An Essay on Culture : Symbolic Structure and Social Structure / Bennett M. Berger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berger, Bennett M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Culture.

Social structure.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (209 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, California : University of California Press, [1995]

Summary:

The result of thirty-five years of thought and research on culture by one of the best and most literate writers in sociology, this wide-ranging review of the meaning and study of culture is Bennett Berger at his best. Drawing on his unsurpassed knowledge of the scholarly literature and on his wealth of personal experience, Berger reviews and synthesizes recent work in cultural sociology from a materialist perspective. An Essay on Culture culminates in a call for an empirical research program focused on the relation between symbolic choices and social locations, rather than on interpretive accounts of the meanings of texts or performances. Among his unusual insights are a defense of reductionism, sympathetic accounts of peer pressure and special interests, an attempt to restore some dignity to the word "ideology," and a fresh perspective on conspiracy theory. Scholars and students of culture will find here stunning discussions and theoretical insights on ideological work, morality and culture, and on the relations between social structure and cultural structure. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Preface

PART I. SOCIOLOGY AND CULTURE

Introduction

I. Vocabularies of Analysis

2. Culture: Varieties of Usage

3. Cultural Studies

4. Cultural Pluralism

5. Culture and Ideology

6. Culture and Interests

7. Material and Ideal Interests

8. Culture, Interests, Politics

9. Pluralism and Consensus

10. Culture and Experience

11. Sociology and Culturology

12. A Note on Reductionism and Reification

PART 2. RESEARCH IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE

13. Ideological Work in Empirical Studies of Culture

14. Mixed Genres, Metaphysical Pathos, Ideological Work

PART 3. STRUCTURE AND CHOICE IN SOCIOLOGY

15. Culture and Enchantment

16. Causality and Culture

17. Agency, Determinism, Choice

18. Institutional Dominance

19. Resistance Theory

20. The Relative Autonomy of Culture

21. Culture and Public Policy

22. A Program for the Sociology of Culture

23. Concluding Remarks

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-520-37759-1

OCLC:

1436832177