articulation

is (pace marxist theory) no longer simply a way of explaining contingency within historical necessity, but a way of understanding social struggle in a postmodern world.

In Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, Laclau and Mouffe move the conception of articulation from being a way of explaining contingency in the Marxist theory of historical necessity to a way of understanding social struggle in a postmodern world that is, a world without guarantees and foundational truths. They 'begin by renouncing the conception of society as founding totality' (1985, 95)

is a cultural unity of structured relations that recognizes that culture is made up of elements that are related as much through their differences as through their similarities.

. . . The unity formed by this combination or articulation, is always, necessarily, a 'complex structure': a structure in which things are related, as much through their differences as through their similarities. This requires that the mechanisms which connect dissimilar features must be shown since no 'necessary correspondence' or expressive homology can be assumed as given. It also means since the combination is a structure (an articulated combination) and not a random association that there will be structured relations between its parts, i.e., relations of dominance and subordination.

is a form of cultural analysis that emphasizes interactions between different elements or different modes of production.

The notion of 'articulation' here refers to the interaction between these different elements, although in Marxist theory more generally it usually refers to an interaction between different modes of production' (Barnard 2000:88).

is a form of cultural analysis that is also in part a form of activism in that marginalized groups who see within the framework of articulation are led to actively articulate their interests with others who are also marginalized.

Hall is not opposed to articulation. He wants to help specific marginalized groups be active in articulations of their interests with others who are also marginalized.

is a means to understanding the struggle to fix meaning and define reality in a world without foundations, without a transcendental signified.

In a world without foundations, without a transcendental signified, without given meanings, the concept of articulation is a means to understanding the struggle to fix meaning and define reality (334)

is a method of cultural analysis conducted first by focusing on who is doing the speaking under examination and what their interests are. Second by listing all the things they are articulating [I..E. The things they are trying to bring together] (people, objects, discourses), third by identifying what commonality the speaker is creating out of these elements, fourthly by noting the erasures that make this creation of commonality possible, and lastly, by considering possible alternate articulations.

Start by looking at who is doing the speaking. Articulation, according to Hall, always is an analysis of hierarchy, there is a leader or leaders. Who is that person/organization and what interests do/does she/he/they seem to hold' B. Then list all of the actants that the speaker is trying to bring together. This will include people (which people'), objects (what objects'), discourses or styles and subsets of speech (which discourses'), and practices (what acts, rituals, performances') C. Once the actors have been cataloged, it is then time to analyze what the overall effect is. What is the speaker suggesting these elements have in common' D. Then the question is what differences are being erased by stressing or inventing this commonality. What are the silences in this arrangement' E. Finally, what alternative articulations are possible. To get at these it may be necessary to look at your subject historically (how have these people's interests been tied together differently at other times'), anthropologically (how have people in different places tied together similar actants with different interests') , or simply through imagination (utopian science fiction is an attempt to re-articulate social arrangements).

is a mode of analysis that examines someone's actions and or language for who they are trying to forge into an alliance with, for how strong that alliance is, and for how certain articulations of disparate elements are wrongly passed off as sharing particular interests.

Examine someone's action and language (discourse) for who they are trying to forge into an alliance. Examine the strength of the ties, and the differences that articulation always tries to ignore or cover-up as it suggests that disparate elements share particular interests.

is a mode of analysis that focuses on practice. That is, it is not an abstract analysis, but rather, there is always someone who is doing the articulation (speaking, organizing, advertising, etc.).

One other important aspect of articulation is that it is a focus on practice rather than just ideas or economics. There is always someone who is doing the articulation (speaking, organizing, advertising, etc.). It is not an abstract analysis in the same way that studies of ideology or economic systems can seem to involve no real, live, interested human beings. The importance of this is that it makes it much more usable for anthropological understandings of culture, in as much as it views culture as the acts of human beings (articulations) rather than as an abstract set of ideas that we are all marionettes of.

articulation, n.Definitions

articulation