Tom Nicholas
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The Topic of My Next Video...
🕑 Added 2020-10-05 18:06:17 +0000 UTCSo, I thought it about time I revealed to you all the topic of my next video...
I'm currently working on a deep dive into the "Culture Wars".
It's going to include a bit of a historical overview of the contemporary "culture wars" from the 1960s, through the second half of the 20th century and into the present day.
Interspersed with this (and, in truth, the meat of the video) is going to be a theoretical engagement with what we mean when we talk about the "culture wars", who the belligerents are and what some of the recurring rhetorical devices used throughout them have been.
Alongside all of this, I'm going to be questioning what separates "culture wars" issues from "real politics" and whether the "culture wars" themselves actually exist...
As well as engaging with some of the books which have been written on this topic specifically, we're also going to be looking at a tiny bit of Antonio Gramsci's work which I know the theory nerds among you will appreciate!
It's been a fascinating topic to delve into. In the attached image, you can see the (still very, very incomplete) timeline I've been putting together of notable events, polemical writings, speeches and movements which have been considered by some to be part of the "culture wars".
As the subject matter is quite so mammoth, it is taking me slightly longer to put together. There's been a huge amount of reading to do and, while I've got the shape of it now, I'm still some way off having a script.
I hope you're all okay with the fact that it might take a tiny bit longer but that you'll get a much better, more in-depth, more rigorous (and probably slightly longer for what that's worth!) video when it's done.
After this one, I've got my eyes set on some topics which are a little more contained and which I hope will therefore lend themselves to slightly shorter production times!
Let me know any thoughts on the culture wars or books/articles you think I should read in the comments below. It's always great to hear what you think about what I'm working on.
Thanks as ever for your generous support!
Tom
Comments
Tom Nicholas
This is probably more psycho-sociological than the path I'm taking. My main focus is on the politics, rhetoric and "tactics" (for want of a better word) of it all. Will have a glance at some of these though and see if there's anything I might make use of; thanks for the suggestions Mark!
Tom Nicholas
So, the term "culture wars" is used a lot in the US (and increasingly in the UK) to describe a perceived ongoing squabble between (broadly speaking) people who put great stock in "tradition" and "normativity" and those who favour a more "progressive" or perhaps "critical" approach to thinking about society, history and the broad questions of how we should live together. The term is actually borrowed from post-unification Kulturkampf, in Germany with some seeing it as essentially a contemporary version of that. The question of what should be taught in schools (which was a point of consternation in the Kulturkampf), for instance, is often viewed as a "culture war" issue.
Carlos Marq
per the idea of Culture Wars, I might ask "what is at the root of cultural conflict." My reading list begins with Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death" which leads to TMT: Terror Management Theory, WTF?:o described in "The Worm at the Core" by Sheldon Solomon et al. and for a take from the perspective of neuroendocrinology and primatology "Behave" by Robert Sapolsky. This may be a whole other What The Theory!
Barbara Christine
I have honestly no idea what this is about, sorry. From my time in school (I'm German btw) I seem to remember there was a big fight between the state and the church in the late 19th century that was called Kulturkampf? Guess I'll just wait (happily, don't worry about a delay!) and see.
