Contemporary Approaches in Cultural Sociology Summary

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Contemporary Approaches in Cultural Sociology – Summary Exam October 31st

Cultural sociology
- Culture as an approach
- Factor accounting for action
- Aspect of any field in society

Sociology = a way of thinking about the human world (behavioral science) –
Bauman
 Defamiliarize the familiar
Sociologist = concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way (nature
of discipline is scientific) – Berger
 Systematic and generalizing
 Problem-oriented

Culture in sociological history

1930-1960: culture important as part of structural functionalism
1965-1980: culture discarded as part of structural functionalism
1980-current: culture rediscovered  Cultural Turn

Culture in structural functionalism
Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)
Central question – What holds society together?
Consensus over values and norms
 CULTURE

The Iron Triangle

Corner 1: Social system
- Roles & expectations
- Institutionalized
Corner 2: Personality system
- Needs & motivations
- Socialized (internalized)
Corner 3: Cultural system (top)
- Shared values and norms

Parsons: Faults in the fix between social system and cultural system
 View of structural functionalism was too conservative

 Exit Culture
Critique of Parsonian sociology: hand in hand with critique of culture as shared
values
- Culture as too consensual – no conflict or opposition, too holistic (grand
theory)
- Culture as too deterministic – people are cultural dopes
- Culture as too abstract, general, idealistic – culture as a free-floating realm
of values


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