Media and Globalisation

7/30/2019 Media and Globalisation

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Minority Language Media, Globalisation and Protest.

Dr. Niamh Hourigan

The growing power of the broadcast media in contemporary Europe has created a cultural

environment where television and radio services have become the focus of controversy

and protest. Indigenous European linguistic minorities have placed themselves at the

centre of a number of these controversies by asserting the need for television services

specifically for their own communities. Through social movement activity, these groups

have constituted a dynamic force in a demand for change, which, along with

technological innovation, has facilitated the provision of de-centralized, specialized

television services.

Demand for television broadcasting services in indigenous minority languages did not

become prevalent in Europe until the 1970s. Concern about the absence of indigenous

minority languages on radio was voiced during the 1920s and 1930s. The advent of

television, a more expensive medium, in the 1950s, increased the invisibility of

indigenous minority languages on the broadcasting spectrum. A number of national

European broadcasting services made token gestures towards the broadcasting needs of

these communities by providing short programmes, usually at weekends, generally

focusing on religious issues or traditional customs (Stephens 1976). However, indigenous

minority language activists gradually began to perceive the broadcast media as both a

huge potential threat and an important tool (Pritchard-Jones 1982). The use of pirate radio

by protest groups in the 1960s, particularly the student movement in the US and Europe,

highlighted the liberating and empowering qualities inherent in radio and television


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(Petley & Romano 1993, 27-49). The recession of the 1970s improved the economic

position of European indigenous linguistic minorities. It hit many urban, traditionally

industrialized areas while the rural areas, where many indigenous minority language

communities were concentrated, were left relatively untouched. This increasingly narrow

economic gap gave these language movements more confidence in asserting their

demands for broadcast media within European nation-states (Stephens 1976, 33).

The late 1960s and 1970s proved turbulent for the larger minority language groups

such as the Welsh and Catalan language communities. During the late 1980s and the early

1990s, smaller language groups such as Scots Gaelic speakers became increasingly radicalin terms of campaigns for television. A number of external factors contributed to the

growing success of campaigns during this period. The growth in satellite communications

technology and the increasing popularity of the community broadcasting movement meant

that national broadcasting institutions had themselves become subject to increasing

fragmentation and regionalization (Nowell-Smith 1989, 5). The lack of central cohesion in

a number of nation-states and the presence of an EU which actively supported

regionalism, allowed indigenous European linguistic minorities to assert their demands

more confidently (Melucci 1990, 61).

In reviewing campaigns for television services by campaigners in Catalonia,

Wales, Galicia, Ireland, Scotland and the Basque Country, it became clear that these

campaigns would be have to be examined in terms of social movement theory and

broader theories of social change such as globalisation. As social movements, activists

involved in minority language media campaigns appeared to have much in common with

the new social movement activists, such as feminists and environmentalist, typically


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found at the centre of European social protest. Secondly, as the empirical analysis

progressed, it became evident that these activists were grappling with issues which are

currently pre-occupying many of the macro-theorists of social change. In order to justify

the demands for television services to themselves and to others, these ordinary people had

to explain why their cultural presence in European societies had necessarily to be

reflected by television. They were seeking to retain traditional ethno-linguistic identities

but express them in one of the most sophisticated and complex cultural spaces available

to Europeans. Therefore, these campaigners were grappling with issues which are

emerging at a critical juncture in debates about identity, culture and mass media inEuropean societies.

These campaigns all emerged during the same historical period (the latter half of

the twentieth century). However, the circumstances in which they emerged were very

different. The Welsh campaign was conducted largely during a period of Labour

government in Britain during the seventies while Scots Gaelic campaigns had to address

the ideological leanings of the British Conservative government during the late 80s

(Tomos, 1982; MacDonald, 1993). A coalition of centre-left parties eventually providing

the funding for Irish language television in the mid 90s ( Feinneadha, 1995). By this

stage, the television services linked to the three autonomous regions in Northern Spain

(Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country) were well established (Maxwell, 1995).

However, the campaigns for these services was closely linked to the operation of

nationalist groups in these regions before the death of Franco in 1975. Therefore, the

similarities between the Celtic and the Iberian campaigns are not as close as one would

think.


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Most reviews of social movement activity in Europe tend to focus on the

distinction between what are described as new social movements such as the womens,

peace and environmental organizations which provide alternative sources of identity and

the more traditional European social movements based on class (Melucci, 1990). New

social movements, it is argued have emerged because of a number of profound changes in

European societies including the growth of cultural industries particularly media systems,

the increasing importance of knowledge as a commodity, the fragmentation of identities

and the decentralization of production processes. It is argued that these changes have

caused Europeans to move away from traditional cleavages and conflicts and to becomeconcerned with non-material issues such as self-actualization (Della Porta & Diani, 1999).

Activists engaged in campaigns for minority language television seemed initially

to bear greater resemblance to those involved in feminist, environmental and anti-

globalisation movements. Firstly, these groups were concerned with the production of

culture, one of the major concerns of new social movements. Secondly, many

campaigners explained their activism by referring to a personal need to define and express

their identity, also a characteristic of participation in NSMs (Scott, 1996). Many of the

issues which typically prompt the emergence of new social movements such as the

emergence of global media systems contributed to the emergence of campaigns for

minority language media (Della Porta & Diani, 1999). Finally, these campaigns were, in

many cases, dominated by members of the new middle classes, young educated

individuals without ties to traditional elite groups, the same demographic group who tend

to be involved in more typical new social movements (Mayer, 1995).


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Despite the apparent similarities between minority language media campaigns and

new social movements, there is no doubt that almost all of these campaigns were a

manifestation of cultural nationalism and as such cannot be considered typical new social

movements (Johnston, 1994). It is possible to argue however that as a result of the

growing pervasiveness of the media within European societies, the hierarchy of goals

typically adopted by minority language organizations changed. Some language activists

believe that television in dominant languages threatens the cultural integrity of their

language communities, containing within it the potential to downgrade or even destroy

their culture (Poulsen, 1991). Their concerns echo the work of media theorist, JoshuaMeyrowitz (1985) who has argued that by fracturing the physical isolation of place-

defined groups such as regional linguistic minorities, television has created placeless

cultures. These changes have created a fragmentation of group boundaries and the

homogenisation of identities. As a result of the profound impact of these processes, the

creation of own language media rather than reform of public administration or education

has become in many cases, the primary goal of these movements. Therefore, the processes

of social change which prompted the emergence of new social movements have also

affected more traditional social movements and their goals have been structurally altered

as a result. New social movement theory with its emphasis on the de-stabilizing effects of

technological and economic change on cultural identity helps us explain why the goals of

these movements have been transformed in a European context.

Globalisation


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Since the establishment of the six services resulting from these campaigns: S4C, TG4,

TV3, CCG, ETB, TVG, it has become even more challenging to examine their

achievements in terms of broader theories of global change. A variety of theorists have

attempted to chronicle the global changes which have occurred since World War II. These

theoretical models included the post-industrial society, postmodernity, the programmed

society, the network society and dis-organized capitalism (Lash & Urry, 1987; Hirst &

Zeitlin, 1991; Bell, 1974). These theoretical frameworks adopt different models of

political, social and cultural change. However, the theme of globalisation is a common

thread which runs throughout each perspective.Malcolm Waters defines globalisation as a social process in which the constraints of

geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and in which people become

increasingly aware that they are receding (1995, 3). In terms of these spatial patterns of

global change, the growing power of minority language communities and the discursive

spaces they have created through television must be examined. Firstly, it is important to

emphasize that campaigns for minority language television services emerged in response

to the activities of nation-states rather than global change. The growth of global media

may have made these indigenous minority groups more aware of their distinct cultural

identities. However, these campaigns emerged during a period when television in Europe

was controlled by nation-states through national broadcasting organizations such as BBC,

RT and TVE (Morley & Robins, 1995). These institutions had close links with national

governments and were openly dedicated to the support of national identities. This

complex network of relationships between national broadcasters and government has two

major effects on indigenous minority language communities. Firstly, these communities


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and their cultures were marginalized, ignored or worse stigmatised within the output of

national broadcasting services. In this way, national broadcasting services became part of

the effective tools of domination used to stigmatise minority groups within nation-states

(Della Porta & Diani, 1999). Secondly, the creation of associated national broadcasting

elites had an adverse effect on political leaders and elites within indigenous minority

language communities who were often among the dissidents ritually screened out by

national broadcasting professionals. The link between national broadcasting institutions

and national identity also contributed to the exclusion of minority language graduates,

broadcasters, journalists and academics from elite positions in national politics,broadcasting and other cultural arenas. Therefore, the dominance of national broadcasting

institutions did contribute to the cultural division of labour identified by Michael Hechter

(1975).

A social change was also taking place within indigenous minority language

communities in Europe at the same time as these broader global and national changes.

Educational reform in European states in the immediate post-war period contributed to

the rapid growth of the middle class within minority language communities. In Ireland

and Britain, the creation of a welfare state provided young people from these

communities with much greater opportunity to attend second and third level education

and to receive training in knowledge-based professions (Breen et al, 1990). In most cases,

these campaigns were led by the first generation of indigenous minority language

activists to receive third level education in extensive numbers. For this emerging middle

class, the dominance of national broadcasting organizations meant that they had no


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electronic discursive space where their cultural experience could be explored and where

their status could be explored and legitimised.

The successful establishment of indigenous minority language services has redressed

some of these grievances. Firstly, broadcasters and programme-makers working through

these services have successfully challenged many of the traditional stereotypes associated

with minority languages. As a result, minority cultures now have much greater

associations with glamour, modernity and youth (Cormack, 1994; Grin & Vaillancourt,

1999). This youthful image has contributed to the growing success of minority language

education and cultural activities. This cultural confidence has contributed to greaterpolitical strength. An analysis of the overall support for regional nationalist political

parties in Wales, Scotland and the three Northern autonomous regions of Spain reveal an

upward trend and increasing success at local, regional, national and European elections.

The social, cultural and political changes resulting from the establishment of these

services has also contributed to the circulation of elites (Pareto, 1916). The emerging

minority language middle classes of the 1960s and 1970s have achieved the upward

mobility which they were seeking when these campaigns began. This circulation of elites

has occurred at a number of levels. Firstly, because of the creation of these services and

their associated institutions, new elite positions have been created. The establishment of

S4C, TG4, TV3, TVG, ETB and even CTG has created positions with a media industry

which provides a prestigious career destination for middle-class professionals from

minority language cultures. The elevation of members of these groups to these elite

positions has also contributed to elite circulation with national media industries and


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national political and cultural institutions as these people tend to have more input at

national level.

Changes in collective identity which have resulted from the establishment of these

services have filtered into other typical areas of middle-class employment such as

education and public administration. They have also led to the creation of minority

language cultural spaces such as bookshops, cafes and cultural centres. In Wales,

Scotland, and Spain, these changes have resulted in a certain circulation within political

elites at national level as members of these communities become more politically

prominent and develop media profiles. Although the language movement in Ireland doesnot have a specific regional or political base, the establishment of TG4 has also led a

certain elite circulation with a rapid increase in Irish-speaking individuals in management

of some national cultural institutions. Therefore, the establishment of TG4 has led to the

circulation of elites within cultural institutions though not within politics. The overall

result of the creation of these services in terms of systems of stratification has been to

strengthen the representation of indigenous minority language communities within

cultural and political elites in nation-states and within the European Union

In terms of the political economy of the media, S4C, TV3, TVG, ETB and TG4 are

contributing to the growth of regional media economies. Along with the influence of

global media conglomerates and the pervasiveness of cable and satellite broadcasting,

these services have been a key factor in the dismantling of national television networks

(Maxwell, 1995). In many cases, minority language media campaign groups were among

the first organizations to argue successfully for the de-regulation of national television.

The process has contributed to a decline in the power of national broadcasting


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organizations such as BBC, RT and TVE and to the gradual dismantling of cultural

elites who control these services. In countries such as Ireland, where national

broadcasters had complete control of television, the entrance of commercial private

broadcasters followed the establishment of TG4. BBC, RT and RTVE still wield a

great deal of power within domestic European markets. However, calls for re-regulation

from some media analysts accompanied by an aspiration to create television without

frontiers would suggest that the entire concept of national television in Europe is in

trouble. The success of minority language and commercial broadcasters in European

markets is forcing national broadcasters to streamline their structures and re-organizetheir output using more cost-effective models of broadcasting.

The crisis in national broadcasting networks may also reflect a broader crisis in terms

of national identity. Europeans are increasingly embracing minority identities and

alternative identities. While media events such as the World Cup in soccer serve to re-

affirm the importance of national identities in Europe, international and minority

television services would appear to be creating a sustained challenge to national

identities. These changes in cultural identity may be also contributing to the increasing

political weakness of European nation-states. The establishment of regional autonomous

communities in Spain was part of the same process which led to the creation of the

regional autonomous television services. Political devolution from the Westminster

parliament has successfully occurred in Wales and Scotland since the establishment of

these television services. Even in the Republic of Ireland where the language is not a

political issue, political parties which are closely associated with Irish language issues

such as Sinn Fin and the Green Party have made substantial gains in recent years.


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It is possible to argue that minority television services and their associated groups are

accomplishing, from below, the same erosion of national structures which globalisation

and the EU are accomplishing from above. Smith (1995) has argued that the recognition

of growing diversity within nation-states is actually contributing to their increasing

weakness and decline. He comments the co-resident peripheral ethnies are increasingly

felt to undermine the fabric of the nation by their demands for separate but equal

treatment, their cultural differences and their aspirations for diversity and autonomy

(1995, 95). The establishment of these services is contributing to the process of

glocalization; the increase of power vested at global, supra-national, regional and locallevels and the declining power of the nation-state.

Manuel Castells (1997) characterizes the emergence of these challengers from below

as evidence of the increasing influence of identities of resistance. He couples

indigenous minority language movements with religious fundamentalist organizations,

arguing that they are defensive reactions to modernization and globalisation. He argues

Religious fundamentalism, cultural nationalism, territorial communes are, by andlarge, defensive reactions Reaction against globalisation, which dissolves theautonomy of institutions, organizations and communications systems wherepeople live. Reaction against networking and flexibility which blur the boundariesof membership and involvement, individualize social relationships of productionand induce the structural instability of work, space and time When the worldbecomes too large to be controlled, social actors aim at shrinking it back to theirsize and reach. When networks dissolve time and space, people anchorthemselves in places and recall their historic memory (1997, 66).

In reviewing the Catalan case, he identifies global media in particular as a key factor in

prompting the emergence of these defensive reactions. He states if nationalism is, most

often, a reaction against a threatened autonomous identity, then, in a world submitted to

cultural homogenisation by the ideology of modernization and the power of global media,


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language, as a direct expression of culture, becomes the trench of cultural resistance, the

last bastion of self-control, the refuge of identifiable meaning (1997, 52).

The characterization of these campaigns as manifestations of identities of resistance is

very attractive, particularly as the process of establishing a separate discursive space such

as television relates directly to Castells pithy model of the exclusion of the excluders by

the excluded (1997, 9). However, despite the potency of this image, it is possible to

challenge the characterization of indigenous minority language groups as defensive

reactions to globalisation. Activists involved in these campaigns regarded nation-states

and national broadcasting organizations as the key oppressor. In many cases, theywelcomed the challenge which global and supra-national institutions provided to nation-

states. Rather than being defensive movements, minority language media campaigners

have been opportunists in the dismantling of national infrastructures through

globalisation. They are not pining for the certainties provided by nation-states, on the

contrary, many of these activists would willingly dance on the grave of these nation-

states even if it meant partnering Microsoft or AOL Time Warner. Management figures

in indigenous minority language media services in Catalonia, Galicia and Wales are

particularly concerned when witnessing the difficulties which national broadcasting

organizations are experiencing in coping with the technological, economic and cultural

changes wrought by globalisation. In many cases, the smaller minority language services

have already begun to overcome these challenges. Therefore, rather than seeking to

escape the global village, campaigners involved in indigenous minority language media

campaigns are willing participants as long as they can have their own voice, their own

space and some control over their own destiny.


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The author is a member of the staff of the Dept. of Sociology, University College Cork,

Ireland

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