The Sociology of Culture

In this fascinating collection of essays, the 'fissured terrain' of the Sociology of Culture is charted as never before. Covering a wide range of subjects and a diversity of approaches, this volume demonstrates how far contemporaray sociologists of culture have come in challenging the way that culture has been and is perceived within mainstream sociology. List of figures.

Contributors.

Preface.

1. Introduction: The Challenge of the Sociology of Culture to Sociology as a Discipline: Diana Crane (University of Pennsylvania).

2. Culture and the Integration of National Societies: Michael Schudson (University of California, San Diego).

3. 'Cultural Pluralism' in Historical Sociology: Recent Theoretical Directions: Ewa Morawska and Willfried Spohn (University of Pennsylvania; University of Washington).

4. Fissured Terrain: Methodological Approaches and Research Styles in Culture and Politics: Mabel Berezin (University of Pennsylvania).

5. Cultural Theories of Organizational Behavior: The Social Construction of Rational Organizing Principles: Frank R. Dobbin (Princeton University).

6. Toward a Sociology of Material Culture: Science Studies, Cultural Studies and the Meanings of Things: Chandra Mukerji (University of California, San Diego).

7. Culture Studies Through the Production Perspective: Progress and Prospects: Richard A. Peterson (Vanderbilt University).

8. Cultural Production as 'Society in the Making': Architecture as an Exemplar of the Social Construction of Cultural Artifacts: David Brain (New College of the University of South Florida).

9. The Sociology of Cultural Reception: Notes Toward an Emergin Paradigm: Andrea Press (University of Michigan).

10. Methodological Dilemmas in the Sociology of Art: Anne Bowler (University of Delaware).

11. Cultural Conceptions of Human Motivation and Their Significance for Culture Theory: Steve Derne (SUNY-Genesco).

References.

Index.

Diana Crane is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her most recent previous books are The Transformation of the Avant-Garde and The Production of Culture. In this fascinating collection of essays, the "fissured terrain" of the Sociology of Culture is charted as never before. Covering a wide range of subjects and a diversity of approaches, this volume demonstrates how far contemporary sociologists of culture have come in challenging the way that culture has been and is perceived within mainstream sociology.

While the writers collected here in no way subscribe to a single approach, their ideas can be taken collectively (under the rubric of the "Sociology of Culture") as part of a larger project, synthesizing American and European perspectives, aimed at challenging current orthodoxies and rethinking the crucial category of "culture" in current social thought and research.

Thus, Michael Schudson writes on Culture and the Nation, Frank Dobbin on Culture and Organizational Behavior, Andrea Press on Cultural Reception, and Ewa Morawska and Willfried Spohn on Cultural Pluralism. The volume also includes important essays by Diana Crane, Mabel Berezin, Chandra Mukerji, Richard Peterson, David Brain, Anne Bowler and Steve Derne.

The Sociology of Culture is published in association with the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Association.