SC 573: Sociology of Culture
Boston College
Fall 2011
Wednesdays, 12 ‐ 2:30pm (Higgins 275)
Instructor: Danielle Hedegard
Email: hedegard@u.arizona.edu (will be updated to BC address later!)
Office: McGuinn Hall, Rm 409
Office Hours: Tuesdays 11am – 12:30pm, or set up by email (*see note below)
Course Website: on Blackboard
Description
This is a mixed graduate/undergraduate level course on the sociology of culture. By the sociology of culture, I refer to three intellectual orientations: 1) to understand what constitutes culture, how it is constructed, what forms it takes, 2) to examine how culture – in its many forms – influences, or even co‐constitutes, social processes and structures, and
3) to examine culture as a tool actors use in social action. We will discuss several active debates in the literature on culture: structure vs. agency, form vs. content, and coherence vs. incoherence. Culture touches many sub disciplines in sociology (race, gender, social movements, politics, nationalism, etc.), but we will not have time to discuss all of these areas. The theoretical works we will read are broadly oriented towards many areas of social like. The empirical readings emphasize inequality, race, class, gender, and work.
*Office Hours: I will post a signup sheet outside of my office. If you want to meet, please sign up in one (or two) of the 15 minute time slots listed. If these times do not fit your schedule, please email me to set up an alternative time.
Texts
Significant sections from the following books will be assigned. I will post these chapters on blackboard, but I suggest you (especially graduate students) buy at least some of the books for your personal collection. (I did not order these through the bookstore. Please purchase online.) Other readings will also be posted online.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984 [1979]. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste.
Carter, Prudence. 2005. Keepin' It Real: School Success Beyond Black and White : Oxford
University Press.
Elias, Nobert. 2000. The Civilizing Process . Blackwell, Selections.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish .
Kunda, Gideon. 1992. Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High ‐ Tech
Corporation . Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press
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Lamont, Michèle. 1992. Money, Morals, & Manners: The Culture of the French and the
American Upper ‐ Middle Class . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, CH 1, 2, 4
Wacquant, Loic. 2004. Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer . Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Assignments and Assessment
Class attendance and participation (15%)
Students are expected to attend each meeting, do the reading thoroughly, and participate actively in class. Emphasis is on mastering the material and responding to it constructively and creatively, with an eye toward your own research interests. Students who miss classes or do not contribute to class discussions on a regular basis will receive no higher than a B in the course.
Weekly memos on required readings: (15%)
Students will write analytical memos on the readings each week. Students should submit at least 10 memos. These memos should have, at a minimum, a basic argument regarding the readings supported with evidence. Below are some examples to organize your memos, but you are not required to answer these specific questions. Memos should be between 300‐
500 words (1‐2 pages). Be prepared to discuss the readings in class.
‐ State what (and why) you agree or disagree with in the readings,
‐ Critically relate readings to one another
‐ Relate the readings to the themes of past readings
‐ Discuss how and why you might apply ideas from the readings to your own research.
Lead Discussant (25%)
Each student will act as lead discussant for one week’s readings. This should be a synthesis and analysis of them in relation to each other, as well as in relation to topics from past weeks. You can also suggest future avenues for research, or discuss the readings in relation to your own work. Finally, you should have at least 3 well‐crafted discussion questions for the class. If you are assigned to a week that includes optional or graduate student readings, you must include at least one of those readings in your discussion.
Research Paper (Graduate Students) (45%)
Each student will write a research paper of roughly 20 pages. The term paper may be: (1) a literature review of a specific topic within the sociology of culture; (2) a proposal for a future research; or (3) a small‐scale analysis. Students should turn in a short description of their proposed papers in Week 4 (due by Friday, September 30 th , 10% of grade). The final paper is due by Friday, December 16th (40% of grade).
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Final Exam (Undergraduates)(45%)
Undergraduate students will take an in‐class final exam. This will be a blue‐book style essay exam, covering the entire semester.
Weekly Schedule
Within each week, I organized readings to move from theoretical to empirical.
I suggest you read them in the order listed.
Some of the scanned readings are marked with notes and highlights.
This was unavoidable.
Do not use them as references for your own focus when reading.
**I reserve the right to make minor changes to the reading list as needed throughout the semester**
Week 1 (9/7): Introduction
Required:
Sewell Jr., William. 1999. "The Concept(s) of Culture." in Beyond the Cultural Turn, edited by
Victoria E. Bonnell and Lynn Hunt. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Levi Martin, John. 2009. “Life’s a beach but you’re an ant, and other unwelcome news for the sociology of culture” Poetics .
Week 2 (9/14): Categories and Classification
Required:
Durkheim, Emile and Marcel Mauss. 1963 [1903]. Primitive Classification . Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, Selections.
Durkheim, Emile. 1995 [1912]. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life . New York: Free
Press. Selections.
Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1993. The Fine Line . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, CH 4.
Rao and Monin. 2006. “Border Crossing: Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical
Boundaries in French Gastronomy.” ASR .
Graduate students choose at least one:
Sewell, William H., Jr. 1996. “Historical Events as Transformations of Structures: Inventing
Revolution at the Bastille.” Theory and Society 25:841‐881.
Friese, Carrie. 2010. “Classification conundrums: categorizing chimeras and enacting species preservation.” Theory and Society.
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Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984 [1979]. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste.
London: Routledge, pp. 246‐256 ("Symbolic Struggles") and pp. 466‐484 ("Conclusion:
Classes and Classifications".
Wray, Matt. Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness . Introduction.
Week 3 (9/21): Semiotics Laura Kliger
Required: de Saussure, Ferdinand. Course in General Linguistics (New York: Philosophical Library,
1959 [1915]), Selections.
Bernstein, Basil. 1964. “Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Their Social Origins and Some
Consequences.” American Anthropologist 6: 55‐69.
Tavory and Swidler. 2009. “Condom Semiotics: Meaning and Condom Use in Rural Malawi”
ASR .
Bonnell, Victoria. 1993. “The Peasant Woman in Stalinist Political Art of the 1930s.” The
American Historical Review 98(1): 55‐82.
Graduate students choose at least one:
Yeung, King‐To. 2005. “What Does Love Mean? Exploring Network Culture in Two Network
Settings.” Social Forces 84 (1): 391‐420.
Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (London: Methuen, 1979), Introduction,
CH. 7
Week 4 (9/28): Ritual
Luka Cartagna
A proposal for your final paper is due by Friday, September 30th.
Required:
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Deep Play: Notes from the Balinese Cockfight.” In The Interpretation of Culture: Selected Essays . New York: Basic Books.
Goffman, Erving. 1967. “The Nature of Deference and Demeanor.” In Interaction Ritual:
Essays in Face to Face Behavior . Chicago: Aldine, pp.47‐96.
Collins, Randall. 2004. The Program of Interaction Ritual Theory . Princeton: Princeton
University Press, Chapter 1.
Kunda, Gideon. 1992. Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High ‐ Tech
Corporation.
Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, CH 1, 3, 4
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Week 5 (10/5): Measuring culture, units of analysis
Lee Watkiss
Required:
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture.” In
The Interpretation of Culture: Selected Essays . New York: Basic Books
Griswold, Wendy. 1987. “A Methodological Framework for the Sociology of Cultures.”
Sociological Methodology 14: 1‐35.
Jepperson, Ron and Ann Swidler. 1994. “What Properties of Culture Should We Measure?”
Poetics 22: 359‐71.
Harcourt, Bernard. 2006. “A Roadmap of the Catalina Interviews.” Language of the Gun:
Youth, Crime, and Public Policy.
Graduate students choose one:
Mohr, John and Vincent Duquenne. 1997. “The Duality of Culture and Practice: Poverty
Relief in New York City, 1988‐1917.” Theory & Society 26: 305‐56.
Ghaziani and Baldassarri. 2011. “Cultural Anchors and the Organization of Differences: A
Multi‐method Analysis of LGBT Marches on Washington” ASR
Week 6 (10/12): Power and Hegemony
Selen Yanmat
Alyssa???
Required:
Williams, Raymond. “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory”
Roseberry, William. 1994. “Hegemony and the Language of Contention” in Everyday Forms of State Formation (Sayer).
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. “On Symbolic Power.” In Language and Symbolic Power , pp. 163‐
170.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish . Selections.
Sallaz, Jeffrey. 2002. “The House Rules: Autonomy and Interests among Service Workers in the Contemporary Casino Industry.” Work and Occupations .
Graduate students:
Lisa Wedeen. 1999. Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in
Contemporary Syria.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Selections.
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Week 7 (10/19): Ideology and Change
Austin Hughes
Required:
Oliver, P. and H. Johnston (1999). 'What a Good Idea! Ideology and Frames in Social
Movement Research.' Mobilization 5(1): 37‐54.
Marx, Karl. 1978. The German Ideology: Part I .
Willis, Paul. 1981 [1977]. Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs .
New York: Columbia University Press, selections.
Burawoy, Michael. 1982. Manufacturing Consent, CH 3
Inglehart and Baker. 2000. “Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values.” ASR.
Week 8 (10/26): Discourse and Language
Stephanie Gonzales
Required:
Foucault, Michel. History of Sexuality . Selections.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. “The Production and Reproduction of Legitimate Language” and
“Authorized Language.” In Language and Symbolic Power .
Cerulo, Karen. 1998. Deciphering Violence: The Cognitive Structure of Right and Wrong.
New
York: Routledge: Chapter 3.
Eliasoph, Nina. 1999. " ‘Everyday Racism’ in a Culture of Political Avoidance: Civil Society,
Speech, and Taboo” Social Problems .
Graduate students choose at least one:
Alexander, Jeffrey C., and Philip Smith. 1993. “The Discourse of American Civil Society: A
New Proposal for Cultural Studies.” Theory and Society 22:151–207.
Zavisca, Jane. 2003. “Contesting Capitalism at a Post‐Soviet Dacha” in Slavic Review .
Week 9 (11/2): Practice
Jeff Stokes
Required:
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1972. Bourdieu, Pierre. “Structures, Habitus, Practices,” in The Logic of
Practice . Stanford: Stanford University Press.
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Swidler, Ann. 1986. "Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies." American Sociological
Review 51:273‐286.
Swidler, Ann. Talk of Love . Introduction, CH 1‐3, 5
Elias, Nobert. 2000. The Civilizing Process . Blackwell, Selections.
Graduate students:
Wacquant, Loic. 2004. Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer . Oxford: Oxford
University Press, Part 1
Optional:
Smith, Dennis. 1999. "The Civilizing Process" and "The History of Sexuality": Comparing
Norbert Elias and Michel Foucault.” Theory and Society .
Week 10 (11/9): Interaction, Performance, Context
Marissa
Required:
Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2006. “Cultural Pragmatics: Social Performance between Ritual and
Strategy.” Pp. 29‐90 in Social Performance: Symbolic Action, Cultural Pragmatics, and Ritual , edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander, Bernhard Giesen and Jason L. Mast. Cambridge University
Press.
Eliasoph, Nina and Paul Lichterman. 2003. “Culture in Interaction.” American Journal of
Sociology 108: 735‐794
Grant, Morales, Sallaz. 2009. “Pathways to Meaning: A New Approach to Studying Emotions at Work.” AJS
Lizardo, Omar and Michael Strand. 2010. "Skills, Toolkits, Contexts and Institutions:
Clarifying the Relationship between Different Approaches to Cognition in Cultural
Sociology." Poetics 38:204‐227.
Graduate students choose one:
Vaisey, Stephen. 2009. “Motivation and Justification: A Dual‐Process Model of Culture in
Action.” AJS.
Tavory, Iddo. 2010. "Of Yarmulkes and Categories: Delegating Boundaries and the
Phenomenology of Interactional Expectation." Theory and Society 39:49‐68.
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Week 11 (11/16): Tastes and Cultural Capital
Vanessa Obei
Required:
Bourdieu, P. (1986). 'The Forms of Capital'. Handbook of Theory and Research for the
Sociology of Education . J. Richardson. New York, Greenwood Press: 241‐258.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste . Cambridge:
Harvard University, CH 5‐7.
Lamont, Michèle. 1992. Money, Morals, & Manners: The Culture of the French and the
American Upper ‐ Middle Class . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, CH 1, 4
Lizardo, Omar. 2006. "How Cultural Tastes Shape Personal Networks." American
Sociological Review 71: 778‐807.
Holt, Douglas 1998 'Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption?', Journal of
Consumer Research, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1‐25.
Graduate students choose at least one:
Stuner, T. and D. Holt (2010). 'Toward a Theory of Status Consumption in Less
Industrialized Countries.' Journal of Consumer Research 37: 37‐56.
Banks, P. (2009a). 'Black Cultural Advancement: Racial Identity and Participation in the
Arts among the Black Middle Class.' Ethnic and Racial Studies (1): 1‐18.
Bryson, Bethany. 1996. “'Anything But Heavy Metal': Symbolic Exclusion and Musical
Dislikes.” American Sociological Review 61: 884‐899.
Johnston, Josée and Shyon Baumann. 2007. “Democracy versus Distinction: A Study of
Omnivorousness in Gourmet Food Writing.” American Journal of Sociology 113: 165‐205.
Carter, Prudence. 2003. “ “Black” Cultural Capital, Status Positioning, and Schooling
Conflicts for Low‐Income African American Youth.” Social Problems.
Optional:
Swartz, D. (1997). Culture and Power: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu . [This is a more accessible overview of Bourdieu’s work.]
DiMaggio, Paul. 1982. “Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture
Participation on the Grades of U.S. High School Students.” American Sociological Review 47:
189‐201.
Erickson, Bonnie H. 1996. “Culture, Class, and Connections.” American Journal of Sociology
102: 217‐251.
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Week 12 (11/23): Tastes and Cultural Capital (Con’t)
Week 13 (11/30): Production
Emilie Dubois
Required:
Becker, Howard. 1984. Art Worlds . Berkeley: University of California Press. Selections.
Bourdieu, Pierre. The Field of Cultural Production (New York: Columbia University Press,
1993), CH 2‐3.
Mears, A. (2010). 'Size zero high‐end ethnic: Cultural production and the reproduction of culture in fashion modeling.' Poetics 38 (1): 21‐46.
Ferguson, Priscilla Parkhurst. 1998. “A Cultural Field in the Making: Gastronomy in 19th
Century France.” American Journal of Sociology 104:597‐641.
Graduate students choose at least one:
Fine, G. A. (2003). 'Crafting Authenticity: The Validation of Identity in Self‐Taught Art.'
Theory and Society 32: 153‐180.
DiMaggio, Paul. 1982. “Cultural Entrepreneurship in Nineteenth‐Century Boston, Part I:
The Creation of an Organizational Base for High Culture in America.” Media, Culture, and
Society 4: 33‐50.
Schofer and Meyer. 2005. “The Worldwide Expansion of Higher Education in the Twentieth
Century” ASR .
Week 14 (12/7): Reception Caitrin
You final paper is due by Sunday, December 11th.
Required:
Griswold, Wendy. 1987. "The Fabrication of Meaning: Literary Interpretation in the United
States, Great Britain, and the West Indies." American Journal of Sociology 97:1077‐1117
Hunt, Darnell. 1997.
Screening the Los Angeles ‘Riots’: Race, Seeing, and Resistance
(Cambridge U Press), CH 7
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Wagner‐Pacifici, Robin and Barry Schwartz. 2002. “The Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
Commemorating a Difficult Past.”
McDonnell, T. 2010. "Cultural Objects as Objects: Materiality, Urban Space, and the
Interpretation of AIDS Campaigns in Accra, Ghana1." American Journal of Sociology
115:1800‐1852.
Graduate students choose one:
Fantasia, Rick. 1995. “Fast food in France” Theory and Society .
Kaufman, Jason and Orlando Patterson. 2005. “Cross‐National Cultural Diffusion: The
Global Spread of Cricket” American Sociological Review 70: 82‐110 .
THE END
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