{"product_id":"9781412950930","title":"Politics, Social Networks, and the History of Mass Communications Research: Rereading Personal Influence","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen the controversial book, \u003ci\u003ePersonal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 1955, it made waves across the fields of communications, public opinion research, political science, and marketing. Written by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld, \u003ci\u003ePersonal Influence\u003c\/i\u003e became the canonical statement of the \"two-step flow\" of communication, which posits that mass media flow to \"opinion leaders,\" who in turn influence the behavior and opinions of people around them. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the last half of a century, \u003ci\u003ePersonal Influence\u003c\/i\u003e has undergone rigorous critique, appeared in numerous citations, and become a key text in the history of mass communications. Why is a rereading of this text relevant now? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpon the 50\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e anniversary of the publishing of \u003ci\u003ePersonal Influence\u003c\/i\u003e, the editors of this volume of \u003ci\u003eThe ANNALS \u003c\/i\u003ebelieved it was an ideal time to reflect upon the book's mid-century contexts and contemporary drawing upon enrichments of the field provided by feminism, critical and cultural studies, the new historicism, and progress in the social sciences. This unique volume of \u003ci\u003eThe ANNALS\u003c\/i\u003e crosses generational, disciplinary, and national boundaries to piece together and pull apart a historically important text and use it to shed light on the contemporary environment. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEssays in this volume analyze the personalities who played key roles in the making of \u003ci\u003ePersonal Influence\u003c\/i\u003e, their origins and social identities, the institutional organization of research in which it evolved, and the disciplinary consequences of its success. Other authors reread Katz and Lazarfeld's classic as a way to explore the relations between citizenship and consumption, the nature of media and political involvement today, and the relevance of the two-step flow paradigm for the study of contemporary audiences, social networks, and public campaigns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA must-read for scholars, students, and professionals in the fields of communication, public opinion, political science, sociology, and marketing, this volume of \u003ci\u003eThe ANNALS\u003c\/i\u003e dusts off a time-worn text and renews its significance in the field of mass communications with modern scholarly perspectives and contemporary methodology experience, inspiring a fresh outlook on this historical force. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SAGE Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47028311884016,"sku":"9781412950930","price":51.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781412950930_p0.jpg?v=1763726156","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781412950930","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}