Structural limits to the de-westernization of the communication field: The editorial board in Clarivate's JCR system

Abstract

Since the 2000s, calls for de-Westernizing the international communication research have been common, but their practical result has been very modest, as the share of non-western countries remained minimal. This article explores the hypothesis that structural factors hamper the diversity in international media research, based on the analysis of the membership of journals listed in Clarivate's Journal of Citation Reports. The data demonstrate a strong unbalance in favor of the US - and a particular group of US universities in special - to the detriment of the non-Western countries. The article discusses these findings in reference to the emergence of academic capitalism and the global rankings logic, which is based on “universal” defined from a US (and secondarily Anglophonic) viewpoint. The JCR system plays an important role in this schema, as it artificially introduces scarcity in the international publishing system and, therefore, concentrates symbolic power in the hands of a few.