Sociology of Culture Soc. 160 Professor: Ariane Zambiras Fall 2014 Donwload today’s slides here:

Defining the scope of the course In 1871, Edward Tylor [1832 – 1917, English anthropologist] wrote that culture is: “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

We will consider: objects actions mental representations institutional structures

Grading 25% reading quizzes 35% mid-term exam 40% final exam ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 100%Your total grade

Study Tools Backup (Dropbox/Cloud + hard drive) Zotero: bibliography Diigo: annotate online reading Practice active reading

Today’s class Our questions: –What is culture? –Why does it matter? –What is a sign? –What is the relationship between signs / meaning / action?

Ferdinand de Saussure Swiss linguist, Signified = Mental concept of what the signifier stands for, it could be a concept, object or emotion. Signifier = the material aspect of it, such as the image, mark, sound, written word etc.

René Magritte (Belgian surrealist painter ) The Treachery of Images (French: La trahison des images, 1928– 29)

Notes on Raymond Williams. “Culture” in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana 1988.

Williams’ text: history of the word “culture” Cultivate civilization cultureS

Williams’ text concludes on 3 general meanings for “culture” process of intellectual / spiritual / aesthetic development (18 th century) a way of life, that unites –a group of people –a time period Hippie culture, counter culture a specialized body of work produced by intellectuals and artists –the latest one chronologically –Ministry of culture

Reading William Sewell, Jr “The Concept(s) of Culture” pp in Victoria E. Bonnell and Lynn Hunt (eds.), Beyond the Cultural Turn: New Directions in the Study of Society and Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press). Is culture useless as a concept?

The Turkish Bath 1862 painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique INGRES.

Reading Howard S. Becker “Culture: A Sociological View” pp in Doing Things Together: Selected Papers. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. How is collective action created and sustained? For Becker: culture is “one of the resources people draw on in order to coordinate their activities”.

Sociologists study what holds groups of people together For Becker: culture is “one of the resources people draw on in order to coordinate their activities”.

How does culture help us act collectively? Culture gives us an understanding of how things should be done

Next question: where does culture come from? For Becker, people create culture by adapting to new conditions. We are constantly engaged in meaning- making.

Ann Swidler Important article: Ann Swidler. “Culture in Action”. American Sociological Review. Vol. 51, No. 2 (Apr., 1986), pp Quote: “Culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is oriented, but by shaping a repertoire or "tool kit" of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct "strategies of action”.”

Max WEBER The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The original German text was composed in 1904 and 1905