Edinburgh University Press Post-Marxism Versus Cultural Studies: Theory, Politics and Intervention (Taking on the Political)

Post-Marxism versus Cultural Studies is an innovative exploration of the ethical and political significance of Cultural Studies and Post-Marxist discourse theory. It argues that although Cultural Studies and post-Marxism tend to present themselves as distinct entities, they actually share a project – that of taking on the political. Post-Marxism presents itself as having a developed theory of political strategy, while Cultural Studies has claimed to be both practical and political. Bowman examines these intertwined, overlapping, controversial and contested claims and orientations by way of a deconstructive reading that is led by the question of intervention: what is the intervention of post-Marxism, of Cultural Studies, of each into the other, and into other institutional and political contexts and scenes?Through considerations of key aspects of Cultural Studies and cultural theory, Post-Marxism versus Cultural Studies argues that the very thing that is fundamental to both of these ‘politicised’ approaches – the quest to establish a theory of intervention, and to relate this to a practice – actually remains frustrated and unrealised as a direct result of the way this has been approached. Because of this stalemate, Post-Marxism versus Cultural Studies proposes a new theory of pragmatic intervention – one that is derived from Derridean deconstruction, post-Marxism and Cultural Studies, and which will be of importance and value for politicised academics and intellectuals working in all areas of political and Cultural Studies.Key Features* An innovative take on the disciplines of Cultural Studies and Post-Marxism with a clear account of what Cultural Studies and post-Marxism are and why they are important* Offers explanations, accounts and critiques of key figures of Cultural Studies and post-Marxism, such as Butler, Derrida, Hall, Laclau, Mowitt, Rorty and Zizek* Draws out the similarities and clarifies the signifi