Page 71 - Cultural Studies Dictionary

DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL STUDIES

necessary, inaccurate and mistaken. Thus does Derrida seek to expose the
undecidability of meaning.

Links Différance, meaning, poststructuralism, text, under erasure, writing
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Deleuze, Gilles (1925–1995) and Guattari, Félix (1930–1992) The French
philosopher Deleuze and the psychoanalyst/philosopher Guattari made their
greatest impact on cultural theory together in their two-volume tome Capitalism and
Schizophrenia. The strong theme of their work is multiplicity and resistance to
reductionism and reification through the imposition of fixed forms, such as the
triangular Oedipal model, on multi-directional desire. Through concepts such as
‘schizo-analysis’, ‘nomadology’ and the Rhizome they stress that which is moving,
fleeing and becoming in the form of multiple deterritorialized flows of energy that
transcend fixed relationships of identity. Deleuze worked at the Sorbonne, the
University of Lyons and the University of Paris while Guattari spent most of his
career working in La Borde, a psychiatric clinic. Both were politically active on the
‘Left’ and Guattari joined the Green Party in his later years.
• Associated concepts Anti-essentialism, capitalism, Oedipus complex, post-
humanism, reductionism (anti-), resistance, rhizome.
• Tradition(s) Psychoanalysis, structuralism.
• Reading Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1988) A Thousand Plateaus. Minneapolis,
MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Deregulation The idea of deregulation refers, in a communications context, to the
relaxation of state prescriptions governing the ownership and content of the mass
media. In recent times it has involved the replacement of existing regulations by
others that were less stringent in their restrictions. Thus deregulation is also re-
regulation. For example, the 1980s and early 1990s were a period of deregulation
of the media that saw the emergence of multimedia conglomerates in search of
synergy and convergence. This process was assisted by the relaxation of state
regulations restricting cross-media ownership and the entry of new players into the
market.
This deregulatory process was occasioned by the growth of ‘new’ technologies
that invalidated the argument that communications required state ownership based
on a ‘natural’ monopoly. This was so since digital technology allows frequencies to
be split and alternative delivery systems employed. Further, various court rulings
upheld the legal rights to communicate and the adoption of diversity as a key public
principle. Above all, there was a new governmental enthusiasm for the market
which included a preference for the funding of the media by commercial means
rather than through taxation.
Deregulation has been an aspect of the increased commercialization of
communications that has reshaped the media landscape. For example, outside of
the United States, the ‘old order’ was marked by the subordination of broadcasting
to public service goals set in the context of a broadly political process of regulation.
Thus, television was of a largely national character and was generally non-