Communication, Entertainment, and Messages of Social Justice

This edited collection explores the contemporary interplay among three pivotal areas found in cultures around the world: communication, entertainment, and messages of social justice. Each chapter centralizes communication as instrumental in creating mediated messages pertaining to social justice, usually resulting in a more educated audience.

Using an accessible writing style, the contributors investigate both classic and contemporary social media, television, film, stage, radio, and podcast productions by employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Furthermore, through case studies on topics including transphobia, indigenous comedy and drag performance, this book assesses key issues and themes portrayed in contemporary entertainment education. It provides a foundational framework for analysis by utilizing a broad range of theoretical models to explore representations of race, class, gender, advocacy, and pedagogy among others as well as their communication implications.

This book will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of Communication Studies, Popular Culture Studies, Media Studies, Theatre Studies, Social Justice Studies, Sociology, and Psychology.

Richard West is Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Emerson College, USA. He has served as President of the National Communication Association and the Eastern Communication Association. His recent publications include The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Bullying (Routledge, 2018).

Christina S. Beck is a Professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, USA. She has served as President of the National Communication Association and the Central States Communication Association. Her recent publications include The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication and Popular Culture (Routledge, 2024), Communication in the 2020s (Routledge, 2022) and The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Bullying (Routledge, 2018).