Broadly speaking, this project seeks to lay the foundation for a conceptual and analytical framework for studying media policy that takes account of corporate globalization, multilateral politics, the changing role and nature of the national State, and the emergence of civil society as an actor on the world stage. "Mapping" in this regard is understood as a series of operations through which a certain "territory" - be it geographically defined, based in virtual space, cognitively elaborated or metaphorically conceived - can be described, named, and interpreted. The project means to develop appropriate conceptual and methodological tools to identify relevant components of the field of global media policy and to build capacity to act in the ever-changing media policy environment.

This project is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the McGill Faculty of Arts, and Media@McGill. It is part of a broader international project on "Mapping Global Media Policy", involving collaborators from the University of Padova (Italy), Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). In April 2010 the project launched a resource data base and platform that can be visited at www.globalmediapolicy.net.