What’s the Use of Cultural Research? Editorial theme introduction

What’s the use of cultural research? In late modern society, culture is increasingly positioned as a key force or core element, whether in management or sustainable development discourses, debates on European integration or media trends. At the same time, the value and importance of cultural research is often somewhat para-doxically questioned, and there is a mood of imminent threat and lack of confi-dence among scholars in this field. The first thematic section in the first volume of Culture Unbound is devoted to the usefulness of cultural research against the backdrop of culturalisation. It aims to explore the impact of culturalisation on cultural research in a broad sense. This concept is a contested one. Does it mainly denote a trendy ideological discourse or a ‘real ’ historical process? Could it be an instrument in furthering cultural re-search, or does it, on the contrary, risk devaluing the concept of culture, when it is inflated and spread far beyond the domains of ‘proper ’ cultural research (whatever that may be)? What risks may be identified in using culture as a tool to further research interests? What are the politics guiding different definitions of usefulnes