Cultural Theory and the Problem of Modernity

This book provides a comprehensive account of different sociological theories of culture. Examining and comparing Marxist contributions from Gramsci, the Frankfurt School and Raymond Williams with the work of Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Parsons, the author in turn contrasts these contributions with contemporary cultural theory. Concepts and theories of culture such as hegemony, force field and cultural materialism are discussed, and the work of Habermas, Bourdieu, Bakhtin, Jameson and Bell is examined critically. The author develops a sociological approach to the study and analysis of culture that allows the complex nature of social context to be taken into account. Arguing that cultural theory must equally develop theories of agency and self, he reviews the ways that both classical and contemporary sociological and Marxist theories have failed in this regard.