Establishment versus Newcomers, Critical versus Administrative? Sketching the structure of the Swedish field of media and communication studies

Abstract

The status of the field of media and communication studies has been debated globally and domestically. This study covers virtually all agents (N=254) in the Swedish field of media and communication studies and draws on Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of science to uncover the main hierarchies in the field. The study focuses on two main divisions. Like in most fields, the most prevalent division is found between the field's incumbents and the challengers/newcomers. A parallel, albeit less prevalent, division is an onto-epistemological one - a variant of the old cleavage between "critical"and "administrative"research. The field's power elite is almost exclusively male, and connected to the field's pioneering institutions.