REVIEWS

Robert E. Babe’s premise in this book is to cross the gaps between two disciplines and to anticipate what he calls a “new integration.” Whether the “old ” integration has failed because its split had been untenable in the first place, or has been found to be inadequate, is not belabored in this somewhat belated revisit to a tenacious binary. What is at hand is an aspiration to what might be a redemptive reencounter between cultural studies and political economy, or a productive refunctioning of a malfeasant antinomy. First, he defines the objects of the thesis: Cultural studies may be loosely defined as the multidisciplinary study of culture across various social strata, where culture refers to arts, knowledge, beliefs, customs, practices, and norms of social interaction. Studies in political economy of media, in contrast focus on the economic, financial, and political causes and consequences of culture. Second, he makes the claim that there is a rift between the two