The Fateful Triangle

Given the current political conditions, these lectures on race, ethnicity, and nation, delivered by Stuart Hall almost a quarter of a century ago, may be even more timely today. Angela Y. Davis In this defining statement one of the founding figures of cultural studies reflects on the divisive, often deadly consequences of our contemporary politics of race and identity. As he untangles the power relations that permeate categories of race, ethnicity, and nationhood, Stuart Hall shows how old hierarchies of human identity were forcefully broken apart when oppressed groups introduced new meanings to the representation of difference. Hall challenges us to find more sustainable ways of living with difference, redefining nation, race, and identity. Stuart Hall bracingly confronts the persistence of raceand its confounding liberal surrogates, ethnicity and nationThis is a profoundly humane work thatfinds room for hope and change. Orlando Patterson Stuart Halls written words were ardent, discerning, recondite, and provocative, his spoken voice lyrical, euphonious, passionate, at times rhapsodic and he changed the way an entire generation of critics and commentators debated issues of race and cultural difference. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Essential reading for those seeking to understand Halls tremendous impact on scholars, artists, and filmmakers on both sides of the Atlantic. Artforum