Power Plays Power Works

by John Fiske, Black Hawk Hancock

Overview

Now, more than 20 years since its initial release, John Fiske’s classic text Power Plays Power Works remains both timely and insightful as a theoretically driven examination of the terrain where the politics of culture and the culture of politics collide.

Drawing on a diverse set of cultural sites - from alternative talk radio forums, museums, celebrity fandom, to social problems such as homelessness - Fiske traverses the topography of the American cultural landscape to highlight the ways that ordinary people creatively construct their social identities and relationships through the use of the resources available to them, while constrained by social conditions not of their own choosing. This important analysis provides a set of critical methodological and analytical tools to grapple with the complexities and struggles of contemporary social life.

A new introductory essay by former Fiske student Black Hawk Hancock entitled ‘Learning How to Fiske: Theorizing Power, Knowledge, and Bodies in the 21st Century’ elucidates Fiske’s methods for today’s students, providing them with the ultimate guide to thinking and analyzing like John Fiske; the art of ‘Learning How to Fiske’.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138888166
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/04/2016
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Fiske is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Black Hawk Hancock is an Associate Professor of Sociology at DePaul University, USA.

Table of Contents

Learning How to Fiske: Theorizing Power, Knowledge, and Bodies in the 21st Century

Black Hawk Hancock

Part One: Power and Cultural Theory

1. Power Plays

2. U.S. Cultures, European Theories

Part Two: Controlling Bodies

3. Bodies of Knowledge

4. Sporting Spectacles: The Body Visible

5. Elvis: A Body of Controversy

6. The Body of Violence

Part Three: Representing and Knowing

7. Act Globally, Think Locally

8. Gunfight at the P.C. Corral

9. Local Knowledge

10. Things and Practices

Part Four: White Power, Black Power

11. Blackened White

12. Power Works

13. Counter Power Works

Coda: The Slave Ship

Appendix: The John Fiske Reading List

Editorial Reviews

"This most theoretically masterful and politically trenchant of Fiske’s works allows the next generation the benefit of his intellectual acuity. Framed by Black Hawk Hancock’s thoughtful overview, Fiske teaches us anew how to apply a wide body of cultural theory to the power inequities of the 21^st century."

Elana Levine, Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

"Power Plays, Power Works first released in 1993 was a staple for graduate students and media savvy citizens throughout America and Europe. As a student and colleague of John Fiske, Black Hawk Hancock’s thoughtful introduction offers a studied perspective on the book’s continued importance as a canon of popular culture, race, gender and belonging."

Darrell M. Newton, Associate Dean and Professor, The Fulton School of Liberal Arts, Salisbury University

From the Publisher

Fiske ( Understanding Popular Culture ) mixes case studies and theory in a jargon-laden but provoking assessment of ways in which ordinary people fight power-blocs in a society lacking a ``broadly shared consensus of values and priorities.'' Fiske suggests, for example, that sports offers its fans a limited opportunity to know and master a field without being subject to the control of experts. Similarly, he suggests that Elvis fans find community in rejecting the official account of his death. Fiske examines the Smithsonian Institutions's 1991 look at the exploitative side of the frontier West, observing that while advocates of ``high'' culture hotly debate multiculturalism, popular culture has been invaded by revisionist movies like Dances with Wolves . His most interesting chapters delve into race relations, observing, for instance, the ``counter-knowledge'' purveyed by black-oriented radio stations, corresponding to a black experience of reality that differs from whites'. Fiske concludes that the current power-bloc still isn't ready to negotiate a new multicultural consensus, though he's hardly ready to define one himself. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly