Capitalism and the media: moral, economy, well-Being and capabilities

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the renewal of the way media and culture are viewed under capitalism, by seeking solid normative foundations for critique via various compatible elements: moral economy, well-being understood as flourishing, Sen and Nussbaum’s capabilities approach, and culture value. Normative and conceptual issues concerning capitalism, media, and culture have received insufficient attention and moral economy approaches might help fill this gap with a rich and critical ethics-based approach to economy and society, compatible with the best political economy. The article outlines the approach of the capabilities, analyses its rare applications to media and culture, and explains how these applications might be constructed, by developing Nussbaum’s work in a way that contributes to people’s flourishing by grounding critique in an understanding of the potential value of media and culture’.