The last decade has witnessed the phenomenal growth of the men's magazine market, raising important questions of a more general kind. What is the significance of the rise of men's lifestyle magazines for gender politics? Are we witnessing a backlash against feminism or are they merely harmless fun? Why did lsquo;new man' give way to the lsquo;new lad'? What political issues do these questions raise within the context of the information society?


Making Sense of Men's Magazines is an original study which enables us to understand the appeal of men's magazines, the ways in...

The last decade has witnessed the phenomenal growth of the men's magazine market, raising important questions of a more general kind. What is the significance of the rise of men's lifestyle magazines for gender politics? Are we witnessing a backlash against feminism or are they merely harmless fun? Why did lsquo;new man' give way to the lsquo;new lad'? What political issues do these questions raise within the context of the information society?


Making Sense of Men's Magazines is an original study which enables us to understand the appeal of men's magazines, the ways in...

David Bowie is a global superstar. One of the mostextraordinary icons of our times, Bowie's career spansfive decades of popular music. From his first recordings in the sixties, through the invented characters of the seventies (Ziggy Stardust, Aladin Sane and The Thin White Duke), to the stadium rock of the eighties and attempts to recapture his creativity in more recent times, David Bowie has inspired millions of followers and fans the world over. This culturally sensitive re-reading of the life, image and music of David Bowie offers a detailed understanding of his importance to modern...

This culturally sensitive re-reading of the life, image and music of David Bowie offers a detailed understanding of his importance to modern times. It is a subtle and accessible exploration of the complex cultures of celebrity.

'Culture' and 'citizenship' are two of the most hotly contested concepts in the social sciences. What are the relationships between them? This book explores the issues of inclusion and exclusion, the market and policy, rights and responsibilities, and the definitions of citizens and non-citizens. Substantive topics investigated in the various chapters include: cultural democracy; intersubjectivity and the unconscious; globalization and the nation state; European citizenship; and the discourses on cultural policy.

Stevenson's exciting collection takes the issue of cultural citizenship far beyond the liberal concerns with tolerance, diversity, social rights and obligations. The attainment of such citizenship, the author's argue, is conditional on positive cultural democratization, that is, the availability of cultural resources (semiotic and material) essential for meaningful and critical life, as well as the public institutions protecting us from the excesses of the free market. Both are considered within the context of the IT revolution (electronic democracy), new social movements (especially...

The Second Edition of this bestselling text provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which social theory has attempted to theorize the importance of the media in contemporary society.

Freedom is commonly recognized as the struggle for basic liberties, societies based upon open dialogue, human rights and democracy. The idea of freedom is central to western ideas of modernity, but this engaging, accessible book argues that if we look back at the history of the idea of freedom, then what we mean by it is far more contested than we might think. To what extent does freedom have a 'social' component, and how is it being reshaped by our dominant consumer society? This book represents a wake-up call to all those who thought our basic ideas of freedom were settled.

This volume seeks to propose a reinvention of freedom under contemporary conditions of globalization, cross-border mobility, and neo-liberal dominance. There are currently two predominant myths circulating about freedom. The first is that in a global age growing numbers of citizens are less concerned with freedom than they are with security. Secondly, there is the presumption that freedom only refers to market freedom and consumerism, implying that the ideas of choice and consumption are interchangeable with ideas of freedom.

Stevenson argues that while these arguments are...

Combining a theoretical with an empirical approach, this is an analysis of structural change in the global media and its cultural consequences. The key issues for the 1990s are covered, such as the media, globalization, identity and technology.