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Culture and Entertainment Industries

Code: 104803 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Communication in Organisations OT 4

Contact

Name:
Alba Torrents Gonzalez
Email:
alba.torrents@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The students should have the habit of reading academic articles, general press, with special attention to culture news and communication policies, as well as opinion articles or the follow-up of televised and radio debates and gatherings on issues related to the topic.

The students must have an acceptable command of the English language, which allows them to understand documents written in that language.

The Catalan language is the vehicular tool of written and oral expression of the subject. In this sense, correction in the use of language is an indispensable requirement, especially in the discursive, reasoning and discussion aspects, orthographic and grammatical correction, as well as adequacy, coherence and cohesion.


Objectives and Contextualisation

General Course Objectives

This course proposes a critical analysis of cultural and entertainment industries from a materialist, gender, and ecosocial perspective. It starts from the premise that culture is not only a realm of symbolic representation but also a space for the production of value, subjectivity, and desire within advanced capitalism. The course will address cultural industries as material, technological, and ideological structures, situating them within the globalized context of the knowledge society and digital capitalism.

The course provides tools to reflect on the articulation between culture and power, emphasizing social, gender, and territorial inequalities, as well as the material and symbolic conditions that shape contemporary cultural production.

Specific Objectives

  • To analyze the theory and history of cultural and entertainment industries, including the main actors, sectors, and trends within the digital environment.

  • To situate cultural industries (publishing, media, audiovisual, music, video games, performing arts, art galleries) as economic drivers of the knowledge society, but also as spaces of conflict and symbolic struggle.

  • To develop a critical and situated perspective towards neoliberal discourses on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, questioning the paradigm of “creative industries.”

  • To integrate the contributions of feminist theory, gender studies, decolonial thought, and ecocriticism in order to denaturalize dominant narratives aboutculture and development.

  • To investigate forms of grassroots cultural agency, including fan cultures, user communities, and affective archives, as practices of resistance and symbolic reappropriation.


Competences

  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
  • Analyse and evaluate the structures of the different types of organisations, of the Media and of the relationship between the two.
  • Determine the structure and functions of the technological and economic context of organisations.
  • Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
  • Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Work in compliance with professional codes of conduct.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accept that the creation, organisation and management of cultural businesses must take account of the geographical and cultural setting in which they operate and must show respect for variety in ideology, ethnic origin, religion etc.
  2. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  3. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  4. Display knowledge of the structure of the cultural industries, in order to develop critical thinking and produce original ideas on the social, political and economic context in which these industries operate.
  5. Explain how a cultural or entertainment industry should be organised from a technological, a professional and an economic perspective.
  6. Explain the structure of the cultural industries in the context of the knowledge society and the globalised world within the framework of a general economy.
  7. Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
  8. Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
  9. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  10. Submit high-quality coursework on time, which requires attention to both individual and group work.
  11. Work independently , on the basis of the knowledge acquired, solve problems and carry out the assignments on the cultural industries.

Content

Topic 1. Culture as a Space for the Production of Subjectivity and Power

  • Conceptions of culture: from the humanist-anthropological perspective to critique.
  • The role of the cultural industry in the production of consciousness and subjectivity within advanced capitalism.
  • Dynamics of symbolic domination, construction of taste, and social differentiation.
  • Critical analysis of capitalist realism and the impact of global markets on cultural homogenization.

Topic 2. Institutional Structures, Policies, and Models for Cultural Management

  • The institutional and governance map of culture (local and global).
  • Public policies vs. private intervention and their effects on culture and collective consciousness.
  • Culture and communication as key infrastructures of the welfare state.
  • Precarization, new management challenges, and alternative models: cooperativism, communalism, and community networks.

Topic 3. Gender, Body, and Representation in Contemporary Cultural Production

  • Culture as a space for the construction and performativity of gender.
  • Emotional economies, body technologies, and the commodification of identities.
  • Feminist and queer analysis of prevailing cultural imaginaries and discourses.
  • Stereotypes, symbolic heritage, and social discrimination in cultural representation.

Topic 4. Technological Transformations: From Mass Culture to Platform Culture

  • Digital mutations and new forms of cultural consumption.
  • Culture as extractive logistics and the entertainment paradigm.
  • Influence of algorithms and digital platforms on labor precarization.
  • Digital networks: emancipatory potential or private appropriation of cultural commons?

Topic 5. Participatory Cultures, Affective Economies, and Dissident Practices

  • Dissident cultural practices: fan cultures, fan fiction, and narrative agency.
  • Digital materiality and unpaid labor on collaborative platforms.
  • Media spectacularization and the figure of the idol.
  • Counter-archives and collective memory: practices of grassroots resistance and rewriting.

Topic 6. Ecology, Ecosocial Crisis, and Imaginaries of Possible Futures

  • The role of culture in the face of ecosocial collapse and the Anthropocene.
  • Aesthetics of exhaustion, non-human agencies, and alternative narratives.
  • Regenerative and transformative practices from ecosocialism.
  • Challenges for a critical culture in a context of systemic mutation.

Transversal Topic: Creativity and the Knowledge Society

  • The ideology of creativity and its function in the knowledge society.
  • From counterculture to creative cultures: subcultures, youth, and new digital languages.
  • A critique of innovation and creativity as instruments of neoliberal governance.

Note: The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exercises and practices in class, analysis of practical cases, presentation of works. 15 0.6 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11
Master classes, lectures, viewing of audiovisual pieces, presentation of cases. 30 1.2 2, 3, 4, 10, 11
Type: Supervised      
Individualized follow-up tutorials and in small groups 6 0.24 2, 3, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11
Preparation and writing of works 15 0.6 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 9, 11
Reading and preparation of texts that will be the subject of seminars 25 1 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Seminar readings 40 1.6 3, 6, 10, 11
Study of the syllabus of the subject 12 0.48 4, 5, 6, 11

This subject is 6 ECTS, which implies a total dedication of the student of 150 hours, distributed in:

  • Guided activities (30% and 45h): activities in the classroom with the presence and guidance of the teacher which may consist of lectures, seminars to discuss compulsory readings in small groups and oriented to practical issues, work of practical cases related to the syllabus of the course and with the possibility of punctual tests.
  • Supervised activities (30% and 46h): extracurricular activities carried out by the student in accordance with a work plan designed and subsequently supervised and evaluated by the teacher. It also includes joint tutorials and other similar activities (face-to-face or online) to follow the course.
  • Autonomous activities (35% and 52h): autonomous activities of the student in accordance with the requirements of the subject, such as basic and complementary readings, study of class notes or all those other activities that complement the training that is achieved in this course.
  • Assessment activities (5% and 7h).

The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be presented on the day the course is introduced and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find the various teaching materials and all the information needed for proper course follow-up. In the event of a change in the teaching modality due to force majeure, as determined by the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any changes to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation in seminars 20% 1 0.04 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11
Dissertation on an agreed topic or text 30% 3 0.12 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11
Individual or team work 50% 3 0.12 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11

50% of the final grade will correspond to the individual or group coursework (maximum 3 people), which must be properly proposed and agreed upon. This work must be completed and submitted during the final sessions of the course. The assignment will be presented, discussed, and defended in class.

The remaining 50% of the grade will correspond to participation and attendance during the seminars (20%) and to an individual essay on an agreed-upon topic or text (30%) related to the subject matter covered in the course.

Students will have the right to retake the course if they have been evaluated in activities whose combined weight equals at least two-thirds of the total grade for the course. The activity excluded from the retake process is active participation in the seminars.

If a student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant change in the grade of an assessment activity, that activity will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary process that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the assessment activities of the same subject, the final grade for that subject will be 0.

Use of Artificial Intelligence and Plagiarism Prevention

The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and LLMs (Large Language Models), such as ChatGPT or similar, is allowed in this course, provided that it is clearly indicated which parts of the work or activity have been completed with their assistance, and the tool used is properly cited.
At the beginning of the course, students will be provided with a detailed rubric specifying in which activities and how AI can be used, as well as the relevant citation and transparency rules.
Any use of AI that does not comply with these guidelines, or lack of citation, may be considered a breach of academic integrity and, in the most serious cases, plagiarism.

Single Assessment

The single assessment for the course is carried out through three different activities, none of which accounts for more than 50% of the final grade:

A) 50% Written theoretical exam: Covering the main contents of the course.

B) 30% Written text commentary: On a proposed text, to be agreed in advance with the instructor.

C) 20% Oral exam: An oral presentation on a topic related to the final paper, agreed with the instructor.

Resit / Reassessment:
If the student fails the single assessment, they are entitled to a reassessment process, provided they have been evaluated in at least two-thirds of the scheduled activities. The reassessment will consist of a written theoretical exam and, if applicable, a new activity to substitute the one not passed. The final written paper cannot be reassessed, except in duly justified cases and at the instructor’s discretion, in line with faculty regulations. The resit will take place during the official period set in the course calendar.


Bibliography

Essential Bibliography

Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund & Horkheimer, Max. (2007). Dialèctica de la Il·lustració: Fragmentos filosóficos (Obra original publicada el 1944). Madrid: Trotta.

Bourdieu, Pierre. (1988). La distinción: Criterios y bases sociales del gusto (Obra original publicada el 1979). Madrid: Taurus.

Fisher, Mark. (2009). Realismo capitalista: ¿No hay alternativa? Madrid: Caja Negra Editora.

Marx, Karl. (2011). El capital: Crítica de la economía política. Vol. 1 (Pedro Scaron, Trad.) (Obra original publicada el 1867). México: Siglo XXI Editores.

McRobbie, Angela. (2016). Be creative: Making a living in the new culture industries. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Zuboff, Shoshana. (2020). La era del capitalismo de la vigilancia: La lucha por un futuro humano frente a las nuevas fronteras del poder. Barcelona: Paidós.

Feminist and Critical Complementary Bibliography

Butler, Judith. (2007). El género en disputa: El feminismo y la subversión de la identidad (Obra original publicada el 1990). Barcelona: Paidós.

Davis, Angela Yvonne. (2016). La libertad es una luchaconstante: Ferguson, Palestina y los cimientos de un movimiento. Madrid: Capitán Swing.

Federici, Silvia. (2018). El patriarcado del salario: Críticas feministas al marxismo. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños.

Haraway, Donna Jeanne. (1995). Manifiesto cyborg: Ciencia, tecnología y feminismo socialista a finales del siglo XX. En Ciencia, cyborgs y mujeres: La reinvención de la naturaleza (pp. 231–266). Madrid: Cátedra.

hooks, bell [Gloria Jean Watkins]. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.

Braidotti, Rosi. (2015). Lo posthumano. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Coppa, Francesca. (2006). A brief history of media fandom. En Hellekson, Karen & Busse, Kristina (Eds.), Fan fiction and fan communities in the age of the Internet (pp. 41–59). Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Turk, Tisha. (2014). Metalepsis in fan vidding: A recursive pattern of self-consciousness in media fandom. En Lothian, Alexandra; Busse, Kristina & Reid, Robin Anne (Eds.), Queer female fandom (pp. 127–142). Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Cultural policies, reports, and institutional context

AA.DD. (Autoria diversa). (2005). Comunicació internacional i polítiques de comunicació: XXV aniversari de l'Informe MacBride.Quaderns del CAC, número extraordinari. Incom UAB / CAC. https://www.cac.cat/documentacio/xxv-aniversari-linforme-macbride-comunicacio-internacional-i-politiques-comunicacio

AA.DD. (Autoria diversa). (2018). Repensar las políticas culturales: creatividad para el desarrollo. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265419

AA.DD. / IncomUAB (Autoria diversa). (2019). Informe de la Comunicació a Catalunya 2017-2018. Generalitat de Catalunya. https://incom.uab.cat/informe/edicion.html?id=17

Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC). (2001). La definició del model de servei públic al sector de l'audiovisual. CAC. https://www.cac.cat/es/documentacio/la-definicio-del-model-servei-public

Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC). (2016). Llibre blanc de l’audiovisual de Catalunya. Generalitat de Catalunya. http://interaccio.diba.cat/sites/interaccio.diba.cat/files/llibreblancaudiovisual.pdf

Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC). (2020). Informe sobre el sector audiovisual a Catalunya. CAC. https://www.cac.cat/sites/default/files/2021-10/Informe%20del%20sector%20Audiovisual%20de%20Catalunya%202020.pdf

Civil i Serra, Maria & López López, Blanca (Eds.). (2021). Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2019-2020. Generalitat de Catalunya. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/245270

Consell Nacional de la Cultura i de les Arts (CoNCA). (2018). Dimensió social de la cultura. Estat de la Cultura i de les Arts 2018. Generalitat de Catalunya. https://conca.gencat.cat/web/.content/arxius/publicacions/informe_anual_2018/INFORME_2018-CAT-web.pdf

Cuny, Laetitia. (2020). Libertad & creatividad: defender el arte, defender la diversidad. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373360

Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació. (2010). Pla d'equipaments culturals de Catalunya 2010-2020. Generalitat de Catalunya. https://cultura.gencat.cat/web/.content/dgcc/08_Serveis/Publicacions/documents/arxiu/pec_26_01_11.pdf

Busquets Duran, Jordi (Ed.). (2017). Los nuevos escenarios de la cultura en la era digital. Barcelona: UOC Editorial.

Arendt, Hannah. (2018). ¿Qué es la política? México: Herder.

Benjamin, Walter. (2007). L’obra d’art a l’època de la seva reproductibilitat tècnica (Obra original publicada el 1936). Barcelona: Edicions 62.

Castells, Manuel. (2009). Comunicación y poder. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Geertz, Clifford James. (1983). Conocimiento local: Ensayos sobre la interpretación de las culturas. Barcelona: Paidós.


Software

The Virtual Campus platform, word processors, spreadsheets, social platforms and audiovisual.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 71 Catalan second semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 7 Catalan second semester afternoon