Cultural Sociology An Introduction

Cultural Sociology: An Introduction is the first dedicated student textbook to address cultural sociology as a legitimate model for sociological thinking and research. Highly renowned authors present a rich overview of major sociological themes and the various empirical applications of cultural sociology. 

• A timely introductory overview to this increasingly significant field which provides invaluable summaries of key studies and approaches within cultural sociology
• Clearly written and designed, with accessible summaries of thematic topics, covering race, class, politics, religion, media, fashion, and music
• International experts contribute chapters in their field of research, including a chapter by David Chaney, a founder of cultural sociology
• Offers a unified set of theoretical and methodological tools for those wishing to apply a cultural sociological approach in their work

Notes on Authors vii

Preface ix

Glossary of Terms xiii

Part I: Theory and Method

1 Starting toWrite a History of the Present Day: Culture and Sociology 3
David Chaney

2 Defining Cultural Sociology 19

3 Methodological Issues in Cultural Sociology 31

Part II: New Cultural Identities

4 Class, Culture and Social Difference 47

5 Gender and Sexuality 63

6 Racism, ‘Race’ and Difference 77

7 Bodies and Identities 91

Part III: Fragmented Ideology

8 Politics and Culture 107

9 Globalization 121

10 Culture and Religion 133

Part IV: Leisure and Lifestyle

11 Popular Music: Place, Identity, Community 151

12 Fashion Logics and the Cultural Economy: The Social Power of Tastes, Aesthetics and Style 163

13 Food, Eating and Culture 177

14 Media, Culture and Public Life 189

References 201

Index 219

Les Back is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Andy Bennett is Professor of Cultural Sociology and Director of the Griffith Centre for Cultural Research at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. He has authored and edited numerous books including Popular Music and Youth Culture, Cultures of Popular Music (2001), Remembering Woodstock (2004), and Music Scenes (edited with Richard A. Peterson, 2004). He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sociology.

 

Laura Desfor Edles is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Northridge.

 

Margaret Gibson is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Griffith University.

 

David Inglis is Professor of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He has written in the areas of the history of social thought, historical sociology, the sociologies of culture, art and aesthetics, and the cultural sociology of globalization. He is founding editor of the journal Cultural Sociology.

 

Ronald Jacobs is Associate Professor of Sociology  at University at Albany, State University of New York. He is the author of Race, Media and the Crisis of Civil Society (2000) and The Space of Opinion (2011), and co-editor of Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology (2011).

 

Ian Woodward is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Griffith University.