Understanding Culture
Culture & Communication, Classical Dominant Approaches of Communication & Culture
Imperialism, Which Motives Caused Imperialism, Cultural Imperialism, Media & Cultural Imperialism, Two Models of Cultural Imperialism, Contributions to Cultural Imperialism, Defense of Cultural Imperialism by Response Theorists, Post Structuralism Approach of Cultural Imperialism, Theory of Globalization, Critics of U.S Cultural Imperialism Revised Their Earlier Reproaches (World System Theory), New Face of Imperialism, The Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian , Cultural Imperialism in Pakistan by Abid Zafar
Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that analyzes culture from diverse perspectives. It transcends traditional academic disciplines and brings together approaches from fields like history, philosophy, literary criticism, media studies, and political theory. Cultural studies examines how social hierarchies and power structures shape cultural production and meanings. It rejects distinctions between high and low culture, and analyzes the political and economic forces that influence cultural works and their distribution. A key goal is understanding culture as a site of social and political struggle.
The document discusses key concepts from Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, including:
1. Gramsci used the term "subaltern" to refer to social groups that are subordinate to the ruling classes and excluded from power.
2. For Gramsci, "ideology" referred to the worldviews and ideas that help ruling groups maintain dominance. He saw ideology as distinct from economic and political structures.
3. Gramsci analyzed how cultural institutions like education and media shape ideology and help the ruling classes exercise "hegemony" over subordinate groups.
Cultural theories of mass communication developed in the 1950s-1960s as alternatives to limited effects theories. Cultural theories focus on how media affects culture and social norms rather than individuals. They include micro-level cultural studies theories, which examine how groups use media to create new forms of culture, and macro-level critical/political theories, which analyze how elites use media to maintain power and propagate dominant ideology.
This document discusses Marxist theories of culture and ideology, including Gramsci's concept of hegemony. It addresses Marx's view that the economic base determines the cultural superstructure. Gramsci argued that dominant groups establish hegemony through inducing consent rather than just imposing ideology from above. Hegemony requires active consent that is constantly renegotiated. Cultural studies analyzes how cultural forms further social domination or enable resistance. It employs Gramsci's concepts of hegemony and counter-hegemony to analyze ruling and resistant forces. Theories of subcultures and resistance also focus on how oppressed groups reclaim subjectivity within dominant culture.
This document discusses various sociological concepts for understanding society and human behavior. It begins by defining structuralism as focusing on relationships between elements in a conceptual system. It then discusses post-structuralism and highlights Foucault's work emphasizing the changeability of identities. Key thinkers discussed include Emile Durkheim, Ferdinand de Saussure, and their concepts of collective consciousness, langue, and parole. The document also covers feminism, capitalism, forms of capital, status quo, and the roles of structure and agency in social construction as conceptualized by theorists like Bourdieu, Giddens, and others.
This document provides an overview of sociological perspectives on identity and culture from classical theorists like Durkheim, Marx, and functionalists like Parsons. It discusses key ideas around:
1) Durkheim's view that culture bonds individuals to groups through socialization and collective identity, while Marx saw culture as a means for ruling groups to justify dominance.
2) Functionalism sees society as a system and culture maintains order by socializing individuals, though it is criticized for ignoring conflict.
3) Marxism views society as structured by class conflict, and sees culture as a form of control used by ruling classes to maintain false consciousness among subordinate classes.
This document discusses different perspectives on mass culture and popular culture. It outlines the pessimistic view that sees popular culture as a problem versus the optimistic view that sees opportunities for creativity. It also discusses the mass society thesis that popular culture prevents critical thought and can be used to manipulate the masses. The Frankfurt School argued that consumerism and the cultural industry create false needs and fetishism. However, pluralists believe individuals have choices in what they consume. Postmodern views see identity and lifestyle based on consumption. Subcultures challenge and redefine dominant cultural symbols and styles through bricolage.
Understanding Culture
Culture & Communication, Classical Dominant Approaches of Communication & Culture
Imperialism, Which Motives Caused Imperialism, Cultural Imperialism, Media & Cultural Imperialism, Two Models of Cultural Imperialism, Contributions to Cultural Imperialism, Defense of Cultural Imperialism by Response Theorists, Post Structuralism Approach of Cultural Imperialism, Theory of Globalization, Critics of U.S Cultural Imperialism Revised Their Earlier Reproaches (World System Theory), New Face of Imperialism, The Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian , Cultural Imperialism in Pakistan by Abid Zafar
Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that analyzes culture from diverse perspectives. It transcends traditional academic disciplines and brings together approaches from fields like history, philosophy, literary criticism, media studies, and political theory. Cultural studies examines how social hierarchies and power structures shape cultural production and meanings. It rejects distinctions between high and low culture, and analyzes the political and economic forces that influence cultural works and their distribution. A key goal is understanding culture as a site of social and political struggle.
The document discusses key concepts from Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, including:
1. Gramsci used the term "subaltern" to refer to social groups that are subordinate to the ruling classes and excluded from power.
2. For Gramsci, "ideology" referred to the worldviews and ideas that help ruling groups maintain dominance. He saw ideology as distinct from economic and political structures.
3. Gramsci analyzed how cultural institutions like education and media shape ideology and help the ruling classes exercise "hegemony" over subordinate groups.
Cultural theories of mass communication developed in the 1950s-1960s as alternatives to limited effects theories. Cultural theories focus on how media affects culture and social norms rather than individuals. They include micro-level cultural studies theories, which examine how groups use media to create new forms of culture, and macro-level critical/political theories, which analyze how elites use media to maintain power and propagate dominant ideology.
This document discusses Marxist theories of culture and ideology, including Gramsci's concept of hegemony. It addresses Marx's view that the economic base determines the cultural superstructure. Gramsci argued that dominant groups establish hegemony through inducing consent rather than just imposing ideology from above. Hegemony requires active consent that is constantly renegotiated. Cultural studies analyzes how cultural forms further social domination or enable resistance. It employs Gramsci's concepts of hegemony and counter-hegemony to analyze ruling and resistant forces. Theories of subcultures and resistance also focus on how oppressed groups reclaim subjectivity within dominant culture.
This document discusses various sociological concepts for understanding society and human behavior. It begins by defining structuralism as focusing on relationships between elements in a conceptual system. It then discusses post-structuralism and highlights Foucault's work emphasizing the changeability of identities. Key thinkers discussed include Emile Durkheim, Ferdinand de Saussure, and their concepts of collective consciousness, langue, and parole. The document also covers feminism, capitalism, forms of capital, status quo, and the roles of structure and agency in social construction as conceptualized by theorists like Bourdieu, Giddens, and others.
This document provides an overview of sociological perspectives on identity and culture from classical theorists like Durkheim, Marx, and functionalists like Parsons. It discusses key ideas around:
1) Durkheim's view that culture bonds individuals to groups through socialization and collective identity, while Marx saw culture as a means for ruling groups to justify dominance.
2) Functionalism sees society as a system and culture maintains order by socializing individuals, though it is criticized for ignoring conflict.
3) Marxism views society as structured by class conflict, and sees culture as a form of control used by ruling classes to maintain false consciousness among subordinate classes.
This document discusses different perspectives on mass culture and popular culture. It outlines the pessimistic view that sees popular culture as a problem versus the optimistic view that sees opportunities for creativity. It also discusses the mass society thesis that popular culture prevents critical thought and can be used to manipulate the masses. The Frankfurt School argued that consumerism and the cultural industry create false needs and fetishism. However, pluralists believe individuals have choices in what they consume. Postmodern views see identity and lifestyle based on consumption. Subcultures challenge and redefine dominant cultural symbols and styles through bricolage.
This document discusses neuropolitics and various theories around human inequality and social stratification. It covers topics like the origins of inequality in human nature, the debate between functionalist and conflict theories of stratification, and the role of power, the state, and political culture in perpetuating inequality through the administration of privileges and use of violence. It argues that universal human affiliation may be a way to transcend the conflict inherent in traditional political organization and systems of social stratification.
Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies.
Cultural studies views cultures not as fixed, bounded, stable, and discrete entities, but rather as constantly interacting and changing sets of practices and processes.
The field of cultural studies encompasses a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives and practices. Although distinct from the discipline of cultural anthropology and the interdisciplinary field of ethnic studies, cultural studies draws upon and has contributed to each of these fields
Cultural studies emerged in Britain and is referred to as British cultural materialism. It examines culture from the perspective of relations of power and how culture reinforces and maintains social structures like the state and capitalism. Key influences on British cultural materialism include Marx, Gramsci, Althusser, and theorists focused on how ideology controls society and reproduces existing social relations through cultural objects and texts. British cultural materialism views culture as political and considers how power structures like patriarchy are reinforced through supposedly neutral cultural works and ideas.
This document provides an overview of Marxist literary criticism. It discusses how Marxist criticism analyzes literature through a Marxist theoretical lens by exploring how economic and social structures influence ideology and culture as portrayed in literary works. For example, a Marxist reading of a novel may examine how the narrative reinforces or challenges social hierarchies and economic inequalities. It also outlines some of the key thinkers in Marxist theory like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and defines important Marxist concepts such as class, alienation, base, and superstructure that are prioritized in Marxist criticism.
This document defines and explains several key media studies terms:
- Archetype refers to an original pattern or model that other similar things are based on.
- Hegemony describes how dominant social groups maintain power and control not just through coercion but by making their values seem normal and natural.
- Realism in media refers to accurately representing things as they really are through details like sounds and realistic human reactions.
Cultural studies has four main goals: [1] It transcends traditional disciplines by scrutinizing cultural phenomena over time; [2] It takes a politically engaged approach to critique power structures and inequality; [3] It denies distinctions between high and low/elite and popular culture; [4] It analyzes both cultural works and their means of production.
Karl Marx suggested that true freedom only exists under communism and that wealth is determined by skill and social status. Neo-Marxism updated traditional Marxism by addressing criticisms of only two classes and recognizing a more complex class structure. Marxism is a philosophy and analysis of history and capitalism that views society through a materialist lens and theorizes social change. Stuart Hall argued that dominant ideologies are not automatically adopted by audiences. Pluralism posits that society is diverse with many beliefs, while hegemony describes one group dominating through popular consent. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership. Louis Althusser was a structural Marxist who argued Marxism underwent an epistemological break and analyzed threats to
This document summarizes several major political ideologies:
- Liberalism is based on individual rights, liberty, consent of the governed, and private property.
- Conservatism seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions and values.
- Socialism advocates for social ownership over private ownership of production and is characterized by a variety of economic systems.
- Anarchism seeks to abolish coercive institutions like states and capitalism.
Stuart Hall outlines two paradigms in cultural studies: culturalism and structuralism. Culturalism, associated with Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson, sees culture as the lived experiences and practices of social groups. Structuralism, associated with Levi-Strauss and Althusser, sees culture and experience as the effect of underlying symbolic structures and frameworks. Hall discusses the emergence of cultural studies and how structuralism interrupted the cultural strand, creating stark contrasts around the role of experience.
This document provides an overview of three social sciences: sociology, anthropology, and political science. It discusses key topics within each discipline such as social forces in sociology, cultural diversity and social institutions in anthropology, and concepts of power, order, and justice in political science. Important figures that contributed to the development of each field are also mentioned, such as Auguste Comte in sociology, Franz Boas in anthropology, and Thomas Hobbes and Baron de Montesquieu in political science.
The social sciences. sociology, anthropology, and political scienceTin-tin Nulial
The social sciences of sociology, anthropology, and political science focus on the study of society and social interactions. Sociology examines social forces that influence individuals and the structures of social groups. Anthropology studies human culture and cultural diversity. Political science analyzes power structures and mechanisms within government and society. These social sciences seek to understand and explain human social life, institutions, and processes of social and political change.
The document discusses the perspectives of anthropology and sociology on culture and society. It defines key terms and concepts from both disciplines. Sociology views society as constituted by social actors in constant interaction, while anthropology sees culture as the practices and traditions that define a specific society. The document explores different theories on what makes society possible, such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. It also examines definitions and characteristics of culture, including that it is learned, shared, and varies between societies. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are discussed as approaches to understanding different cultures.
The document discusses the perspectives of anthropology and sociology on culture and society. It defines key terms and concepts from both disciplines. Sociology views society as constituted by social actors in constant interaction, while anthropology sees culture as the practices and traditions that define a specific society. The document explores different theoretical perspectives on what makes society possible, such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. It also examines definitions and characteristics of culture, including that it is a complex whole learned and shared within groups consisting of beliefs, practices, and traditions.
This document provides an overview of the subject code SSCN01G, which is a 3-unit course on sociology with anthropology. The course description emphasizes patterns of human relations and man's role in social changes. It also covers population growth, environment, and poverty issues. The learning objectives are to help students understand how society works, encourage good community membership, and apply sociological concepts. The document then provides definitions and introductions to sociology, anthropology, and their various branches and related concepts.
An introductory lecture in ideological analysis of media, covering works of Marx, Gramsci, Adorno & Horkheimer, Hall, given to BA-1 students at the Erasmus University Rotterdam
This document provides an overview of sociology as a discipline. It discusses how sociology emerged from the natural and social sciences. Key aspects of sociology highlighted include its systematic study of human society and focus on how social behavior is shaped by groups and individuals. The document then reviews several influential early thinkers in sociology such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. It also summarizes the development of sociology in the US, including the Chicago School. Major theoretical approaches to sociology are introduced, including structural-functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interactionism.
This document summarizes the key differences between cultural studies and political economy approaches in media studies. Cultural studies focuses on how audiences interpret and make meaning from media, while political economy examines the political and economic forces that influence media production and content. Both seek to understand power dynamics but cultural studies emphasizes how media allows for oppositional views, while political economy views media as promoting ruling ideologies. The document traces the historical relationship between the two approaches and argues they can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive analysis.
Ch3 culture, power, globalisation and inequitydolla chheng
This document provides an outline for a course on culture, power, globalization, and inequity. It introduces key concepts around globalization including how it leads to the spread of economies, cultures and power across borders. It also discusses how globalization can increase access to products and cultures but also leads to loss of local languages and culture. The document then discusses how globalization and the expansion of capitalism can lead to unequal distribution of power, income, and wealth both within and between societies. It explores different theories around culture, power and inequality including Marxism, Weber's views on status and inequality, caste societies, and how ideology can reinforce inequality. Finally, it lists different factors like class, race, gender, age that influence
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropologyelma22
This document provides definitions and discussions of key anthropological concepts including class, community, complex society, power, sociology, and society. It discusses different anthropological approaches to conceptualizing these terms and compares anthropological and sociological perspectives. The document also outlines debates around how these concepts have been defined and applied in anthropological research and theory.
This document discusses neuropolitics and various theories around human inequality and social stratification. It covers topics like the origins of inequality in human nature, the debate between functionalist and conflict theories of stratification, and the role of power, the state, and political culture in perpetuating inequality through the administration of privileges and use of violence. It argues that universal human affiliation may be a way to transcend the conflict inherent in traditional political organization and systems of social stratification.
Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies.
Cultural studies views cultures not as fixed, bounded, stable, and discrete entities, but rather as constantly interacting and changing sets of practices and processes.
The field of cultural studies encompasses a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives and practices. Although distinct from the discipline of cultural anthropology and the interdisciplinary field of ethnic studies, cultural studies draws upon and has contributed to each of these fields
Cultural studies emerged in Britain and is referred to as British cultural materialism. It examines culture from the perspective of relations of power and how culture reinforces and maintains social structures like the state and capitalism. Key influences on British cultural materialism include Marx, Gramsci, Althusser, and theorists focused on how ideology controls society and reproduces existing social relations through cultural objects and texts. British cultural materialism views culture as political and considers how power structures like patriarchy are reinforced through supposedly neutral cultural works and ideas.
This document provides an overview of Marxist literary criticism. It discusses how Marxist criticism analyzes literature through a Marxist theoretical lens by exploring how economic and social structures influence ideology and culture as portrayed in literary works. For example, a Marxist reading of a novel may examine how the narrative reinforces or challenges social hierarchies and economic inequalities. It also outlines some of the key thinkers in Marxist theory like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and defines important Marxist concepts such as class, alienation, base, and superstructure that are prioritized in Marxist criticism.
This document defines and explains several key media studies terms:
- Archetype refers to an original pattern or model that other similar things are based on.
- Hegemony describes how dominant social groups maintain power and control not just through coercion but by making their values seem normal and natural.
- Realism in media refers to accurately representing things as they really are through details like sounds and realistic human reactions.
Cultural studies has four main goals: [1] It transcends traditional disciplines by scrutinizing cultural phenomena over time; [2] It takes a politically engaged approach to critique power structures and inequality; [3] It denies distinctions between high and low/elite and popular culture; [4] It analyzes both cultural works and their means of production.
Karl Marx suggested that true freedom only exists under communism and that wealth is determined by skill and social status. Neo-Marxism updated traditional Marxism by addressing criticisms of only two classes and recognizing a more complex class structure. Marxism is a philosophy and analysis of history and capitalism that views society through a materialist lens and theorizes social change. Stuart Hall argued that dominant ideologies are not automatically adopted by audiences. Pluralism posits that society is diverse with many beliefs, while hegemony describes one group dominating through popular consent. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership. Louis Althusser was a structural Marxist who argued Marxism underwent an epistemological break and analyzed threats to
This document summarizes several major political ideologies:
- Liberalism is based on individual rights, liberty, consent of the governed, and private property.
- Conservatism seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions and values.
- Socialism advocates for social ownership over private ownership of production and is characterized by a variety of economic systems.
- Anarchism seeks to abolish coercive institutions like states and capitalism.
Stuart Hall outlines two paradigms in cultural studies: culturalism and structuralism. Culturalism, associated with Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson, sees culture as the lived experiences and practices of social groups. Structuralism, associated with Levi-Strauss and Althusser, sees culture and experience as the effect of underlying symbolic structures and frameworks. Hall discusses the emergence of cultural studies and how structuralism interrupted the cultural strand, creating stark contrasts around the role of experience.
This document provides an overview of three social sciences: sociology, anthropology, and political science. It discusses key topics within each discipline such as social forces in sociology, cultural diversity and social institutions in anthropology, and concepts of power, order, and justice in political science. Important figures that contributed to the development of each field are also mentioned, such as Auguste Comte in sociology, Franz Boas in anthropology, and Thomas Hobbes and Baron de Montesquieu in political science.
The social sciences. sociology, anthropology, and political scienceTin-tin Nulial
The social sciences of sociology, anthropology, and political science focus on the study of society and social interactions. Sociology examines social forces that influence individuals and the structures of social groups. Anthropology studies human culture and cultural diversity. Political science analyzes power structures and mechanisms within government and society. These social sciences seek to understand and explain human social life, institutions, and processes of social and political change.
The document discusses the perspectives of anthropology and sociology on culture and society. It defines key terms and concepts from both disciplines. Sociology views society as constituted by social actors in constant interaction, while anthropology sees culture as the practices and traditions that define a specific society. The document explores different theories on what makes society possible, such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. It also examines definitions and characteristics of culture, including that it is learned, shared, and varies between societies. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are discussed as approaches to understanding different cultures.
The document discusses the perspectives of anthropology and sociology on culture and society. It defines key terms and concepts from both disciplines. Sociology views society as constituted by social actors in constant interaction, while anthropology sees culture as the practices and traditions that define a specific society. The document explores different theoretical perspectives on what makes society possible, such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. It also examines definitions and characteristics of culture, including that it is a complex whole learned and shared within groups consisting of beliefs, practices, and traditions.
This document provides an overview of the subject code SSCN01G, which is a 3-unit course on sociology with anthropology. The course description emphasizes patterns of human relations and man's role in social changes. It also covers population growth, environment, and poverty issues. The learning objectives are to help students understand how society works, encourage good community membership, and apply sociological concepts. The document then provides definitions and introductions to sociology, anthropology, and their various branches and related concepts.
An introductory lecture in ideological analysis of media, covering works of Marx, Gramsci, Adorno & Horkheimer, Hall, given to BA-1 students at the Erasmus University Rotterdam
This document provides an overview of sociology as a discipline. It discusses how sociology emerged from the natural and social sciences. Key aspects of sociology highlighted include its systematic study of human society and focus on how social behavior is shaped by groups and individuals. The document then reviews several influential early thinkers in sociology such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. It also summarizes the development of sociology in the US, including the Chicago School. Major theoretical approaches to sociology are introduced, including structural-functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interactionism.
This document summarizes the key differences between cultural studies and political economy approaches in media studies. Cultural studies focuses on how audiences interpret and make meaning from media, while political economy examines the political and economic forces that influence media production and content. Both seek to understand power dynamics but cultural studies emphasizes how media allows for oppositional views, while political economy views media as promoting ruling ideologies. The document traces the historical relationship between the two approaches and argues they can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive analysis.
Ch3 culture, power, globalisation and inequitydolla chheng
This document provides an outline for a course on culture, power, globalization, and inequity. It introduces key concepts around globalization including how it leads to the spread of economies, cultures and power across borders. It also discusses how globalization can increase access to products and cultures but also leads to loss of local languages and culture. The document then discusses how globalization and the expansion of capitalism can lead to unequal distribution of power, income, and wealth both within and between societies. It explores different theories around culture, power and inequality including Marxism, Weber's views on status and inequality, caste societies, and how ideology can reinforce inequality. Finally, it lists different factors like class, race, gender, age that influence
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropologyelma22
This document provides definitions and discussions of key anthropological concepts including class, community, complex society, power, sociology, and society. It discusses different anthropological approaches to conceptualizing these terms and compares anthropological and sociological perspectives. The document also outlines debates around how these concepts have been defined and applied in anthropological research and theory.
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1. C U L T U R A L
I N T R O T O
S T U D I E S
Presented by: Wise Notion
2. OUTLINE
I. What is Culture?
II. Cultural Studies
IV. Ideology: Marxism
III. Origins of Cultural
Studies
V. Hegemony
VI. Subalternity
3. Culture refers to a way
of life – a particular way
of life – whether of a
people, a period or a
group,
or humanity in general.
Culture includes the
organization of production,
the structure of the family,
the structure of institutions
which express or govern
social relationships, the
characteristic forms through
which
members of the society
communicate.
WHAT IS CULTURE :
“Raymond Henry
Williams”
4. WHAT IS CULTURAL STUDIES
• Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the
political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture)
and its historical foundations. It views cultures not as fixed, bounded,
stable, and discrete entities, but rather as constantly interacting and
changing sets of practices and processes.
• Cultural Studies is the relationship between culture and meaning,
beginning with the premise that culture is neither neutral nor natural.
5. Characteristics of Cultural Studies
• It aims to examine its subject matter in terms of cultural practices and
their relation to power.
• Its objective is to understand culture in all its complex forms and to
analyses the social and political context within which it manifest itself.
• It aims to understand and change the structures of dominance
everywhere but in industrial capitalist societies in particular.
6. How does it function:
• Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices relate to
wider systems of power associated with or operating through social phenomena,
such as ideology, class structures, national formations, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, gender, and generation.
• Cultural studies combines a variety of politically engaged critical approaches drawn
including semiotics, Marxism, feminist theory, critical race theory, postcolonialism,
social theory, political theory, history, philosophy, literary theory, media theory,
film/video studies, communication studies, political economy, translation studies,
museum studies and art history/criticism to study cultural phenomena in various
societies and historical periods.
7. I N 1 9 3 0 s
ORIGIN OF CULTURE STUDIES:
FRANKFURT SCHOOL
MAX
HORKHEIMER
HERBERT
MARCUSE
THEODOR
- It worked on basic Marxist concepts to analyze the
social relations within capitalist economics systems.
- Dominants groups used media and technology to
reproduce the ideas and cultures of the masses in a way
that serves their interests.
8. I N 1 9 5 0 s
BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL
RAYMOND
WILLIAMS
RICHARD
HOGGART
E.P THOMPSON
- It Looked at possibilities of resistance
especially in the interpretation of
media texts.
- They were trying to go beyond the
division between high culture and
low culture.
9. - It insisted on making
distinction between encoding
and decoding, which helps
the viewer to go beyond the
understanding of the
producers
1 9 6 4 - 2 0 0 2
- The CCCS widened the scope of C.S, it saw how texts
of media represented class, gender and race.
- It tried to explore the
influence of media on the
audience and how the
audience can resist by giving his
own readings.
Centre For Contemporary Cultural Studies
(CCCS)
STUART
RICHARD
HOGGART
10. IDEOLOGY
• Ideology is a systematic body
of ideas
articulated by a particular group of
people.
It is a certain masking, distortion,
or
Concealment that produces ‘false
consciousness.
• Ideology is a way of making other
people believe what you believe
and see things the way you see
them.
12. MARXISM
• Marxism is a social, economic and political
philosophy that analyses the impact of the ruling
class on the laborers, leading to uneven
distribution of wealth and privileges in the
society.
• The theory was formulated by Karl Marx and Fredrich
Engels in their work, ‘The Communist Manifesto’.
• The Bourgeoisie enjoyed the power to control the
toiling masses’ wages and work, leaving them
vulnerable to even replacements in the future. The
former had access to modern equipment and tools to
make work easier and quicker, leaving the laborer
with low wages and adding more profits to
themselves.
• The never-ending heavy labor left the workforce with
a feeling of alienation from the task (Estranged
Labor) and even humanity, focusing only on the
yields.
13. HIGH CULTUTE
R ef ers t o t he cult ural
aspect s ( mat erial and
nonmat erial) considered
superior and held in t he
highest esteem by a society.
It is t ypically associat ed
w ith int ellect ualism,
polit ical pow er, and
prest ige. It encompasses a
collection of beliefs,
t hought s, pract ices and
w orks t hat are not
necessarily int ended f or
ordinary people, but f or t he
distinguished elite of
societ y.
14. Classical music is not popular
with the masses, but retains
popularity among the elites and
people trained in music theory.
Classical music is performed
by orchestras and appreciated
for the depth and detail of the
themes.
15. LOW CULTUTE
• is the complete anti-thesis
of high culture. It is the
culture of the common
people and the mass; the
philistines, not the
aristocrats, to use olden
times’ terms. (The masses:
mostly non-elites like
laborers, small-scale
businessmen, peasants,
barbers, truck-drivers …)
16. • Like country music, pop
music is celebrated by the
working and lower-middle
classes but not the elite.
Pop music stands for
“popular music” and is, by
definition, the music
enjoyed by the masses.
17. HEGEMON
Y • Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another,
often supported by legitimating norms and ideas.
• This broader meaning was coined in the 1930s by the
Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci.
It Requires consent of the majority to keep the
dominant group in power.
• Hegemony is the power of the ruling class to
convince other classes that their interests are the
interests of all. They use ideas and cultural forms
that induce consent to their rule, a subtle and
inclusive power over the economy, and over state
apparatuses (civile society) such as the church,
school, and the media by which their interest is
presented as the common interest and thus comes to
be taking for granted.
ANTONIO
18. American Culture
Time Period: 20th century
Location: Global
The United States became the global hegemon after
WW2 thanks to its economic and military power. The
United States promoted neoliberalism as the only
acceptable way to think about economics, and its cultural
exports (such as Hollywood movies and rock music)
became dominant around the world thanks to cultural
globalization.
19. PRISON Notebooks
Gramsci’s reflections on hegemony
develop along the concept of
subalternity. He coined the
term subaltern to identify
the cultural hegemony that excludes
and displaces specific people and
social groups from the socio-
economic institutions of society, in
order to deny their agency and
voices in colonial politics.
20. SUBALTERNITY
• In postcolonial studies and in critical theory, the
term subaltern designates and identifies the
colonial populations who are socially, politically,
and geographically excluded from the hierarchy of
power of an imperial colony and from the
metropolitan homeland of an empire.
• A subaltern is someone with a low ranking in a
social, political or other hierarchy. It can also
mean who has been marginalized or oppressed.
• The question of subalternity emerges in relation to
subordinate social groups and individuals whose
historical activity is repressed, neglected,
misinterpreted or at “ the margins” of hegemonic
histories, discours and social formations.
gayatri spivak
21. • During the 1980s, the Subaltern Studies project
developed and adapted Gramsci’s research
programm on subalternity to the situation of
(post)colonial India. The main aim of this project
was to re-write Indian history between
colonialism and decolonization from the
perspective of the rural subaltern masses.
• More recently, Spivak’s work has focused on
subalterns as subjects of relations, rather
than as objects of study. Inspired by Gramsci
and by her political-pedagogical activity with
Adivasi tribes, Spivak asks not only whether
and how subalterns can be represented by
intellectuals, but also what the intellectual
can learn from them.