Cultural studies in the present tense

Abstract

Cultural studies professed ‘radical contextualism’ imbues the project with a particular orientation toward ‘the present,’ a consideration of ‘the current moment’ as a configuration of forces shaping possibilities for politically engaged practice and affording concrete potentials for telling better stories. This essay elaborates these claims by way of tribute to Lawrence Grossberg. It is neither retrospective nor prospective. Instead–and in a manner more befitting a figure who continues to champion the political-intellectual practice of cultural studies here and now, in the present–this essay reflects on the author’s experiences learning with and from Grossberg in order to explore the the temporality of the cultural studies project.