Political economy is one of the central research traditions in communication studies and a key approach for critical assessments of the media as industries, which form an increasingly prominent part of the global capitalist system. Political economy approach and other closely related research traditions (critical theory, critical media sociology, critical cultural studies) are providing the foundations of the summer school, which is intended for early career scholars already acquainted with the basic knowledge of these approaches.

The media (broadly conceived as ranging from traditional printed press to algorithms and software) underwent enormous restructuring through neoliberal policies since the 1970s. The introduction of new communication technologies such as satellite television and most prominently the Internet, went hand in hand with market liberalisation and commodification of communication. Multiplication of communication channels and media outlets was accompanied by concentration and centralisation of their ownership. Recently, large transnational digital platforms have solidified their position as core companies within contemporary capitalism, restructuring the distribution of media advertising investments, speeding up the circulation of capital, automating global consumption patterns, avoiding national taxes, and siphoning revenues to offshore entities. At the same time, these institutions are benefitting from the algorithmic gathering of information and automated management of their diversified and largely precarious workforces of content moderators, warehouse workers, and gig workers, as well as from software inputs from FLOSS (Free/ Libre/ Open-Source Software) communities.

The rise of global media corporations, which include digital platforms, has re-shaped traditional institutional mechanisms safeguarding freedom of expression, media pluralism, the autonomy of journalism and public interest more broadly. Whether these mechanisms will once again become benchmarks for media regulation and public policy, or whether private interests will continue to shape markets and societies is an open political issue. Alternatives are being envisioned in areas ranging from platform cooperatives and commons projects to strategic calls for technological sovereignty and public wealth creation. However, such initiatives usually lack broader political support from the public already accustomed to the commercial logic of the media. Commodification of everyday life through data capture, surveillance and privacy intrusion is easily dismissed as minor side effects to free usage and flexibility of ubiquitous digital services.

These and other key shifts in communication, media, and journalism have profoundly transformed not only the media environment, but society as a whole. In the summer school, we will critically discuss them in relation to the broader political and economic changes in capitalism.