Professor Paul K. Jones
Areas of expertise
- Sociology 1608
- Social Theory 160806
Research interests
Demagogic Populism and the fate of the public sphere; cultural sociology; media sociology; critical theory; social theory
My latest monograph, Critical Theory and Demagogic Populism (Manchester UP, 2020) develops a critical sociological alternative to the currently dominant literatures in 'populism studies': orthodox political science comparative (electoral) studies and their de facto critical alternative, the 'left populist' work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. It reconstructs the explicitly social-theoretical and sociological work of the US-resident Frankfurt School on 'modern demagogy' and antisemitism. A sociological model of populism is constructed whereby populist movements are vulnerable to, but not simply reducible to, 'demagogic capture'. The role of the culture industry in modern demagogy is traced from the radio demagogues of early US broadcasting through to the crises in the contemporary public sphere usually associated with social media. The book also maps potential counter-demagogic forces, including those advocated by the Frankfurt School.
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526123435/
Biography
Paul Jones works at the intersection of sociology, critical theory and political communication. He has published widely on the relations between media policy, political communication and the public sphere in Australia and international comparative 'media systems'. He has held ARC grants and/or participated in local and international research teams in this area. He is also well-published on the work of Raymond Williams and cultural sociology more broadly. He was an executive board member of The International Sociological Association's Sociological Theory research committee 2006 - 2014. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (Sociology & Media and Communications separately). the University of Cambridge (Sociology), the University of California, Berkeley (History) and the Yale Center for Cultural Sociology. Paul Jones came to ANU in 2016 from Sociology at UNSW, Australia.
Researcher's projects
His Critical Theory and Demagogic Populism (Manchester University Press) was published in November 2020. A paperback edition followed in 2022.
Related articles and chapters:
Jones, P.K. (forthcoming) ‘Gramsci and a Critical Sociology of Demagogic Populism’. The Companion to Gramsci. Ed. D. Riley and M. Santoro. Anthem Press.
Jones, P.K. (forthcoming) ‘The Reception of Frankfurt Critical Theory in 'British' Cultural Studies: Williams, Hall, Gilroy’. In O.Kozlarek, G. Leyva (eds) Global Critical Theories. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Jones, P.K. 2022 ‘Demagogy, Culture Industry, Psychotechnics: The Authoritarian Personality as media reception framework’ in Manuel Clemens, Thorben Päthe, Marc Petersdorff (eds) Die Wiederkehr des autoritären Charakters: Eine transatlantische Perspektive (trans: The Return of the Authoritarian Character: A Trans-Atlantic perspective.) Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 15-41
Jones, P.K. 2021. 'Demagogic Populism & Media System: a preliminary articulation'. European Journal of Communication. 36(6): 593-609,
Jones, P.K. 2020. 'Márkus and the Retrieval of the Sociological Adorno’. Thesis Eleven: a journal of critical theory and historical sociology 160 (1):58-72.
Jones, P. K. 2019. 'Insights from the infamous: Recovering the social-theoretical first phase of populism studies'. European Journal of Social Theory, 22: 458-476.
Jones, P. K. 2016. 'Demagogic Populism and US Culture Industries: A long tradition'. Australasian Journal of American Studies, 35: 11-28.
Current student projects
PhD Candidate Panels
Nicholas Regan (Primary Supervisor) “Populism and social pathology: Tracing and reconstructing a troubled concept”
Sean Ward “Exploring the performance of moral outrage across digital media platforms.”
Mikayla Novak "Contentious Decarbonisation: Quantitatively exploring Australian hydrogen decarbonisation actor networks on Twitter."
Past student projects
Honours Theses (ANU)
Samuel Keane “‘Prophets of Deceit’ in the Hybrid Media System” (2020)
Mary Drummond “Nancy Fraser on the public sphere, redistribution and recognition, and populism: a critical analysis.” (2019)
Nicholas Regan “Rules, Pastiche and Paranoia: An analysis and critique of Jordan Peterson.” (2019)
PhD Completions (UNSW)
PhD: Edwina Throsby (2018) The Deciders are Undecided: undecided voters, election campaigns, political media, and democracy in Australia (joint supervision)
PhD: Ele Jansen (2015) Misfit Lifestyles: Institutionalizing Collaboration And Play Among Creative Storytelling Collectives.
PhD: Cynthia Fernandez Roich (2014): Argentina: from fragility to stability:
Print media and crime coverage during the 1990s. (Joint supervision) (Published by Palgrave Macmillan)
PhD: Christyana Bambaccas (2014): White Wedding Culture
PhD: Tomoki Wakatsuki (2013): Haruki Murakami and Cosmopolitan Japanese Identity.(Published as The Haruki Phenomenon by Springer).
PhD: Laura Fisher (2012) Hope, Ethics & Disenchantment: a critical sociological inquiry into the Aboriginal art phenomenon (shortlisted for Faculty best thesis prize; published by Anthem Press)
Phd: (Professor) Chris Nash (2011) Communication Struggles in the Construction of Sydney as a Global City, 1983-2008
PhD: Neil Huthnance (2006) Creativity In The Bioglobal Age: Sociological Prospects From Seriality To Contingency (shortlisted for Faculty best thesis prize)
PhD: Hughson, John. (1996) A Feel for the Game: an ethnographic study of soccer support and social identity.
MA Honours/Research (by thesis):
Fox, Catherine (1992) Media Segmentation in the Australian Women’s Magazine Sector
Theen, Teresa (1992) Global Village or Global Ghetto? Singapore and the New World Information Order.
Publications
- MONOGRAPHS Jones, P.K. 2020, Critical Theory and Demagogic Populism, Manchester University Press, Manchester United Kingdom.
- Jones, P.K. & Holmes, D 2011, Key Concepts in Media and Communications, SAGE Publications, London.
- Jones, P.K. 2004, Raymond Williams's Sociology of Culture: A Critical Reconstruction, Palgrave Macmillan, United Kingdom.
- CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Jones, PK, 2022, 'Demagogy, Culture Industry, Psychotechnics: The Authoritarian Personality as media reception framework' in Die Wiederkehr des autoritären Charakters: Transatlantische Perspektiven, Springer VS Wiesbaden, Germany, pp. 15-41.
- Jones, P.K. 2016, 'Williams, Raymond' In K. B. Jensen, R. T. Craig, J. D. Pooley, & E. W. Rothenbuhler (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy. Hoboken, N.J., USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Jones, P.K. 2016, 'Marxist Cultural Sociology', in D. Inglis and A. Almila (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Sociology, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, pp. 11-25.
- Jones, P.K. 2010, 'Beyond the Semantic Big Bang: Cultural Sociology and an Aesthetic Public Sphere', in J. Gripsrud, H Moe, A Molander and G Murdock (ed.), The Public Sphere, SAGE Publications, London United Kingdom.
- Jones, P.K. 2006, 'Tragic Utopianism & Critique in Raymond Williams', in A. Milner, M. Ryan and R. Savage (ed.), Imagining the Future: Utopia and Dystopia, Arena Publications, Melbourne Australia.
- Jones, P.K. & Pusey, M 2004, 'Class and Media Influence in Australia', in D Heider (ed.), Class and News, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., United States.
- Jones, P.K. 2003, 'Beyond "Ages" and "Eras": sidestepping societal "projections" by typologising ICTs (published conf. paper)', in B. Miege and G Tremblay (ed.), 2001 Bogues: globalisme et pluralisme, Presses de l'UniversiteÌ Laval, Canada, pp. 111-128.
- Jones, P.K. 2002, 'Williams and Markus on Production', in J E Grumley, P Crittenden and P Johnson (ed.), Culture and enlightenment: essays for George Markus, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, United Kingdom.
- JOURNAL ARTICLES Jones, P.K. 2021, 'Demagogic populism and media system: A preliminary articulation', European Journal of Communication, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 593-609.
- Jones, P.K. 2020, 'Markus and the retrieval of the sociological Adorno', Thesis Eleven, vol. 160, no. 1, pp. 58-72.
- Jones, P.K. 2019, 'Insights from the infamous: Recovering the social-theoretical first phase of populism studies' European Journal of Social Theory, vol 22(4) pp. 458-476
- Jones, P.K. 2016, 'Demagogic Populism and US Culture Industries: a long tradition', Australasian Journal of American Studies (AJAS), vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 11-28.
- Yang, J, Rojas, H, Wojcieszak, M et al. 2016, 'Why Are "Others" So Polarized? Perceived Political Polarization and Media Use in 10 Countries', Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 349-367.
- Tiffen, R, Jones, P.K, Rowe, D et al 2014, 'Sources in the News: A comparative study', Journalism Studies, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 374-391.
- Curran, J, Coen, S, Soroka, S et al. 2014, 'Reconsidering 'virtuous circle' and 'media malaise' theories of the media: An 11-nation study', Journalism, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 815-833.
- Papathanassopoulos, S, Coen, S, Curran, J et al. 2013, 'ONLINE THREAT, BUT TELEVISION IS STILL DOMINANT A comparative study of 11 nations' news consumption', Journalism Practice, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 690-704.
- Aalberg, T, Papathanassopoulos, S, Soroka, S et al. 2013, 'International TV News, Foreign Affairs Interest and Public Knowledge: A comparative study of foreign news coverage and public opinion in 11 countries', Journalism Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 387-406.
- Curran, J, Coen, S, Aalberg, T et al. 2013, 'Internet Revolution Revisited: A Comparative Study of Online News', Media, Culture & Society, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. 880-897.
- Wajcman, J & Jones, P 2012, 'Border communication: media sociology and STS', Media, Culture & Society, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 673-690.
- Soroka, S, Andrew, B, Aalberg, T et al. 2013, 'Auntie Knows Best? Public Broadcasters and Current Affairs Knowledge', British Journal of Political Science, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 719-739.
- Jones, P 2012, 'The moment of Leveson: Beyond 'First Amendment fundamentalism' in news regulatory policies', Pacific Journalism Review, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 51-67.
- Jones, P & Pusey, M 2010, 'Political communication and 'media system': the Australian canary', Media, Culture & Society, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 451-471.
- Jones, P 2010, 'Raymond Williams & Bruno Latour: 'formalism' in the sociology of culture and technology', Sociologie de l’Art, OpuS 15, pp. 59-83.
- Jones, P & Pusey, M 2008, 'Mediated political communication in Australia: leading issues, new evidence', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 583-599.
- Jones, P 2007, 'Beyond the Semantic 'Big Bang': Cultural Sociology and an Aesthetic Public Sphere', Cultural Sociology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 73-95.
- Jones, P 2007, 'Antipodean Public Spherists', Southern Review, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 111-128.
- Jones, P 2006, 'Thirty Years of Keywords: Review essay on Raymond William's Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, London, Flamingo, 1983 and Tony Bennett et al, New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Oxford, Blackwell, 2005', Sociology, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1209-1215.
- Jones, P 2005, 'Australian Cross-Media Ownership Rules and Freedom of Political Communication', University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 916-923.
- Jones, P 2003, 'The Implied Constitutional Freedom of Political Communication and Australian Media Policy', The UTS Law Review, vol. 5, pp. 65-85.
- Jones, P 2003, 'Free Speech Discourse as an Emancipatory Ideology: a reply to Lawrence McNamara', The UTS Law Review, vol. 5, pp. 92-100.
- Jones, P 2001, 'The Best of Both Worlds? Freedom of Communication and Positive Broadcasting Regulation', Media, Culture & Society, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 407-417.
- Jones, P 2000, 'Paradigmatic Tensions in the Sociology of News (review essay)', Journal of Sociology, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 239-247.
- Jones, P 2000, 'McLuhanist Projections and Social Theory: some reflections', Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 94, pp. 39-55.
- Jones, P 2000, 'Democratic Norms and Means of Communication:Public Sphere, Fourth Estate, Freedom of Communication', Critical Horizons: a journal of philosophy and social theory, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 307-339.
- Jones, P 1999, 'The problem is always one of method... : cultural materialism, political economy and cultural studies', Key Words: a journal of cultural materialism, vol. 2, pp. 28-46.
- Jones, P 1998, 'Between Cultural Studies and Critical Sociology: public spheres, counter public spheres and journalism (review essay on J Hartley, Popular Reality: journalism, modernity, popular culture. London, Arnold 1996)', Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 88, pp. 121-133.
- Jones, P 1998, 'The Technology is not the Cultural Form?: Raymond Williams's Sociological Critique of Marshall McLuhan', Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 423-454.
- Jones, P 1997, 'Moral Panic: the legacy of Stan Cohen and Stuart Hall', Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 85, no. November issue, pp. 6-16.