Mediatisation, Economy, and Infrastructural Dynamics in the Digital Risk Society

This contribution is motivated by the growing relevance of digital infrastructures for the mediatization approach, which is driven especially by a rising awareness and study of economically driven media environments, i.e., platforms. Yet, infrastructural dynamics – as they are particularly apparent in the field of cybersecurity and digital risks – have been widely neglected within mediatisation research and theory. They open up a new and different level of inquiry that has not been unlocked in the mediatisation approach to date. This article presents results from disciplines that have remained unconsidered in mediatisation research, and offers three paths that allow us to connect infrastructural dynamics and mediatisation. This contribution, thus, envisions a potential move-together, a joint-venture of mediatisation and Digital Risk Society. This move would allow the mediatisation approach to become a strong interdisciplinary authority in observing, researching, and paying attention to the Digital Risk Society.