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colin_cox's review against another edition
4.0
Early in By Any Media Necessary, Henry Jenkins, Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education at the University of Southern California, defines participatory politics as "that point where participatory culture meets political and civic participation, where political change is promoted through social and cultural mechanisms rather than through established political institutions, and where citizens see themselves as capable of expressing their political concerns--often through the production and circulation of media" (2). This rather lengthy quote encapsulates much of what By Any Media Necessary attempts to understand. By Any Media Necessary is about political engagement and the way millennials in particular express and articulate their political positions, but it is also about narratives, specifically the narratives we tell ourselves about millennials and their inclination toward political engagement. Jenkins and he coterie of writers argue against this tired notion that millennials are not politically active by showing what political engagement (or participation) looks like in digital spaces where fandom and niche communities organize around shared interests that may or may be overtly political. The Harry Potter Alliance, for example, parleys community interest in the Harry Potter series as a means of political activism around issues such as LGBT rights.
However, the more salient idea visible throughout By Any Media Necessary is the precariousness many of these minority communities experience when they become politically active. "Precarious" is used as a sliding signifier throughout, but in Chapter 4, Sangita Shresthova attempts to understand what participatory politics and digital citizenship look like for Muslim American youth. She writes, "The American Muslim youth we encountered were struggling to balance the benefits and risks of public expression" (183). As understood here, precarious suggests an uneven existential space where participants confront the perpetual contradictions inherent in their expressive gestures, or as Shresthova explains earlier in the chapter, it is a "balance between vibrancy and fragility, empowerment and risk, and voice and silence" (150).
Liana Gamber-Thompson's chapter on millennial Libertarians also explores the fraught, contradictory, and precarious proposition of ascribing to a libertarian dogma. According to Gamber-Thompson, many millennial Libertarians, or second-wavers, reject the efficacy of traditional electoral forms of political engagement and instead prefer focusing on education and discursive changes. The precariousness seems evident: educational and discursive reforms can produce a more reflective and self-aware populous, but we are still firmly entrenched in an electoral-based system of representation.
On the whole, I like this book even if, at times, it appears as though they are arguing against a straw man. But even as I write this, I think about conversations on cable news that frame youth activism and political engagement as one or more of the following: non-existent, repressive, or violent. Taking that into consideration, perhaps the argumentative ground from which this book pivots, is not so contrived.
However, the more salient idea visible throughout By Any Media Necessary is the precariousness many of these minority communities experience when they become politically active. "Precarious" is used as a sliding signifier throughout, but in Chapter 4, Sangita Shresthova attempts to understand what participatory politics and digital citizenship look like for Muslim American youth. She writes, "The American Muslim youth we encountered were struggling to balance the benefits and risks of public expression" (183). As understood here, precarious suggests an uneven existential space where participants confront the perpetual contradictions inherent in their expressive gestures, or as Shresthova explains earlier in the chapter, it is a "balance between vibrancy and fragility, empowerment and risk, and voice and silence" (150).
Liana Gamber-Thompson's chapter on millennial Libertarians also explores the fraught, contradictory, and precarious proposition of ascribing to a libertarian dogma. According to Gamber-Thompson, many millennial Libertarians, or second-wavers, reject the efficacy of traditional electoral forms of political engagement and instead prefer focusing on education and discursive changes. The precariousness seems evident: educational and discursive reforms can produce a more reflective and self-aware populous, but we are still firmly entrenched in an electoral-based system of representation.
On the whole, I like this book even if, at times, it appears as though they are arguing against a straw man. But even as I write this, I think about conversations on cable news that frame youth activism and political engagement as one or more of the following: non-existent, repressive, or violent. Taking that into consideration, perhaps the argumentative ground from which this book pivots, is not so contrived.
sakaerka's review
3.0
I am a big fan of Jenkins but this book seems to be too repetitive and essayistic. It is good to see through case studies how participatory culture may actually be happening and pluralism in case selection is also a good sign. However, there is something missing about the critical edge.
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