Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 16:41:40 -0400
From: tombrown@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Thomas F Brown)
Subject: Re: Relevant Marxisms
To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
Message-id: <199710092041.QAA14656@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>
>One particular area of Marxian - and critical theoretical - analytic
>relevance is in the areas of mass media and popular culture. In other
>words, it is possible to examine such products as popular films, songs,
>and novels as well as manufactured news stories and mainstream opinion 
>as reflecting the culture of capitalism. While some versions of
>Marxian/critical media and pop culture studies overstate their case, they
>also serve as unseful counter-balances against many oversimplistic,
>acritical and/or psychologistic versions.

It's also a good antidote to the folks who claim to find evidence
of "resistance to the dominant culture" in all sorts of instances
that always look to me like an attempt to buy into the dominant
culture.

Another Marxism I left out is the sociology of consumption, which
is closely related to Marxist cultural criticism. I've been trying
to link this with a conception of consumption inspired by economic
sociology. I like the Marxist consumption people's macro conception,
and I like their linkage between consumer culture and the economic
organization of society. I think they tend to be too economistic
and deterministic, though.