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

Join the CPRG mailing list

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

4 May 
2 - 3pm, Sociology Board Room

We will read a long article and a short essay. 

  • 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).

 

25 May
2 - 3pm, Sociology Board Room

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). https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3239-the-cultural-marxism-conspiracy

 

15 June
1 - 5pm, St Catharine's College

CPRG Critical Encounters Symposium

 

Past Meetings

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