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The focus of this thesis is Swedish Film Swappers, i.e. young men who swap video films that include graphically explicit depictions of violence, and their cultural practices. Inspired by action and horror films some Film Swappers have become cultural producers, either of amateur videos, or of fanzines, i.e. amateur writing by fans for other fans. The Film Swappers have been studied through the analytical lens of public spheres, taste and identity, and by the methods of media ethnography (including participant communication, ethnographic interviews and textual analysis of the films they watch and the cultural artifacts they produce). Five groups of fanzine producers and three groups of amateur video producers have been studied from late 1992 to 1996. The material consists of interviews, fanzines, video films (commercial as well as amateur productions), newspaper and magazine articles, radio programmes and field notes. Fanzines have been central to the communicative organisation of the Film Swappers, and have contributed to the development of a public structure for the exchange of films, and of information on where to get hold of them and to read more about them. Through communicative action, an alternative public sphere with its own forms of consumption, distribution and production has been formed. The debate on the value of different films and videos has also been used strategically by the Film Swappers for distinctive taste practices, and alternative film canons have been proposed. This communicative and strategic action has been of great importance in the construction of the young men's identity.

This article discusses the role of media and communications in contributing to social progress, as elaborated in a landmark international project ? the International Panel on Social Progress. First, it analyses how media and digital platforms have contributed to global inequality by examining media access and infrastructure across world regions. Second, it looks at media governance and the different mechanisms of corporatized control over media platforms, algorithms and content. Third, the article examines how the democratization of media is a key element in the struggle for social justice. It argues that effective media access ? in terms of distribution of media resources, even relations between spaces of connection and the design and operation of spaces that foster dialogue, free speech and respectful cultural exchange ? is a core component of social progress.