Societies in flux : media, democratisation, and political socialization

This special issue of Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture sought to compile an empirically based understanding of the role of media in countries in transition as it relates to individuals’ political attitudes, values and behaviour. While there is a growing corpus of work across several disciplines such as political science, mass and political communication, anthropology and sociology on political socialization, it has not coalesced into an understanding – much less a theoretical body of knowledge – of individual political socialization via traditional and new media in periods of national change.-- Societies in flux: Media, democratization and political socialization -- Media, democratization and political socialization: An interview with Katrin Voltmer -- Are people more connective than political actions? Towards an empirical approach for action participants -- Citizenship, media and activism in Turkey during Gezi Park protests -- Media audiences and media consumption during political transitions: The case of Egypt -- Social media and the re-affirmation of the role of journalism: A cursory discussion of the potential for widening the public sphere in a postcolonial society -- Media literacy as a pathway to religious literacy in pluralistic democracies: Designing a critical media education pedagogy for primary school children in India -- Editorial -- ‘A giant gutter in outer space’: Investigating pessimism as rhetorical action in True Detective -- Male and female communication, leadership styles and the position of women in public relations -- Blood and race – The black male vampire as action hero in the Blade trilog