ArticulAtion theory

Articulation theory is a cultural studies theory and methodology that aims to account for the powerful material consequences of the ideas, principles, and beliefs that make up ideologies. It provides an insightful means by which to account for the ways in which discourse and discursive formations are able to bind people and their sense of identity together in concrete ways. Stuart Hall, Jennifer Daryl Slack, Ernesto Laclau, and Chantal Mouffe are the major proponents of this approach who all, in different ways, use articulation theory to give an explanation of the ways in which discourse shapes the operation of dominance and power in contemporary society. Put simply, articulation theory can be understood as a way of critically analyzing how particular beliefs structure personal, political, cultural, technological, and economic practices, thus providing a means through which to challenge the systematic erasure of nondominant and marginalized ways of thinking and being.

As such, articulation theory moves the center of analysis away from approaches rooted in Marxism that argue, the way Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser do, that culture and the dominant ways of doing things in society (e.g., politics) are independent from the economic base. Articulation theorists, in contrast, argue that cultural practices are complex, that the so-called relative autonomy of culture from the economic base is not relative butstrong, and that the relationship between culture and the basic socioeconomic patterns of society is constituted by struggle. In this sense, articulation theory can be interpreted as containing many of the principles of the newest forms of cultural theory in that its proponents are committed to studying language and social contexts in detail.

It is important to note that the objective of most articulation theorists is to inquire into, and account for, how discourse and discursive formations are able to legitimate and indeed rationalize capitalist [Page 37]society. Briefly, a discourse is defined as a collection of often dominant ideas, expectations, and rules that are taken for granted, while the often-used termdiscursive formation refers to the ordered regularity between said statements, concepts, and ideas.

This discussion of articulation theory begins with a basic outline of the major components of articulation theory with respect to how it has been developed by Laclau and Mouffe. This section is followed by a précis of articulation theory as it is understood and deployed by Hall and Slack. Next, a simple case study of articulation theory in practice is provided and, finally, the issue of rearticulation and the primary criticisms of this approach are delineated to round out the discussion.