The concept of minority for the study of culture

Laurie, T; Khan, R

The concept of minority for the study of culture

Laurie, T

Khan, R

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Continuum, 2017, 31 (1), pp. 92 - 103
Issue Date:: 2017-01-02

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Laurie, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3453-775X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Khan, R	en_US
dc.date.issued	2017-01-02	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Continuum, 2017, 31 (1), pp. 92 - 103	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1030-4312	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/79061
dc.description.abstract	© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Critical tools are needed for navigating the concept of minority and its usefulness for the study of culture. This article reflects on the cultural and political purposes that are served when distinguishing between majorities and minorities, and the various historical and intellectual agendas that have shaped these social practices of classification. It begins by examining Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘minor literature’ as an anti-sociological reworking of minor and minority, then turns its attention toward the policy-driven sociological traditions of the Chicago School, and how this has informed the contemporary construction of ‘minorities’ reflected in Australian immigration debates. As a third key paradigm in the study of the ‘minor’, the article revisits cultural studies’ own embrace of the Popular as a site for political struggles over the meanings attached to ‘major’ and ‘minor’ social identities. Finally, we consider the range of transformative cultural practices addressed in this Minor Culture special issue, and reflect on the utility of the minor in holding together disparate political projects. There are a range of ways in which the minor might productively imagine or construct collective identities, in ways that do not anticipate, or even desire, majoritarian endings. It is argued that minoritised social categories do substantive political and cultural work, while acknowledging that numerical descriptions of minorities can hide as much as they reveal.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Continuum	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/10304312.2016.1264110	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Communication & Media Studies	en_US
dc.title	The concept of minority for the study of culture	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	31	en_US
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies	en_US
utslib.for	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media	en_US
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	31	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Critical tools are needed for navigating the concept of minority and its usefulness for the study of culture. This article reflects on the cultural and political purposes that are served when distinguishing between majorities and minorities, and the various historical and intellectual agendas that have shaped these social practices of classification. It begins by examining Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘minor literature’ as an anti-sociological reworking of minor and minority, then turns its attention toward the policy-driven sociological traditions of the Chicago School, and how this has informed the contemporary construction of ‘minorities’ reflected in Australian immigration debates. As a third key paradigm in the study of the ‘minor’, the article revisits cultural studies’ own embrace of the Popular as a site for political struggles over the meanings attached to ‘major’ and ‘minor’ social identities. Finally, we consider the range of transformative cultural practices addressed in this Minor Culture special issue, and reflect on the utility of the minor in holding together disparate political projects. There are a range of ways in which the minor might productively imagine or construct collective identities, in ways that do not anticipate, or even desire, majoritarian endings. It is argued that minoritised social categories do substantive political and cultural work, while acknowledging that numerical descriptions of minorities can hide as much as they reveal.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/79061