Pular Culture and Democratic Practice - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Popular Culture will shape public opinion and intervene in critical civic issues enabling the youth to participate in various democratic forums like acting and players. The radical democratic theory requires that the youths who are normally actors and players practice democracy by giving various opinions on what they do and say. Radical democracy assumes that the acts of consumption of cultural production are part of the public domain and are they are subjected to politics.p.268.When the youths transform the site of the public sphere and democracy with what they do in their lives, they practice cultural citizenship. (Dolby, 2003 p.275)

According to Gramsci's theory, the role of culture is to struggle and win the consent of the players in civil society. Popular culture acts as a source of pleasure and human desire will make us always seek for it. The mediums such as books have enhanced this. For example, American youths and girls read romance books and get different experiences and behaviors. They find sources of encouragement, strength, and pleasures that change their ideologies and reasoning. Therefore, the culture that emanates from reading romance books brings contradictory effects that enable the youths to enter into uncouth and unacceptable behaviors. (Dolby, 2003.p 265)

The youth have a role in creating popular culture while engaging in cultural citizenship. Ordinarily, cultural practices have the power to create social change and alter the social conditions and foundations of people’s lives. Instead of the youths accepting the education they are refusing to school because of the structures that are in place. The challenge in social formation and the quest for democracy and freedom by the youths makes them resist the institution of schooling only to look for jobs to be in the working class. They therefore follow their parents into manual labor jobs to earn a living. (Dolby, 2003.p 256)

For the youths to be effective in popular culture, cultural citizenship, and radical democracy, they should take part in the public sphere and politics for they would be practicing cultural citizenship. They should take part in voting as part of democracy and should also participate in structures such as schools, government, and societies. The youths are subjected to the paradigm of citizens’ consumers which requires that the citizens are to participate in democratic moves in their country. Ordinarily, young people should be mobilized as citizens and vote in the framework of consumption which changes the spaces of democracy. (Dolby, 2003.p 270-271)

Young people should also learn more about race through cultural production sites such as television, movies, and music. These sites are easily available and are more educative on the culture and practices including democracy and citizenship. The youth should receive this information and then exercise their agency in citizenship and creative production. Since the paradigm of consumption requires that citizens should participate in democracy, the information will be passed to society, schools, and families and this will enhance cultural citizenship. In this way, the youth will be refashioning and transforming public spheres, democracy, and citizenship. (Dolby, 2003.p 268)

In addition, the youth should also exercise their agency which is a form of cultural citizenship to recognize racial life within their vicinity. They should use various cultural practices to enhance radical democracy. They should continue to use rap lyrics that are political and involve other democratic practices instead of practicing democracy and citizenship. (Dolby, 2003.p 273)

Finally, they should explore cultural studies and attend schools to enable them to shape their democratic public life. It is within the structures that they learn the cultural practices and their power to cause change. They should therefore take pedagogy seriously and learn about issues such as sexuality, national identity, ethnicity, and popular culture to enhance their radical democracy and citizenship. (Dolby, 2003)  ...Download file to see next pages Read More