Cultural Studies, Overview

Abstract

Cultural studies is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field that has emerged out of the French structuralist tradition. Like the broader array of cultural and interpretative approaches in which it is situated, cultural studies argues for the importance of shared meanings, but specifies these in terms of a linguistic and textual model of culture. This article pays particular attention to the broad theoretical traditions informing contemporary research throughout the area and the ways in which these get applied to violence, peace, and conflict. It concludes by outlining the central role of culture in building peace at the local, national and global levels.