Abstract

In the wake of the closure of the Department of Cultural Studies and Sociology at the University of Birmingham, UK, in July 2002, this article argues that an important legacy of cultural studies, critical and reflexive pedagogy, is the real casualty of this event and future generations of highly motivated and strong students its victims. The closure is presented as a case study of the penetrations of an audit culture into the intellectual fabric of higher education and academic and scholarly identities. Whilst cultural studies has permeated many areas of human sciences, the abrupt ending of the Birmingham Unit severs its connection with the 'mythic wellspring' of the CCCS and serves as a dire warning for the future of our lives as teachers, critical intellectuals and scholars