In the Culture Society

by Angela McRobbie

How do different artistic and cultural practices develop in the contemporary consumer culture? Providing a new direction in cultural studies as well as a vigorous defence of the field, Angela McRobbie's new collection of essays considers the social consequences of cultural proliferation and the social basis of aesthetic innovation.
In the wake of postmodernism, McRobbie offers a more grounded and even localised account of key cultural practices, from the new populism of young British artists, including Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin, to the underground London sounds of drum'n'bass, discussing music by artists such as Tricky, Talvin Singh and Goldie; from the new sexualities in girls' and women's magazines like More! and Sugar to the dynamics of fashion production and consumption.
Throughout the essays the author returns to issues of livelihoods and earning a living in the cultural economy, while at the same time pressing the issue of cultural value.

Genres: Fashion

176 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 1999

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of essays, first published in this form in 1999 but in previous versions over the preceding 3 years, has lost little of its weight and importance in the interim. Although many of the examples may be different or outdated, McRobbie’s call for a more materialist form of cultural studies remains as, if not more, important than was the case in the mid-1990s. Much of the critique here is driven by two strands. First, there is disquiet about a seeming depoliticisation of cultural studies’ ‘mission’ linked to some of the more abstract tendencies in textual analysis alongside a ferocious un-collegial or un-comradely form of ‘silo-building’ argument. Second, there was the growing economic significance attached to the cultural industries in Britain in the mid to late 1990s, associated with Labour’s Cool Britannia pose. This government emphasis on cultural industries is, in her argument, linked to the aggressive character of the some of the attacks on cultural studies by other scholars who seem to be vying for the ear of the State.

Of the eleven chapters here, eight were previously published although some are edited and updated. One of the unpublished chapters – the first substantive one – had been a lecture at the Glasgow School of Art. It is also one of the better pieces in that it keeps much of the tone of a lecture and as a result is perhaps more accessible than some of the other essays previously published in academic outlets. In this chapter, McRobbie elegantly outlines the parameters of the culture society and makes a compelling case for a materialist (but far from economically determinist) exploration of art, music and fashion. Although there are many differences, I found it possible to read this with an eye to the sport and leisure industries (the focus of my work) and see many ways that the analysis applies – most notably her case that with the exception of a few stars or celebrities, for the most part these industries are places of casualised and insecure work. Boltanski and Chiapello’s The New Spirit of Capitalism was only published in the same year as this collection (and not in English until 2005), and the excellent work by Pascal Gielen, Paul De Bruyen and others in the sociology of art that extends these ideas was still to come, but they flow together (noting differences) to make a compelling case about the cultural industries and the precariousness of the work they offer. McRobbie’s analysis anticipates the current high profile of precarity by over decade.

To her credit, and recognising the wider audience that cultural analysis attracts, McRobbie has included several more ‘popular’ essay in the collection including a review essay from Media, Culture and Society and two pieces from the left-of-centre journal of political culture Soundings. While these three essays are less theoretically explicit, they retain the theoretical rigour and power of the other chapters, presenting the arguments in a more engaging and open manner making clear the quality of McRobbie’s work as an intellectual working beyond the academy.

This is a good and engaging collection and although I had read many of the pieces before it remains engaging even if the passage of time means the examples have lost some of their power. In a world where neo-liberalism has stripped many of us of our security as workers, widened the gaps between the rich and poor, generalised casualised and insecure work, heightened the precariousness of labour and the myth of the cultural economy as an economic saviour, McRobbie’s case for the more careful and comprehensive consideration of consumption and production is more important than ever, so despite the passage of nearly 15 years, these essays retain their importance.

[Magda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Irony is pervasive.