International Standing Working Group on Medialization and Empowerment

Since their emergence in the late 19^th century, mass media have been instrumental for activists fighting against inequality. They have provided a platform for voicing dissent, enabled the mobilization of marginalized groups, and accelerated social and value change. Yet they have also perpetuated harmful norms and contributed to the on-going exclusion of social groups.

The International Standing Working Group on Medialization and Empowerment explores this relationship by examining how the rise of the mass media has shaped discussions of women’s rights in the long 20^th century. Using the concept of ‘medialization’ – a term that refers to the way spaces of communication have become increasingly dense and interlinked, as well as the increasing pressure for other social sectors to conform to the conditions imposed by the media – we consider the agency of the media and media users in shaping women’s emancipation. In doing so, we focus not only on the function of modern media in spreading knowledge that guides action, but also on the limits to the circulation of knowledge and their consequences.

Alongside three international conferences, the ISWG is developing a travelling exhibition on Feminism and the Media to be shown in Delhi (October 2021), Berlin (November 2021), and London (January 2022), along with two online modules offering training in digital humanities research methods, focusing on corpus linguistics and statistical methods.

The research group is led by Christina von Hodenberg, and involves partners at the India Branch Office of the Max Weber Foundation, the GHI Rome, the GHI Washington, the Orient Institute Beirut, and scholars from German, Indian, and British universities. It is part of the project ‘Knowledge Unbound: Internationalisation, Networking, Innovation in and by the Max Weber Stiftung’ and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.