What are the chief characteristics that would distinguish the traditions of Political
Economy and Cultural Studies one from the other? Are there any ways in which
these distinctly different traditions may actually complement each other and might a
closer alliance between the two be possible?�

Advice to students:
Drawing principally upon the discussions in Units 4 and 5, this question is inviting you first to
consider how you would define the differences between the traditions of Political Economy
and Cultural Studies. What can each of these traditions tell us about the field and, just as
importantly, what can they not tell us about it? You might then consider the relationships
that may be drawn between the Political Economic contexts of media production and the
availability, circulation and also prioritisation of different ‘discourses’ in society. What is the
significance, for example, of the industrial production of cultural texts for the generation of
meaning and the struggle between different discourses and ways of understanding or
interpreting the world? Would a move from concentrating upon institutions to considering
also the broader processes that may contextualise media production offer a way forward for
any closer alliance between the two traditions.�