COMMUNICATION, SOCIAL CLASSES AND CITIZENSHIP: CRITIQUE OF THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CULTURAL STUDIES

The aim of this paper is to posit the possibility of a rapprochement between Cultural Studies and the Critique of Political Economy, as a useful way to think about the relationship between communication, social classes and citizenship. The central argument is that Gramsci, an icon of cultural studies, never abandoned the Marxian inspired critique of political economy in his analysis of culture, nor Raymond Williams, one of the greatest exponents of cultural studies, and that this abandonment from Cultural Studies weakens its critical edge. Furthermore, comparing the notions of the dominant, emerging and residual culture, quoted by Williams, with reflections on Gramsci about most retrograde or progressive extracts of popular culture, it also intends to update the debate on the relationship between communication, culture and ideology.