Just wanted to bring Jim McGuigan's recent book to your attention.
<http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book232216&;>http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book232216&;
As ever, if you'd like to see an inspection copy for teaching or a
review copy for a journal, give me a shout. Hope it's of interest!
Cultural Analysis
Jim McGuigan
"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, 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 book represents a distinctive approach to cultural analysis,
using multi-dimensional methods for addressing issues of public
interest. Stressing the impact of both neoliberalism and the
formation of a 'cool capitalist culture' that has colonised everyday
life around much of the globe, Jim McGuigan deploys his original
concept of the 'cultural public sphere' within several carefully
analysed case studies, including celebrity death, festivals and
urban regeneration, 'race' and multicultural controversy, popular
television, social significance of the all purpose mobile
communication device in a privatised and individualised way of life,
and riskiness and uncertainty in the creative and media industries.
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.
Contents:
Introduction - Cultural Analysis
The Cultural Public Sphere
British Identity and the People's Princess
The Social Construction of a Cultural Disaster
A Community of Communities
Identity and the Crisis of Community
Sociology of the Mobile Phone
Risky Culture
Neoliberalism, Urban Regeneration and Cultural Policy
Apprentices to Cool Capitalism
Cultural Studies and Cool Capitalism
Best
Michael Ainsley
Textbook Marketing
SAGE
1 Oliver's Yard
55 City Road
London EC1Y 1SP
020 7324 8592
Join the new online community for researchers at http://www.methodspace.com
