“Education is, before everything else, the process of giving to the ordinary members of society its full common meanings, and the skills that will enable them to amend these meanings, in the light of their personal and common experience.”
Raymond Williams, ‘Culture is Ordinary’
Culture is indeed ordinary, it includes most human activities: the arts, religion, sport, science and technology, TV/ radio and other media, the internet, eating and drinking, etc. etc. All of these topics have political dimensions involving struggles and negotiations over meanings and values. On this hub are articles on cultural activities apart from the arts, which are to be found on the arts hub, surprisingly enough.
Keith Flett offers some ideas on how a socialist Labour government could improve our drinking culture. In the stimulating essay on Culture for the Many, not the Few:... Continue reading
Other articles in this section of Culture Matters have dealt with the revolutionary strands and meanings, often deeply buried, in various religions. Here, Sean Ledwith reviews Terry... Continue reading
Chris Guiton and Mike Quille present an analysis of what culture means, and what a democratic and socialist approach to culture policy might look like. Introduction The mission... Continue reading
James Crossley traces the links between Christopher Hill’s Marxist analysis of the English Revolution, the importance of the Bible in promoting revolutionary thought, and the student revolts... Continue reading
Martin Brown considers what a Marxist approach can tell us about our education system. Like everything else in a class-divided society, education is a battleground. In present... Continue reading
Esther Leslie traces Marx’s analysis of clothing and fashion under capitalism. There are rhythms in capitalism, which those critics more or less proximate to the Marxist tradition... Continue reading
Martin Cloake discusses issues around media manipulation and self-censorship, ownership, and the questions for a progressive cultural policy on the media to address. On the morning after... Continue reading
Helena Sheehan reviews the life and work of Christopher Caudwell. Christopher Caudwell Culture as Politics: Selected Writings of Christopher Caudwell Edited by David Margolies, Pluto, London, 2018.... Continue reading
Richard King teases out the links between Marxism, Buddhism and socialism. The Dalai Lama and Marxism Dhammic Socialism according to Buddhist principles holds that Nature created beings... Continue reading
Jack Newsinger reviews the documentary film The Acting Class, by Deirdre O’Neill and Mike Wayne, which gives voice to the struggles of actors of working-class origin as... Continue reading