Cultural Politics/Cultural Activism

Description

This course considers how 'culture' - as a process, as a practice, and as the production of meaning - functions as a battleground in the assignment of and struggle for social power. We will address how culture operates in terms of social control and resistance, and consider how we might ‘read’ culture, much as we would read other forms of texts. We will explore ways that subjects and subjectivities are produced, and how bodies are shaped and controlled through discourse. Throughout the course, we will consider how these ideas inform various forms of cultural activism – a blend of artistic expression and activism grounded in the need for social justice and political change.

As Cultural Studies is interdisciplinary, we will apply theoretical and practical debates to a wide range of contemporary cultural texts and modes, from films, television, museums, music, social media, satire, advertising, drag, and visual art, to everyday acts of social and political resistance like culture jamming. In the first half of the course, we will consider the history of some of these forms of cultural activism, alongside debates about culture, industry and authenticity. In the second half, we explore contemporary approaches to space, bodies, identities, taste, and power. We will pay close attention to issues such as socio-economic class, gender, sexuality, and race / ethnicity. Throughout we emphasise our context in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific, for instance, by connecting calls for decolonisation in Aotearoa to other forms of resistance here and abroad. Students will be invited to apply theories and concepts to their own examples and experiences throughout the course’s classes and assessments.

While this course is offered by the English department and the Cultural Studies programme, it provides an excellent grounding in a broad range of the sorts of theories that underpin contemporary study in the humanities and so will be of value to students from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. We regularly hear from students that this course has acted as an excellent foundational course for higher-level study. Students will also find that ENGL132 / CULT132 Reading Culture is a helpful precursor course, but it is not essential preparation. If you have queries about enrolment and pre-requisites, please contact the course coordinator.

This course can be used towards an English major or minor. BA students who major in English would normally take at least two 100-level 15 point ENGL courses (which must include at least one of the following: ENGL117, ENGL102 or ENGL103), at least three 200-level 15 point ENGL courses, and at least two 300-level 30 point ENGL courses. This course is also co-coded CULT202 and can be used towards a Cultural Studies major or minor. Please see the BA regulations  or a student advisor for more information.