ABSTRACT
The papers in this section trace the emergence and development of two characteristic fields of Birmingham cultural studies. They may be read in at least two related ways. On the one hand they embody characteristic approaches, arguments and modes of analysis that can be seen as shaping or prefiguring much subsequent work around these issues – by the authors and many others. On the other hand, they exemplify analytical tactics, manoeuvres and modes of engagement characteristic of the development of cultural studies. In this introduction I want to draw attention to both, but concentrate rather more attention on the second cluster – the tactics of doing cultural studies that these pieces reveal.
