Hybrid Lecture – Racism, Anti-Racism and the Politics of Popular Culture
Thursday 6 February 2025, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm GMT, online and London, UK
Speakers:
Professor Anamik Saha
Dr Francesca Sobande
Chair:
Professor Lee Edwards
Racism and antiracism clash on a daily basis in media discourse. This joint talk reflects on current practices of “othering” in popular media and probes the nature and meaning of media diversity amidst far right appeals to media representation. These practices point to shifts in whom a plural media system can and ought to serve and why.
Francesca will discuss the pop culture portrayals of vampires, immortality, and the racial politics of desiring “demons”, and Anamik will address the turn to diversity in media and the ascendency of the far right.
Meet our speakers and chair:
Anamik Saha is Professor in Race and Media at the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. He researches race, culture and media, with a focus on creative and cultural industries and ‘diversity’. His books include Race and the Cultural Industries and Race, Culture and Media. His latest book The Anti-Racist Media Manifesto is co-authored with Francesca Sobande and Gavan Titley.
Francesca Sobande (@Chess_Ess) is a writer and senior lecturer in digital media studies at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University. Her books include Big Brands Are Watching You: Marketing Social Justice and Digital Culture and Consuming Crisis: Commodifying Care and COVID-19. Her recent work includes the co-authored book The Anti-Racist Media Manifesto that is co-authored with Anamik Saha and Gavan Titley.
Lee Edwards (@leemoya) is Professor of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE, where she also serves as Deputy Head of Department (Education) and Programme Director for the MSc Strategic Communications and Society. She teaches and researches public relations from a socio-cultural perspective, focusing in particular on how power operates in and through public relations work.
More about this event:
This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can’t attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE’s YouTube channel.
Find more information and book your free place here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/02/202502061830/racism-and-the-politics-of-popular-culture
This event is being held online and at Old Theatre, Old Building, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, UK.