Cultures, Identities, Histories- Harvey, John, Men in Black, London: Reaktion, 1995.
- Taylor, Lou, “Men in Black”,Journal of Design History, Vol. 9.4, 1996.
recent review (1996) of John Harvey’s book Men in Black (itself a model of
interdisciplinary endeavour)^37 offers encouraging signs for the future:
In Harvey’s book we see a very effective shattering of the protective barriers we
have erected between academic disciplines. Of course no one person can be “expert”
on everything but an open... mind... set on reading the inner meanings of
externals, has demonstrated... the great advantages of knocking away the walls
of academic protectionism. What is this book? Dress History? Literary Criticism?
Cultural History? Gender Study? Visual Culture? Who cares? Read it.^38NoteThe author is grateful to the editors of this collection for allowing the re-
publication of this chapter. It originally appeared in Fashion Theory Volume
2 Issue 4 (1998). The response of students and staff from Kingston University
to its arguments made an important contribution to its final form.