Culture and Politics Research Group
CPRG brings together scholars interested in power, conflict, and ideas. Its aim is to build a collaborative community of scholars.
CPRG is a space for postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members to discuss the impact of selected readings on their research and thinking. They also consider joint projects and share ideas.
Texts discussed are published or developing studies of power relations in culture and politics. Subject matter includes:
- the role of ideas and intellectuals,
- ideological groups and social movements,
- popular opinion and the public sphere,
- revolution and political change,
- war and social violence.
Format
- The group meets four times a term.
- Participants read a pre-selected text before each meeting. The text can be a published academic article, book chapter, or drafts by group members. See details of this term's readings below.
- Sometimes guest speakers or group members are invited to present their projects
Discussions are open, rigorous, and challenging.
Convenor and contact
For more details on participation and involvement, please contact the convener, Santiago Vargas-Acevedo: sv471@cam.ac.uk.
The CPRG team is Zeina Al-Azmeh (za268), Patrick Baert (pjnb100), Hazem Kandil (hk376), Sebastian Raza Mejia (slr75) and Santiago Vargas-Acevedo (sv471).
Upcoming Meetings
The theme for CPRG in 2026-2027 is 'Utopias and Dystopias'.
Monday 26 October 2026 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 9 November 2026 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 23 November 2026 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 8 February 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 22 February 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 8 March 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 31 May 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 14 June 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Monday 28 June 2027 | 14.00 - 15.00
Past Meetings
Monday 15 June 2026 | 13.00 - 17.00
CPRG Critical Encounters Symposium
Monday 25 May 2026 | 14.00 - 15.00
Book discussion with A J A Woods, the author of Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West (Verso 2026
Monday 4 May 2026 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Fuller, Steve. 2003. "The Critique of Intellectuals in a Time of Pragmatist Captivity." History of the Human Sciences 16(4): 19-38
Fraser, Nancy. 2026. "After Habermas." London Review of Books (March 2026).
Monday 9 March 2025 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Hanssen, Beatrice. 2006. "Chapter 11: Critical Theory and Poststructuralism: Habermas and Foucault." Pp. 280-309 in Fred Rush (ed), The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory.
Monday 16 February 2025 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Latour, Bruno. 2004. "Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern." Critical Inquiry 30: 225-248.
Monday 26 January 2025 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Sebastian, Cecilia. 2024. "Angela Davis and Critical Theory, from Kant to Abolition." Polity 56(2): 207-229.
Monday 24 November 2024 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Luc Boltanski- O n Critique (Ch1 and Ch2 until page 22)
Monday 10 November 2024 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Kellner - Critical Theory & Crisis of Social Theory
Monday 27 October 2024 | 14.00 - 15.00
Reading: Chambers - Politics of Critical Theory