Afterwords: Stuart Hall

Reflections on the life and work of the Jamaican-British academic, writer and cultural studies pioneer, Stuart Hall, through archive and contributions from those who knew him and his work.

In his memoir, published three years after his death in 2014, Stuart Hall wrote, “You could say I have lived, metaphorically speaking, on the hinge between the colonial and post-colonial worlds; because of radically changing locations, I have belonged, in different ways, to both at different times of my life without ever being fully of either.” It was this position of belonging and not-belonging, of being perpetually ‘in-between’ his homeland, Jamaica, and the place he made his home - Britain - that inspired many of Hall’s progressive theories on identity, art, politics and culture, making him one of the most influential and respected British thinkers of our time.

Through his own words, and with contributions from loved ones, academics, artists, and a new generation inspired by his work, Afterwords explores Hall’s ideas, influence and identities, from Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, to founding editor of the New Left Review, co-creator of the first Cultural Studies department at Birmingham University, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, champion of black British art, TV presenter, political activist, lover of music and family man.

With Catherine Hall, Aicha Merez, Julian Henriques and Imani Robinson.

Research by Redzi Bernard.
Produced by Zakia Sewell
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Three.

First broadcast 28th November 2021