Reflection and Transcendence: On the Functionlism Ideology of Media and Cultural Studies

As an extreme manifestation of functionalism studies, functionalistic ideology usually bundles media and cultural studies with instrumental rationality and pragmatism, and treats media and cultural studies as a part of the cultural system, emphasizing its community-maintaining function while ignoring the diversity of cultural studies and its reflective ability. Functionalistic ideology in media and cultural studies field has been mainly driven by economic interests, political power and academic self-discipline. In the new media era, ideas have become increasingly diverse. Media and cultural studies should avoid being mere tools of social control and approaches for adding economic value, but intervene in social reality in a broader scope with public interest concerns, digging out social injustice and hidden problems and providing more desirable and fair solutions. What's more, we have to return the significance of cultural interactive construction and pluralism, and regain its proper reflection and critical abilities.