Society and Culture: Scarcity and Solidarity (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society) - Softcover

Turner, Bryan S; Rojek, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761970495 ISBN 13: 9780761970491

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

An important and timely contribution, Society and Culture engages crucial debates that are reshaping the core identity and future agenda of sociology. Turner and Rojek start with an insightful reconsideration of Parsons′ theory of action, identify the strengths and limits of contemporary projects like those of Giddens and Beck, and offer a valuable new direction for future development – Craig Calhoun, Professor of Sociology and History, New York University Society and Culture reclaims the classical heritage, provides a clear-eyed assessment of the promise of sociology in the 21st century and asks whether the `cultural turn′ has made the study of society redundant. Sociologists have objected to the rise of cultural studies on the grounds that it produces cultural relativism and lacks a stable research agenda. This book looks at these criticisms and illustrates the relevance of a sociological perspective in the analysis of human practice. The book argues that the classical tradition must be treated as a living tradition, rather than a period piece. It analyzes the fundamental principles of belonging and conflict in society and provides a detailed critical survey of the principal social theories that offer solutions to the challenges of modernism.

About this title

About the Authors

Bryan S. Turner is Professor of Sociology in the Asian Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore. Previously he was Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge from 1998-2005. His research interests include globalization and religion, concentrating on such issues as religious conflict and the modern state, religious authority and electronic information, religious, consumerism and youth cultures, human rights and religion, the human body, medical change, and religious cosmologies. He is Joint Chief Editor of the journal Citizenship Studies and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals.

Chris Rojek is Professor of Sociology and Culture at Brunel University, West London. He is a prolific and influential author in the field of Celebrity, Leisure Studies and Popular Culture. In 2003 he was awarded the Allen V. Sapora prize for outstanding achievement in the field of Leisure and Tourism Studies. Besides lecturing in the UK he has given lectures on leisure in Australia, Canada, the USA and the Netherlands. In 2009 he was Hood Fellow at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He also writes on celebrity culture, neat capitalism and myths and realities of national identity. His current research is on popular music and popular culture and the meaning of the celetoid in Reality TV.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761970495
• ISBN 13: 9780761970491
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272