Cultural Sociology: An Introductory Reader, INTRODUCTION

2013, Wray, Matt, 2013. “Introduction.” In Matt Wray, ed. Cultural Sociology: An Introductory Reader. New York: W.W. Norton. Pp. xiii-xxxix.

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This essay discusses the contributions of Durkheim, Weber and Goffman to the historical development of sociological theory in which sociologists interests are shown to move from scientific enquiry to a focus on social action, its meaning and the agency of the individual. A historical survey of movements in sociological theory is provided as a context within which the theorists are placed, showing each theorist's impact and tracing the movement from Durkheim's 'social facts' to the 'social constructions' of symbolic interactionism. Examples of Durkheim's theoretical work are placed within a discussion of positivism in sociological theory and a discussion of subsequent criticism from non-positivist sociologists follows, beginning with Weber. Weber's nuanced and deliberate balance of historical enquiry, observation of patterns in social behaviour and focus on the meaning of this behaviour to the individual (verstehen) in his theoretical work is claimed to be a major innovation in social theory, highlighting the role of individual consciousness and motivation (Kalberg 2005). This leads into a discussion of the focus on the self in the microsociological tradition, of which symbolic interationism is a part (Collins 1994). Though Goffman's theory differs in some respects from symbolic interactionism, his focus on the construction and maintenance of the self places his work in the microsociological tradition (Collins 1994).

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