There is No Alternative: The Critical Potential of Alternative Media in the Face of Neoliberalism.

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of “the alternative” and the media through four sections. The first section discusses neoliberalism and the connection between neoliberal doctrine and mainstream media. This connection is described as promoting “public amnesia”, financialization and economization of news journalism, and social divide. The second section discusses alternative media from the perspective of new social movements and symbolic resistance, claiming that the symbolic resistance framework undermines the critical potential of alternative media. The third section comments on some recent critical literature on neoliberalism and capitalism. The fourth section takes examples from artistic explorations of capitalism and television to propose how a media of the alternative might learn from art practices.