Combining curriculum studies and cultural studies as a move toward the concrete in postqualitative research

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper posits a move “toward the concrete” as a specific combination of curriculum studies and Cultural Studies, placing it squarely within the frames of postqualitative research (Lather & St. Pierre, 2013; St. Pierre, 2011, 2013b, 2014). In addition to examining the theoretical legacies of the aforementioned fields, this paper focuses on four areas, posited by Helfenbein (2003), in which Cultural Studies can inform postqualitative educational research: materialism, (anti)antiessentialism, social constructivism, and radical contextuality. In doing so, this paper contends that for researchers, a sound theoretical base is needed if one is to engage in postqualitative research and offers toward the concrete as one such possibility.