Les Back

The Documentary (EP. 8)

Stuart Hall: In Conversations revisits the life and work of the Jamaican-born cultural theorist, Stuart Hall, a key figure in the foundation of the field of Cultural Studies. Through interviews, music, and audio archives, this program examines the political and historical context that shaped Stuart Hall’s ideas.

From the 1950s until his death in 2014, Hall was a world renowned black public intellectual, known for his role in establishing the New Left in Britain, his groundbreaking analyses of Thatcherism, and his dialogical understanding of culture and representation.

Hall saw politics in a range of human formations, from the mundane and everyday to the global expansion of free market capitalism.He argued that culture should be understood both as a site for the reproduction of dominant ideologies as well as a location for resisting power and claiming new identities.

Stuart Hall’s visionary understandings of neoliberalism and what he called “authoritarian populism” are worth revisiting today in an era of racially charged nationalism, evidenced in the 2016 Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, Marine Le Pen’s rise in popularity in France, and the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States.

Les Back (Ep. 1)

Situated on Goldsmiths, University of London campus, this conversation between Ben Carrington, Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and Les Back, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmith’s, University of London, considers the contributions that Stuart Hall made to the field of cultural studies and the loss that has been felt since his passing.

The discussion between Carrington and Back touches on topics such as the complimentary relationship between Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggart, Hall’s role as an interpreter of British culture and Back’s experience in the making of “At Home and Not at Home: Stuart Hall in Conversation with Les Back.”

Back emphasizes Hall’s intellectual generosity, his practice of collaboration, and his ability to engage the big issues through both commonplace cultural practices and extraordinary political events. Ending in front of the New Cross Inn, the conversation turns to why Hall remains a relevant intellectual figure both for cultural studies and for the increasingly limited possibilities within academia to do critical work.

The interview draws to a close with Back’s thoughts on what he misses most about Stuart Hall, including his understated sense of humor.

-Maggie Tate