What is culture, and why has it always occupied a central space in sociological research?
Join us for a panel discussion in which we will discuss a series of interrelated sociological questions around culture and inequality, including; How are larger social structural relations embodied, and reproduced, in sets of cultural practices? How may cultural production mirror, or distort, social relations? How does a seemingly non-material phenomenon play a crucial role in creating material inequality? How may we use this same non-material phenomenon of culture to establish greater social equity?
This event was held on Tue 16 Feb 2021, 12:30-2pm (GMT)
About the Panellists
Dr Nirmal Puwar is a Reader at the Department of Sociology at Goldsmiths University and a member of the Feminist Review editorial collective since 2000. Dr Puwar has co-edited 17 Collections, including: Post-colonial Bourdieu; Orientalism and Fashion; Intimacy in Research; Live Methods and, South Asian Women in the Diaspora, and has written extensively about postcolonialism; institutions, race and gender, and critical methodologies, including; Space Invaders: race, gender and bodies out of place (2004), and Fashion and Orientalism (2003).
Dr Anamik Saha is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths University, and co-convenor for MA Race, Media and Social Justice, as well as convenor on the modules Music as Communication and Creative Practice (UG/PG) and Race and the Cultural Industries (PG). Dr Saha's research interests are in ‘race’, cultural industries and cultural production, relating to wider questions of capitalism, culture and race.
Dr Anna Bull is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education & Sociology and Centre for European & International Studies Research at the University of Portsmouth. Dr Bull's research interests include class and gender inequalities in classical music, character education and policy networks, and staff sexual misconduct in higher education. She is a co-founder of The 1752 Group, a lobby group and consultancy set up to address the issue of staff-student sexual harassment in higher education.
Dr Clive James Nwonka is an LSE Fellow in Film Studies within the Department of Sociology. He completed his PhD in Film Studies at Brunel University, which sought to improve understandings of the relationship between political ideology and film texts, and the broader concept of film as social practice. His research is situated at the intersections of contemporary realism and film policy, with particular interests in black British film, international cinemas and American Independent film.
Recommended Readings
At the end of this panel, the following readings are recommended by the speakers as good introductions to cultural studies:
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Hall, Stuart. 1968. The Hippies: An American ‘Moment.’ Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham.
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Hall, Stuart. 1993. “What Is This ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?” Social Justice (20:1): 104-114.
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Kim, Helen. 2015. Making Diaspora in a Global City: South Asian Youth Cultures in London. Routledge.
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McGuigan, Jim, ed., 2014. Raymond Williams on culture and society: essential writings. London: SAGE.
Dr Puwar also provided an example of a museum exhibition titled: The Past is Now: Birmingham and the British Empire.
