Introducing Cultural Studies, Third Edition

This book, like all in its series, intends to simplify a topic with short remarks (crowded with cartoons) for short attention spans and easy access. For the topic of Cultural Studies, however, it fails to state the obvious - that Cultural Studies (CS) is a political faction. One invented as an ally against the West now that communism failed so miserably. CS is a close relative to Feminist Theory, Women's Studies and White Studies, all pushing political agendas - under the guise of academic freedom - with as much intellectually sounding venom as they can pass without simply stating their rage in English. The book does a fair job of revealing how CS does this, without intending to be so transparent - i.e. searching for historical connections between modern "signs & symbols" and some form of oppression, real or imagined. Still using Foucault's long dismissed "other", CS scours Western Civilization for those capable of carrying our highly cherished label of "victim" in order to indict the West. Like its postmodern relations, this book does a fair job in displaying how much denial, selectivity and willful ignorance is required to keep the "theory" safe, sounding a great deal like religious fundamentalism.