Cultural Studies must remain permanently open-ended and responsive to external influences

Evidence

I am not interested in Theory, I am interested in going on theorizing. And that also means that Cultural Studies has to be open to external influences, for example, to the rise of new social movements, to psychoanalysis, to feminism, to cultural differences. Such influences are likely to have, and must be allowed to have, a strong impact on the content, the modes of thought and the theoretical problematics being used. In that sense, Cultural Studies cannot possibly thrive by isolating itself in academic terms from those external influences. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 756

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes ‘Theory’ as fixed paradigm from ‘theorizing’ as ongoing open process.
• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that a critical intellectual project must hold ground to teach yet remain open enough to change — a genuinely rich tension worth sitting with re: institutionalization vs. codification.