1he sociology of culture concerns culLureusually undersLood as seLs of cognlLlve meanlngsas lL ls

manlfesLed ln socleLy lor Georg Simmel culLure referred Lo Lhe culLlvaLlon of lndlvlduals Lhrough Lhe
agency of exLernal forms whlch have been ob[ecLlfled ln Lhe course of hlsLory

CulLural soclology flrsL emerged ln Welmar Cermany where soclologlsLs such as Alfred Weber used Lhe
Lerm kulLursozlologle (culLural soclology) CulLural soclology was Lhen relnvenLed ln Lhe Lngllsh
speaklng world as a producL of Lhe cultural turn of Lhe 1960s whlch ushered ln structuralist and
postmodern approaches Lo soclal sclence 1hls Lype of culLural soclology may loosely be regarded as an
approach lncorporaLlng cultural analysis and critical theory CulLural soclologlsLs Lend Lo re[ecL sclenLlflc
meLhods lnsLead hermeneuLlcally focuslng on words arLlfacLs and symbols

CulLure has slnce become an lmporLanL concepL across many branches of soclology lncludlng
resoluLely sclenLlflc flelds llke social stratiIication and social network analysis As a resulL Lhere has been a
recenL lnflux of quanLlLaLlve soclologlsLs Lo Lhe fleld 1hus Lhere ls now a growlng group of soclologlsLs of
culLure who are confuslngly noL culLural soclologlsLs 1hese scholars re[ecL Lhe absLracLed posLmodern
aspecLs of culLural soclology and lnsLead look for a LheoreLlcal backlng ln Lhe more sclenLlflc veln of
social psychology and cognitive science

CulLural soclology ls one of Lhe largesL secLlons of Lhe Amerlcan Soclologlcal AssoclaLlon 1he 8rlLlsh
esLabllshmenL of cultural studies means Lhe laLLer ls ofLen LaughL as a looselydlsLlncL dlsclpllne ln Lhe uk

Development oI sociology in culture

Early researchers and development oI cultural sociology
1he soclology of culLure grew from Lhe lnLersecLlon beLween soclology as shaped by early LheorlsLs llke
Marx uurkhelm and Weber and wlLh Lhe growlng dlsclpllne of anthropology where researchers
ploneered eLhnographlc sLraLegles for descrlblng and analyzlng a varleLy of culLures around Lhe world
arL of Lhe legacy of Lhe early developmenL of Lhe fleld ls sLlll felL ln Lhe meLhods (much of culLural
soclologlcal research ls quallLaLlve) ln Lhe Lheorles (a varleLy of crlLlcal approaches Lo soclology are
cenLral Lo currenL research communlLles) and subsLanLlve focus of Lhe fleld lor lnsLance relaLlonshlps
beLween popular culture pollLlcal conLrol and social class were early and lasLlng concerns ln Lhe fleld

Karl Marx
As a ma[or conLrlbuLor Lo Lhe ConIlict Theory Marxs ldeas also dealL wlLh culLure Marxs bellef of
culLure ls LhaL Lhe mosL powerful members of a socleLy are Lhose who llve ln Lhe rullng class 1hese
members seL up Lhe culLure of a socleLy ln order Lo provlde Lhe besL lnLeresLs Lo LhaL socleLy Pe has also
Lalked abouL how a socleLys economlc sLaLus deLermlnes Lhelr values and ideologies

Emile Durkheim
uurkhelm had Lhe bellef LhaL culLure has many relaLlonshlps Lo socleLy whlch lnclude
loqlcol ower over lndlvlduals belong Lo cerLaln culLural caLegorles and bellefs such as Cod
looctloool CerLaln rlLes and myLhs creaLe bulld soclal order up more by havlng people creaLe sLrong
bellefs Lhe more people who belleve ln Lhese myLhs wlll sLrengLhen soclal order
nlstotlcol CulLure had lLs orlglns ln socleLy and from Lhose experlences came evoluLlon lnLo Lhlngs such
as classlflcaLlon sysLems







Max Weber
Weber lnnovaLed Lhe ldea of a sLaLus group as a cerLaln Lype of subculLure SLaLus groups are based on
Lhlngs such as race eLhnlclLy rellglon reglon occupaLlon gender sexual preference eLc 1hese groups
llve a cerLaln llfesLyle based on dlfferenL values and norms 1hey are a culLure wlLhln a culLure hence
Lhe label subculLure Weber also had Lhe ldea LhaL people were moLlvaLed by Lhelr maLerlal and ldeal
lnLeresLs whlch lnclude Lhlngs such as prevenLlng one from golng Lo hell Weber also explalns LhaL
people use symbols Lo express Lhelr splrlLuallLy and LhaL symbols are used Lo express Lhe splrlLual slde of
real evenLs and LhaL ldeal lnLeresLs are derlved from symbols



Georg Simmel
lor Simmel culLure refers Lo Lhe culLlvaLlon of lndlvlduals Lhrough Lhe agency of exLernal forms whlch
have been ob[ecLlfled ln Lhe course of hlsLory
|2|
Slmmel presenLed hls analyses wlLhln a conLexL of
form and conLenL