MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Published by Monash University

Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996


CLS4010

On culture and inequality: theorising cultural difference

Proposed to be offered next in 1998

Don Miller

8 or 12 points + 2 hours per week + Clayton

Synopsis As for ENH3800. The subject centres on a critical examination of the contributions to theories of cultural difference of Pierre Bourdieu and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Both theorists have confronted the complex interrelationship between the formation and transformation of systems of cultural differentiation on the one hand and the formation and transformation of systems of enduring social inequality on the other. While Bourdieu has concentrated on the reproduction of social class, Spivak has turned her attention to the reproduction of inequalities based in gender differentiation and imperialist domination. The subject is not confined to the consideration of issues that arise within Western societies but deals also with those that arise within the context of our relationships with Asia and India in particular.

Assessment Two class exercises (1500 words): 15% each + Essay (6000 words): 70%

Preliminary reading

Recommended texts


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