[csaa-forum] Is cultural studies inherently left-wing?

[Terry Flew]

Liz

As always, a very sharp and to the point response. My error, as you point 
out, was to conflate 'progressive' and 'political' here. It generates an 
answer which tends towards being self-evident i.e. 'left' governments are 
'progressive'.

If the question is rephrased as a 'progressive outcome', regardless of the 
politics, I would proffer two ways of evaluating and demonstrating that.

The first is the 'materialist' measure, which is outcomes that have 
enhanced not only the disposable income (after housing, education, child 
care, food, clothing etc.) costs of the bottom 25% of the population, as 
measured in terms of income and non-holding of wealth (e.g. not 
home-owners) and - more importantly - enhanced the life-chances of both 
themselves and (where applicable) their children.

Second, there is the 'citizenship' measure, which points to the realisation 
of a citizen right that has ben denied to some sections of the population, 
while routinely made available to others, on no basis other than the 
categorical. Recognition of same-sex couples for the purposes of 
superannuation is the example which strikes me as the most obvious here.

There is another question here about what this has to do with cultural 
policy. I am going to throw the question back to the questioner here (which 
is definitely a cop-out, I know), as the 'cultural' issues - and whether 
they are uniquely the provenance of 'cultural studies' - is something that 
we do need a wider conversation about.

Cheers
Terry





At 05:25 PM 5/01/2005 +1100, you wrote:
>Dear Terry
>
>What is a "progressive political outcome" and how do you tell?
>
>Liz Jacka
>
>>
>>__________________________
>>
>>IS CULTURAL STUDIES INHERENTLY LEFT-WING?
>>
>>Terry Flew

....


>>Seventh, sometimes the market may be more attuned to a progressive
>>political outcome. While the cultural policy debate of the 1990s
>>challenged some of the reflex anti-statism found in the 'resistance'
>>strands of cultural studies, it arguably did so by reinforcing a
>>notion that governments were best equipped to deliver cultural
>>democracy. As such, it was perhaps too focused upon the official
>>institutions of public culture (museums, art galleries etc.),
>>middle-class forms of cultural consumption (public broadcasters rather
>>than commercial media or pay TV), and a 'top-down' understanding of
>>how culture is created and cultural resources distributed. What is
>>apparent is that, not only is there a lot of 'bottom-up' culture being
>>created and distributed from multiple sites, much of it commercially,
>>but that the cultural or creative industries are not simply a handful
>>of global corporate behemoths living off the copyrighted culture of
>>others. Indeed, digital media technologies, by blurring lines between
>>producers and consumers, may indeed be harbingers of an upsurge in
>>'do-it-yourself' (DIY) cultural production and distribution.

Dr. Terry Flew
Senior Lecturer and Discipline Head, Media and Communication
Acting Head of Communication Design
Course Co-ordinator, Creative Industries postgraduate coursework degree program
Reviews Editor, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies

Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology

GPO Box 2434
Brisbane Queensland 4001

Location: The Hub Z6-510 Kelvin Grove Urban Village
Phone: 61-07-3864 8188
Fax: 61-07-3864 8195
Mobile: 0405 070 980
Email: t.flew at qut.edu.au
Research profile: 
http://www.creativeindustries.qut.com/people/staff/next.jsp?userid=flew&secid=Introduction

CRICOS No: 00213J

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