Lecture 2 and 3

CULTURAL STUDIES
AND
MEDIA CULTURE


CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)

1.CHANGE AND CRISIS
2.INEQUALITY AND DIFFERENCE
3.MAINTAINING CONSENT IN WESTERN DEMOCRACIES


HOW THE MEDIA WORK(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)

THE MEDIA SHOW US WHAT THE WORLD IS LIKE; THEY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD FOR US.


•MEDIA PRODUCTS DO NOT SHOW OR PRESENT THE REAL WORLD; THEY CONSTRUCT AND REPRESENT REALITY


•THE MEDIA ARE JUST ONE OF THE WAYS BY WHICH WE AND SOCIETY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD, OR CONSTRUCT THE WORLD.


THE MEDIA ARE OWNED, CONTROLLED, AND CREATED BY CERTAIN GROUPS WHO MAKE SENSE OF SOCIETY ON BEHALF OF OTHERS


THE NEED FOR POPULARITY






Lecture 3


IDEOLOGY AND
RACE



IDEOLOGY - IS A SET OF DELIBERATELY FORMULATED, COHERENT, RATIONAL, USUALLY POLITICL IDEAS THAT IS USED AS A WAY OF DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW SOCIETY CAN BE ORGANIZED.
(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)


IDEOLOGY IS A SET OF SOCIAL VALUES, BELIEFS, FEELINGS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN.
(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)


•EACH SOCIETY HAS A DOMINANT IDEOLOGY SHARED BY MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. (Althuser )


–DOMINANT IN NUMERICAL TERMS
–DOMINANT IN THE SENSE THAT IT TENDS TO SUPPORT THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMINANT, RULING GROUPS.



MECHANISMS OF IDEOLOGY(Althusser, 1977 in O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)


•REPRESSIVE STATE APPARATUSES (RSAs)
•– FORCE PEOPLE TO CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY.
•- USED DELIBERATELY, TO CONTROL, PUNISH, AND COERCE PEOPLE WHO ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM.


•IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUSES (ISAs)
•- WORK MORE LIKE HYNOPSIS, CONVINCING PEOPLE OR WINNING THEIR CONSENT TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY
•THE CHURCH, THE FAMILY, THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, THE MEDIA


THE MEDIA FUNCTION TO SUPPORT THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY BY “MASKING AND DISPLACING” SOCIAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS
(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)


•RACE – THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE TERM. NOT ONLY IS IT WITHOUT SCIENTIFIC BASIS, BUT BECAUSE IT SUGGESTS BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES, USING IT IS TANTAMOUNT TO ACCEPTING THE PROPOSITION THAT THESE ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES EXIST. (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)






IDEOLOGY IS A SET OF SOCIAL VALUES, BELIEFS, FEELINGS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN.