How do material forces shape the discourse?

Part I of a multipart series on a Marxist theory of contemporary discourse.

This is the first of a multipart series covering the role of political economy in contemporary media.

To look at contemporary political discourse you would think we are in the midst of a great debate about political persuasion – how it works and how to carry it out. Proponents of emotional persuasion, for example, insists that “the fuel that drives our a…