Cultural Studies' Affective Voices

194 Pages·2006·0.65 MB·English

by  Melissa Gregg

Cultural Studies’ Affective
Voices
Melissa Gregg
Cultural Studies’ Affective Voices
This page intentionally left blank
Cultural Studies’ Affective
Voices
Melissa Gregg
University of Queensland
© Melissa Gregg 2006
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First published 2006 by
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ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–9902–3 hardback
ISBN-10: 1–4039–9902–3 hardback
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gregg, Melissa, 1978-
Cultural studies’ affective voices/Melissa Gregg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–9902–3
1. Culture—Study and teaching. 2. Culture—Study and teaching—History.
I. Title.
HM623.G74 2006
306.07–dc22
2006045713
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
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For the regulars at Monthly MACS and Home Cooked Theory.
Without this strange intoxication, ridiculed by every outsider; without this
passion… without this, you have nocalling for science and you should do
something else. For nothing is worthy of man as man unless he can pursue
it with passionate devotion.
Max Weber, ‘Science as Vocation’
Just because you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there.
Radiohead, ‘There There’
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
1. Communicating Investment: Cultural Studies,
Politics and Affect 1
2. Activating Empathy: Richard Hoggart, Ordinariness
and the Persistence of ‘Them’ and ‘Us’ 26
3. The Politics of Conjuncture: Stuart Hall, Articulation
and the Commitment to Specificity 55
4. Fighting for the Future: Lawrence Grossberg, Messianic
Zeal and the Challenge of Building a Legacy 82
5. Justice and Accountability: Andrew Ross, Intellectual
Labour and the New Academic Activism 106
6. A Voice of Vigilance: Meaghan Morris, Anecdotal
Critique and the Politics of Academic Speech 128
Conclusion 154
Notes 160
References 171
Index 181
vii
Acknowledgements
This project began in a different town, at a different time. I would like
to thank Elspeth Probyn for her support and guidance and for making
academic life an exciting possibility (and eventual reality). I also
thank readers of earlier versions of this argument, particularly Nick
Couldry, James Donald, Catherine Driscoll and Linnell Secomb. In
Sydney, thanks to Kate Crawford, Clifton Evers, Anna Gibbs, Natalya
Lusty, Shane McGrath, Tara Mathey, Catriona Menzies-Pike, Michael
Moller, Katrina Schlunke, Jane Simon and William Tregoning. Thanks
also to Megan Watkins for drawing my attention to Teresa Brennan’s
work. In Brisbane, thanks to Frances Bonner, Gerard Goggin, John
Gunders, Ian Hunter, Andrea Mitchell, Fiona Nicoll, Ellie Rennie and
Jo Tacchi. Particular thanks to Graeme Turner, Jean Burgess and
Joshua Green, each of whom have made my move to Brisbane incred-
ibly rewarding.
Research for this book was supported by an Early Career Researcher
Grant from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Queensland. I
deeply appreciate the opportunity it provided. The reading of The Uses
of Literacy offered in Chapter 2 has appeared previously in ‘A
Neglected History: Richard Hoggart’s Discourse of Empathy’,
Rethinking History vol 7 (3), 2003, while significant parts of Chapter 3
were first published in two separate articles: ‘Toolbox for Electric
Fences’ in Cultural Studies Review, vol 10 (1), 2004; and, in collabora-
tion with Glen Fuller, ‘Where is the Law in “Unlawful Combatant”?
Resisting the Refrain of the Right-eous’, also in Cultural Studies Review,
vol 11 (2), 2005. I sincerely appreciate the permission originally grant-
ed by Gary Highland of Amnesty International for use of the image in
Chapter 3, and Martin Milne who confirmed permission for this pub-
lication. Some parts of Chapter 6 appear in ‘A Mundane Voice’,
Cultural Studies vol 18 (2–3), 2004. Thank you to Gregory Seigworth
and Michael Gardiner for commissioning that article and for helpful
suggestions on improving it. Thanks especially to Greg for remaining
a critical interlocutor for the past few years. On this front, I also want
to thank Kris Cohen for being my best ‘virtual’ friend and for putting
me up in Chicago. Thanks to my extended family in Hobart and
Sydney for their support during this long project, and to my Dad for
viii
Acknowledgements ix
support of the most practical kind. All other acknowledgements
appear in endnotes to the text where relevant.
The ideas expressed here have gained enormously from the generosi-
ty of Larry Grossberg, Meaghan Morris, Andrew Ross and Eve Sedgwick.
What follows marks what I hope will be only the beginning of my
attempts to express appropriate gratitude.
Melissa Gregg