Relocating Cultural Studies: Developments in Theory and Research

Relocating Cultural Studiesconstitutes a salutory demonstration that Britain no longer serves as the center for cultural studies. Engaging in critical discourses of feminism, postmodernism, and postcolonialism, the contributors explore the renegotiations and changes in cultural studies in the wake of its export from Britain. In particular, the volume shows how the class-dominated issues of earlier practitioners have given way to attempts to understand the lived experiences of marginalized groups, including women and aboriginal peoples in postcolonial states. Questions about the ongoing globalization of capital and culture are linked to constructions of national, local and individual identities. The alternative relocations of cultural studies offered here manifest two not incommensurate trends. Some contributors consider how textual processes of representation articulate with exclusionary practices. Others keep alive a sense of politics in respect of institutional andpolicy debates. The result is an invigorated cultural studies which moves between theory and practice, gives primacy to tensions between local centers of political and economic power, and considers lived experiences within their geo-cultural contexts. It is a collection which can serve as an introduction to cultural studies, a critical re-evaluation of the earlier applications of cultural studies, and a compendium of current theoretical and research interests.