Digital Platforms and the Global South: Reconfiguring Power Relations in the Cultural Industries

This book explores the issues raised by digital platforms in the Global South, with an emphasis on the cultural stakes involved. It brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers to examine the strategies of US-based Big Tech platforms and video streaming platforms towards the Global South, as well as the active role local or regional actors play in their expansion. It also examines the ways in which the rise of these digital platforms has generated new forms of cultural entrepreneurship and participated in the reconfiguring of the conditions in which cultural contents are produced and circulated.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the complex issues arising from the proliferation of digital platforms in the Global South, placing a strong emphasis on the cultural implications at stake. Drawing upon an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including political economists, socio-economists, geographers, media sociologists, and anthropologists, the book explores these issues through insightful case studies conducted at local, national, regional, and international levels. While examining the strategies of major US-based Big Tech platforms and video streaming platforms towards the Global South, the chapters also acknowledge the significant role played by local and regional actors in the expansion of these Western digital players. Furthermore, they highlight the emergence of a constellation of local and regional platforms in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

In addition to analyzing the intricate dynamics of competition, collaboration, or dependence among these diverse actors, the volume delves into the ways in which the rise of these digital platforms has fostered new forms of cultural entrepreneurship and contributed to the reconfiguration of the conditions under which cultural contents are produced and circulated in the Global South. This volume is of immense interest to readers engaged in the transnationalization of cultural industries or in the social, political, economic, cultural, and geopolitical dimensions of digital transformations. It serves as a valuable resource for students, teachers, and researchers in media, communication, cultural studies, international relations, and area studies programs.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032489919