Cultural Analysis
- Jim McGuigan - University of Loughborough, UK
Sociology of Culture
This book represents a distinctive approach to cultural analysis, using multi-dimensional methods for addressing issues of public interest.
The approach, which deploys Jim McGuigan's original concept of the cultural public sphere, is demonstrated in several case studies, including:
- Celebrity death
- Festivals and urban regeneration
- Race and multicultural controversy
- Popular television (for instance, Little Britain and The Apprentice)
- Social significance of the all-purpose mobile communication device in a privatized and individualized way of life
- Riskiness and uncertainty at both the levels of environmental politics and working life in the creative and media industries
These various case studies are analyzed with regard to the dialectic of production and consumption in cultural circulation and situated in relation to major issues of social change.
The book stresses the impact of neoliberalism throughout the world since the 1970s and the formation of a cool-capitalist culture that has colonized everyday life around much of the globe.
In effect, this is a radical intervention in the research agendas and conceptual development of cultural policy studies, cultural sociology, and, more generally, in the broad field known as cultural studies. It offers challenging theoretical arguments that are substantiated with concrete evidence of cultural and social processes.
Jim McGuigan has done it again. The complex cultural machinery hiding behind the apparently simple 'facts of life' still fresh in our collective memory, has been pulled out from its hiding, exposed, disassembled and put together again, and showed in action of shaping up its products; all that done to the benefit of us all - simultaneously producers and product of the life we share. Another great contribution to cultural studies; and to our understanding of the world notorious for defying/escaping understanding. This is exactly what we need 'cultural analysis' for
Professor Zygmunt Bauman
Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Leeds
Jim McGuigan is one of cultural studies' leading practitioners. This volume is a generous and wide-reaching exploration of how to use cultural theory to explore a wide variety of topics, brought together under the sign of the struggle for a vigorous, participatory public sphere
Toby Miller
University of California
This is a good book to have available in the library so that I can direct students to consult it for how to write a case study.
The book in general is interesting and topically relevant. Though for a basic course in Cultural Analysis the books is somewhat too specific chapterwise. For instance the focus on British identity is too specifik compared with a general approach to identity and culture. Nevertheless, it goes into the overall recommendations for courses in generel.
McGuigan's text gets right to the heart of cultural analysis and, unlike many other texts at this level in this area, provides a theorised approach to culture.
McGuigan's book is supplemental to my course because it offers a good analysis of the sociology of the mobile phone. That way it is not in the core of Computer Science but necessary to know especially for students aiming at user or customer centred tasks in ICT companies.
Nice text to introduce people to the field of current cultural studies. But often too much a bird's eye view.
Excellent general overview of issues for level 6 students.
A well written text which provides excellent commentary for students.
