Cultural Politics/Cultural Activism

Description

This course considers the politics of our everyday lives. It focuses on how 'culture' - as a process, as a practice, and as the production of meaning - functions as a battleground in the assignment of and struggle for social power. In particular, we will address and problematise ideas about how culture functions in terms of social ‘control’ and ‘resistance’. We will consider the ways that subjects and subjectivities are produced, how bodies are shaped and controlled through discourse, and how material and cultural resources are assigned.

Cultural studies is interdisciplinary in nature, so we will apply theoretical and practical debates to a wide range of contemporary cultural texts and modes, from films, television, museums, music, galleries, new media, performance and visual art to everyday acts of social and political resistance like protest movements or culture jamming. Amongst other examples we will consider youth subculture, the way that everyday spaces 'perform' identity, the potential of advertising for control and resistance, the ways that popular culture can challenge hierarchies of taste and value, the politics of cultural authenticity and preservation, and the relationship between music and political activism. We will also consider the history and origins of some of these forms of cultural activism, including key post-1968 cultural resistance movements such as the Situationist International.

While this course is offered by the English department and the Cultural Studies programme, it provides an excellent grounding in a broad range of the sorts of theories that underpin contemporary study in the humanities, and so will be of value to students from a variety of backgrounds. Close attention will be paid to issues such as socio-economic class, gender, sexuality, and race.

This course can be used towards an English major or minor. BA students who major in English would normally take at least two 100-level 15 point ENGL courses (which must include at least one of the following: ENGL117, ENGL102 or ENGL103), at least three 200-level 15 point ENGL courses, and at least two 300-level 30 point ENGL courses. This course is also co-coded CULT202 and can be used towards a Cultural Studies major or minor. Please see the BA regulations  or a student advisor for more information.