Cultural Sociology in Practice

by Edles, Laura Desfor

• ISBN13: 9780631210900
• ISBN10: 0631210903
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-01-16
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Cultural Sociology in Practice is a concise introduction to the burgeoning new field of cultural sociology. Using straightforward language and popular examples, the book sorts out various cultural concepts and types of cultural analysis. Part I outlines the origins and theoretical premises of cultural sociology, and it demonstrates culturalist approaches to religion, the media/popular culture, and race/ethnicity. Part II explains exciting new culturalist methods, focusing on ethnography, discourse analysis, audience/reception research, and cultural history. The text also includes lists of key terms and study questions, providing a useful overview for students grappling with cultural concepts for the first time.

Author Biography

Laura Desfor Edles teaches sociology at California State University, Northridge. She is the author of Symbol and Ritual in the New Spain: The Transition to Democracy after Franco (1998).

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	vi
Acknowledgments	viii
Introduction: What Is Culture, and How Does Culture Work?	1	(20)
Part I Culture and Society	21	(116)
Religion and Ideology: Systems of Meaning in the Modern (and Postmodern) World	23	(33)
The Media and Popular Culture	56	(40)
Race and Representation	96	(41)
Part II Cultural Methodology: Getting a Handle on Culture	137	(100)
Naturalistic Inquiry: Ethnography, Ethnomethodology, and Dramaturgical Research	141	(38)
Discourse Analysis and Audience/Reception Research: Constructing and Deconstructing Texts, Talk, and Meaning	179	(41)
Structure, Agency, and ``Comprehensive'' Cultural Sociology	220	(17)
References	237	(25)
Index	262