School and sociological current addressed to the study of contemporary social and cultural phenomena from a critical perspective.

​

Cultural Studies are in fact characterized by a deep "political" vocation, which leads to investigate closely the relationship between power and culture and to consider culture itself not only a field of analysis but also the place where to operate critically and politically.

​

From the methodological point of view, the Cultural Studies refuse a precise disciplinary identity and a univocal approach, preferring to open themselves, during the analysis phase, to articulated readings of an aesthetic, economic, historical-political kind, in a sort of methodological "bricolage" where different investigation strategies can meet and combine.

 

Cultural Studies are therefore characterised by a strong vocation for multidisciplinarity.

 

Historically, they were born in Great Britain, with the foundation in 1964 of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the University of Birmingham, directed by Richard Hoggart. Since 1969, and for the following decade, the CCCS has been directed by Stuart Hall, perhaps the school's most prominent international exponent.

From Great Britain, Cultural Studies then spread to various countries, especially the United States and Australia, taking on different methodological characteristics and aims depending on the various national and cultural contexts. Initially the group was characterised by its criticism of the university's humanitarianist tradition, accused of promoting a type of culture that can only be enjoyed by a small number of elected representatives, then it shifted its attention to different themes, concentrating over the years on studying mainly subcultural groups, first of all the universe of young people, their fashions and lifestyles, especially in conflict with official culture; the mass media and their ideological role and then multiculturalism, the relationship between "local" and "global" and in general the postmodern condition. 

​

The text above has been translated from Italian to English by the editorial staff from https://www.sapere.it/enciclopedia/Cultural+Studies.html