REFLECTING ON THE THEORETICAL JOURNEY OF MODERNISM/POSTMODERNISM, FEMINISM, AND MASS COMMUNICATION IN A RELATIONAL CONTEXT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Theoretical developments in the literature of social sciences have enriched scientific knowledge. As social developments, changes and transformations shape social theories, it is possible to articulate that social theories that share the same period actually feed each other, even if each approach diverges within itself. This study argues that the chronological periodisation of pre-modernism, modernism and post-modernism (postmodernism) is similarly applied to mass communication studies and feminist theories, and that each period has a theoretical perspective that feeds each other.In particular, issues of gender equality and social development are included in the study, and it is expected that the perspective of what periods they cover in terms of historical periods, what mass media they are in active relationship with, and what wave of feminist movement they correspond to will develop and enrich this study in general. In this sense, this study is designed as a theoretical study; for this reason, by following a chronological historical narrative within the study, taking into account digital feminism, which is accepted as the fourth wave of feminism, how different waves of feminism and especially approaches to television and the Internet affect and feed each other are discussed within the framework of mass communication theories.As a result of the study, it is suggested that while a theory can be considered in a vacuum, the consideration of theories together, on a relational level and within their own periodicity, will contribute to the enrichment of both theoretical and practical studies. In this sense, the mentioned information will be particularly useful in studies on gender equality and social development.