Even enemies contribute to an inventive field

Angela McRobbie is a leading figure in cultural studies. Her work has been instrumental in the international success of the discipline and much it has become a fundamental part of what is, and what it is to do, cultural studies. The Uses of Cultural Studies will undoubtedly continue the high regard in which her work is held. Some might be surprised that at this stage in her academic career she has chosen to write a textbook rather than another monograph. But this is not just another textbook introduction to the field. Like all good textbooks, it elaborates and it explores, and it is not afraid to make an argument about what it discusses.

McRobbie introduces the field in terms of the contributions of six major authors: Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, Judith Butler, Homi Bhabha, Pierre Bourdieu and Fredric Jameson. This is an interesting choice. Only two are straightforwardly situated in cultural studies (Hall and Gilroy) and two are actually hostile to the subject (Bourdieu and Jameson). What McRobbie manages to do so skilfully is to show how each, regardless of his or her particular disciplinary location, makes a significant contribution to the project of cultural studies.

Simon During's Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction also offers an excellent survey. It is organised around themes: the discipline; time; space; media and the public sphere; identity; sexuality and gender; and value. Like McRobbie's, this is a book of enormous usefulness.

For some people, the publication of yet more introductions to cultural studies is a sign of its institutionalisation. For others, myself included, it is further evidence of the maturity of cultural studies as a discipline.

Refreshingly, neither author feels under any compulsion to justify the discipline; it is simply and confidently assumed. There are those, inside and outside cultural studies, who spend a lot of time disapproving of its success as a discipline. Hopefully, the publication, and undoubted success of these two books, will make a major contribution to ending this rather pointless discourse.

There are many ways to introduce what McRobbie calls "the inventiveness of cultural studies". What is particularly interesting about these two books is the innovative ways in which they introduce this area of work. Like all good textbooks, both do not just introduce and explain, they argue and take up positions. In other words, they offer critical maps of how they understand the field in terms of its past, present and future. Inevitably, like all critical maps, we may want to dispute some of the detail (McRobbie is too gentle with Jameson; During is a little casual when discussing popular culture). But, as with all good introductions, we finish reading both knowing more and wanting to know more than we did when we began. Both books should be essential reading for students studying culture.

John Storey is professor of cultural studies, Sunderland University.