Cultures and Societies in a Changing World

by Wendy Griswold

• ISBN13: 9781412990547
• ISBN10: 1412990548
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-10
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

In the Fourth Edition of Cultures and Societies in a Changing World, author Wendy Griswold illuminates how culture shapes our social world and how society shapes culture. Through this book, students will gain an understanding of the sociology of culture and explore stories, beliefs, media, ideas, art, religious practices, fashions, and rituals from a sociological perspective. Cultural examples from multiple countries and time periods will broaden students' global understanding. Students will develop a deeper appreciation of culture and society from this text, gleaning insights that will help them overcome cultural misunderstandings, conflicts, and ignorance and that will help equip them to live their professional and personal lives as effective, wise citizens of the world.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
About the Author	p. xvii
Culture and the Cultural Diamond	p. 1
Two Ways of Looking at Culture	p. 3
"The Best That Has Been Thought and Known"	p. 4
"That Complex Whole"	p. 7
Connections: The Links Between Culture and Society	p. 10
The Cultural Object	p. 11
The Cultural Diamond	p. 14
Summary	p. 17
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 17
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 18
Cultural Meaning	p. 19
Why Do We Need Meaning?	p. 21
Culture and Meaning in Reflection Theory	p. 23
Culture as Mirror	p. 23
The Greek Background to Reflection Theory	p. 25
Culture and Meaning in Marxian Sociology	p. 27
"From Earth to Heaven": The Materialist Approach to Culture	p. 28
Historical Materialism	p. 29
Research Directions From the Marxian Tradition	p. 30
Culture and Meaning in Functionalist Sociology	p. 32
Culture and Meaning in Weberian Sociology	p. 35
The Anxious Protestants and the World They Built	p. 36
The Cultural Switchman	p. 39
Meaning Systems or a Tool Kit?	p. 39
Meaning, Modernity, and the Clash of Cultures	p. 40
Summary	p. 43
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 45
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 45
Culture as a Social Creation	p. 47
Durkheim and the Social Production of Culture	p. 49
The Problem of Modern Social Life	p. 49
Social Bonds: The Role of Religion	p. 50
Culture as Collective Representation	p. 53
The Collective Production of Culture	p. 55
Symbolic Interactionism	p. 55
Subcultures	p. 59
Cultural Innovation and Social Change	p. 62
Cultural Lags and Leads	p. 63
Cultural Innovations	p. 64
Summary	p. 67
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 68
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 68
The Production, Distribution, and Reception of Culture	p. 71
The Production of Culture	p. 73
The Culture Industry System	p. 73
Cultural Markets	p. 77
The Production of Ideas	p. 81
Reception	p. 83
Audiences and Taste Cultures	p. 84
Horizons of Expectations	p. 87
Freedom of Interpretation: Two Views	p. 89
Seduction by Mass Culture	p. 90
Resistance Through Popular Culture	p. 92
Summary	p. 95
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 95
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 96
Identities, Problems, and Movements	p. 97
Constructing a Collective Identity	p. 99
Constructing a Social Problem	p. 104
Making Trouble	p. 105
From Happening to Event to Social Problem	p. 105
The Career of a Social Problem	p. 108
Constructing a Social Movement Summary	p. 110
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 115
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 116
Organizations in a Multicultural World	p. 117
Organizational Cultures	p. 119
Culture and Motivation	p. 119
Cultures of Solidarity and Ambiguity	p. 124
Organizations in Cultural Contexts	p. 128
Working Across Cultures	p. 133
Summary	p. 137
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 139
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 139
Culture and Connection	p. 141
Media Revolutions and Cultural Communities	p. 142
Oral Cultures	p. 143
Written Cultures	p. 144
Print Cultures	p. 145
ICT Cultures	p. 146
The Cultural Impact of the Internet	p. 149
Old Diamonds, New Media	p. 152
Communities of Meaning in a Global Culture	p. 156
Postmodernity and Community	p. 157
Mediated Transnationals	p. 160
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 161
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 162
Culture and Power	p. 163
Power: What Is It, Who Has It, and Why Do People Submit to It?	p. 163
Power in Face-to-Face Interactions	p. 166
Identity Politics	p. 168
The Aesthetics of Power	p. 172
Political Acts as Cultural Objects	p. 176
Cultures Without Centers	p. 179
Questions for Study and Discussion	p. 180
Recommended for Further Reading	p. 180
References	p. 181
Index	p. 193
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