Mass Media Communication and Intersectional Crises

This book examines how contemporary global crises―climate change, migration, gender inequality, and economic precarity―are interconnected and shaped by communication, power, and representation.

Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of how to analyse and communicate complex, intersectional crises through an innovative framework combining intersectional, feminist, postcolonial, and communication perspectives. The book delivers practical analytical tools by applying intersectionality to crisis studies, examining media representations and communication theories, and exploring both mainstream and grassroots responses to global challenges. Dedicated chapters on climate change, migration, digital technologies, and the gig economy demonstrate how to critically assess crisis communication while developing ethical approaches to media literacy. The book equips readers with both theoretical foundations and practical insights for understanding how crises are produced, experienced, and mediated across different contexts, emphasizing the political consequences of framing, visibility, and silence in crisis communication.

This book is written for students in communication studies, media studies, sociology, gender studies, and migration studies. It is also valuable for practitioners working in journalism, public relations, advocacy, and policy development. It provides both theoretical grounding and practical insights for analysing and communicating complex, intersectional crises responsibly.

Mirela Holy is a scientific advisor at the Institute for Migration Research in Zagreb, Croatia, and a full professor at VERN’ University where she has taught since 2016. She holds degrees in Ethnology and Comparative Literature from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Marija Geiger Zeman is a scientific advisor at the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar in Zagreb, Croatia. She holds degrees in Sociology at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Martina Topić-Rutherford is a behavioural sociologist and mass communication scholar. Currently, she is an associate professor in public relations leadership at the University of Alabama, USA.