Introduction

This book is situated at the intersection of two academic domains that have traditionally been separated: on one hand, post-structuralist cultural theories (or what has come to be termed more broadly ‘critical theory’), and on the other, the professional practices of Libraries and Information Sciences (LIS). The need for a dialogue between these domains has been asserted in Gloria Leckie and John Buschman’s introduction to the edited collection Critical Theory for Library and Information Science (2010). Here, critical theory appears as a necessary supplement to LIS on three key counts: first, the problematic disciplinary isolation of LIS as a practice-based activity; second, the lack of a strong tradition of meta-theoretical discourse in LIS; and third, its lack of critical engagement with contemporary sociopolitical issues, such as the demand that libraries function according to neoliberal economic imperatives. Indeed, Leckie and Buschman argue that because the localised practices related to the development and management of textual collections are located within wider ideological and economic structures, it is imperative for LIS to theorise its relationships to, and its evaluation of, such contexts. ¹