Culture and Society

This volume brings together the major statements by the leading contemporary scholars of cultural analysis on the relationship between culture and society. Part one surveys the range of current analytical debate over culture, focusing on the relationship of culture to social structure and power. Approaches to the study of culture covered include functionalism, semiotics, and Weberian, Durkheimian, and Marxian analysis. While individual contributions differ in defining the nature of culture and its relation to society, they are in agreement in assessing the relative autonomy of culture and the centrality of symbolic analysis. Part two turns to substantive debates, including those over the role of religion, secular ideology, and mass culture and brings to light disputes about the meaning of modernity. The book testifies to the remarkable development in the last two decades of a cultural paradigm for social and political analysis.

'Culture and Society is an important resource for those of us who teach courses and seminars in the sociology of culture. It is important in its scope and range: theoretical, from functionalism and neo-Marxism to dramaturgical analysis to postmodernism; disciplinary, including key contributions by anthropologists, historians and others, as well as by sociologists; and substantive, ranging from politics and work to religion and science. The volume consolidates recent progress in the social sciences' understanding of culture without turning its back on deservedly influential ideas of the past.' Paul MiMaggio, Yale University, 'The essays presented here provide an essential foundation for understanding contemporary debates about the place of culture criticism in a variety of disciplines. All of the major theoretical trends are amply represented, and their juxtaposition will give students and scholars an excellent overview of current trends, problems, and potentials in one of the fastest growing areas of intellectual interest.' Lynn Hunt, University of Pennsylvania, 'This splendid collection of essays illuminates the vital argument about the importance of culture in social analysis today. Many of the articles are classics in their own right. The book is a major contribution to teaching and research.' Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley