SOURCE: Collini, Stefan. Introduction to Matthew Arnold: Culture and Anarchy and Other Writings, edited by Stefan Collini, pp. ix-xxxiv. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

In the following essay, Collini discusses the purpose and style of Culture and Anarchy, while also commenting on the lasting impact the work has had on the debate about the relationship between politics and culture.

Matthew Arnold is not primarily read or remembered for his contribution to the history of what has come to be known as ‘political thought’, and at first sight it may seem surprising to find him in such company. ‘Literary critic’ is the label most readily applied to him today; certainly, he did more than any other single figure to endow the role of the critic with the cultural centrality it has come to enjoy in the English-speaking world. At the same time, his poetry, including such frequently anthologized pieces as...