Nicholas Garnham
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Garnham is Emeritus Professor at the University of Westminster
in the academic field of Media Studies
. Garnham attended Winchester College
from 1950 to 1955 where the major influence on his thinking was British socialist historian R.H.Tawney. His main interests were British history, architecture
and cinema
, the last of which has remained a life-long passion and research focus. Garnham served in the Royal Navy
from 1956 to 1958. He was in one of the last drafts to the service under compulsory conscription. He studied briefly at the Sorbonne
in Paris in 1958 before moving to study English literature
at Cambridge
that same year. From 1962 until 1970 he was a director
and film
editor at the BBC
. He left to enter academia at the Polytechnic of Central London
to teach film making and film theory. Garnham was central in establishing first Media Studies degree at the University, a Bachelor of Arts course in 1975. He also became part of the university’s newly established Communication Studies Department. He was Governor of the British Film Institute (BFI) from 1973 to 1977. He was founding editor of, and has remained a senior editor of, the journal Media, Culture and Society since it was first published in 1979.
’s “The Human Condition.” Garnham rejected the idea that problems in the interactions between the two worlds are ideologically based and argued that their roots could be found by examining them from a historical perspective. He had been drawn to Marxist aesthetics and the sociology of art and eventually to the Frankfurt School
in the early years of his academic career, although he became increasingly critical of what he considered a reliance by Marxist scholars on the ideas of Althusser. Garnham eventually found inspiration in the work of Pierre Bourdieu
. Garnham has argued that in examining systems of cultural production it is possible for political economic theory to provide a detailed map of the interaction between public and private sectors. Television has been a special focus in this field for him. The content of artistic and intellectual producers is not explainable unless researchers examine the production processes and the cultural and socioeconomic status of the producers, he said. Arguing that Marx had found that the power of capitalism
to continue to thrive was in its ability to continue to increase production, Garnham saw intellectual and artistic production as a vital sector of study in the investigation of how public and private sectors are interwoven. Given that communication under capitalism was both political and economic at the same time, Garnham argued that only Marx could provide a theoretical base from which to study it. Rather than study media as a distinct subject, he says, look at media as, simultaneously, a reflection of and an influence on broader social issues and problems. In arguing this way he rejected the strictly instrumentalist view of Marxist or post-Marxist thought that saw media as tools of the ruling classes and sided more with the structuralists who saw media as more complex than this and argued that understanding media required understanding their functional role within institutions, including the economy. Garnham essentially offers a rethinking of Marx’s base/superstructure model in a way that defines media and culture as products of the industrial base of capitalism. Culture, he said, has been industrialized to the point that it had dissolved into the base. According to Garnham, both the production and dissemination of mass culture are based in the material world and influenced by the specific stage of capitalist development in which they are created. He argues that a core necessity to understanding media is to identify media as both a material product and an ideological one at the same time, and then examine the relationship between the two.
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
in the academic field of Media Studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
. Garnham attended Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
from 1950 to 1955 where the major influence on his thinking was British socialist historian R.H.Tawney. His main interests were British history, architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, the last of which has remained a life-long passion and research focus. Garnham served in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
from 1956 to 1958. He was in one of the last drafts to the service under compulsory conscription. He studied briefly at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris in 1958 before moving to study English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
that same year. From 1962 until 1970 he was a director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
editor at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He left to enter academia at the Polytechnic of Central London
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
to teach film making and film theory. Garnham was central in establishing first Media Studies degree at the University, a Bachelor of Arts course in 1975. He also became part of the university’s newly established Communication Studies Department. He was Governor of the British Film Institute (BFI) from 1973 to 1977. He was founding editor of, and has remained a senior editor of, the journal Media, Culture and Society since it was first published in 1979.
Ideas
Garnham is primarily an advocate of the political economy approach to mass communication. His research and writing focus mostly on intellectual and artistic creativity, work and production as it relates to existing political, social, cultural and economic norms and conditions. Much of his work concentrates on how these conditions determine the output of both artists and intellectuals, and he concentrated on cause and effect in the relationship between the “art/intellect” world and the “work” world, a distinction he first discovered in Hannah ArendtHannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
’s “The Human Condition.” Garnham rejected the idea that problems in the interactions between the two worlds are ideologically based and argued that their roots could be found by examining them from a historical perspective. He had been drawn to Marxist aesthetics and the sociology of art and eventually to the Frankfurt School
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
in the early years of his academic career, although he became increasingly critical of what he considered a reliance by Marxist scholars on the ideas of Althusser. Garnham eventually found inspiration in the work of Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...
. Garnham has argued that in examining systems of cultural production it is possible for political economic theory to provide a detailed map of the interaction between public and private sectors. Television has been a special focus in this field for him. The content of artistic and intellectual producers is not explainable unless researchers examine the production processes and the cultural and socioeconomic status of the producers, he said. Arguing that Marx had found that the power of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
to continue to thrive was in its ability to continue to increase production, Garnham saw intellectual and artistic production as a vital sector of study in the investigation of how public and private sectors are interwoven. Given that communication under capitalism was both political and economic at the same time, Garnham argued that only Marx could provide a theoretical base from which to study it. Rather than study media as a distinct subject, he says, look at media as, simultaneously, a reflection of and an influence on broader social issues and problems. In arguing this way he rejected the strictly instrumentalist view of Marxist or post-Marxist thought that saw media as tools of the ruling classes and sided more with the structuralists who saw media as more complex than this and argued that understanding media required understanding their functional role within institutions, including the economy. Garnham essentially offers a rethinking of Marx’s base/superstructure model in a way that defines media and culture as products of the industrial base of capitalism. Culture, he said, has been industrialized to the point that it had dissolved into the base. According to Garnham, both the production and dissemination of mass culture are based in the material world and influenced by the specific stage of capitalist development in which they are created. He argues that a core necessity to understanding media is to identify media as both a material product and an ideological one at the same time, and then examine the relationship between the two.
Works
- M: A Film By Fritz Lang (1968)
- Samuel FullerSamuel FullerSamuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter, novelist, and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
(1971) - Structures of Television (1972) with Joan Bakewell
- The Economics of Television (1988) with Richard Collins and Gareth Locksley
- Capitalism and Communication: Global Culture and the Economics of Information (1990) editor Fred InglisFred InglisFred Inglis is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Previously Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick, he has been a member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, Fellow-in-Residence at the...
- Emancipation, The Media, And Modernity: Arguments about the Media and Social Theory (2000)
- The Information Society is also a Class Society – The Impact of the New Information Technologies on Cultural Production and Consumption, Information Technology: Impact on the Way of Life (L. Bannion et al., eds). Dublin: Tycooly International (1981)
- The Economics of Television, (1987) with R. Collins and G. Locksley
- Capitalism and Communication: Global Culture and the Economics of Information (1990)
- The Role of the Public Sphere in the Information Society, in Regulating the Global Information Society (C.T. Marsden, ed.), London: Routledge. (2000)
- Information Society as Theory or Ideology: A Critical Perspective on Technology, Education and Employment in the Information Age Digital Academe (W. Dutton and B. Loader, eds), pp. 253–67. London: Routledge. (2002)