The Beginings of Cultural Studies

In the introduction of Feminism and Cultural Studies, Morag Shiach gives us a brief overview of the fields origins. My joint interest in cultural studies and women's studies makes sense given the parallels and backgrounds of both. That is to say that "there is no single story of cultural studies", or women's studies. Shiach does tell us however, that the field of cultural studies, in Britain at least, developed largely out of polytechnics and adult continuing education. Polytechnics according to Shiach, had "less of an investment in the sanctity of existing academic disciplines because they had less of a stake in the cultural hierarchies that supported them". She also argues that the student demographic was much more varied in terms of age and class than was typical of universities in the 70's and 80's. Does this not sound quite similar to women's studies? According to Shiach however, the field of cultural studies has been slow, and even hostile to feminism and women's studies. Given that Feminism and Cultural Studies was written close to ten years ago, an updated introduction would be interesting to read. The supposed present "crisis in women's studies", would make an update equally interesting. Given the reluctance of other fields, I should perhaps not be too surprised by the marginalization of feminist practice by cultural studies. Nonetheless, the marginalization seems odd, given the parallels. The introduction deals mainly the development of cultural studies in Britain, which is interesting given the growing popularity of cultural studies in the United Kingdom and Australia, despite the mind boggling closure of the Birmingham School (pictured above, and the declining popularity of women's studies in those countries. Almost the opposite however, can be said of cultural studies and women's studies in North America.