Michel Foucault "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History"

"And you might say to yourself: well, how did I get here?" Suspicious of origin myths? Ever wondered about the difference between genealogy and history? Looking to discuss diverse and influential writings on the political dimensions of culture? On Thursday, Oct. 18 at 4:30 pm in CNH 230, the Cultural Studies Reading Group will be meeting to discuss Foucault's essay "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History." New participants are always welcome. Please contact orpanasa@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions or would like to know where to find a copy of this or future readings. Thanks to CSRG member Ben Prus for suggesting this reading selection.

Arjun Appadurai's "Global Ethnoscapes"

For our next session (Thursday, Oct. 4 @ 4:30 in CNH 332), Sarah D'Adamo has suggested we read Arjun Appadurai's "Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a Transnational Anthropology" which is the third chapter from his book Modernity at Large (1996). As Sarah notes:

This chapter poses interesting questions about how deterritorialization shapes our imaginative capacity for exploring cultural frameworks and theory in an era of globalization. It also explores the concept of "-scape" as cultural arena, providing an alternative to the center-periphery model.

We very much hope you can be there to discuss this important essay!

Judith Butler's "Merely Cultural"

The CSRG will meet on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 4:30 in CNH 332. We will be discussing Judith Butler's essay "Merely Cultural" [Social Text. 52.3 (Fall/Winter) 1997]. In this important essay, Butler responds to critiques of leftist politics that reduce issues of identity and sexuality to the "merely cultural" realm. Butler moves from examining several forms that this reductive move takes, to arguing for the centrality of categories such as gender to the reproduction of the dominant social relations of capitalism.

Please join us for a collegial discussion of this essay, where we might investigate such issues as the continued relevance of Butler's argument to our contemporary political and cultural situation. How have ideas about identity, culture and politics developed in the fifteen years since this essay was published, and what have been the transformations or afterlives of the tensions Butler describes and addresses? We will also be circulating a sign-up sheet for those interested in nominating texts and leading discussions for future reading group meetings.

Reading Group Resumes, New Members Welcome!

The first meeting of the CSRG will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4:30 in CNH 317. There are no readings for this meeting. Instead, we will surveying people's interests to discuss possible reading selections for coming months as well as convenient meeting times. Please come out to meet new and old members of the group. We look forward to seeing you!


Now entering its fourth year of existence, the Cultural Studies Reading Group in McMaster's Department of English and Cultural Studies will be resuming its activities this month after a brief summer hiatus. As a glance through our older posts will reveal, the CSRG has read and discussed a wide range of topics, from media and film studies to post-humanism and science studies. We have pursued a survey of several prominent journals in the field, and we have looked at anthologies such as Paul Smith's The Renewal of Cultural Studies, and the compilation The Idea of Communism. Please drop us a line at readingculturalstudies@gmail.com if you would like notification regarding meeting times, or stay tuned to this blog for more information and updates.

Cruel Optimism in the Summer

This Summer, the CSRG will be meeting every second Wednesday in CNH 332 to read through Lauren Berlant's Cruel Optimism (Duke UP, 2006). Berlant's book examines a variety of textual sites, from literature, film and art to family life and body image, to examine the ways people remain attached to post World War II visions of "the good life" even in the midst of the widespread dissolution of this fantasy. Combining affect and queer theory with Marxian analysis, and delivered with Berlant's equally poetic and rigorous style of academic prose, this summer's readings promise a venue in which to explore the structures of feeling that emerge as contemporary situations coalesce into new generic forms.

“A relation of cruel optimism exists when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing.”

The Cultural Studies Reading Group meets during the summer every second Wednesday, starting June 14, in CNH 332 at McMaster University. Newcomers are always welcome. Please e-mail us for further details.

*Check out Lauren Berlant's blog, Supervalent Thought.

Angela McRobbie

In preparation for Angela McRobbie's visit next week, the Cultural Studies Reading Group will be meeting this Monday, Feb 6 at 4:30 in CNH 332 to discuss her 2010 article "Reflections on Feminism, Immaterial Labour and the Post-Fordist Regime" (New Formations, Vol 70). Please join us if you have the time and inclination.

On Monday the 13th we will return to our readings from Paul Smith's collection The Renewal of Cultural Studies.

McRobbie Poster enlarge

CSRG Resumes Meetings, New Participants Welcome!

As the Cultural Studies Reading Group at McMaster University's Department of English and Cultural Studies enters its third year of existence, we would like to invite any and all interested students, alumni, and forward thinking citizens to our first meeting of the academic year, to be held on Thursday, September 22 at 4:30 in CNH 332. At this meeting we will do some general introductions, and will be discussing the introduction and first chapter of Paul Smith's new collection of essays "The Renewal of Cultural Studies" (2011).

Meetings will be held every subsequent second Thursday until Christmas, during which time we hope to cover the entirety of the book. By investigating the relationship of cultural studies as a discipline to such topics as feminism, ideology critique, post-colonial literature, the culture industry, elitism, economics and environmentalism (among many others), this collection promises to offer an opportunity for informed discussion about the role of cultural studies within the university and larger society.

For more information on readings and CSRG events, please contact us at readingculturalstudies@gmail.com.