communicate,
interaction between these two instances in their mul­
with whom they communicate, and even to a certain
tiformity, which molds the different communication
degree what and why they communicate, in short,
and transportation forms characterizing each succes­
the way they communicate, i.e., their mode of com­
sive era of humanity. While these forms reproduce
munication, is in function of the historical process.
the social conditions from which they issued, they
Each different communication form produced by
also can serve, along with other forces, to exacerbate
this age-old process has been closely tied to the con-. '
the contradictions latent within these conditions and
ditions in winch it first arose and was later elaborated
help to destroy them. Nevertheless, evert in the
and generalized.
rapid, revolutionary transition from one social
Even the word “communication”, with its pre­
formation to the next, earlier, “lower” cultural
sent specialized connotation dictated by our form of forms and ways of communicating and transporting
society, severely limits our comprehension of this are rarely destroyed, but rather are used in other
1. Karl Marx, Preface to A Contribution to the Critique ways, adapted, re-combined, and given new and dif­
of Political Economy (1859), reprinted in Section A of this ferent values and importance in light of the new
volume. dominant social relations which imprint each succes­
2. The telegraph in 1844, to communicate between peo­ sive epoch.
ple beyond the range of the eye or ear (the telegraph, in fact, These multiple ways of moving people, things
was a product of the needs of transportation, and grew out and ideas—and especially, today, capital—ways
of the railway). Obviously, earlier, there were smoke sig­ which naturally envelop a type of content as well,
nals, drums, bells, etc. On another level, writing on could also be thought of as responses to Certain needs
generated by a given system of production at a
buildings and even, in a certain way, buildings themselves
can be considered as a form of communication. certain stage of its evolution. These needs, usually
3. Or under certain conditions, the surrogates for well-broadcasted and circulated in society, however,-
certain people: courtiers, messengers, etc., which later gave should not hide the fact that they can also enclose
rise-to the post office and the mails. other, unreported needs which correspond to the dif-
Preface 12 siegelaub
ferent fundamental interests of other classes. As we contain the rise of the national liberation movements,
will see elsewhere, these needs create different res­ which have become a greater threat to imperialism
ponses in communication and transportation, as well given the increasing interrelationship between dif­
as in other of society’s practices. ferent parts of the world based oil the imperialist
Thus the growth of certain communication and division of labor.
transportation forms, not unlike parallel ones But these are only two random examples taken
developing in other economic branches, could be from the extraordinary multiplicity of communica­
understood as the dominant response at a given tion forms produced throughout history. What inter­
moment conditioned by two interrelated play of forces, what accumulations, lead to the
requirements: creation and generalization, for example, of speech,
1. The first need is economic and structural. It and the orator, the actor, the messenger, the
pertains to the specific communication and transpor­ bellman, the crier, the musician, the informer?
tation tools or instruments required by a given mode Numbers, writing, the alphabet, paper, and the
of production to maintain itself and expand. The scribe, the author, the translator, the composer, the
nature of these tools, however, in turn, is framed post office and the postman? The clerk and copyist?
by the level of the existing means of production. The wheel, the cart, the wheelbarrow, the stage­
(This dialectic takes us immediately to the vital pro­ coach, .the bicycle, the railway, the truck,-the
duction centers of each social formation. In our tractor, the automobile, the trolley, and bus? The
epoch: no radio without the electronics industry; no canoe, the sampan, the dhow, the sailboat, the war­
film without the electrical and chemical industries; ship, the freighter? The book, the printer, the editor,
no “mass” press without steam power arid paper the proofreader, the publisher, the bookseller, the
manufacturing; no publishing without advanced librarian? The gazette, the daily press, and the
metalworking studios, etc.). These instruments, journalist? The poster, the handbill, and the
however, should not just be thought of as physical manifesto? The typewriter and typist, the secretary,
objects, as they equally “are” a connected level of the stenographer? The commimication researcher?
human accomplishment, involving the practices, The cable, the telegraph, the telephone? The film?
techniques, skills, information and knowledge The phonograph? The airplane? The radio? The
needed to create, produce, operate and develop movie star? The television? Space travel? And in the
them further. This ensemble of tools/skills can be U.S., the CB (Citizen Band) radio?
called the means of communication and transporta­ Obviously, there are more or less important
tion. achievements, some which characterize an epoch
2. The second need is political and ideological, and others which are improvements of earlier forms.
and thus, superstructural. It depends directly on the Nevertheless, in all cases, we should continue to look
intensity of overall social antagonisms, articulated or deeper and deeper into the social, political, ideolo­
not. These superstructural elements, including the gical and pyschological, as well as economic, realities
State, are much more difficult to assess than the which are usually obscured by the brilliance of “scien­
material level of production, but they certainly are tific” inventions and the skills that they call for.
no less important in determining how and why differ­ These forces are the real framework and “reason”
for how and when certain means developed and were
ent forms of communication evolved and are
extended in the particular way that they were—or
evolving, as will be clearly seen in many of the texts
were not. Is it possible that a certain type of research
in this anthology.
can no longer pose questions concerning these reali­
The rise of the “mass” press, for example, could
ties, because in doing so it would have to admit to the
be seen as being simultaneously a dominant response
existence of the struggle of these forces, of classes,
to the economic necessity to increase-the movement
and would have to reply in relation to them?
of manufactured goods and also a response to the .
The development of communication forms
pressing political need to communicate with all those
today, moreover, should not just be conceived as
who are doing the manufacturing. This implies that
being a one-way history of the quantitative increase
the workers are already organized in production and
in the means of diffusion and consumption, a concept
in political struggle, too, and that they thus pose a
itself which is well-diffused and thus well-consumed
political threat. This, in turn, indicates that there
today under monopoly capitalism. Although certainly
exists a certain level of industrial production, includ­
an integral part of the communication process—-but,
ing steam and mechanical power, and also in this
in a certain way, perhaps over-developed today—
case, paper manufacturing which are prerequisites
diffusion and consumption are preceded by an
for the “mass” press. More recently, for example, equally determinant element, that of production, a
TV satellites, in addition to being a dominant concept of which is not very well diffused nor con­
response to the economic need to increase the circu­ sumed at all in our epoch 4 (one which, moreover, is
lation of capital and information-linked to it, could the basis for a popular communication strategy).
also be seen as a response to the political need to Thus while each social formation gives rise to its
4. Some researchers tend to see commimicatioon wn dominant- mode of communication, which can
history as being essentially the history of the means of diffu­ be characterized by the way it arranges and combines
sion. Given the poverty of much of the current the existing forms and develops new ways of com­
programming and how it is diffused, it is not by chance that municating in function of its ruling interests, it
. certain interests want to avoid, drawing too much critical appears that certain formations have been the battle­
attention to how this production process results in a specific ground for the rise of such qualitatively new ways of
. type of cultural product. Another aspect of this emphasis on human intercourse that they have not just co-existed
diffusion is McLuhan’s “The medium is the message”, with other forms, but have profoundly dominated
which, in its way, serves to distract us almost as much as the and altered them, as have the electronic radio and
television programs he rarely talks about. television forms in relation to other forms today