The Uses of Cultural Studies (PDF)

'I'll be recommending that students buy this text and teaching from it extensively over the course of the module. This is an excellent text by a concise, clear and important British scholar which will help introduce students to the opportuntities they have to study contemporary life meaningfully.' - Dr Stuart Robertson, University of Central England

'An inspirational take on cultural studies - past, present and future. It is both a student text and considerably more than that. It is written with admirable clarity, but so too with fire, passion and much good sense' - Bill Schwarz, Queen Mary, University of London

'This is an important book. It will be the first textbook in cultural studies that does what a truly useful textbook is supposed to do - in the very act of summarizing and representing the field, it recreates it anew and moves it further along' - Lawrence Grossberg, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

'This is one of the most useful textbooks in a long time' - Michele Barrett, Queen Mary, University of London

Students of cultural studies frequently struggle with the subject's primary texts. For example, the work of Hall, Bhabha and Butler can be complex. Having grappled with these texts however, the student is then confronted with having to apply these insights to their own areas of study.

The heart of this book comprises a series of extended critical chapters on six of the foundational theorists of cultural studies - Hall, Bhabha, Butler, Gilroy, Bourdieu and Jameson. By looking at the key themes and central dynamics of these writers work, Angela McRobbie introduces their work and their contribution.

Alongside these chapters, McRobbie has added six shorter essays which demonstrate how one might actually do cultural studies using insights from these six key theorists.

Aimed at students of cultural studies this book offers an introduction to both the theory and practice of cultural studies. It also provides readers with an opportunity to regard Angela McRobbie 'in dialogue' with six of today's leading cultural studies theorists. As such it will be eagerly welcomed by all students of media and cultural theory.