Abstract

'Cultural Studies has made a name for itself by pricking the pretensions of several disciplines, from sociology to literature. Now, along come Kendall and Wickham to do the same to cultural studies - a -must read- for anyone in the field' - Toby Miller, New York University. Understanding Culture offers an accessible and comprehensive overview of the field of cultural studies whilst also proposing a different way of 'doing' cultural studies. It focuses on how cultural objects and practices serve as both a means of ordering people's lives and as markers of that ordering. The book uses insights from a variety of sources to examine the complex ways in which meanings are manufactured as lives are ordered in particular social settings, and presents case studies that illustrate what the new cultural studies looks like.