DOING CULTURAL-STUDIES - YOUTH AND THE CHALLENGE OF PEDAGOGY

In this article, Henry Giroux explores two sides of one question: 1) w hy scholars working within the area of cultural studies do not take se riously pedagogy and the role of schools in shaping culture and politi cs; and 2) why educators have not engaged the possibilities inherent i n a cultural studies framework to analyze central questions of teachin g and learning. In particular, Giroux analyzes how youth are increasin gly being addressed and positioned through the popular media, changing economic conditions, and an escalating wave of violence. He illustrat es, both through theory and examples of his own teaching, how the peda gogy and the mobilization of desire implicit in several recent Hollywo od films about youth culture reinforce dominant racist and cultural st ereotypes, but also how the use of various critical pedagogical strate gies in the classroom can create the conditions for rewriting such fil ms.