Abstract: Cultural sociology stands as one of the most exciting fields in contemporary social inquiry. This course will survey major theoretical approaches to the question and assess the links and influences among them. The course also attempts to proceed beyond the different theorizations of culture to the actual practice of cultural sociology. In this vein, we will examine the ways in which some of the approaches are put into practice, i.e. are exercised in concrete sociological research.
The course is divided in three main sections. The first part explores some of the foundations of contemporary cultural sociology (readings will include: Geertz, Durkheim and Mauss, Gramsci, Williams, Thompson, Foucault, and Goffman). The second part examines Bourdieu’s genetic structuralism as a synthetic approach to culture (readings will include Bourdieu, Willis, Alford and Szanto, Wacquant). We will also explore debates around the workings of domination/resistance (Willis and Scott). The third part surveys current empirical work on political culture and collective identities during contentious episodes (readings will include Eliasoph, Tilly, Steinberg, Brubaker and Cooper, and Gould).
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-04-26
Language: en
Type: article
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