Race, Representation & Cultural Politics
Recent Events
The Ecstasy of Community and the Foreclosure of the Political Field by Dr Margret Grebowicz
Guest Lecture: Wednesday 17th March 2010, 4.00pm – 5.30 pm
Hosted by: The Race, Representation and Cultural Politics Group
Location: Birt Acres Lecture Theatre, Bute Building, 0.14
Contact: Paul Bowman, BowmanP@cf.ac.uk
Lecture Abstract [26KB]
Feminist critiques—and defences—of pornography have been around for decades. But how does the advent of porn as an internet phenomenon change the way we think of the relationships between speech, freedom, and sex? Engaging with Baudrillard and Butler, I argue that cyberporn has important consequences for political ontology in general, which should reorient critics of pornography to focus on questions of community, sexual/political intelligibility, and the conditions of the possibility of social change.
Dr Margret Grebowicz (Goucher College, Baltimore) is spending 2009-10 as a Researcher at The University of Dundee. She is interested in social and political philosophy through a continental lens, with particular emphasis on gender and the production of knowledge and culture. She is editor of Sci-Fi in the Mind’s Eye: Reading Science through Science Fiction (2007) and Gender After Lyotard (2007). Her most recent projects concern internet pornography, radical democratic theory, and animal studies—sometimes even in conjunction. She is currently working on two books: one on Donna Haraway's later work, and the other, a short book on internet pornography and American democracy.
- One Dimensional Woman by Dr Nina Power
(Roehampton University) - Cultural Translation Conference
(Including Mieke Bal keynote Podcast)
About the group
This research group explores the representation of diversity, race and identity in a wide range of globalised local contexts. We draw on anthropology, sociology and cultural studies and, in a number of our projects, develop interdisciplinary approaches to discourse analysis, to explore the following kinds of questions.
- How do cultural practices, politics and economics play out around contemporary social issues (e.g. immigration, ethnic or religious identity and racism)?
- How do media representations contribute to social and community tensions (e.g. around asylum, security or Islamaphobia)?
- How do current industry and professional practices influence such representations?
- What role could the media and other forms of cultural representation and practice have in promoting social justice or social change?
One focus of these questions is the discursive practices in each domain which actively construct social identities, social relations and systems of knowledge and belief.
There is an urgent need for research which explores the dynamics of the discourses of inequality enabling constructive interventions into policy and community contexts based on sound research and strategic partnerships. We have made a number of contributions to policy around these issues.
Funded Research
Major funded research project topics include asylum seekers, refugees and the Welsh media. Funding bodies include the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Oxfam and the BBC.
Future Events
Widening Ethnic Diversity in the News Media Workforce
In June 2011, Cardiff will host one of a series of six seminars across different universities bringing together media academics, minority ethnic communities, journalism educators and policy-makers, titled "How can mainstream media engage effectively with BEM audiences?".
The aim is to identify strategies to increase the representation of Black and ethnic minority communities in newsrooms and raise their participation and profile in civil society.
The seminar series is funded by the Economic & Social Research Council. The first seminar took place on 23 October at Newcastle University.
More information is available at the seminar series website.
Publications
Members of the Group have produced many publications. In addition the international journal Social Semiotics is edited by Professor Terry Threadgold.
Links with other Research Groups
Many of our research projects involve interdisciplinary collaborations with other Schools at Cardiff, and members of this Group also contribute to research within the School focusing on ‘Mediatized Conflict’, ‘Risk, Science and Health’ and ‘Journalism Studies' research.
International collaboration
We also have strong links with colleagues both nationally and internationally and the School attracts Visiting Fellows from all over the world.
