As a matter of general theory it is useful to recognize that means of communication are themselves means of production. It is true that means of communication, from the simplest physical forms of language to the most advanced forms of communications technology, are themselves always socially and materially produced, and of course reproduced. Yet they are not only forms but means of production, since communication and its material means are intrinsic to all distinctively human forms of labor and social organization, thus constituting indispensable elements both of the productive forces and of the social relations of production.
Raymond Williams, “Means of Communication as Means of Production” (via t-h-e-v-o-i-d)
Excellently put. The production of discourse. So much potential for a merging of Foucauldean and Marxist approaches. Or we could just read more Adorno and Baudrillard!
This is why I find representation politics to be bunk, by the way.
-Z
(via sexistentialisms)