Postmodernism And The Politics Of 'Culture'

by Adam Katz

Overview

Postmodernism and the Politics of 'Culture' is a comparative critical analysis of the political and intellectual ambitions of postmodernist critical theory and the academic discipline of cultural studies. Katz's polemical aim is to show that cultural studies comes up short in both areas, because its practitioners focus on too-narrow issues-primarily, celebrating the folkways of micro-communities-while denying the very possibility of studying, understanding, and changing society in any comprehensive way and to any universally beneficial purpose. He argues that scholars and activists alike would do well to make use of the analytical tools of postmodernist critical theory, whose practitioners acknowledge the political significance of the differences between social groups, but do not consider them to be unbridgeable, and so seek to develop a set of practices for creating a truly inclusive, truly democratic public sphere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780429977756
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/05/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	244
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Adam Katz

Table of Contents

Introduction , Postmodernism and Cultural Studies , Cultural Studies and the Politics of (Non)Identity , Cultural Studies and Postmodernity , Cultural Studies and the Public Sphere , Globalization, Universality, and Cultural Studies

Editorial Reviews

Presents a sustained critique of contemporary cultural studies and its theoretical underpinnings. Situates texts and arguments of cultural studies in relation to symptomatic critiques of leading postmodern theorists including Derrida, Foucault, and Lyotard, and explains how the politics of resistance to closure has reduced cultural studies to a new form of liberalism. Resituates classical Marxism on the terrain of global capitalism, challenging the conclusions drawn by modern theorists from phenomena such as hyper-reality and simulacral politics. Katz teaches English at Onondaga Community College. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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