POLITICAL ASPECT OF CULTURE STUDIES – WAYS AND SIDEWAYS

Text topic: Culture Studies

Text author: Јелена Ђорђевић

This paper proceeds from an assumption that culture studies are impregnated with political meaning. It examines basic theoretical presumptions of culture studies whose original role was to discover new means of interpretation and methodologies in order to explain the big changes in the society and culture in the 1960ies. Opposed to the elitist culture concepts, they aim to democratize the understanding of culture by the common man, carry out a multidimensional criticism of the capitalist culture starting from leftist ideas and experiences. The aim was to pave new ways for education of “public intellectuals” outside official institutions. Under strong influence of post modernism and related theories, they have advocated radical culturalism and, paradoxically, became hostage to globalism and neoliberal ideologies. This study examines the concepts and ideas that culture studies relied on, leading to such transformation.