Recent changes in the economic and political world scenario have been dominated by an increasing globalising process and a constant capital mobilisation. This process has left a significant mark on nation-based economies and cultural systems, giving a prominent role to the economic agencies and sectors involved in information and communication industries. The influence and side-effects of this new scenario for public policies in southern countries are just uncertain.

The present volume provides the analytical and conceptual framework from which to explore the issue of political economy of communication. The chapters introduce the reader to the knowledge of the features, inner contradictions and the dialectics of regional alternative communication versus information control. By doing this, different questions are addressed: from the ideological perspectives implied in the ethnocentric reproduction of prevalent cultural paradigms (and the persistence of cultural inequalities), to central issues concerning the “digital revolution” and its impact on the political economy of communication and culture worldwide, with a special emphasis on Latin America.