The LRB Podcast Where does culture come from?
19 snips
Apr 24, 2024 
Cultural theorist Terry Eagleton examines the history of culture - power, ethics, critique, and ideology. Topics include the evolution of culture and labor, Marxism's role in capitalism, autonomy in media, and the complexities of culture and ideology.
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Dean Jokes Farms Could Fund Professorships
- Eagleton tells a story of driving with a US dean who joked about farms supplying professorships.
- The anecdote links agriculture visibly to academic cultural institutions.
Autonomy Relies On A Robust Human Subject
- Eagleton argues autonomy depends on a strong notion of the human subject, which postmodernism weakened.
- As autonomy fades, so does the model of the individual authoring themselves.
Culture Softens The State's Power
- Without cultural sublimation, states must display naked power more openly, which risks civilization.
- Eagleton links the diaphanous cultural softening of power to the state's need to mask brute force.