Key concepts in cultural theory 194

positivism

A theory of knowledge which contends that what should count as knowledge can only be
validated through methods of observation which are derived from the example set by the
physical sciences. Thus, positivists hold to the view that what counts as knowledge is
solely a matter of senseexperience. The roots of positivism can be traced at least as far
back as the writings of Auguste Comte (1798–1857), although the seventeenth-century
philosopher Francis Bacon (who propounded an account of knowledge in his Novum
Organum (1620) which stressed the importance of empirical observation) might also be
cited in connection with this approach. In the twentieth century, a number of thinkers
have espoused what has been termed ‘logical positivism’, an approach derived from the
early work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, as well as those of Bertrand Russell and Gotlob
Frege. A.J.Ayer’s book Language, Truth and Logic is often seen as a key work in the
articulation of the basic tenets of logical positivism. In this work he argued that all
propositions could be characterised as either true, false, or meaningless. In other words, if
a proposition does not assert something which can, in principle, be either validated or
disproven by way of observation according to the standards of scientific verification then,
it is held, that proposition is devoid of meaning. This attempt to clarify the meaning of
propositions/sentences, in these terms represented an attempt at a kind of ‘ground-
clearing’ within philosophy, in so far as it was contended that many sorts of question (e.g.
those concerned with issues of religion or metaphysics) were in fact meaningless.
There have been numerous critics of positivism, including Thomas Kuhn, W.Quine,
Karl Popper, and Frankfurt School thinker Max Horkheimer. Amongst other things,
Horkheimer’s attack on positivism argues that methods adapted from the sciences cannot
be taken as the sole criterion for knowledge, since positivists ignore the fact that the
social and cultural domain within which scientific investigation is undertaken represents
a fundamental factor in the construction of knowledge. By reducing the meaning of the
term ‘knowledge’ to being equivalent to ‘method’, Horkheimer says, positivists
conceptualise knowledge according to the precepts of a socially determined
instrumentalism (i.e. the view that knowledge is a matter of the appropriate means for a
given end) which characterises the tendency in modern industrial culture towards an
abandonment of critical reflection with regard to its own nature and constitution. [PS]
Further reading: Ayer 1959, 1967; Hanfling 1981; Horkheimer 1992.

post-colonialism

A term generally used to indicate a range of global cultural developments which occurred
in the aftermath of the Second World War. To this extent, it has both historical nuances
and theoretical ones. On the one hand, ‘post-colonialism’ signifies something distinctive
about this period as one in which the cultural, economic and social events which have
constituted it mark the decline of European imperialism. On the other hand, theories of
 Key concept 195

‘postcoloniality’ concern themselves with a wide range of metaphysical, ethical,

methodological and political concerns. Issues which are addressed from this perspective
include the nature of cultural identity, gender, investigations into concepts of
nationality, race and ethnicity, the constitution of subjectivity under conditions of
imperialism and questions of language and power. One of the earliest writers who
brought attention to such issues was Frantz Fanon (1925–61), who sought to articulate the
oppressed consciousness of the colonised subject. He argued that imperialism initiated a
process of ‘internalisation’ in which those subjected to it experienced economic, political
and social inferiority not merely in ‘external’ terms, but in a manner that affected their
sense of their own identity. Hence, material inferiority creates a sense of racial and
cultural inferiority. In turn, Fanon attempted to show the role of language within this
process. Colonisation, he argues, also took place through language: under French
domination the Creole language is rendered ‘inferior’ to French, and the colonised
subject is compelled to speak the tongue of his or her imperial rulers, thereby
experiencing their subjugation in terms of their own linguistic abilities and identity (an
experience, it might be added, not uncommon within the context of Europe itself, e.g. the
colonial experiences of Irish and Welsh cultures under the dominion of English
expansion since the sixteenth century).
In the wake of the work of such figures as Fanon, writers have raised questions about
the applicability of definitions of culture and humanity (for instance, the question of
nationhood) which have been offered within the context of western cultural domination
(see, for example, Bhabha 1990), or have elucidated the cultural bias inherent in
particular forms of European discourse (see Edward Said’s writings on Orientalism).
Likewise, notions, such as those of ‘hybridity’ and diaspora, have been developed in
order to emphasise the notion of an implicit cultural diversity underlying the identities of
so-called ‘Third World’ or post-colonial cultures (see, for example, the writings of Stuart
Hall or Homi Bhabha). Within this context, theories of discourse and narrative have
often been deployed as a means of articulating the distinctions between western and non-
western culture, and in turn questioning its hierarchical superiority. Some of these
theories have been derived from Marxism or the thinking of postmodernism and post-
structuralism—although the anti-realism implicit in the work of thinkers associated
with these last two movements has led to some criticism, for instance by Said, of its
applicability to the experience of ‘post-colonial’ subjects (and, perhaps, one ought to
mention the possible criticism that much of the thought inherent in post-modernism and
post-structuralism has itself been produced within the western academy).
It is also worth noting that the use of ‘post-colonialism’ to define such theories, or
indeed even an historical period, is controversial. This is not least because it is possible to
argue that the word preserves within it the presupposition that western culture retains the
predominance it attained during the past two or three hundred years as a consequence of
colonial expansion. To be identified as ‘post-colonial’, in other words, involves a
retention of the belief that colonialism continues to exert its influence through providing
a definition of the identity of ‘post-colonial’ subjects and their cultures. Equally, whether
the post-war period can be seen as really signifying a move away from colonial forms is
questionable. The rise of colonial imperialism rooted in the political form of the
European nation-state occurred in conjunction with capitalism in the modern era, and the
predominance of this form has perhaps subsided. But the cultural and economic power of