E-Book Overview
Culture is unquestionably a central topic in the contemporary social sciences. In order to understand how people think, feel, value, act and express themselves, it is necessary to examine the cultures they create, and are in turn created by. Here, David Inglis shows how the study of culture can be transformed by focusing in on how cultural forces shape, influence, structure - and occasionally disrupt - the day-to-day activities of individuals. Reconsidering different views on 'culture' - what it is, how it operates, and how it relates to other aspects of the human (and non-human) world - this new book covers key areas such as: high culture versus popular culture modern and postmodern culture globalization and culture culture and nature. Specific issues covered range from the everyday aspects of sportive play, artistic production and the mass media, to car culture and global cuisine, and students are introduced to some of the major thinkers on culture from Matthew Arnold to Bakhtin and Bourdieu. Written in a concise, student-friendly manner, theoretical arguments are illustrated with examples from film, architecture and daily life, making this an informative and indispensable introduction for those wishing to understand the complexities of culture.
E-Book Content
CULTURE AND EVERYDAY LIFE How should we understand what we do in everyday life? In what ways are our everyday habits and routines shaped by culture? What is ‘culture’ and how does it impact on everything we think and do? If we want to understand how people in different parts of the globe think, feel, value, act and express themselves, we have to examine the cultures that they create and are in turn created by. This lively and accessible new book reconsiders the different views as to what culture is, how it operates and how it relates to other aspects of the human (and nonhuman) world. Key areas covered include: • Culture and nature • High culture versus popular culture • Modern and post-modern culture • Globalization and culture The book discusses many of the major thinkers on culture, from Matthew Arnold to Bakhtin and Bourdieu. Theoretical arguments are illustrated with everyday examples from sport, art and the mass media, to car culture and global cuisine, making this a highly informative guide to the sociology of culture that will be indispensable reading for students of sociology and cultural studies. David Inglis is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Aberdeen. He writes in the areas of the sociology of culture and social theory. He has authored numerous books and articles in these areas, including Confronting Culture: Sociological Vistas (Polity, 2003, with John Hughson), and he is editor of The Sociology of Art (Palgrave, 2005).
THE NEW SOCIOLOGY
SERIES EDITOR: ANTHONY ELLIOTT, UNIVERSITY OF KENT, UK
The New Sociology is a book series designed to introduce students to new issues and themes in social sciences today. What makes the series distinctive, as compared to other competing introductory textbooks, is a strong emphasis not just on key concepts and ideas but on how these play out in everyday life—on how theories and concepts are lived at the level of selfhood and cultural identities, how they are embedded in interpersonal relationships, and how they are shaped by, and shape, broader social processes. Forthcoming in the series: Religion and Everyday Life STEPHEN HUNT (2005) Culture and Everyday Life DAVID INGLIS (2005) Community and Everyday Life GRAHAM DAY (2005) Self-Identity and Everyday Life HARVIE FERGUSON (2005) Consumption and Everyday Life MARK W.D.PATERSON (2005) Globalization and Everyday Life LARRY RAY (2006) The Body and Everyday Life HELEN THOMAS (2006) Nationalism and Everyday Life JANE HINDLEY (2006)
Ethnicity and Everyday Life CHRISTIAN KARNER (2006) Risk, Vulnerability and Everyday Life IAIN WI