17 Facts About Martin Barker

Martin Barker was a British scholar of media studies and cultural studies.

Martin Barker was an Emeritus Professor at Aberystwyth University, having previously taught at the University of the West of England and the University of Sussex.

Martin Barker was known for being one of the pioneers behind the concept of cultural racism, which he termed "new racism".

Martin Barker's argument was that the concept of "racism", created in the 1930s to describe biological racism, should be extended to take into account prejudices against people on the basis of cultural difference.

Martin Barker then worked as reader in media studies at the University of Sussex from 1998 to 2001, before becoming professor of film and television studies at the University of Aberystwyth, where he remained until 2011, when he became professor emeritus, and moved to the Film and Television department of the University of East Anglia.

Martin Barker received an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Liverpool in 1967.

Martin Barker worked for 29 years at the University of West England, becoming Head of the School of Cultural Studies, before spending 2 years as a reader at the University of Sussex.

In January 2001, Martin Barker was appointed a Professor of Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University, where he was an emeritus professor.

Martin Barker described himself as "a committed socialist all my adult life" and during the 1970s was a member of the International Socialists group.

Early in his academic career, Martin Barker researched and published work on racism in the UK and children's comics, including Action and 2000 AD.

Martin Barker coined the term "new racism" in 1981 in the context of racist public discourse about immigration to the UK during the reign of Margaret Thatcher.

Later in his career, Martin Barker focused much more on studies of media audiences, drawing upon his background in cultural studies.

Martin Barker's co-authored study of audiences of the Sylvester Stallone film, Judge Dredd, was influential in the field of audience studies.

Martin Barker has recently been an outspoken critic of recent research used by the BBFC to justify implementing tighter censorship.

Martin Barker served as director on an ESRC-funded international audience research project on The Lord of the Rings which resulted in Watching Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's World Audiences.

Martin Barker then directed the international Game of Thrones audience study.

Martin Barker specialised in the study of media audiences, and oversaw an international audience research project on Game of Thrones.