Birmingham School Analysis

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In this essay I will compare and contrast the approaches of the Frankfurt School and the Birmingham School. cultural studies approach to the “commodification of culture, as articulated by the Birmingham School versus the political economic one proposed by the Frankfurt School”. For the Birmingham School, culture is separated from politics, each taking place in a separate sphere. And, while culture influences and supports hegemonic structures within society, these are bound within the political arena. As well, the economics power of this undertaking is not done within the cultural sphere, but through political activity, where economic dominance is turned into broad social and cultural leadership. This is contrasts the views of the Frankfurt…show more content…
This opportunity has allowed scholars to present interpretations of variance”. Despite the fact that different scholars have had different outcomes, they all have found similar points of view “remain repetively concrete”. The different theories contemplate each other and help to explain what culture really is, creating a new ideology made up of many different ideas. The two main schools of thought that are regularly talked about in the analysis of culture is the Frankfurt School and the Birmingham school. They both are made up of well-known scholars, who share “common beliefs in analysis”. In analyzing these scholar’s diverse studies, similarities and differences between the two schools can be identified. The observations gathered by both the Frankfurt and the Birmingham school “prove complementary to each other”, they work in harmony to help us to further understand what culture really is. The first school to consider is the Frankfurt school. Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin and Max Horkheimer are among the scholars that make up the Frankfurt school. These scholars developed powerful analyses of the changes in Western capitalist societies that occurred since the classical theory of Marx.“The scholar’s similarities in thinking explain the grouping of these scholars together, and associates them with the Frankfurt institute for social research”. The Frankfurt school originated in Germany, by a young Marxist philosopher. His Marxist beliefs became one of the biggest impacts and influences on the Frankfurt school and remained an integral part of the school long after his departure. It wasn’t until 1930, when Max Horkheimer became head of the organisation, that cultural theory was fully established in the Frankfurt School. Max Horkheimer decided to recruit other philosophers, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Walter Benjamin, working together
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