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Stuart Hall, in his essay on Cultural Studies and its theoretical legacies attempts to underline the central concern around culture studies which is the balance to be maintained between theoretical practice and political work to be done or in simple terms, theory vis-à- vis to be followed. This, he propounds with the problematic approach of dealing single handedly either towards only theoretical approaches or simply towards praxis. Both these must work hand in hand, is what Stuart Hall, tries to emphasize on, spelling out the danger in leaving out either of them. The dangers of dealing with only either of them are explained in the examples of Vulgar

2 Marxism, which has been affixed closely to Culture Studies over a long time, and is yet, not complete when it comes to dealing with the larger questions of Culture, ideologies etc. even as Stuart Hall observed the same from the perspective of the New Left. Likewise, he provides the justification for theory vis-à- vis praxis in relation to British Culture Studies, under which, the issues of Feminism and Racism were not approached with an absolute execution of the theories provided, which failed the propagated ideas of the “organic intellectual” that Antonio Gramsci had advocated, under which it was meant for the organic intellectual to not only acquire an in depth knowledge when it comes to culture studies but also share this knowledge with those who are not within the purview of the intellectual domain. Failing these propositions, both the issues of Feminism and Racism could not step into the public domain from the private and remained only theoretical approaches towards modern day society.

Vulgar Marxism: Borrows from Karl Marx’s idea of orthodox Marxism under confers the notion of societies being divided into competing economic classes based on the economic structure. Stuart Hall, in his essay Cultural Studies and its Theoretical Legacies emphasized on the structuralist notion of vulgar Marxism which proposed that capitalism evolved organically from within its own transformations. He has attempted to reform the approach of Marxism from a Eurocentric perspective that could not run parallel to Cultural Studies. In doing so, Hall has tried to rephrase the problematic approach to Cultural Studies which does not cover the larger questions of Cultural Studies pertaining to mostly culture, ideologies, among others, but

3 accentuates primarily on class divide, the power relations. The essay, therefore, tries to examine these questions from a universal perspective. Organic Intellectual by Antonio Gramsci: Gramsci, an Italian Marxist theorist and politician was well known for a being a new Marxist in his attempt to rephrase the traditional Marxist ideology of economic determinism. He is also renowned for his theory of the Organic Intellectual in relation to this neo Marxism. Stuart Hall was influenced by Gramsci’s idea of Organic Intellectual from his Philosophy of Praxis based on Marxist approach of dealing with class power, superstructure and base. His idea of theory vis-à- vis praxis is central to Stuart Hall’s essay which is applied in his Dialogical Approaches to Cultural Studies. Based on this theory, Stuart Hall provides us with two possible assumptions – 1. He quotes Gramsci’s first approach of building an “organic intellectual” who is better than the “traditional intellectual” and holds an in depth knowledge pertaining to Cultural Studies and not simply surface knowledge, as is the case with the traditional intellectual. 2. The second responsibility that Gramsci entrusts on the organic intellectual is to share this in depth knowledge with people who are not within the intellectual domain. Stuart Hall and the CCCS: Stuart Hall was a pioneer in the field of cultural studies, who was propelled by the political intensity of the uprisings of 1968 and the work of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. He searched out new working practices for teachers and students that endeavored to separate customary scholastic chains of hierarchies.

4 The Center and Stuart Hall assumed a dynamic part in a noteworthy understudy dissent that occurred on grounds in 1968 over the issue of student majority rule government and portrayal in college basic leadership. He tended to the sit-in and openly scrutinized what he saw as the oppressive idea of existing college structures. His obvious help for the understudies denoted his card for a long time and guaranteed he was never offered a seat at Birmingham. It additionally added to the absence of interest in the Center all through the 1970s – what is maybe most unfathomable is that the gigantic overflowing of observational research and hypothetical appearance in this period was accomplished with a changeless staff of only a few speakers. There were different problems inside the Center&#39;s collectivized trial. He himself on occasion attempted to accommodate his sense of duty regarding the ethos of 1968 with the governmental issues of academic progression. Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Paulo Freire advances a teaching method in which the individual figures out how to develop his own development through circumstances from his day by day life that give valuable learning encounters. This is not a teaching method for the persecuted. It is fairly an instructional method of the mistreated. The subject should fabricate his world from the conditions that offer ascent to the day by day occasions of his life. The writings that the individual makes allow him to reflect upon and dissect the world in which he lives - not with an end goal to adjust to this world, but instead as a feature of a push to change it and to make it fit in with his recorded requests. Paulo Freire&#39;s proposed technique infers two particular and successive minutes: the main includes getting to be noticeably aware of the truth that the individual lives as a persecuted being

5 liable to the choices that the oppressors force; the second alludes to the activity of the mistreated to battle and free themselves from the oppressors. In the relationships they set up, the oppressed have all the earmarks of being the instigators of brutality, even when the conditions and occasions that they have encountered up to that point induce them to attempt to alter their status. New Left While also providing a hyperlink to the main Wikipedia article about the New Left, this section of the page will outline not just the primary features of the New Left but also its significance in terms of ‘leading’ Hall to Culture Studies, and how the New Left and Hall interacted or ‘quarreled’ with Marxist theories while attempting to make it more applicable to questions of “culture, ideology, language, the symbolic” (Hall 2). In line with Hall’s insistence for praxis, the New Left engages with socio-cultural issues rather than the usual Marxist focus on economic issues. These included ‘larger’ issues such as race, gender, sexuality, caste etc in an academic as well as economic engagement. Hall in his essay “Life and Times of the First New Left” describes the New Left as a ‘coming together’ of two traditions: communist humanism and independent socialism (Hall 1) External References Stuart Hall’s own essay “Life and Times of the First New Left” published in New Left Review not only traces the history of the New Left, but also gives a socio-political background to the formation of New Left ideologies, the New Left Review, as well as Hall’s own ideologies and beliefs. Hall mentions incidents in his life and political developments that later came to shape Marxist traditions, among others.

6 Colin Grant’s review of Hall’s posthumous memoir published in The Guardian gives a brief overview of Hall’s childhood but concentrates on socio-political- cultural developments that influenced him in his theorization and formation of theories. The write-up by Rinu Dina John on Anil Pinto’s blog talks about the discursive formation of Culture Studies, especially in the sense of Foucault’s theories as mentioned in Hall’s essay. She also speaks about the impact of Culture Studies on academics, literary studies and the “object of studies in the humanities” across the world In the Wikipedia article, hyperlinks will be provided and information given relating the following thinkers and concepts to the essay:  Richard Hoggart  Raymond Williams  Edward Said- wordliness  Grand narratives  Michel Foucault  New Left  Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS)  Paulo Friere- Pedagogy of the Oppressed  Vulgar Marxism and Classical Marxism  Antonio Gramsci- organic versus traditional intellectual  Institutionalization of Cultural Studies