ABSTRACT

In an ever-growing field of study, this is a major contribution to one of the key areas in cultural studies and cultural theory – the spaces, practices and mythologies of our everyday culture.

Drawing on the work of such continental theorists as Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau, Marc Augé and Siegfried Kracauer, Joe Moran explores the concrete sites and routines of everyday life and how they are represented through political discourse, news media, material culture, photography, reality TV shows, CCTV and much more.

Unique in his focus of the under-explored, banal aspects of everyday culture, including office life, commuting, traffic and mass housing, Moran re-evaluates conventional notions of everyday life in cultural studies, and shows that analysing such ‘boring’ phenomena can help make sense of cultural and social change.

This book is interdisciplinary in its approach and covers many different areas including visual culture, cultural geography, material culture, and cultural history as well as the key areas of cultural studies and sociology.

Students from all these subjects will find this clearly written and lively work an invaluable study resource.

chapter |28 pages

Introduction

Waiting, cultural studies and the quotidian

chapter |32 pages

Workspace

Office life and commuting

chapter |33 pages

Urban Space

The myths and meanings of traffic

chapter |35 pages

Non-Places

Supermodernity and the everyday

chapter |34 pages

Living Space

Housing, the market and the everyday

chapter |7 pages

Conclusion

The everyday and cultural change