•Differences between Frankfurt, Birmingham,

and Contemporary Centre for Cultural

Studies
Prof. Nouhaidi
 The lower Society is Focuses on the
class is not ruled by the
representation of class,
defeated. It is ideology of
not passive as the
gender and race in
it can resist powerful media texts.

Valorises Media made

resistant the public
Audiences can be politically
moments in
active and create media passive and
meaning (audience intellectually
interpretation) inactive

Capitalises on Media allows

how the the powerful
to remain Distinction must be made
lower class
powerful and between Encoding and
can resist the powerless Decoding processes.
upper class to remain
culture powerless
New Scopes of Cultural Studies
Subordinate class,
Society as a Applied the notion
gender, race,
hierarchical of hegemony and
ethnicity are
structure counter-hegemony.
suppressed

Allowing more
Glorifies resistance
spaces of the
and regaining of
voices of the
personhood
margin to be heard
Ideology and the Connection between Cultural
Studies and Marxism

Domi- Creates Maintain

Maintains
nant Uses false
1 upper 2 ideology 3 consci-
ousness
4 status
quo
5 docility
and
passivity
class
 What is Ideology?
• Ideology is about manipulation of the brain.
• Ideology is about the washing of the brain.
• Ideology is about shaping the brain.
• Ideology is about reshaping the brain.
• Ideology is about fabrication of the brain.
• Ideology is about refabrication of the brain.
 What is Ideology?
• A set of ideas seeking to make the individual
think/behave according to a certain desired pattern.
• The human brain is absented.
• It is used as tabula rasa/blank slate.
• It is used as soft wax.
• It can be forged according to the desired shape.
Cultural studies is interested in Marxist
understanding of ideology
• Marxists were wondering why Capitalism was not
overthrown by the lower class.
• The creation of false consciousness.
• Through ideology the ruling class creates a false
consciousness which maintains its control over the society.
 Marxism
• Seeks to mobilise the working class against the upper class.
• History of humanity is a history of struggle between the rich and the poor.
• History of humanity is history wealthy # impoverished.
• History of humanity is history privilged # unprivileged.
• It calls for classlessness; it aspires for a society that is free from hierarchy.
 Cultural Studies and Marxism
• The relation between cultural studies and Marixsm is
complex.
• It drew insights from Marxism:
• 1- Society is hierarchical.
• 2- Ideology creates false consciousness.

• Cultural Studies subjected Marxism to criticism.

Ideological State Apparatuses
• Louis Althusser explains how ideology permeates
into society.
Family
School
Church (religious institution)

Mass media
• All these institution work toward maintaining the
status quo.