Abstract
Edited by Chair of the IAMCR History Commission Jörg Becker and former IAMCR president Robin Mansell (2004–2008), this thorough volume brings together 49 authors to create a book that highlights the contributions of The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) to the development of the media and communication field. The volume is divided into three parts, the introduction to which provides a comprehensive history of the IAMCR. Part I, ‘Scholarly Traditions in Media and Communication’, consists of eight chapters that highlight prominent areas of research of IAMCR, including the Frankfurt School and IAMCR, the Political Economy Section, popular culture, participatory communication, religion, feminism, media technologies and globalization and IAMCR's Emerging Scholars Network. The eight chapters in Part II, ‘IAMCR Scholarship and the Political’, provide insight into the initiatives of members to create a more inclusive membership and bring to light their political struggles. These include Latin American participation within the IAMCR, participation of Germany, a perspective of the IAMCR from the East German Secret Service, a preliminary study of IAMCR members from Romanian Securitate, The MacBride Report, the World Summit on the Information Society, the Non-Aligned Movement and NWICO and cultural diversity at UNESCO and ITU/WSIS. The nine chapters in Part III, ‘IAMCR and National and Regional Scholarship’ draw upon accounts of members from Russia, China, India, Pakistan, the Caribbean region, Brazil, Middle East, North Africa, Africa, France and Slovenia about their contributions to the IAMCR and the issues they have faced. Finally, Part IV, ‘Reflection on People’, includes six chapters focusing particularly on IAMCR's President James D. Halloran (1972–1990) and other important figures such as George Gerbner, Stuart Hall, Herbert I. Schiller, and Dallas W. Smythe. All in all, this short book note does not do enough justice to the rich volume on the IAMCR.