C

Canguilhem, Georges (1904–1995) analyses of society. Exceptions exist, and there

He is known mainly as the intellectual éminence are also some signs that capitalism is currently
grise lurking behind some of the most influential enjoying a comeback as a central topic in soci-
post-World War II French social theorists, notably ology. We are, for example, witnessing an increas-
Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. Although he ing number of studies on the theme of “varieties
was an influential teacher and thinker, he pub- of capitalism.”
lished few major texts and, to date, these are not This revival of the study of capitalism will be
readily accessible in English translation. Born in reviewed later on in this entry. First, however,
southwest France, he was taught in Paris by the the question “What is capitalism?” needs to be
philosopher Émile Cartier (1868–1951), otherwise addressed. There will also be a presentation of
known as Alain, before entering the École Normale what the classics have to say about capitalism
Supérieure in the same year, 1924, as Raymond (Marx, Weber, and Joseph Alois Schumpeter).
Aron, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80), and Paul Nizan Their works are still unsurpassed, and they also
(1905–40). He wrote a postgraduate thesis on constitute the foundation for much of the cur-
Auguste Comte under the supervision of Célestin rent discussion.
Bouglé (1870–1940) and taught philosophy at In order for human beings and societies to sur-
Toulouse from 1936 to 1940 while commencing vive, the economy has to be organized in a special
medical studies. He was active in the Resistance manner, of which capitalism is only one. There
in the Auvergne during the Vichy regime and has to be production; what is produced has to be
resumed teaching at Strasbourg in 1944. He sub- distributed; and what has been distributed has to
mitted his doctoral dissertation in medicine in be consumed. There exist different ways of organ-
1943. This was published in 1950, and republished izing these three processes of production, dis-
many times after 1966 as On the Normal and the tribution, and consumption. According to a well-
Pathological – famously, in 1978, with an introduc- known argument, the key distinction when it
tion by Foucault (whose dissertation on madness comes to economic organization is between
and unreason had been examined by Canguilhem “housekeeping” (Haushalten) and “profit-making”
in 1960). He succeeded Gaston Bachelard (1884– (Erwerben). As Weber argued in his General Economic
1962) as Professor of Philosophy at the Sorbonne History (1922 [trans. 1978]), you either produce
in 1955 and retired in 1971. He specialized in the for consumption or for profit. Marx in Capital
history and philosophy of science, with particular (1867 [trans. 1996]) referred to the same dis-
reference to the life sciences, publishing Ideology tinction when he spoke of “use value” versus “ex-
and Rationality in the History of the Life Sciences (1977 change value,” and so did Aristotle when he
[trans. 1988]). He made important contributions to contrasted oekonomia (household management) to
epistemology and his discussions of health and chrematistika (money making).
disease relate as pertinently to the societal as to Karl Polanyi in Trade and Market in the Early
the individual condition. DEREK ROBBINS Empires (1957) further elaborated the distinction
between housekeeping and profit-making when
capitalism he introduced his well-known typology of the
The study of capitalism represents a classical topic three different ways in which an economy can
in sociology. Both Karl Marx and Max Weber were, acquire unity and stability: reciprocity, redistri-
for example, deeply interested in capitalism and bution, and exchange. Each of these three terms,
made it their main focus of research. During Polanyi explains, expresses a form of social
much of the twentieth century, on the other action, but also answers to an institution. For
hand, sociologists have tended to take capitalism exchange, the equivalent institution is the
for granted, often neglecting to discuss it in their market; for redistribution, it may be the state

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 capitalism capitalism

Figure 1 Ways of organizing economic process, including capitalism

or a political ruler; and for reciprocity, the tribe, consumption. Here we may think of the way that
the kin group, or the family. the economy of a modern family is organized.
While exchange and the market answer to the Last – and this is where we come to capitalism –
category of profit-making, it should be noted that there is the situation which is characterized by the
Polanyi’s real innovation was to introduce two fact that what is being produced is distributed via
categories for housekeeping: reciprocity, and re- the market. Here, however, all does not go to
distribution. Based on this idea by Polanyi, we see consumption; and what drives the process just as
that the process of the economy can actually be much as consumption, is the search for profit (see
organized in primarily three different ways. First Fig. 1).
of all, we have the kind of economies where redis- Capitalism, in brief, can be defined as an econo-
tribution is central; and where what is produced is my which is organized in such a way that what is
distributed via, for example, the state, before it is being produced for consumption is distributed via
consumed. Second, there are economies where exchange in the market and where some portion
reciprocity constitutes the social mechanism of what is being produced also goes to profit. The
through which production is distributed for more of the economy that gets drawn into this

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 capitalism capitalism

type of organization, the more the economic We may therefore speak of three main economic
system can be characterized as capitalistic. There sectors in modern capitalist society: the market
also has to be a constant reinvestment of the economy, the state economy, and the household economy.
profit into production, for the capitalist process Some countries also have a developed non-profit
to become permanent. economy (foundations, private universities, volun-
From this model, we also understand why it is tary associations, and so on). This sector operates
valuable not only to study middle-range pheno- according to a mixture of Polanyi’s three types of
mena in sociology, as mainstream sociology tends distribution.
to do today, but also to look at the macro level. In While sociologists hold that the notion of a
a capitalist economy, the three processes of pro- single inventor is something of a myth and that
duction, distribution, and consumption are all all discoveries tend to be “multiple discoveries,” it
closely linked to one another. What is being pro- is nonetheless possible to single out Marx as the
duced has to be sold, which means that produc- one who invented the theory of capitalism. In
tion and consumption are deeply influenced by Capital and related writings, Marx was also
the market. Consumption and production, to the first to theorize capitalism in analytical terms
phrase it differently, cannot be studied in isol- as a distinct system of its own. This system is
ation from the profit motive and its organization. socioeconomic as well as dynamic in nature.
We may also take a concept such as production What characterizes capitalism as a distinct
and further subdivide it into, say, factors of pro- socioeconomic system, according to Marx, is that
duction (land, labor, capital, technology, organiza- money is used as capital and not simply as money.
tion). If we do this, we soon see how these are all In the latter case, we have the situation where
oriented to the market and the necessity to pro- an individual sells a commodity (C) in order to
duce profit. Labor, for example, needs to be social- buy some other commodity with the money (M).
ized and educated in order to survive on the labor This process Marx writes as C-M-C. The capitalist,
market. Technology cannot simply be developed in contrast, uses money to produce commodities
according to the criteria of what is the most effi- that are sold for profit; and here we have instead
cient, but has to be produced in such a way that it M-C-M1 (where M1 equals M plus some fraction
can be sold on the market, and so on. of M).
While such important institutions in modern According to Marx, it is crucial to understand
society as law (see law and society), politics, and how money can become something more than
culture are not included in the model of capital- itself (M1), and instead of ascribing this process
ism that has just been presented, it can be sug- to the successful selling of some commodity on
gested that each of them will either speed up, slow the market (as economists tend to do), Marx sug-
down, or block the process of accumulation in the gests that there exists one very special commodity
capitalist economy. One may, for example, argue that has the capacity to produce more value than it
that certain types of legislation (say bankruptcy costs. This is human labor, and the extra value
law, corporate law, and contractual law) are im- that it creates Marx terms surplus value. Marx’s
portant for an advanced capitalist system to exist. theory of surplus value consequently stands at the
The same is true for certain types of political insti- very center of his theory of capitalism as well as
tutions, such as the rational state. That a country’s his theory of exploitation. To Marx, in other
general culture can be important for its develop- words, what happens in production (where sur-
ment was something that Charles-Louis Montes- plus value is created) is more important than
quieu and Alexis de Tocqueville had already what happens in the market (where surplus value
commented on. is just given a monetary form). The market, Marx
Polanyi’s categories of reciprocity, redistribu- specifies, is indeed central to capitalism – but its
tion, and exchange also allow us to capture the key role in capitalist society is primarily one of
phenomenon that all real economies consist of a mystification since it is precisely the fact that com-
mixture of different sectors. A modern capitalist modities are bought and sold on the market, at
economy, for example, usually has a considerable what seems to be their “right” price, that makes it so
state sector that operates via redistribution (pen- hard for those who are exploited in capitalism to
sions, subsidies, welfare, and so on). Households understand that labor is always underpaid in
are often organized according to the principle of capitalism.
reciprocity (even if we also know that this reci- While Marx presented an analytical model of
procity is closely influenced by stratification (see the capitalist process and, on the basis of this
social stratification) according to gender and age). model, theorized how the economy would develop

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in the future, he also pioneered a deeply historical (stalwarts Ghettoes), which has taken on a life of its
and empirical study of capitalism. Few readers of own in contemporary social science. Weber him-
Capital will fail to have noticed this, and one may self, however, used this metaphor to indicate that
cite Marx’s powerful descriptions of life in the life in modern capitalist society is unbearably
factories or the process of enclosures that set off harsh. One reason for this has to do with the
capitalism in England. unrelenting demand that everybody works all
Capitalism, as Marx sees it, is not restricted to the time; there is also the fact that life in modern
some special area or sphere of society, as econo- capitalist society lacks a deeper meaning.
mists see it today, but constitutes its very founda- But even if there exist parallels between the
tion. The economy, as a result, influences not only views of Marx and Weber on capitalism, they
what goes on in the workplace but also a host of also differ on several important points. One may
other phenomena, such as law, politics, literature, single out five such points of profound difference.
philosophy, the household, and the relations be- First of all, while Marx saw capitalism as cen-
tween the sexes. There is, in brief, no separate tered around production, Weber saw it as centered
economic sector, according to Marx. around the market. Second, while Marx argued
It may finally be mentioned that Marx also criti- that there only exists one type of capitalism,
cizes past and present economists for their view of Weber disagreed and suggested that there are sev-
capitalism. They often do not mention the exist- eral such types. Third, Marx and Weber differed in
ence of classes (see social class), and, if they do, the way that they conceptualized the role that
they do not see exploitation. Most importantly, law, politics, and culture play in modern capital-
however, according to Marx, economists simply ism. Fourth, Weber’s theory of the origin of capit-
take capitalism for granted and think that cat- alism differed from that of Marx. And finally,
egories such as “capital,” “labor,” “profit,” and so Weber introduced the concept of meaning into
on are universal and given, once and for all. They the analysis of capitalism – a concept that does
fail, in brief, to understand that capitalism is a not exist in Marx.
deeply historical phenomenon. And as a result, That Weber saw capitalism as centered on the
they produce ideology rather than a scientific market, as opposed to production, comes out very
theory about capitalism. clearly in his general view of capitalism. From
There exist many critiques of Marx’s theory of Weber’s The Agrarian Sociology of Ancient Civilizations
capitalism and little needs to be added to these. It (1909 [trans. 1976]), one may cite what is probably
is, for example, clear that capitalism does not the most succinct definition of capitalism that
operate according to “Natural Laws” which “work can be found in his work: “where we find that
with iron necessity towards inevitable results,” to property is an object of trade and is utilized by
cite the preface to Capital. There is much contro- individuals for profit-making enterprise in a
versy over what is alive and dead in Marx’s analy- market economy, there we have capitalism.”
sis, for example, in Jon Elster’s An Introduction to Second, while Marx argued that there was no
Karl Marx (1986). It deserves nonetheless to be capitalism in Antiquity and that capitalism could
emphasized, when one discusses Marx’s view of only be found in the West, Weber sharply dis-
capitalism, that Marx has relatively little to say agreed. As opposed to Marx, Weber in Economy and
about corporations and other key capitalist insti- Society (1921–2 [trans. 1978]) suggested that there
tutions, such as the market, the stock exchange, are three major types of capitalism: political capi-
and so on. For Marx, capitalism was grounded in talism, rational capitalism, and traditional-commercial
production, and since production typically takes capitalism. Political capitalism can be found where
place inside the modern factory, this is also where profit-making is directly dependent on politics,
it primarily should be studied. say where merchants operate under the direct
Weber was deeply influenced by Marx and his protection of an imperialist power or where busi-
analysis of capitalism. Like Marx, Weber, for ness contracts can only be secured through the
example, saw capitalism as the defining feature mediation of state officials. Political capitalism,
of contemporary society and also as an ominous according to Weber, existed in Antiquity, in the
force for humanity. While Weber was well aware West, and elsewhere, and can also be found in
of capitalism’s capacity to advance the material modern society. Rational capitalism, in contrast,
aspects of civilization, he also – like Marx – felt is a uniquely western product, and first came into
that there was something deeply non-ethical full being from the time of the Reformation and
and inhuman about the system. The reader may onwards. It is characterized by a strongly method-
recall Weber’s famous metaphor of “the iron cage” ical approach to all economic matters and by the

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 capitalism capitalism

use of institutions such as the modern firm, somehow taken place in the mentality of western
rational technology, and capital accounting. capitalists at the time of the Reformation, and he
Traditional-commercial capitalism can be found disapproved of most of the economics that Marx
in all societies, far back in history as well as had used in his argument. Schumpeter in his
today, and it consists of small trade in goods and Essays (1961) saw capitalism as gradually evolving
currencies. from Antiquity or “early capitalism” to contem-
Third, while Marx conceptualized the role porary times or “the modern phase,” that is,
of law, politics, and culture in capitalism as all “1898 and today,” traversing in the process “mer-
being influenced by economic forces in a de- cantile capitalism,” from the sixteenth century till
cisive manner, Weber had a different approach. the end of the eighteenth century, and “intact
In principle, the causality can go both ways. He capitalism,” during the nineteenth century. He
also argued that, as society develops, so do its emphasized continuity, and he saw no reason to
various spheres – such as the economic sphere, refer to primitive accumulation or Luther’s ideas
the political sphere, the religious sphere, and so about Beruf (vocation).
on. Each of these spheres has its own internal Schumpeter nonetheless deeply admired Marx’s
dynamic and autonomy vis-à-vis society as a whole idea that the economy is not something that only
(Eigengesetzlichkeit). How clashes between spheres responds to influences from the outside, as in con-
will be solved is an empirical question and cannot ventional equilibrium analysis. He also tried to
be predicted in advance. Basically, however, polit- construct his own theory of capitalism on this
ics and law need to be predictable and reliable insight by Marx, although he picked a different
for rational capitalism to thrive. central actor: the entrepreneur rather than the
Fourth, Weber and Marx differed on the his- capitalist. The entrepreneur, Schumpeter argues,
torical origin of western capitalism. Both saw capi- can be defined as an economic actor who, by
talism as the result of a long evolutionary history piecing together a new combination of already
and not as the result of one critical event or factor existing factors, creates innovations and economic
(for Marx on this point, see Capital; for Weber, change. Stimulated by the huge profit that an
General Economic History). Still, while Marx singled entrepreneur makes, a number of imitators will
out the enclosures in England as extra important appear, till there is no more room for making a
in this development, Weber did the same with the profit, and the economy starts to slide downwards.
creation of “the spirit of capitalism” during the The business cycles that always accompany capital-
Reformation and onwards. Whether Weber was ism are, according to Schumpeter, basically caused
correct or not in his thesis that certain Protestant by the entrepreneur and the wave of imitators that
ideas (especially the notion of work as a vocation), follows in his or her footsteps.
helped to jumpstart modern capitalism is still a Something must also be said about Capitalism,
much-debated question as Gordon Marshall dem- Socialism and Democracy (1942) when it comes to
onstrates in his In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism Schumpeter’s analysis of capitalism. He here
(1982). comments on a period of the history of capitalism
The last point on which Marx’s and Weber’s when Marx and Weber were not alive, namely the
analyses of capitalism differ importantly from interwar period. Like Weber, however, Schump-
one another has to do with the concept of mean- eter singles out the giant corporations with their
ing (Sinn). While Marx was very interested in huge bureaucracies as the key actors – and also as
understanding the relationship between capital- being deeply problematic. Indeed, Schumpeter
ism and culture, he nonetheless never addressed was so fearful of these giant corporations that he
the issue of the meaning that the actor attaches to saw them as a major reason why capitalism was
his or her actions. By explicitly including this bound to go under and be replaced by socialism.
aspect, Weber can be said to have opened up the Like Marx, Schumpeter was convinced that capit-
analysis of capitalism in many directions that alism one day would disappear, but in contrast to
remained closed to Marx. Marx he thought that this would be caused by
Schumpeter was deeply influenced by the works its success and not by its failure. Many factors
of Marx and Weber, including their analyses of were involved in this process, including the qual-
capitalism. While he admired both authors, he ity of the capitalists. With the success of capital-
also regarded Capital, as well as The Protestant Ethic ism, he argued, capitalists would eventually turn
and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905 [trans. 2002]), as complacent and lose their desire to counter the
having serious flaws. He was not impressed by attacks of socialists and intellectuals – and
Weber’s argument that a qualitative change had this failure to respond would slowly undo “the

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 capitalism capitalism

capitalist civilization,” including its otherwise Other academics besides liberal economists
well-functioning economic system. have produced important scholarship on capita-
Socialists more or less monopolized the use of lism during the post-World War II period. Leaving
the term capitalism from around 1900 – when aside Andrew Shonfield’s pioneering Modern Capi-
Werner Sombart (1863–1941) popularized it in talism (1965) in order to continue with the theme
Der moderne Kapitalismus (1903) – till something of the neo-liberal vision, a mention should be
like the 1970s. From this point on, however, it made of the idea of disorganized capitalism which
has been as much embraced by economists, lib- emerged in the 1980s. It is here argued that the
erals, and the right wing as by social democrats attempt to organize capitalism at the top (via
and the left wing. The theory of capitalism that cartels, monopolies, and the like) and at the
can be found among economists today is also no bottom (via trade unions, cooperatives, and so
longer restricted to theories of how prices are set on) is about to come to an end – for example in
through the interplay of demand and supply; it Scott Lash and John Urry, The End of Organized
also includes reflections on the institutions that Capitalism (1987). The result of this process will
give structure to capitalism, including the state. be strife and disorganization, and will work out
To discuss the various models of capitalism that differently depending on the country in question.
can be found among twentieth-century econo- During the 1990s a novel approach to the study
mists would demand a longer essay than this, of capitalism emerged, which also is opposed to
and the reader is referred to the works of people neoliberalism. This is the school of varieties of
from J. M. Keynes to Milton Friedman (1912– ), and capitalism, which is close in spirit to the French
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006). A few words regulation school (see regulation theory) and
must nonetheless be said about the economists’ the so-called economics of conventions. All of
creation of what may be termed the neo-liberal these approaches work in the tradition of political
theory of capitalism, since it is this way of looking economy and draw on a mixture of heterodox
at capitalism that has come to dominate the economics and political science. Their focus is on
current discourse on this subject. capitalism in individual countries, and compari-
The neo-liberal theory of capitalism has deep sons are often made between various countries,
roots in the nineteenth century and was given an as well as between groups of countries. A central
early and theoretically sophisticated expression task that the varieties-of-capitalism approach
in the works of Austrian economists Ludwig von has set for itself is to show that non-liberal and
Mises (1881–1973) and Friedrich von Hayek (1899– heavily regulated economies work just as well as
1992). These two thinkers insisted on the decen- neoliberal and de-regulated economies. Sweden
tralized, spontaneous nature of capitalism and and Germany, for example, have capitalist econ-
that the state must stay out of the economy – for omies that are as efficient as, say, the United King-
example, Friedrich von Hayek, Individualism and dom and the United States (see, for example, Colin
Economic Order (1948), and Ludwig von Mises, The Crouch and Wolfgang Streeck, Political Economy of
Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (1956). Prices carry Modern Capitalism, (1997) or Peter Hall and David
enough information for the entrepreneur to Soskice, Varieties of Capitalism, (2001). In analyzing
know what to do; and while legal and political the way that capitalism is organized in different
institutions are necessary for the market to work countries, much emphasis in this type of litera-
properly, they must under no circumstances be ture is also laid on the mode of governance. And in
allowed to interfere with its workings or to coun- doing so, many more actors are usually taken
ter its results through welfare measures. The into account than in conventional economics, in-
market will produce liberty and wealth if it is cluding chambers of commerce and other busi-
left alone; and this is what matters. ness associations. Much attention is finally also
Since the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher and paid to different types of regulations, from legal
Ronald Reagan came to power, this vision of systems to the many rules that are produced in
neoliberal capitalism has become the official eco- modern society.
nomic ideology of the West, and it is still as strong, An attempt has also recently been made to draw
if not stronger. As applied to the situation of the on the tradition of economic sociology in analyz-
economy in developing countries, neoliberalism is ing capitalism (for example Victor Nee and Rich-
known as “the Washington consensus” and has ard Swedberg, The Economic Sociology of Capitalism,
come to expression in official statements by the 2005). This approach is heavily indebted to Weber
International Monetary Fund, the US president, and Schumpeter and primarily attempts to out-
and so on. line the social structure of the various economic

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 capitalist mode of production career

institutions that are at the core of capitalism, other later writers – have defined this attitude as
from firms and markets to entrepreneurship that of an ethic of care which prioritizes the needs
more generally. Proponents of this approach are of others, rather than abstract and ideal moral
closer to New Institutional Economics than to the systems, in making moral and ethical choices.
tradition of political economy. They also center The recognition of the giving of care has also
their analyses around the notion of interest, and created the social recognition of “carers,” those
view institutions as embodying interests or as millions of people (largely female) whose lives
channeling interests rather than as a set of rules – are ruled by the dependence of others. For aging
for example, in Richard Swedberg, The Concept of societies, the issue of care and carers has become
Interest (2005). central to welfare policies, since for many people
It may finally be noted that, according to Marx, the traditional expectations surrounding care
capitalism is always revolutionizing itself in its have become unacceptable, not least in the as-
attempts to seek new profits. This means that the sumption that caring for others will always be
analysts of capitalism are looking at a target that willingly, and voluntarily, accepted. M A R Y E V A N S
is moving very rapidly, something that tends to
cast them in the unhappy role of the famous owl career
of Minerva, always arriving too late. Nonetheless, In commonsense usage, this is the progression of
since capitalism is at the center of modern society, an individual through an occupation via a series
and since it constitutes “the most fateful force in of predefined institutional gateways which secure
our modern life” (Weber), it is absolutely crucial standing in the community, increasing levels of
that it also remains at the center of social science. seniority within the occupation, and increasing
RICHARD SWEDBERG levels of pay. The hierarchal structure of a univer-
sity career provides a good example: from tutor, to
capitalist mode of production lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor, and,
– see Karl Marx. finally, professor. Max Weber argued in The Protest-
ant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905 [trans.
carceral society 2002]) that the development of the career as a
– see Michel Foucault. calling or vocation was a secular solution to the
problem of salvation in Protestantism, providing a
care secular form of salvation through service to the
The social implications of care have been high- community. Sociologists, particularly those in the
lighted by sociologists whose work has empha- symbolic interactionist tradition, have focused on
sized the often unseen work that is performed the temporal sequencing of a career and particu-
(largely in the household). The study of care has larly the problems that arise for organizations
been responsible for the “denaturalization” of when individuals become blocked in their career
those responsibilities (looking after children, the aspirations. More broadly then, the concept of
ill, the infirm, and the elderly) which were once, if career can be applied to any ongoing sequences
not assumed to fall to, then at least assigned to, of changes of social status over time. Thus, the
women. A generation of sociologists (including sequencing of the events that go to make a family
Hilary Graham, Miriam David, Clare Ungerson, can be conceptualized as a career. While careers
and Hilary Land) asked questions about who cared are usually taken to be positive life experiences, as
for those not able to function as independent and in a career in the professions, they can also be
autonomous adults and found that the answer negatively evaluated. Erving Goffman drew atten-
was largely, although not exclusively, women. As tion to the negatively evaluated “moral career” of
a result of these studies, “caring work” has been the mentally ill patient, who through a series of
recognized in much of Europe as work that merits degradation ceremonies – the loss of an autono-
economic payment. mous adult identity, the replacement of street
There is another sense, however, in which the clothing with institutional garments, and bound-
extension of the understanding of the term work aries around their ability to interact with others –
has enlarged our perception of care. It lies in experienced a stigmatizing career. In criminology,
the development of what has become known there is also the notion of a “criminal career” in
as the “ethic of care.” In 1982, Carol Gilligan which an offender passes through a series of
(1936– ) argued, in A Different Voice, that women stages towards full-time criminal activities.
approached moral choices in terms of the implica- Contemporary sociologists have focused on the
tions of their actions for others. Gilligan – and changing nature of work in postindustrial society,

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 case study Castells, Manuel (1942– )

which makes the possibility of a life-long career Castells, Manuel (1942– )

increasingly unlikely as work becomes more frag- A Spanish-born sociologist, Castells has roots in
mented and discontinuous, because companies urban sociology and the sociology of social move-
downsize and outsource functions previously ments, which are examined in his The Urban
undertaken by long-term employees: such as, for Question (1977), City, Class and Power (1978), and
example, IBM outsourcing its computing func- The City and the Grassroots (1983). Between 1967
tions to India. Under the impact of neoliberalism and 1979 he taught at the University of Paris,
in the state sector, the idea of a career in the first on the Nanterre campus and, after 1970, at
public or civil service is also on the wane as the École des Études en Sciences Sociales. In 1979
the state out-sources many of its functions to he was appointed Professor of Sociology and Pro-
the private market. Richard Sennett has, in The fessor of City and Regional Planning at the Uni-
Corrosion of Character (1998) and Respect (2003), versity of California, Berkeley. In 2001 he became
claimed that, with the decline of career in the a research professor at the Universitat Oberta de
modern economy, there is a corresponding trans- Catalunya, Barcelona. In 2003 he joined the Uni-
formation of personality, namely an erosion of versity of Southern California, Anneberg School
character. KEVIN WHITE of Communication as Professor of Communica-
tion and Technology. Castells’s work climaxed
case study with a number of cross-cultural studies on the
The term case study refers both to methodological information age and global (see globalization)
strategy and subject of study. Social scientists use network society that Anthony Giddens compared
the case-study approach as a methodological strat- in significance to Max Weber’s Economy and Soci-
egy when they wish to provide rich descriptions ety. These were The Rise of Network Society (1996),
and analyses of a single case, or a small number of The Power of Identity (1997), and The End of the
cases. This approach allows researchers to develop Millennium (2000). A more telling comparison
a detailed view of processes, interactions, and might have been with Karl Marx’s Capital (1867).
meaning systems in a way they would find diffi- For Castells operates in the neo-Marxist tradition
cult if they were examining dozens or hundreds to explore the theme of the perpetual revolutions
of cases. A case-study research project is limited under capitalism, technology, production, power,
in its capacity to support universalizing socio- and experience. He ultimately links the purpose
logical generalizations but its advantage is that of sociology to the goal of human liberation.
it can reveal more meaningful data about a Employing powerful comparative and historical
case. Case-study data can yield specific insights methods of analysis (see comparative method), he
that form the bases for hypothesis testing (see demonstrates how a new type of production has
hypothetico-deductive method) in studies that emerged in the West (based around information),
use large datasets. Many researchers in this trad- with a new type of society (network society) and a
ition use the comparative method, wherein close new form of identity politics (critical pluralist/
examination of two or three targeted cases allows virtual).
them to isolate the causes and consequences of Castells demonstrates how “replaceable gen-
particular case features and dynamics. Qualitative eric labor” has been repositioned through the
field researchers, and historical, comparative, and casualization of employment, with considerable
quantitative methodologists all use the case study discontinuity in careers and personal crises, ill-
approach. nesses, drug/alcohol addiction, loss of assets, and
A case-study project might take as its subject negation of distinction. He posits three fateful
work organizations, social movements, commu- cleavages in network society: (1) skills-based div-
nities, political regimes, schools, and myriad isions between information and communication
other case types. The particular population from workers and deskilled labor; (2) obsolescent citizens,
which a researcher draws his or her case follows divided between laborers who are defined as
from the theoretical and substantive goal. For surplus to the requirements of the system and
example, if a sociologist wishes to know whether what might be called the “stakeholders” in civil
and why social inequality persists in organizations society; and (3) intensified alienated labor, divid-
that are committed to democratic, progressive ed from stakeholders. His work constitutes a
social change, she or he might study worker- magisterial account of the many-sided restructur-
owned cooperatives or feminist, peace, and other ing of capitalism in the twenty-first century.
social movement organizations. VICKI SMITH CHRIS ROJEK

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 causal explanation causality

causal explanation subject – unlike the inert nature studied in the

– see explanation. natural sciences – the social sciences had to de-
velop their own unique methods of study in which
causal inference the goal was interpretation and understanding
– see explanation. rather than explanation and prediction. Further-
more, the social sciences are idiographic, because
causal modeling they could only ever provide knowledge of the
– see modeling. specific situation. To achieve this, the social sci-
ence researcher had to be able to understand
causality empathically the subjective meanings attributed
In sociology, disputes over the notion of “causal- by social agents to their actions. This method was
ity” reflect deep divisions in the discipline. With called Verstehen, or interpretive sociology. How-
the success of eighteenth-century Newtonian ever, it was also a form of intuitionism, and
science – and the postulation that there are laws according to Max Weber we could never be secure
of nature which can be discovered through empir- in our knowledge of whether we had got our sub-
ical research – came the ideal of a science of ject’s position “right.” He proposed to resolve
society with its own laws. This was the inspiration the antimony between the objective search for
for Auguste Comte to propose a wholly secular the laws of society and the subjectively driven
explanation of social life, through what he called origins of social action in the individual actor.
the positive method (hence positivism) that re- As Weber put it in Economy and Society (1922
stricted explanation to observable facts. Combined [trans. 1968]), “sociology is a science concerning
with the development of evolutionism – of the itself with the interpretive understanding of
idea of the development of complex social forms social action and thereby with a causal explan-
from preceding primitive ones, and the idea of ation of its course and consequences.” He (in
social structure (developing out of the analysis Roscher and Knies: The Logical Problems of Historical
of the state in the work of Thomas Hobbes Economics, 1903–6 [trans. 1975]) defines causality
[1588–1679], John Locke [1632–1704], and Jean- in the same way as David Hume (1711–76): “the
Jacques Rousseau [1712–78]) – the scene was set idea of an effect, the idea of a dynamic bond . . .
for postulating the lawful progression of societal between phenomena qualitatively different from
types based on empirically observable facts. Émile each other . . . [and] the idea of subordination to
Durkheim defined the subject of sociology as the rules.” Like Hume he rejects empirical correlation
study of social facts. These are objective, existing as evidence of causal relationships. A causal claim
independently of any individual’s consciousness is that an event x, coming first, will cause an out-
of them, are external to the individual, and coerce come y on every occasion. According to Hume, in
the individual to behave in specific ways. As his famous critique of causality, a causal link
Durkheim puts it, social facts such as the family, cannot be demonstrated between x and y. Rather,
the legal system, or marriage, for example, “will the most that can be said is that x and y are a
be felt to be real, living active forces, which be- succession of occurrences which, because they
cause of the way they determine the individual, always follow each other, we come to expect to
prove their independence of him” (Suicide, 1897 be together. However, in Hume’s argument, we
[trans. 1951]). Thus in Durkheim’s approach cannot prove that they cause each other. Unlike
society is a causal factor in determining how indi- Hume, Weber argues that a form of causal explan-
viduals act. Durkheim’s approach, which claims ation is achievable in the social sciences, that is, to
that the social sciences are pursuing general establish the elective affinity between events. This
knowledge of society, is, nomothetic, in seeking causal explanation is to be produced not by em-
to produce causal-explanatory knowledge. How- pathy (as in Dilthey) but through understanding
ever, the position that there are causal relation- why it is that an actor gives meaning to what they
ships in social life was hotly disputed in do in the context of a culturally specific situation.
the Methodenstreit – the debate over whether Thus, in his account of the Protestant Ethic and the
the methods of the natural sciences were useful Spirit of Capitalism (1905 [trans. 2002]), Weber does
in the social sciences – in German history at not seek to “enter” the mind of his subjects, but,
the end of the nineteenth century. Wilhelm through constructing an ideal type of how some-
Dilthey (1833–1911) and Wilhelm Windelband one faced with the metaphysical impact of Prot-
(1848–1915) both argued that because the subject estantism would make sense of their situation and
matter of the social sciences was the conscious act, provides a causal account of their attempts to

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 cause charisma

establish for themselves that they were saved (to commonly available census outputs in that they
save wealth as a sign of salvation) and an explan- have not been aggregated into pre-determined
ation of the empirical correlation with the tables. In fact, SARs more closely resemble survey
development of capitalism (the accumulation of data, in that they contain a separate record for
capital) in Protestant countries. each individual. The very large sample sizes of
Later debates in the social sciences about causa- SARs distinguish them from most surveys, as
lity have been rendered under the rubric of the SARs allow for the analysis of data by sub-groups
agency and structure debate, that is the relation- and by regional areas.
ship between intentional action and social struc- As microdata sets, SARs permit multivariate
tures. In the works of Roy Bhaskar, A Realist Theory statistical analysis at the individual level. SARs
of Science (1975), Rom Harré and E. Madden, Causal may be used in the investigation of a broad
Powers (1975), and Anthony Giddens, The Constitu- range of social issues including the composition
tion of Society (1984), the task is to examine how of households, ethnicity, health, education, and
enduring social structures, which predate the in- employment. MARK RAPLEY AND SUSAN HANSEN
dividual, and in which s/he has no choice but to
participate, can at the same time be transformed
in social practices. charisma
While these debates have had echoes in For Max Weber charisma is first a matter of
American sociology, particularly in the Euro- authority and its legitimacy. A charismatic leader
pean-originated works of Alfred Schutz and his is not, as he explains in Economy and Society (1921
development of phenomenological sociology, in [trans. 1968]), merely forceful and strong but one
general it has been dominated by a simple inte- whose authority is based on supporters’ “devo-
gration of Durkheimian ontology (social facts tion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or ex-
exist and have the force to make individuals emplary character of an individual person, and
act in specific ways) with a naive positivistic on the normative patterns or order revealed or
empiricism (that these social facts are demon- ordained by him.” This Weber contrasts with ra-
strated by probabilistic statistics and evidenced tional and also traditional grounds of authority,
in correlations). KEVIN WHITE in which obedience is respectively owed to the
impersonal order and to the person occupying a
traditionally sanctioned position. Charismatic
cause authority, then, unlike rational and traditional
– see causality.
authority, is particularly vulnerable to attack: a
challenge to the incumbent of charismatic au-
census thority necessarily brings the legitimacy of the
The process of collecting demographic, social, and authority of the social order into doubt. This
economic data from all members of a population, situation does not arise with either rational or
censuses are distinct from surveys, which are traditional authority.
focused on data from a subset, or sample, of a An additional element of charismatic authority
population. Censuses have a long history, and contributes further to its instability. What is de-
were first used in ancient Rome. In their modern cisive for the validity of charisma, according to
form, censuses are used to justify the allocation of Weber, is recognition from those subject to it
resources by the state. Thus, the ways in which that the charismatic individual possesses excep-
censuses categorize and count ethnic and other tional powers or qualities. Such extraordinary
minority groups, including transient and indigent powers can be revealed to followers or disciples
populations, has become a matter of some con- only by their demonstrable exercise. Thus, in the
cern and debate – as these may have a direct necessarily emotional relationship between au-
bearing on the resources available to members of thority incumbent and followers, it is necessary
these groups. This controversy has been the cata- that the leader constantly prove that his divine,
lyst for the introduction of sampling methods in magical, or heroic powers have not deserted him.
order to achieve a more accurate census of the The charismatic leader is thus compelled con-
true numbers of such systematically under- stantly to reaffirm the legitimacy of his authority
counted groups. in order that he may continue to hold it. One
Samples of anonymized records (SARs) are consequence of this noted by Weber is the incom-
samples of de-identified individual-level data patibility of charismatic authority and continuous
extracted from censuses. SARs are distinct from economic activity devoted to regular income and

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 Chicago School of Sociology Chicago School of Sociology

economizing. Plunder and extortion, Weber says, The Chicago School focused on a wide variety of
are typical means of provision under charismatic social processes, such as social organization and
rule. disorganization, urban sociology, social change,
Because it is based on the personal qualities of immigration, deviance, race relations, and social
the individual incumbent, charismatic authority movements. It often analyzed these processes in
is contrary to routine and offers no solutions to the context of the city of Chicago, developing a
the problem of succession or the movement from lasting influence in urban sociology through such
one leader to another. Within charismatic com- concepts as ecology and succession. Its researchers
munities that persist there is therefore a tendency helped establish the importance of empirical in-
towards routinization of charisma. Weber treats vestigation into social issues through analyzing
routinization in terms of the development of both documents and conducting interviews, as well as
succession mechanisms and means to appropriate engaging in first-hand observation of various
or select charismatic staff. Mechanisms of succes- groups. Two of its most important studies include
sion include: (1) search for a new leader possessing The City (1925), a selection of essays by Park, Bur-
certain qualities; (2) revelation by oracle or gess, and R. D. McKenzie, and The Polish Peasant in
priestly technique; (3) designation by prior charis- Europe and America (1918–20), a five-volume work
matic leader or by his administrative staff; (4) by Thomas and Florian Znaniecki. Other works
hereditary; and (5) ritual transmission of charisma include Nel Anderson’s The Hobo (1923), Wirth’s
from one person to another. The transformation The Ghetto (1928), Harvey Zorbaugh’s The Gold Coast
of the charismatic mission into an office, by rou- and the Slum (1929), E. Franklin Frazier’s The Negro
tinizing charismatic staff, is also achieved Family in Chicago (1931), and Paul Cressy’s The Taxi-
through a number of possibilities associated with Dance Hall (1932). Park and Burgess also wrote an
different bases of selection and remuneration. introductory text, Introduction to the Science of Soci-
Elements of charismatic authority may be ology (1921), which helped popularize the School’s
found with other forms of rule. Weber mentions approach.
plebiscitary presidential regimes and cabinet gov- The Chicago School linked thought and action,
ernment as two instances in which charisma and positing that ideas and attitudes are tied to the
legal rational authority may coexist. social and historical conditions in which they
Edward Shils in The Constitution of Society (1982) arise and are situated. The School’s focus on social
developed a non-Weberian account of charisma. issues such as crime and deviance was tied to the
Charismatic properties of central institutions sat- reformist impulse of many of its researchers, who
isfy a need for order, and roles that are associated were concerned with solving social problems in
with such institutions enjoy derivative charisma, the pre-World War I Progressive era in the United
leading to relations of deference, even in egalita- States. Its reformist orientation was strengthened
rian societies. JACK BARBALET by the ties to journalism of one of its members,
Robert Park. Yet the Chicago School advocated an
Chicago School of Sociology objective and scientific study of society, and its
The Chicago School of Sociology was a body of members attempted to implement a disinterested
social research associated with a group of profes- sociology.
sors and their students affiliated with the Soci- The Chicago School supported the use of the
ology Department of the University of Chicago. ethnographic methods of anthropologists, argu-
The School emerged around 1915, and lasted until ing that the same methods could be employed to
about 1935. Its most prominent members in- investigate social processes within the United
cluded Robert Park and W. I. Thomas, alongside States as were used to study non-western cul-
such figures as Ernest Burgess and Ellsworth tures. But the School was much more diverse
Faris. In the later period of the School, the sociolo- than this characterization. Its researchers did
gists Herbert Blumer and Louis Wirth continued assume that individuals could not be studied in
its research tradition. The School was the first isolation from one another and were influenced
group of sociologists to practice a systematic re- by the groups that encompassed them, and that
search agenda in the United States. It influenced social change developed through the interaction
the development of the symbolic interactionist of individuals and groups with one another. Yet
tradition, and the emphasis on social psychology, many of the School’s scholars, such as William
qualitative research, participant observation, Ogburn, embraced versions of quantitative analy-
and ethnography associated with this theoretical sis, such as survey research. Researchers did not
orientation. engage in mindless empiricism, however. They

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 Chicago School of Sociology Chicago School of Sociology

always approached their data with a theoretical characterized by heterogeneous, diverse occupa-
interest in mind. tions, employing a large percentage of young and
The Chicago School emphasized that the social middle-aged individuals, and occupied by a high
and historical context in which one lived dramati- percentage of foreign-born immigrants. Burgess
cally influenced social processes. But individuals focused on processes of growth and expansion in
were not passive products of their environment. the cities, viewing them as natural adaptations to
Social structure and individual agency could not new types of social organization. He analyzed
be separated from one another. People could urban expansion through his theory of concentric
change the social structures in which they lived, zones. An inner industrial zone was surrounded
but these economic, social, and cultural conditions by zones consisting of the ghetto, working-men’s
influenced their attitudes and actions. Indeed, the homes, and at the outmost region more suburban
actions of individuals often had unintended conse- residential areas. Each inner zone expands as it
quences. Social structure and geographic location invades an outer zone, a process Burgess labeled
accounted for much of social behavior. Researchers succession. This expansion involves simultaneous
often wrote of natural, relatively predictable processes of decentralization and concentration
processes of history and geography, shaped by the of people and industries. Burgess also utilized
similar social location and traditions that groups the notion of urban ecology to study the social
shared, and the arrangement of commercial life of cities. Drawn from biology, the concept of
establishments and residential housing in a par- ecology emphasizes the interdependence of urban
ticular area. Such concerns led to the study of life, and how an individual relates to his or
social organization and disorganization, the her environment. Processes of competition and
latter considered to be the main cause of social accommodation influence the development of
problems. the urban milieu, as a community expands or de-
Much of their work focused on Chicago. In Park, clines as economic development waxes or wanes.
Burgess, and McKenzie’s The City, Park encouraged The differentiation and segmentation of urban
his students to engage the denizens of the city, populations accompany such social changes.
“become acquainted with people,” to “nose Park and Burgess contended that the American
around” those groups that they were interested city could not be understood apart from immigra-
in studying. For Park, one could only be impartial tion. The major work on immigration produced by
by understanding the point of view, the subjective this School, and the study that contributed most
experience, of other people. Thus, the social life of prominently to its research reputation, was
the city could be understood through intense Thomas and Znaniecki’s The Polish Peasant in Europe
fieldwork in particular neighborhoods. The study and America. The Polish Peasant examined Polish im-
of urban life should investigate a city’s culture, migrant adaptation to the United States, focusing
occupational structure, and physical organiza- on their experiences in Chicago. Thomas and
tion. The social profile of the city was conditioned Znaniecki’s study encompassed much more than
by structural factors such as its economic and an examination of Polish immigrants. They
geographical conditions, including its location explored immigration within the context of
on transportation and trade routes. The socio- modernization, utilizing systematic qualitative
logical imagination must combine these two di- methods (see qualitative research). Their research
mensions, the structural and the subjective, into a emphasized the social psychological needs of the
coherent study. peasant immigrant, how his attitudes and values
For Park, integrated city neighborhoods pro- interacted with those of the larger society, and the
gressively broke down as secondary, impersonal ways in which the ethnic community helped
relationships increasingly based on the market shape the immigrant experience. They placed im-
and law (see law and society) replaced the pri- migrant experiences with social change at the
mary relationships of family and ethnicity. Cities center of their analysis.
created more contacts for individuals, and offered Thomas and Znaniecki focused on the forma-
them an array of different lifestyles, but these tion of the Polish ethnic community rather than
contacts tended to be transitory. The city also on individual assimilation. They viewed the Polish
allowed deviant individuals, from the genius to community as tightly integrated and insular, its
the criminal, to flourish in its heterogeneous economic and social life characterized more by
environment. shared, reciprocal values than the profit motive.
Burgess took a somewhat different approach to The ethnic community was a novel American cre-
the study of urban life. He too saw cities as ation, and it was a positive development which

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 Chicago School of Sociology Chicago School of Sociology

encouraged adaptation to American society. Contemporary pluralist studies which celebrate

The ethnic community emerged in a particular ethnic communities have returned to Thomas
geographical environment, its development influ- and Znaniecki’s emphasis on immigrant agency,
enced by processes of segregation and integration but with a greater awareness of the power of,
within the city. The immigrant community in- and constraints on, immigrant communities. The
herited from Europe could not survive intact in most recent and influential book on US immigra-
its new American context, however. Over time, the tion, Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation
ethnic community began slowly to disintegrate, and Contemporary Immigration (2003), by Richard
and its resulting social disorganization dimin- Alba and Victor Nee, returns to The Polish Peasant’s
ished the influence of shared social rules on indi- emphasis on the active immigrant who seeks a
viduals. More contacts with the world outside of better life in the United States. Alba and Nee see
the community and increases in individual deci- assimilation resulting from the interaction of dif-
sionmaking and freedom overshadowed the ferent ethnic groups, which transforms and blurs
importance of family and traditional ethnic ties any simple notion of a mainstream culture. They
in shaping individual identity. also argue that geographic context is central to
There were clear limitations on the Polish peas- processes of immigration and assimilation, which
ant studies as an exemplar for the study of immi- are also constrained by the power of existing
grant communities. The authors concentrated on institutions.
the urban experience of immigrants, and did not By the 1930s, the influence of the Chicago
examine how immigrants fared outside of cities. School was in decline, replaced by the new fascin-
They also downplayed the roles of religion and ation with statistical methods associated with
discrimination in the formation of the ethnic Paul Lazarsfeld of Columbia University, who en-
community. Workplace issues and questions of gaged in opinion polling and market research. His
political power also did not occupy a central place concern with predicting consumer and voting be-
in the study. havior left little room for theory and the vagaries
The Polish Peasant helped popularize the assimi- of history and social interaction. Yet after World
lation thesis that, over time, immigrant ethnic War II a “second Chicago School” emerged, as
groups became incorporated into the Anglo researchers such as Howard Becker and Erving
mainstream. Yet the study demonstrated the prob- Goffman continued the qualitative and theoret-
lems associated with assimilation, including the ical orientation of the School, examining issues
difficulties that an ethnic community faces in from deviance to the rituals of everyday life from
adapting to American mores, the complex process complex ethnographic angles.
of the loss of immigrant ethnic solidarity and its The Chicago School remains an important influ-
reconstitution in the American context, and the ence on sociology. Contemporary sociologists
continued importance of the family and other and studies influenced by this tradition include
primary groups as ethnic groups assimilated Herbert Gans, The Urban Villagers (1962), Gary Alan
into the American mainstream. In criticizing any Fine, Gifted Tongues: High School Debate and Adolescent
simple assimilationist model, The Polish Peasant Culture (2001), and Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant
posited that distinctive ethnic communities Work (1996), and more theoretical works by
contribute to the pluralism of the United States. authors such as Andrew Abbott, in his Time
The Polish Peasant was influential in the subse- Matters: On Theory and Method (2001), among many
quent history of the sociology of immigration. others. Though its researchers are known pri-
Early American research on immigration had an marily as ethnographically inclined, its propon-
assimilationist bias, interpreting The Polish Peasant ents advocated a variety of research methods,
as an argument for assimilation to an Anglo com- depending on the particular problem under study.
munity. This was a misinterpretation, as Thomas The School also offers a distinctive interactionist
and Znaniecki’s study emphasized the reshaping theoretical alternative to the quantitative re-
of the mainstream as new ethnic communities search position that views people as isolated indi-
became part of American society. Moreover, viduals whose ideas and attitudes can be captured
Thomas and Znaniecki studied the perceptions of through statistical instruments such as surveys.
the United States developed by the immigrant, For the Chicago School, social interaction shapes
stressing an active view of the immigrant experi- group and individual identity. Researchers must
ence. They also emphasized that both material immerse themselves in the group that they are
and cultural factors were important in the forma- studying in order to grasp how perceptions of
tion and maintenance of ethnic communities. self and society arise within these complex

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 Chicano studies Chicano studies

social relations, and in turn are impacted by social From the very beginning, Chicana activists
structure. KENNETH H. TUCKER and scholars ensured that the experience of
women of Mexican descent was central to both
Chicano studies the scholarship and activism in Chicano studies.
These studies had their origins in the student The male-centered, masculinist, and “heteronor-
activism, identity politics, and intellectual mative” underpinnings of early works in the field
foment of the civil rights movement of the were rapidly accompanied by a more complex
1960s. Like the other nationalist movements rendering of those experiences and the multi-
of the era, it emerged as a field of scholarly in- plicity of social identities within the Chicano
quiry that placed special emphasis on linking population. Cherrie Moraga’s Loving in the War
academic research with the politics of social Years (1983) and Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands /
justice. It made explicit that link between La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) were emblem-
activism and scholarship through terms like atic of this de-centering of the Chicano male
action research and consciously sought to im- subject and the move towards a more complex
prove the educational, social, and political status and nuanced construction of the Chicana sub-
of the Mexican-origin population in the United ject. While revisionist histories continued in
States. importance, works such as these were more in-
The founding moment of Chicano studies oc- terdisciplinary and literary in approach and drew
curred in spring 1969 when a group of Chicano/ upon feminism, postmodernism, poststructural-
Chicana activists and educators met at the Univer- ism, and cultural studies in reframing the Chi-
sity of California, Santa Barbara, to draft El Plan de cana subject and other marginalized identities.
Santa Barbara. This foundation document called They challenged not only the masculinist produc-
for the creation of Chicano studies departments tion of knowledge in the field, but also the para-
devoted to a curriculum and scholarship that digms, methodologies, and pedagogy inherited
addressed the unique historical experiences and from traditional academic disciplines and area
contemporary condition of people of Mexican des- studies.
cent. It recognized the central role of knowledge More recently, issues pertaining to the social
in the reproduction of social inequality within our construction of gender, sexuality, gay/lesbian sub-
communities but also in producing meaningful jectivities through literature and popular culture,
strategies of social change and community as well as globalization, transnationalization, and
empowerment. migration processes, have reached center stage in
The initial focus of the emerging field was on Chicano studies. The field is increasingly con-
recovering the historical experience of the Chi- structing a more complex and situated rendering
cano population in the southwestern United of the Chicano/Chicana subject and, in the pro-
States and contesting previous interpretations of cess, exploring the multiplicity of identities in
that history. Special emphasis was placed on the all their myriad and hybrid forms.
legacy of community organizing and labor activ- At the present time, there are over 35 million
ism in various industries in which the Mexican Latinos in the United States (65 percent of whom
American population had toiled under onerous are Chicano or of Mexican descent). Latinos have
working conditions. Rodolfo Acuna’s Occupied now surpassed African Americans as the largest
American: The Chicano’s Struggle Toward Liberation minority group in the United States and play an
(1972) and Mario Barerra’s Race and Class in the increasing and undeniably important role. For
Southwest: A Theory of Racial Inequality (1979) were example, one-third of California’s population is
emblematic of this early historical recovery pro- of Mexican descent and nearly one-half of the
ject. Both works drew upon various theoretical school-age children in the state are from this back-
perspectives – Marxism, political economy, in- ground. For these demographic reasons alone,
ternal colonialism, and labor market segmenta- Chicano studies will increasingly become an im-
tion – to advance a revisionist Chicano history in portant area of academic inquiry for anyone in-
the American southwest. Professional associations terested in race relations and the diversity of
such as the National Association for Chicano and modern life in the United States. As in its incep-
Chicana Studies, founded in 1972, further ad- tion, political activism and the ongoing struggle
vanced the explicit connection between scholar- for social justice will continue to play a central
ship and activism and the importance of role in the evolution of Chicano studies in the
ideological struggle in the academy. future. TOMAS ALMAGUER

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 childhood/children childhood/children

childhood/children growth so that puberty comes earlier (for example

Sociology as a discipline did not display much ten or eleven years for girls). This means that
interest in children until the end of the twentieth traditional indicators of maturity become less
century (A. James and A. Prout, Constructing and relevant and it is less sensible to rely on the body
Reconstructing Childhood, 1990). Childhood was per- to act as the visible marker of transition from
ceived as being mainly in the domain of psycho- childhood to adulthood.
logy, education, or perhaps history, and children Ariès pointed to the lack of differentiation be-
themselves rarely appeared as sociological actors tween “the adult” and “the child” under the ancien
who could influence events or who might matter régime, and the very strict differentiation between
particularly. Traditionally, the sociological in- the generations that grew up in the Victorian era
terest in children was embedded in the notion of – especially for middle-class children. For Ariès
socialization. Thus, one of the main functions childhood is a modern invention. This challenge
of the family was seen to be the socialization of to the idea of childhood as a natural state has
children into the next generation of workers, given rise to sociological debates about whether
or parents, or even criminals. The experience of contemporary cultures are now molding child-
being a child was not an issue of sociological en- hood in problematic ways. For example, some
quiry, although the question of what children recent work on childhood has started to docu-
might become when they reached adolescence or ment the end of childhood, and to argue that
adulthood was important. Thus children were modern society is truncating childhood. The end-
important in terms of their future as adults, not of-childhood thesis points to such factors as the
in terms of what they might “be” or “do” as premature sexualization of children, the growth
children. of children’s fashions and styles of dress which are
It is perhaps accurate to suggest that, while similar to adult styles, the rise of the child as a
sociology had little interest in children per se, it consumer in capitalist societies, and of course the
did have more of an interest in childhood because, impact on children of the media, which are seen
like parenthood, or the family, or the education to introduce them to adult realities such as vio-
system, childhood was conceptualized as a social lence long before it is necessary. Ranged against
institution rather than a naturally occurring phe- the end-of-childhood thesis is an alternative per-
nomenon. The work of the social historian spective which points to the way in which de-
Philippe Ariès in his Centuries of Childhood (1962) veloped welfare states now almost refuse to let
was highly significant in challenging any natural- children become adults. This is achieved through
istic assumptions about childhood by showing policies which enforce prolonged economic de-
how the institution changed at different moments pendence on parents, extend full-time education
in history, and by revealing how our ideas of what to eighteen or even twenty-one years, and apply
a child might be (including what a child could and restrictions on access to such things as paid em-
should do) have changed dramatically according ployment, birth control, abortion, or alcohol.
to time and place. Other historical studies which These policies which keep young adults in a state
have compared nineteenth-century childhood of dependency are, it is argued, exacerbated by an
with contemporary childhood, or working-class over-protectiveness in parents which means that
childhood with middle-class childhood, have man- children are escorted by an adult wherever they go
aged to show that there can be a huge variation (for example school, friends’ houses, playgrounds,
in cultural expectations of children (for example and so on). Modern children, it is argued, are kept
Eric Hopkins, Childhood Transformed, 1994). Even in a state of emotional and economic dependency
defining what a child is, or when childhood starts for longer than previous generations.
and finishes, is open to contestation. The bound- These analyses of childhood are, of course, de-
aries between the infant, the toddler, the child, rived mainly from wealthy industrialized soci-
the adolescent, the teenager, and the young adult eties. They do not reflect the material realities,
blur as cultural norms and material circum- nor social meanings, of childhood as it may be
stances change. For example, it was traditionally experienced in countries such as Thailand, China,
assumed that a child became an adult on reaching or Japan, or in African countries. Moreover, they
puberty (for girls in nineteenth-century England may not even reflect all childhoods found in
this might have been as late as sixteen or eight- western societies because of the tendency to over-
een). However, modern lifestyles and diets (in the look the different forms that childhood might
West at least) have affected physical rates of take in minority ethnic or religious communities,

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 Chodorow, Nancy (1944– ) church–sect typology

or among refugees, or among traveler families. that women’s distinctive psychology and culture
For this reason, it has become increasingly import- are undervalued.
ant to think in terms of the diversity of childhoods Chodorow’s work has influenced the work of
which may co-exist locally and globally. many feminist thinkers, from Lillian Rubin’s In-
Alongside this expansion in sociological under- timate Strangers (1983) to Carol Gilligan’s In a Diffe-
standings of childhood(s) (for example Chris rent Voice (1982). Chodorow has been criticized for
Jencks, Childhood, 1996) we have witnessed the generalizing the experience of middle-class white
growth of what is increasingly referred to as the women to all women, and neglecting cultural
“standpoint” of children (Berry Mayall, Towards a factors in psychological development. In her
Sociology for Childhood, 2002). There is an interest in most recent work, Femininities, Masculinities, Sexual-
the experience of being a child and a parallel ities (1994) and The Power of Feelings (1999), she
concern to try to appreciate social reality from addresses these criticisms, arguing that culture
the point of view of children themselves. This has intersects with psychological development in
given rise to many empirical projects which allow complex ways, and that researchers should be
children to express their own understandings of wary of universal generalizations about gender
the social world – rather than relying on teachers differences. KENNETH H. TUCKER, JR.
or parents to convey what children might think or
feel. This shift towards including the standpoint church–sect typology
of children has started to produce a conceptual This typology derives from Max Weber and was
change in the discipline, comparable to the way in also popularized by the Christian theologian,
which the introduction of the standpoint of Ernst Troeltsch, who was interested in elaborating
women transformed sociology in the 1980s. As a different types of religious experiences. Weber’s
discipline, sociology is starting to appreciate how ideal-typical distinction in Economy and Society
“adultist” it has been and, just as it has had to (1922 [trans. 1978]) between church and sect was
come to terms with other neglected aspects of part of his theoretical analysis of the rationaliza-
power relations, such as racism, sexism, ageism, tion of different forms of legitimation and author-
and heteronormativity, so it has started to analyze ity. Weber identified four characteristics of a
more systematically power that is exercised be- church: (1) a professional priesthood; (2) claims
tween the generations. CAROL SMART to universal domination, such as the elimination
of ethnic or national barriers; (3) the rationaliza-
Chodorow, Nancy (1944– ) tion of doctrine and rites; and (4) compulsory
Obtaining her BA from Radcliffe College and then, membership by birth, all of whom (whether be-
in 1975, her PhD from Brandeis University, Nancy lievers or not) are subject to the church’s charisma
Chodorow is currently Professor of Sociology at and discipline. Distinctive to a church is the sep-
the University of California, Berkeley. aration of charisma from the person and its link-
Chodorow’s The Reproduction of Mothering (1978), age instead to the institutional office (hierocracy),
was a feminist rethinking of Sigmund Freud’s ver- an office charisma (or grace) of which the church
sion of childhood development. Because of his is the universal expression and trustee.
patriarchal environment, Freud did not under- By contrast, a sect is a voluntary association or
stand how females develop a gender identity. Cho- community of personally charismatic individuals
dorow reformulates Freud’s theory of female whose charisma or qualification must be publicly
socialization. She argues that the infant’s relation- demonstrated (for example through rebaptism for
ship to the mother, rather than the father, is the Baptists). In Weber’s definition, a sect is a select
crucial bond in an infant’s life. Gender identity is group whose associational claims in essence pre-
rooted in the infant’s relationship to the mother clude universality and require the free consent of
because in most families mothers have responsi- its qualified members; it is not a group that splits
bility for child rearing. Girls have a more continu- off from another because of persecution or con-
ous relationship with their mother than do boys. demnation. Sects typically reject office charisma,
Accordingly, they develop a more complex gender adhering instead to a democratic model whereby
identity in which nurturing, caring, and sen- authority lies in the congregation, who, through
sitivity are more important than the rigid ego daily knowledge of the individuals in the commu-
boundaries and competition important to males. nity, are qualified to determine who among them
Chodorow contends that most societies value is visibly deserving of sect membership. Although
these male traits more than female values, so sect membership is voluntary, based on individual

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 Cicourel, Aaron Victor (1928– ) citizenship

choice rather than ascribed by birth, admission society, medical sociology, methodology, and
and continued participation is contingent on sociological theory. The bulk of his research has
the individual’s consistent adherence in everyday focused on the nature and function of tacit know-
life to the sect’s religious beliefs and moral ledge in social interaction, particularly in institu-
standards. tional settings. His fundamental interest has been
The sect community functions as a selection to reveal the internalized interpretive schema
apparatus for separating the qualified from the that govern how social actors assign meaning
unqualified, and for ensuring that qualified and relevance to objects in their environments
members interact with each other rather than and how they discern the relevance of social
with nonmembers. Although a negative conse- norms and social roles in specific practical situ-
quence of this boundary maintenance is that it ations. More specifically, his research explored
encourages withdrawal from, rather than engage- how tacit knowledge and tacit social competences
ment or accommodation with, the nonqualified, a underlie and inform language use, practical
positive function is the solidarity and social inference, and the application of standardized
integration that sects provide their members, procedures in different social organizational con-
especially necessary for blunting the anomie and texts. Cicourel is particularly well known for a
alienation found in highly mobile modern soci- series of groundbreaking articles and books in-
eties and among diasporic religions (such as Juda- cluding “The Use of Official Statistics” (1963,
ism). Moreover, Weber argued, the high moral and Social Problems, with John Kitsuse), Method and Meas-
ascetic standards typically associated with sects urement in Sociology (1964), and Cognitive Sociology
means that their business interests thrive, because (1974), wherein he articulates a foundational cri-
members and nonmembers alike trust their tique of sociological research methodologies that
economic security to them. Although the small fail to attend adequately to the tacit presuppos-
congregation is best suited to monitoring sect itions and social competences that underlie
members’ behavior, Weber emphasized that a their application in actual instances of empirical
sect is not a small group; as he noted, the Baptists research. DARIN WEINBERG
are one of the most typical sects and also one of
the largest Protestant denominations in the world. citizenship
The contrasting universal and compulsory The notion of citizenship can be traced back to the
claims of a church against the selective and volun- Greek polis that tied rights to membership of the
tary nature of a sect are particularly useful in city, excluding women and slaves. The modern
understanding how different emphases on free- version of citizenship is connected to the twin
dom and especially on freedom of conscience processes of nation building and industrialization
filter into public debates and assumptions about following the American and French Revolutions.
the relation between church and state. Whereas a Freedom of contract and protection of property
church would typically argue for the universal rights were important elements, and the growth
applicability of its moral teachings to human soci- of markets contributed to breaking down trad-
ety, a sect would typically argue in favor of a itional hierarchies and to fostering equality and
differentiation between religious and political opportunity.
matters. MICHELE DILLON Citizenship has become a key concept at the
center of policy debates within and across na-
Cicourel, Aaron Victor (1928– ) tional borders. T. H. Marshall, in Citizenship and
An American sociologist, who contributed sem- Social Class (1950), first developed a modern frame-
inal work to cognitive sociology and ethno- work for the notion of citizenship based upon
methodology, Cicourel received his BA and MA principles of freedom, equality, and solidarity.
from the University of California, Los Angeles, in Since then citizenship has had a double focus: as
1951 and 1953 respectively, and his PhD from a vision of equal rights and respect, and as a tool
Cornell University in 1957. Cicourel has taught to analyze the social and political development of
all over the world but primarily within the modern societies.
University of California system, and is currently In social science, citizenship has become a
Research Professor of Cognitive Science, Pediat- key concept, and studies have focused both on
rics, and Sociology at the University of California, social rights (in sociology) and on participation
San Diego. Cicourel has made important contribu- (in political science). Citizenship has different
tions to the sociology of education, law and meanings, institutional designs, and patterns

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 citizenship citizenship

cross-nationally. The definition includes three dif- and on the second-class citizenship of women and
ferent dimensions: (1) individual rights and obli- minorities.
gations; (2) political participation including the A number of scholars have tried to rethink the
right to vote; and (3) belonging to a nation-state. framework of citizenship from a historical and
Modern citizenship has proved to be Janus-faced: comparative perspective. One example is Bryan
it can express both exclusionary and inclusionary Turner who, in his article “Outline of a Theory of
state practices and be a basis for discipline as well Citizenship” in Sociology (1990), introduced a
as resistance. model that aims to identify political dynamics as
Today immigration, globalization, and Euro- well as variations in citizenship regimes: (1) an
peanization have challenged the meaning and active/passive dimension that expresses how citi-
practice of citizenship and new forms of claims- zenship rights became institutionalized in
making by minority groups have widened the modern democracies “from above” by the involve-
content of citizenship. This has raised questions ment of the monarchy or “from below” through
about what a good citizen is, whether citizenship revolutionary movements; (2) a public/private di-
can be transferred from the nation-state to the mension that expresses whether citizenship rights
transnational level, and whether it is possible to and norm(s) are associated with the public or
combine citizenship rights tied to the nation-state private arena.
to global citizenship and human rights? The first differentiates between an active, par-
In Marshall’s seminal work, citizenship was de- ticipatory republican model and a model with
fined as “a status bestowed on those who are full institutionalization “from above.” The second dif-
members of a community.” All citizens should ferentiates between a liberal model – with an
have the same rights and duties. Marshall’s work emphasis on private, individual rights and a pas-
was based on a vision of equal rights for the sive state – and a model that emphasizes public
working class in capitalist society inspired by the virtues and an active state.
evolution of civil, political, and social rights in Another example is Richard Bellamy, Dario
Britain from the eighteenth to the twentieth Castiglione and Emilio Santoro’s recent study,
century. Lineages of Citizenship: Rights, Belonging and Participa-
Citizenship is part of the two major political tion in Eleven Nation States (2004). It gives an
traditions of civic republicanism and liberalism. overview of the different legal traditions and his-
Liberalism has been preoccupied with the defense torical contexts which have contributed to creat-
of the freedom of individuals and civil rights vis-à- ing various liberalisms and republicanisms. This
vis the state, and has given priority to the private study differentiates between a “polity” dimension,
virtues of individuals over public virtues. This which specifies the territorial and functional
understanding has been criticized, because it spheres – seeing the subjects either as passive
tends to underestimate the need for an active or active – and a “regime” dimension, which refers
state to defend political liberty and for a political to the political arrangements and styles of govern-
community that can defend individual freedom. ance, the scope of intervention in private life.
Civic republicanism has been preoccupied with The three main European traditions – the
the creation of a just society, and it has given German, the French, and the British – correspond
priority to the creation of solidarity between citi- to some extent to the three legal citizenship trad-
zens tied together in a political community. This itions: the ethno-cultural definition of nationality
understanding has been criticized because it (jus sanguinis), the romantic definition of national-
underestimates civil rights and tends to subsume ity (jus soli) and the English common law. Since the
individuals under the needs of the political com- 1990s, political developments in relation to immi-
munity. Communitarianism has a strong emphasis gration and asylum have moved the three closer
on belonging to the political community and together.
can be understood either as a form of civic Marshall’s focus was on the social and political
republicanism or as a separate tradition. inclusion of the working class in society, while
Marshall’s framework has become a key refe- post-Marshallian frameworks raise new issues
rence for analysis of contemporary citizenship and debates. Gender and marginalized social
from a cross-national context and has also been groups represent a major challenge for the univer-
taken up by marginalized social groups. It has sal framework of citizenship to respect diversity.
been criticized for its Anglo- and Eurocentric bias This tension between equality and difference/di-
as well as for its male bias, because it was prem- versity has inspired alternative frameworks,
ised upon the reality and vision of a British model models, and designs.

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 citizenship citizenship

Carole Pateman, in The Sexual Contract (1988), M. Howard and M. C. Neusbaum on Is Multicultural-
presented one of the first feminist approaches to ism Bad for Women?, considers whether multicul-
citizenship. She analyzed the dilemma of Mary turalism is incompatible with gender equality.
Wollstonecraft (1759–97) that illustrates that Sexual and ecological citizenship are examples
women in modern societies are caught between of new meanings of citizenship. In Citizenship: Femi-
a strategy focusing on equality and inclusion of nist Perspectives, Lister defines sexual citizenship as
women as equal citizens that tends to deny their the claims for sexual autonomy by women, les-
particularity “as women,” and a strategy focusing bians, and gays. The politics of citizenship thus
on inclusion of their difference and particularity promotes the citizenship status of sexual minor-
that tends to reproduce inequality. Ruth Lister, in ities and articulates new claims to “sexual rights,”
Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives (1997), has noticed understood as “a set of rights to sexual expression
that the tension between the universalistic ethic and consumption.” Ecological citizenship refers
of justice and the particularistic ethic of care that both to rights and responsibilities of citizens
gives equal status to women and men in their and to their relationship to nature and the wider
diversity is a creative tension that can be over- environment, for example green activism.
come by a “differentiated universalism.” Finally, globalization and European integration
Another influential approach has introduced have inspired a notion of post-national citi-
models that link the inclusion of women with zenship. Marshall’s framework was tied to the
marginal social groups. One example is Iris Young, nation-state, but membership of a community
who, in Justice and the Political Difference (1990), em- allows for a broader discourse about local and
phasizes inclusion and empowerment “from global levels of citizenship. It is contested whether
below.” Another example is Anne Phillips, the vision of a global citizenship can become a
who, in The Politics of Presence (1995), emphasizes reality and what kind of model of global citizen
inclusion “from above” through a change of the should indeed prevail. Skeptics argue that the
institutional design. state has the power to exclude outsiders through
In the development towards multicultural soci- the policing of the boundaries of citizenship and
eties, ethnicity tends to become an independent residence. Optimists (such as Derek Heater in
factor explaining differentiation in citizenship World Citizenship, 2003) have argued that globaliza-
rights. Ruud Koopman and Paul Statham, editors tion could become the basis for a multi-layered
of Challenging Immigration and Ethnic Relations Polit- conceptualization of citizenships that would em-
ics. Comparative European Perspectives (2000), have brace the notion of global citizenship and the use
introduced an institutional model with two dimen- of international human rights law.
sions that is used in comparisons between different One key issue in the current debate about
ethnicity regimes. One is the formal and legal cosmopolitanism is whether it is possible to trans-
basis for citizenship – the vertical dimension – that form the values of responsibility, individual
places a regime between an ethno-cultural – jus rights, and democracy associated with nation-
sanguinis – and a territorial – jus soli – pole. The state citizenship to the international level?
other is a political-cultural – horizontal – dimen- The globalization of rights and responsibilities
sion, that places a regime between cultural can be seen as the essence of a globalization of
monism (assimilation) and cultural pluralism. citizenship. David Held and Anthony McGrew in
Multiculturalism has also inspired normative Globalization/Anti-globalization (2002) differentiate
models that stress minority rights. One example between a strategy for cosmopolitan democracy
is in Will Kymlicka’s Multicultural Citizenship (1995), aiming to develop a set of democratic institutions
which introduced the notion of multicultural citi- at the global level and a strategy for radical dem-
zenship based on group rights of minorities. He ocracy aimed at forming a global civil society
differentiates between rights of autonomy for “from below,” through which social movements
national minorities, for example aboriginals; and nongovernmental organizations can pursue
poly-ethnic rights such as financial support and their goals across national borders.
legal protection of ethnic and religious groups; Global governance has created both problems
and rights of representation involving, for in- and opportunities for democracy. Markets are
stance, guaranteed seats to ethnic and national hard to control, but political globalization may
minorities. The multicultural approach has initi- be used to expand democracy and human rights
ated a debate about multiculturalism and gender through the “human rights regime” – that is,
equality, and, in a famous article, Susan Moller an international framework for the protection of
Okin (1999), in the volume edited by J. Cohen, human rights. The international movement for

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 city city

women’s rights as human rights is one example of working class in Manchester and elsewhere and
an expansion of the scope of human rights to his writings on the housing question must be set
protect women. against Karl Marx’s neglect of cities in his analysis
It is contested whether the discourse of human of capitalism, despite his statement that the div-
rights is more appropriate once we live outside ision between town and country is one of great
the confines of the nation-state? Bryan Turner in historical importance. Of the major sociologists
his “Outline of a Theory of Human Rights” in around 1900, only Max Weber provided a histor-
Sociology (1993) has argued that there is a need ical analysis of the rise of towns and cities.
for a sociological theory of human rights as a Although many of the analyses of dimensions of
supplement to the theory of citizenship. There is contemporary society by Weber, Émile Durkheim,
also a need for a global concept of citizenship that Ferdinand Tönnies, Werner Sombart, and others
can contribute to focusing the responsibilities of clearly presupposed a metropolitan modernity,
the more affluent nation-states vis-à-vis those soci- this was seldom reflected upon in any detail.
eties in the “developing world” that lack the re- Only Georg Simmel made the modern metropolis
sources to translate the development of human one of the sites of modernity.
rights, as defined in the UN Covenant, into effect- Beyond the confines of sociology, there was an
ive citizenship rights. increasing interest in the nature of the modern
Another main issue is the dilemma connected city and its populations. This concern took the
to EU citizenship. The European Union has given form of early ethnographies such as the studies
citizens new rights, for example attached to paid of London by Henry Mayhew (1812–87), and, later,
work, but many scholars find that the European the London survey by Charles Booth (1840–1916),
Union is an elitist project of nation-building and W. E. B. Du Bois’s study of segregation in
where rights are the entitlements of subjects Philadelphia. Both the state and local city author-
rather than citizens. On the one hand, the Euro- ities also increasingly devoted attention to their
pean Parliament has obtained more power, populations, as evidenced in population surveys
but on the other hand there is a democratic and other statistical compilations and modes of
deficit, and political identities are still tied to governance. By the late nineteenth century in Ger-
local, regional, and national communities rather many, for example, which experienced one of the
than to transnational politics. There have been greatest urban expansions since its unification in
developments in EU citizenship, and the anti- 1870, the issue had arisen as to what constituted a
discrimination doctrine of the Amsterdam Treaty city. The statistically expedient but by no means
that incorporates race, ethnicity, and sexual unproblematic solution was to declare an urban
preference in anti-discrimination law may sug- concentration with 100,000 or more inhabitants
gest a more inclusive definition of rights and as a city, while a world city or metropolis had a
protection in the European Union. population of 1 million (in 1900, only Berlin
Globalization and migration have made new achieved this status).
claims from minorities for recognition and re- In part influenced by Simmel’s concern with
spect for diversity into a contested question for modes of “sociation” in the city, the Chicago
nation-states and the global community. At School of the early twentieth century had a major
the analytical level, it is a challenge to develop impact upon the study of the city. Yet its key
institutions that may help to bridge the tension figures Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, and Louis
between equality and respect for diversity. At the Wirth did not have a unified research program.
normative level, it is a challenge to develop a vision Rather, their focus upon the city was diverse,
for an inclusionary and multi-layered citizenship ranging from studies of land use and social segre-
that is able to reconcile national belongings with a gation, through the city as a social laboratory,
transnational notion of citizenship. BIRTE SIIM programs of social reform, the ecology of the
city, and urban ethnographies, to the urban
city way of life in modernity. It could be argued that
Given the dramatic increase in urbanization in the the ethnographic tradition is what has remained
nineteenth century and the claim of much social significant for later study of the city.
theory and sociology to be an analysis of contem- In more recent decades, the turn to the political
porary societies, it is surprising that the nature of economy of cities has been in evidence, whether it
contemporary cities was not deemed worthy of be as sites of collective consumption and the local
wider study. F. Engels’s 1844 study of the urban state (Manuel Castells, The Urban Question, 1977),

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 city civic culture

the production and reproduction of urban capital spectacle, as visual regime, recognize the city as
(David Harvey, Social Justice and the City, 1973, and not merely an agglomeration of silent built struc-
Consciousness and the Urban Experience, 1985), or, tures, as a concentration of producers and con-
more recently, global cities and their networks sumers, but also as imaginary, as aspiration. The
(Saskia Sassen, Global Cities, 2001). The city has often fragmentary experiences of the city, the
also been examined in a more differentiated shaping of everyday life in the city, everyday prac-
manner, somewhat belatedly exploring gendered tices and the constitution of images of the city,
urban spaces. This has been accompanied since contested spaces and boundaries, and modes of
the mid-1980s by explorations of new dimensions resistance are also consistent elements in under-
of the modern/postmodern city (David Harvey, standing the contemporary city. DAVID FRISBY
The Postmodern Condition, 1989; Michael J. Dear,
The Postmodern Urban Condition, 2000; Nan civic culture
Ellin, Postmodern Urbanism, 1999); the space of Also referred to as political culture, this is the
flows in the information economy and the emer- culture, beliefs, and values that direct a political
gence of the dual city and changes in the occupa- system, but the study of such cultures also in-
tional structure (Manuel Castells, The Informational volves attending to the institutions that bring
City, 1989); postcolonial cities in the world econ- about political socialization. The term became in-
omy; the uneven development between and fluential in political sociology following the publi-
within cities, including gentrification and econ- cation of Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba’s The
omies of consumption; transformations of the Civic Culture (1963) in which they argued that the
public sphere within cities; cybercities (Christine success of stable democracy was the result of civic
M. Boyer, Cybercities, 1996); and the disjunction institutions promoting democratic participation
between suburbanization and the metropolis. and creating opportunities for commitment and
Many of these transformations have been asso- trust. The idea of political culture is thus closely
ciated with the supercession of place by space as connected with the idea of civil society. Almond
the focus of analysis. In part, this coincided with and Verba undertook a comparative study of five
a focus upon urban space, prompted by Henri countries – the United States, Italy, United King-
Lefebvre (1901–91) and others. Modifying dom, Mexico, and West Germany. For various
Lefebvre’s tripartite conceptualization in The Pro- historical and structural reasons, the United
duction of Space (1991) into the production of urban States and the United Kingdom have vibrant civic
space, the representations of urban space and cultures because these societies have many local
spatial practices also drew attention to the repre- and national channels whereby ordinary individ-
sentations, images, and imaginaries of the city, as uals can participate in political processes such
well as how the city is negotiated and contested in as voting, registering opinions, selecting political
everyday practices (as in Michel de Certeau’s an- leaders, and influencing political opinion. Their
alysis of taking a walk [The Practice of Everyday Life, research has been criticized in methodological
1984]). terms by Robert Dowse and John Hughes in Polit-
The study of representations of the city is indi- ical Sociology (1986) on the grounds that surveys
cative of wider interest in images of the city that and questionnaires cannot easily tap into political
were already present, if often only implicitly in cultures. Another criticism is that each social
earlier characterizations of the city. The city has class will have its own political culture
been variously viewed, for instance, as a moral and therefore, where social class divisions are sig-
and political order, as a social and medical prob- nificant, it would be misleading to presuppose a
lem, as an aesthetic object, as a work of art, as unified civic culture. In other words, Almond
ensemble of communities, as absent community, and Verba did not take into account the issue of
as utopian site, as dystopia, as apocalyptic site. internal variations in political cultures. Another
The significance of cultural dimensions of eco- critical response, which was developed by Michael
nomic aspects of the city and the problems of Mann in Consciousness and Action among the western
reading the city have been given fresh impetus Working Class (1973), has been to argue that liberal
in the reception of writers such as Walter democracies survive because the working class
Benjamin, whose work seems at some distance have a “pragmatic acceptance” of their place
from urban sociology. His treatments of the city in capitalism and because there is a general lack
as text, as narrative, as dream-world, as site of of any consistent commitment to values in
collective memory / collective forgetting, as the society. BRYAN S. TURNER

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 civil religion civil society

civil religion Ferguson (1723–1816) in his An Essay on the History

This is a term initially used by Jean-Jacques Rous- of Civil Society (1767) to make a contrast between
seau (1712–78) and reintroduced to sociology the civilization of western Europe and the despot-
by Robert N. Bellah in a highly influential essay ism of the East. The connection between “civil
published in the mid-1960s, “Civil Religion in society” and “civility” and “civilization” was
America” (1967). Extending Émile Durkheim’s made clear in Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s
understanding that all things in society can be The Philosophy of Right (1821 [trans. 1942]), where
classified as either sacred or profane, Bellah de- the German term is bürgerliche Gesellschaft. He rec-
veloped the idea that, quite apart from institu- ognized civil society as a specific area of ethical
tionalized church religion, American society also life, which exists or mediates between the family
has a publicly articulated and institutionalized and the state. The word family was originally as-
civil or civic religion that anchors the civic culture. sociated with oikos or “household,” and the word
In the United States, Bellah argued, the “American economy originally referred to the running of a
way of life,” the core founding values and ideals of household. In short, Hegel saw civil society as
the republic, are given a sacred meaning in and of existing between the state (a coercive institution)
themselves, and are given an added religious di- and the economy (an institution based on self-
mension by their intertwining with specifically interest). The freedom of the individual and the
religious motifs, most usually drawn from biblical enjoyment of rights were made possible by
archetypes. In pluralistic societies wherein reli- the historical evolution of civil society as a mani-
gious denominational beliefs may have a sectarian festation of bourgeois civilization.
function, the affirmation of the nation’s civil reli- The adjective bürgerlich means “civil, civic” and
gion serves social integration rather than frag- also “middle-class, bourgeois.” Civil society is thus
mentation. A civil religion blends sacred cultural an area of social life that contrasts the world of
ideas and symbols with religious affirmations and the bourgeoisie from those of the nobility and
is invoked to unify the nation and strengthen the clergy. These notions are also closely connected
shared communality of its people, to provide an with the idea of citizenship.
“imagined community” out of diversity. A society’s Gesellschaft or “society” derives from Geselle or
civil religion is most evident during highly cere- “companion.” Sociology is the scientific study
monial public rituals – presidential inaugur- of society or Gesellschaftwissenschaft. It became com-
ations, parliamentary convocations, and other monplace in sociology to distinguish between
symbolically rich public events (assemblies, pro- affective social ties and more abstract social
tests) that take place at the country’s sacred (civic) relations. Thus Ferdinand Tönnies made an
places. The complexity of a civil religion lies in the important distinction between organic commu-
tension between appealing to sufficiently broad nities (Gemeinschaft) and mechanical association
(nonsectarian) religious symbols and to the (Gesellschaft) in his Community and Association (1887
society’s high ideals (for example equality), while [trans. 1957]).
simultaneously not being appropriated in a The concept of civil society was shared by both
sectarian manner to legitimate public policies liberalism and socialism, albeit with different sig-
that in practice may threaten rather than enrich nificance. For John Locke (1632–1704) in the Two
social solidarity. MICHELE DILLON Treatises of Government (1690) the social contract
was necessary to protect the individual and prop-
civil rights erty rights, and it was this contract that created
– see rights. civil society in contrast to the “state of nature.”
Liberal civil society requires limited government,
civil rights movement the separation of powers, the rule of law, and rule
– see social movements. by representative government. These political in-
stitutions are important for securing civil society,
civil society but Locke argued that a primary responsibility of
An expression that became influential in eight- government was the protection of property. Locke
eenth-century theories about the individual, has been attacked by, for example, C. B. Macpher-
social contract, and the state, this denotes an son, The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism
area of social consensus based on agreements (1962), for providing a crass defence of capitalism.
about norms and values. Whereas the state re- In contrast, John Dunn, Western Political Theory in
quires some level of force, civil society implies a the Face of the Future (1979: 39), argues that, in the
degree of freedom. The concept was used by Adam language of his day, Locke treated “property” and

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 civil society civilization

“right” synonymously, and hence Macpherson’s cheap means of political discussion. If the coffee
criticism represents a translation error. house was the principal site of Habermas’s trad-
Karl Marx was critical of Hegel’s understanding itional bourgeois public sphere, where news-
of civil society and, in his Economic and Philosophical papers could be read and debated over coffee,
Manuscripts (1844 [trans. 1964]), he argued that the cyber café is the location of the new forms of
bourgeois society was characterized by economic information exchange. BRYAN S. TURNER
self-interest and the struggle between social
classes. Civil society was not an arena of civilized civilization
co-operation, but the epitome of bourgeois culture A concept referring to an advanced stage or condi-
which merely masked the objective struggle tion of organized social life and social develop-
between irreconcilable classes. ment, often used in distinction to primitive
The idea of civil society was revived in the twen- societies, the most important contribution to an
tieth century by the work of the Italian Marxist understanding of civilization comes from Norbert
revolutionary Antonio Gramsci, who argued that Elias. In The Civilizing Process (1939 [trans. 2000]),
the state was a mixture of force plus consent, or Elias examines the sociogenesis and the social
hegemony with coercion. While political society function of the concept. He argues that the term
organizes force, civil society is that set of social was formed in the second half of the eighteenth
institutions that provides consent. The leadership century, replacing the concepts of politesse or civi-
of the working class by intellectuals requires the lité which, before its arrival, had formed the same
transformation of civil society by political educa- function: to express the self-image and specific
tion if the dominant hegemony is to be chal- kind of behavior of the European upper class, in
lenged. Gramsci recognized that, because the relation to others whom its members considered
Roman Catholic Church was influential in provid- simpler or more primitive. One of its earliest
ing moral leadership in Italy, it was necessary usages is found in the work of the Comte de Mir-
to provide a moral alternative at the local level. abeau, Honoré-Gasriel Riqueti (1749–91), who re-
This tradition of analysis of civil society has been formulated the concept of Homme civilisé while
continued, for example, by Norberto Bobbio, simultaneously drawing on the progressivism
Democracy and Dictatorship (1980 [trans. 1989]). and reformism prevalent in the Parisian circles
The notion of “civil society” continues to be of court society. Like the Physiocrats, he believed
important in contemporary sociology because that social events followed laws, and that a know-
the vitality of civic institutions is seen to be essen- ledge and understanding of these laws could be
tial for sustaining democracy. Civil society is also used as a progressive force by kings in their rule.
the public sphere within which opinions are Civilization stood between barbarism and a false
formed, developed, and exchanged. This arena of “decadent” civilization engendered by a super-
debate is important in the minimal sense that it abundance of money.
permits lively criticism of government policies Mirabeau’s approach was extended by Enlight-
and ministers. One function of bourgeois society enment thinkers, such as Anne-Robert Jacques
was that it created social spaces in which conver- Turgot, Baron de l’Aulne (1727–81), and P. H. T.,
sation, debate, and criticism could take place. The Baron d’Holbach (1723–89), who also called for
idea that the transformation of mass media and the improvement of institutions, education, and
communications by the monopolistic ownership law, equally within a reformist framework.
of newspapers, radio, TV, and film has seriously Though society had reached a stage on the road
curtailed the possibility of critical dialog and ar- to civilization, it remained partial and incom-
gument was put forward by Jürgen Habermas in plete since the masses remained uncivilized.
his The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere This essentially middle-class idea for reform and
(1962 [trans. 1989]). the liberation of the broader sections of the popu-
Habermas’s pessimistic view of modern society lation from all that was irrational in existing
has in turn been challenged by sociologists, partly conditions, including class restrictions on the
influenced by the idea of network society in bourgeoisie, became fused with the aristocratic
Manuel Castells, who claim that modern elec- belief, which was pervasive in court society, that
tronic technology – such as cell phones and com- all others outside this sphere were uncivilized or
puters – has created new opportunities for debate barbaric with reference to morals, manners, and
and dialogue. These technologies make possible a lifestyle.
new global civil society which cannot be easily Though it did not play a considerable role in the
controlled by the state, and they allow rapid, French Revolution, following the revolution it was

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 civilization class conflict

used to justify French national expansion and civilization; Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its
colonization. Whole nations henceforth began to Discontents (1930), which examined the conflict
consider the process of civilization as completed between sexual desires and social mores as the
within their own societies – while forgetting the basis for aggression and violence in modern
social conditions of its emergence – and came to civilization; and Oswald Spengler’s Decline of the
see themselves as superior standard-bearers of an West (1918 [trans. 1926 and 1928]), which
expanding civilization and architects of colonial employed biological metaphors to argue that cul-
conquest. Elias argues that civilization came to tures pass through cycles in which they rise,
express the self-consciousness of the West: “It mature, and decline. For Spengler, civilization
sums up everything in which western society of was the inevitable destiny of culture, and an ex-
the last two or three centuries believes itself su- pression of its decline: “Civilizations are the most
perior to earlier societies or ‘more primitive’ con- external and artificial states of which a species of
temporary ones” (2000: 5). This pride could be developed humanity is capable. They are the con-
related to its level of technology, its type of clusion, the thing-become succeeding the thing-
manners, its development of scientific knowledge, becoming, death following life, rigidity following
or to its religious ideas and customs. expansion” (31).
However, the term did not mean the same thing Equally, the British historian Arnold Toynbee,
to different nations. The French and English use of in his comparative study of civilizations in The
the concept could be contrasted with the German Study of History (1934–61), attempted to analyze
term, Zivilisation, which, although referring to the rise and decline of twenty-six civilizations,
something useful, only had a secondary value. It while placing an emphasis on religion as a regene-
was the concept of Kultur which expressed the self- rative force. More recently, Samuel Huntington,
image of the Germans in their own achievements. in The Clash of Civilizations (1998), has taken the
While the French and English use of civilization concept of religion further by understanding civil-
was expansionary, outward-looking, and empha- izations largely as synonyms for it in a conflict-
sized what was common to all human beings, ridden world.
the German concept of Kultur accentuated na- However, because the concept refers to a
tional differences and group identity, and was variety of contradictory facts, it has been notori-
inward-looking. The conceptual antithesis be- ously difficult to define and use. Émile Durkheim
tween culture and civilization reflected the two and Marcel Mauss in “Note on the Notion of
different worldviews and the marked social div- Civilization” (1913 [trans. 1971, Social Research
ision between a relatively powerless middle-class 38]) defined civilizations as referring to phenom-
German intelligentsia, which emphasized genu- ena which pass beyond political and national
ineness, personality, sincerity, and intellectual de- frontiers: these are “interdependent systems,
velopment, on the one hand, and a French- which without being limited to a determinate
speaking, politically powerful, German court no- political organism are however, localizable in
bility, which championed outward appearance time and space . . . systems of facts that have their
and manners on the other. This conceptual and own unity . . . and form of existence a kind of
social contraposition in turn reflected the polit- moral milieu encompassing a certain number of
ical fragmentation of Germany as compared with nations.” More recent writers, by contrast, have
the unified “good society” found in France, in classified civilizations according to the relation-
which the rising middle classes, as already noted, ship between humans and their environment
readily adopted aristocratic traditions and behav- (Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations, Culture,
ioral models, and only showed a moderate reform- Ambition, 2000). Moreover, the connotations of
ist opposition to aristocratic world-views. For collective self-approbation, especially by Euro-
Elias, the implications of this were crucial in the peans and Americans, which have become at-
different paths of development of England, tached to the word have made many social
France, and Germany and their subsequent use sciences reluctant to use the concept as an ana-
of the term. lytical category. STEVEN LOYAL
The contrast between civilization and culture
also formed a crucial conceptual opposition in a civilizing process
number of books which influenced Elias’s work: – see Norbert Elias.
Thomas Mann’s Reflections on a Life (1924), which,
as part of his revolutionary conservative world- class conflict
view, affirmed inward culture against moralistic – see social class.

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 class consciousness coding

class consciousness coding

– see social class. The coding, categorizing, or classification of social
phenomena – an activity described by Robert
class interest Edgerton in “Quality of Life from a Longitudinal
– see social class. Research Perspective,” featured in Quality of Life:
Perspectives and Issues (1990), as “the American pas-
cluster analysis sion for reducing complex qualitative concepts to
A multivariate statistical technique, used in the simple scalar instruments” – is an essential part of
social sciences to divide a heterogeneous sample sociological research methodology under positiv-
into a number of smaller, more homogeneous ism. Coding, in theory, transforms otherwise un-
clusters, based on their similarity on a number wieldy masses of disorderly phenomena, research
of variables, there are a number of different ways participant reports or participant observations,
of performing a cluster analysis. Small samples into tractable data. The process of coding, essen-
(tens of cases) can be clustered by building the tially an exercise in the disaggregation of higher-
clusters one link at a time, by joining cases with order social phenomena and the assigning of
their nearest “neighbor” in terms of their simila- numerical codes to theoretically important, and
rity on the variables. For larger numbers of cases, operationally defined, sub-phenomena (for example
algorithms exist to determine an appropriate identifying a specific suicide as anomic, egotis-
number of clusters, and iteratively allocate each tical, or altruistic), is a core component of the
case to a cluster. experimental method, essential for the statistical
Cluster analysis was developed to deal with bio- manipulation of data, and the employment of
logical data (for instance, determining the family inferential statistics to make population-based
structure of species of plants from the dimensions claims about the generality of sociological issues
of their various components). It rarely gives employing the logic of the hypothetico-deductive
such conclusive solutions in the social sciences method.
(where cluster membership is more complex, and Coding operates on a number of levels, may
there can be many cases that do not easily fit into take place either before, during (“field-coding”),
any of the clusters). But it can be a very useful or after data collection, and may index very diffe-
exploratory technique, to determine the viability rent practices for different research methods. For
and usefulness of treating a sample as one whole example, what is meant by coding for a study
or as several sub-samples. influenced by grounded theory – with the import-
For instance, Brendan Burchell and Jill Rubery ant methodological and epistemological distinc-
in “An Empirical Investigation into the Segmenta- tion in such work between the procedures of
tion of the Labour Supply” (1990, Work, Employment latent and of manifest coding of textual material –
and Society) used cluster analyses on a sample differs dramatically from the meaning of coding
of 600 employees to divide them up into their to the designer of a study using scales to assess
different positions and trajectories in the labor the intensity of racial prejudice, or questionnaires
market and to examine the ways in which advan- to measure quality of life. In the former case, as
taged and disadvantaged groups of employees are with the very limited use of coding in discourse
composed. They described five main clusters, for analysis (where in practice the term often means
which the labor market operated in very different little more than the identification of like inter-
ways. They interpreted their results as supporting pretative repertoires, in much the way one might
segmented labor market theories, whereby the “code” one’s socks by their color), the coding of
labor market is better characterized as a number emergent themes is a posteriori: categories/codes
of non-competing groups for whom the relation- arise from inspection of the data. In the latter
ship between productivity and rewards are very cases, coding refers to the assignment of a priori
different. Each of the five clusters was assumed (numerical/value) codes to broad categories of ex-
to represent one segment in the labor market. The pressed attitudes, beliefs, values, etc., by resear-
results of this analysis partly supported previous chers. An example of an extremely simple coding
theoretical accounts of labor markets, but also scheme is illustrated in R. Schalock and K. Keith’s
revealed new insights into the very different sorts Quality of Life Questionnaire (1993). Their semi-
of labor market disadvantage suffered by males structured measure of quality of life is presented
and females in declining labor markets. in Table 1. As is evident, coding the potentially
BRENDAN J. BURCHELL infinite possible interviewee responses to the

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 cognitive dissonance Coleman, James S. (1926–1995)

item “How much fun and enjoyment do you get description of it to the next subject, but had a
out of life?” as 1 (not much), 2 (some), or 3 (lots), is justification for their behavior in the size of the
not only massively to attenuate the substantive reward, so did not experience dissonance. The $1
content of all possible responses, but also, of ne- subjects did not have this, and so, as a result of the
cessity, to engage in an impossibly unreliable ex- experienced conflict, were motivated to revise
ercise (by the standards of the experimental their belief as to the inherent interest of the task.
method) in on-the-spot interpretation. In essence it was a theory of why attitudes and
beliefs change. Subsequent work has elaborated
on what a cognition is, whether or not the aver-
Table 1. Field coding scheme for prescripted
sive motivational state is essential, and the role
response alternatives
played by an individual’s sense of self and identity
Item: How successful Code in motivating or constraining a change.
do you think you DAVID GOOD
are, compared
with others?
cohorts
Probably more successful
Response (a) than the average person 1 – see generation(s).
About as successful as
Response (b) the average person 2 Coleman, James S. (1926–1995)
Less successful than Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago,
Response (c) the average person 3 Coleman’s career covered work in various areas of
Item: How much fun Code social science, methodology and theory, but his
and enjoyment do main contribution was to the theory of social
you get out of life? action and structure (see agency and structure).
Response (a) Lots 1 His early work was concerned with conflict and
Response (b) Some 2 power which he explored in Community Conflict
Response (c) Not much 3 (1957), Power and the Structure of Society (1974), and
The Asymmetric Society (1982). He was a prolific
writer of books and journal articles over his long
In this regard it is crucial that we recognize career, and he focused on areas such as mathemat-
the potential shortcomings inherent in any ac- ical sociology in his Introduction to Mathematical
count of sociological phenomena we derive from Sociology (1964); the sociology of education in The
analyst-imposed classification. Adolescent Society: The Social Life of the Teenager and its
MARK RAPLEY AND SUSAN HANSEN Impact on Education (1961), Equality and Achievement
in Education (1990), and (with David Court) in Uni-
cognitive dissonance versity Development in the Third World (1993); and the
A theory developed by Leon Festinger (1919–90) analysis of social change. In the area of the soci-
in his Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957); he ology of education, his research on the positive
proposed that anyone holding two contradictory effects of integrated schooling for underprivileged
cognitions experiences an aversive motivational black children, the Coleman Report (Equality of
state. This leads the individual to reduce the dis- Educational Opportunity, 1966), was most influen-
sonance by changing one of the cognitions, or by tial. He won many awards for his work including
including some justification into their thinking the Paul Lazarsfeld Award for Research in 1983,
which would reconcile the difference. the Educational Freedom Award in 1989, and the
An example of this is provided by one of the American Distinguished Sociological Publication
original tests of the claim. Subjects completed an Award in 1992 for his book Foundations of Social
exceptionally dull task, and were then asked to Theory (1990), which contained some of his contri-
misrepresent it as very interesting to the next sub- butions to the theory of social capital. His later
ject in the study. In one condition, subjects received research focused on rational choice theory, for
$20 ($135 in 2004 prices) for their duplicity, but example in Individual Interests and Collective Action:
only $1 in the other. Subsequently, subjects rated Selected Essays (1986) and (with Thomas J. Fararo),
how interesting the task was. The $20 subjects gave Rational Choice Theory: Advocacy and Critique (1992).
it significantly lower ratings than the $1 ones. He founded the journal Rationality and Society in
The explanation in cognitive dissonance terms 1989. His most influential contribution was to the
was that the $20 subjects witnessed a conflict development of the theory of social capital.
between their experience of the task and their BRYAN S. TURNER

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 collective action collective behavior

collective action experimental laboratory research to study social

This concept refers to the process by which inter- dilemmas. An important branch of research attri-
est groups produce a public good. Pure public butes collective action to the cohesive effects of
goods have two properties: non-excludability social identity rather than shared interests in a
(anyone can consume it, including noncontribu- public good. Henri Tajfel, Social Identity and Inter-
tors) and jointness of supply (an increase in con- group Relations (1982), shows how individuals are
sumption does not reduce the amount available to more likely to contribute to public goods when a
others). Collective action can also take the form of group identity is salient. However, in “The Group
mutual restraint in depleting shared resources, a as the Container of Generalized Reciprocity”
problem known as the tragedy of the common (Social Psychology Quarterly), Toshio Yamagishi and
good. Toko Kiyonari argue that these studies may have
Collective action differs from collective behav- confounded the effects of identity with a self-
ior such as rioting or “groupthink,” in which interested expectation of generalized reciprocity.
people in groups suppress critical faculties. How- These and other experimental studies are
ever, collective action is not necessarily motivated reviewed by Peter Kollock in the 1998 Annual
by rational self-interest. In The Logic of Collective Review of Sociology.
Action (1965), Mancur Olson (1932–98) argued Another branch of collective-action research
that rational actors will not contribute to public focuses on the mobilization of participation in
goods if: (1) they can enjoy the public good even if social movements. Key approaches include re-
they do not contribute (the free-rider problem), source mobilization, which considers the strategic
and (2) they cannot substantially increase the attitudes and actions of participants, the political
public good even if they do contribute (the effi- process model, which examines the intersection of
cacy problem). Thus, rational actors will partici- political opportunities, social movements sectors,
pate in collective action in large groups only if and cycles of protest, and the new social move-
selective incentives reward contributors and ments perspective, which explores structural de-
punish noncontributors. terminants and outcomes of movements.
Olson’s work was criticized by sociologists who MICHAEL MACY AND STEPHEN BENARD

countered that the provision of incentives is itself

a public good that presumes collective action collective behavior
rather than explaining it. However, Douglas Treated generically, this term refers to behavior
Heckathorn showed that it can be rational to con- that is carried out by some sort of collective
tribute to sanctions even when it is not rational to rather than by an individual. While there are
contribute to public goods in the absence of social classic accounts of concerted action in the
control. writings of Karl Marx and of Max Weber, there
Gerald Marwell and Pamela Oliver also chal- have been a variety of recent, more focused, ap-
lenged Olson’s argument. In The Critical Mass in proaches to the mobilization of such behavior.
Collective Action (1993), they showed how, with The specific “collective behavior” approach de-
high jointness of supply, collective action without veloped in the United States is associated with
selective incentives is more likely in large than two otherwise quite different theorists, Herbert
in small groups. Large groups are more likely to Blumer and Neil Smelser. Blumer’s symbolic
contain a critical mass of highly interested and interactionist emphasis on elementary forms of
resourceful members. These statistical outliers collective behavior, in which there is a lowering
may be willing to provide the public goods for of the self-consciousness that barricades the indi-
everyone, no matter how many others benefit vidual against the influence of others, has much
for free. in common with Émile Durkheim’s stress on col-
Formal models of collective action have also lective sentiments, rituals, and symbols. Blumer
examined the role of social networks. It is often distinguishes between three elementary group-
easier to mobilize a critical mass of contributors ings in which individualism and privatism are
locally, which can then spread from cluster to transcended. These are: (1) a crowd, in which
cluster until the entire population is involved. physical proximity and density are important,
Local interaction also facilitates informal social and which may range from the casual and passive
control, such as the spread of reputation. to the expressively intense and active; (2) a mass,
While much research on collective action such as the audience for mass media events, in
uses formal theory, researchers have also used which similar action can be provoked in spatially

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 collective behavior Collège de Sociologie

disparate individuals by a common point of ref- collective goods

erence; and (3) a public, in which there is an – see social capital.
interactional coming together of previously dis-
parate individuals in order to debate issues of collective rights
common concern. Blumer analyzes how these – see rights.
nascent and spontaneous forms of collective be-
havior can be transformed into more enduring Collège de Sociologie
and durable forms when the response to condi- The powerful intellectual presence in France of
tions of unrest involves the active creation of Émile Durkheim, prior to his death in 1917, was
social movements with an esprit de corps, clear due to the intellectual and organizational cohe-
ideological values, and an organizational rence of his school and to its elective affinity
structure. with a politically significant reformist socialist
The so-called “value-added” approach of Smel- republican movement. Their collective work pro-
ser’s Theory of Collective Behavior (1962), drawing its duced some positive responses from prominent
inspiration from functionalism, emphasizes the members of other disciplines, but it equally pro-
structural over the agency side of collective behav- voked hostility, which helps explain its subse-
ior. He identifies the response of groups to what quent limited role in higher education. After
they see as “structural strain” in their environ- World War I, few chairs in sociology were created
ment as central amongst several factors that affect and many Durkheimians gravitated to specialized
whether, and to what extent, collective behavior research institutes. True, the Durkheimians influ-
will occur. The other factors include: the specific enced secondary education, but at the cost of a
configuration of opportunities and constraints subsequent increasingly abstract, nationalistic
confronting the group; the growth and spread of and technocratic development of its precepts.
generalized beliefs about what is wrong and what In the 1930s, intellectual ferment was linked
should be done; the “trigger” of concrete events with Surrealist subversions of conventional art
that act as a focus for mobilization; communica- and literature, an interest in more “primitive
tion networks that aid the coordination and cultures,” and a renewed interest in the ideas
organization of the mobilization; and the re- of German thinkers, such as Georg Wilhelm Fried-
sponse of social control agencies such as the police rich Hegel, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche
or the media. (1844–1900), Sigmund Freud, and also Martin Hei-
Employing the prisoner’s dilemma from game degger (1889–1976). The work of the Durkhei-
theory, Mancur Olson’s influential The Logic of mians became increasingly marginalized: Paul
Collective Action (1965) highlighted a specific prob- Nizan even blamed them for the authoritarian
lem in mobilizing collective action, that of the nationalistic cast of education. Surprisingly, in
“free rider.” The problem is that self-interested 1937, the dissident Surrealists and anti-fascist ac-
individuals will prefer to free-ride on the activ- tivists Georges Bataille (1897–1962), Michel Leiris
ities of others, gaining the benefits of collective (1901–90), and Roger Caillois (1913–78) organized
actions but avoiding the costs of personal com- a Collège de Sociologie which met in a Parisian
mitment. According to Olson, it is rational to bookshop between November 1937 and July 1939.
defect from such actions unless individual incen- First announced in Bataille’s journal Acéphale, the
tives are provided. Such an individualistic and Collège aimed to create a contagious “Sacred Soci-
rationalistic approach sits uneasily with Blu- ology.” Unaffiliated with any academic institu-
mer’s and Smelser’s more sociological emphasis tion, the reputations, connections, and networks
on extra-individual values, beliefs, and collective of the Collège’s organizers and the promise of the
sentiments. More recent work has refined and “note” in Acéphale brought to its sessions many
complemented earlier insights. The resource mo- European literary figures, Surrealist and other-
bilization school has demonstrated the signifi- wise, historians, social theorists, and philoso-
cance for collective actors of resources gained phers, including Alexandre Kojève (1902–68),
from external organizations and networks, while Pierre Klossowksi (1905–2001), Denis de Rouge-
innovative works such as Doug McAdam, Sydney mont (1906–85), Hans Mayer (1907–2001), Jacques
Tarrow, and Charles Tilly’s Dynamics of Contention Lacan, Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), Jean-Paul
(2001) have developed historically specific and Sartre (1905–80), Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Walter
grounded analyses of “cycles” and “repertoires Benjamin. Its major focus was the study of the
of contention.” ROB STONES problems of power, the sacred, and myths. This

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 Collège de Sociologie Collège de Sociologie

required forms of inquiry which would embrace a Modern carnivals, however, are but dying
person’s total activity and would entail working echoes of earlier festivals – for example, the joyful
in common with others, seriously, selflessly, and destruction of a cardboard representation of a
with critical severity. To understand manifest- buffoon-like king has little sacral relevance be-
ations of the sacred, or their absence, historical cause, when an effigy replaces an actual human
and comparative anthropological materials and victim, expiation or fertility are not a likely
theories were needed and these were to be found consequence.
in the work of Durkheim, Robert Hertz (1881– Caillois was a rigorous Durkheimian and his
1915), Henri Hubert (1872–1927), and Marcel analysis is in accord with Durkheim’s belief that
Mauss. The lectures at the Collège and many asso- all forms of social phenomena that keep recurring
ciated writings have been brought together in within societies of a particular species — whether
Denis Hollier (ed.), The College of Sociology 1937–39 the phenomena superficially seem conformist or
(1988). deviant — are either themselves functional for
In their joint presentation in 1937 on the society as a whole or a necessary concomitant of
“Sacred Sociology and the Relationships Between something that is functional.
‘Society,’ ‘Organism,’ and ‘Being,’” Bataille and Bataille significantly modified Durkheim’s dis-
Caillois endorse Durkheim’s view that society tinction between the profane and the sacred.
was an emergent sui generis reality, society being Durkheim distinguishes between phenomena or
something other than the sum of its individual categorizations, homogeneous internally but
members, and while these naively represent them- heterogeneous each to the other, but Bataille re-
selves to themselves as indivisible unities they are interprets the distinction as one between
transformed by their subjection to the “commu- the “homogeneous” and the “heterogeneous.”
nifying movements” of society, which is a “com- The profane involves homogenization: deferred
pound being.” Such movements create a feeling of gratification, analysis and calculation, planning
being a society, but this may be precarious, since and utility, production and the controlled con-
one society can produce a number of different sumption necessary for the reproduction and con-
collectivities at the same time. Both Caillois and servation of economically productive human life,
Bataille drew on Durkheim’s analysis of the sacred conformist individuals experiencing themselves
and profane dichotomy. as separate self-sufficient subjects, the possession
For Caillois, as he made clear in his lecture and consumption of objects.
“Festival,” the sacred is a key element both in The sacred is associated with heterogeneity:
ordinary life and in the festivals found in primitive socially useless activity, unlimited expenditure,
societies, and to a much attenuated degree in orgiastic impulses, sexual activity, defecation,
contemporary societies. Ordinary life tends to be urination, ritual cannibalism, with extreme emo-
regular, busy, and safe; insofar as it is part of a tions, tabooed objects and their transgression —
cosmos ruled by a universal order, the sacred only for example corpses and menstrual blood. The
manifests itself against potential disturbances of sacred evokes feelings of both attraction and re-
this order or as expiations for any such disturb- pulsion and is linked with violence and its violent
ances. The very passage of time may be wearing containment; with the cruelty of sacrificing
and exhausting and individual human beings and others and with the subsumption of individuals
social institutions get used up and every socially within totalizing group processes when they fear-
conscious act leads to the accumulation of poten- lessly confront death and are willing to sacrifice
tially toxic wastes. Regeneration may depend themselves. It is potentially dangerous and desta-
upon the person who is its agent becoming pol- bilizing. More generally, while in contemporary
luted, for what is unclean may contain within societies sacral processes have become more ob-
itself a positive active principle. The popular scure and suppressed, less obviously religious,
frenzy of the festival may also be regenerative in they are still present, as can be seen in the way
that it can release an active sacred energy, which that men are attracted to sacrificial ceremonies
reverses the normal course of time and the forms and festivals. This discussion is to be found in “The
of social order, encouraging sacrilegious words Use-Value of D. A. F. de Sade: An Open Letter to My
and deeds including sexual excesses. The festival Current Comrades” in “Attraction and Repulsion”
helps rediscover the creative chaos associated with (Hollier, 1988: 106–22): “The Structure and Func-
cosmic time and space and it may not only purify tion of the Army” (1988: 139–44), “Joy in the
and renew the established social order but change Face of Death” (1988: 325–28), and “The College
it in fundamental ways. of Sociology” (1988: 333–41).

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 Collège de Sociologie Collège de Sociologie

In fact, historically, the sacred has been gener- found a willing victim, probably Leiris, and it is
ated by taboo-violating rituals, and sacrifices have believed that Caillois was offered the role of the
been key elements in festivals which both regener- sacrificer, the actual executioner. Immediately
ate the sacred and corral it. The activities that after the sacrifice, the sacrificer was also expected
both Caillois and Bataille describe are renew- to kill himself – for Bataille, the executioner’s
ing and transforming cosmological social mean- desire was to be a victim. Caillois did not accept
ings and interpersonal and social relations, but the offer. Further, according to French sacrificial
Bataille provides a model which presumes a theory, each sacrifice involves not only a victim
much lower level of integration, and which as- and a sacrificer but also a sacrifier (the source of
sumes less “societally functional” outcomes, than the desire for the sacrifice), and in this case each
does the model found in the discourses of member of the group was a sacrifier, and presum-
Durkheim (and Caillois). It is more marked by ably each of them – through “contagion” – could
contradictions and tensions and, hence, possibly have been both sacrificer and victim. The human
also subject to imperative elements. sacrifice never took place.
The meetings of the Collège de Sociologie con- Now, in his sole lecture at the Collège, “The
sisted of lectures followed by a discussion. Some- Sacred in Everyday Life,” Leiris’s emphasis was
thing less traditional is hinted at in Bataille’s final psychological and personal. He was concerned
lecture at the Collège. Bataille argues that the with the variety of things – objects, places, or
sacred is produced when human beings communi- occasions – that awaken the mixture of fear and
cate in such a naked way that they form new attachment taken as indicating the sacred. Much
beings. When humans unite with each other, for of his lecture was devoted to the symbolic mean-
example through love, this always involves a ings and associations of the sacred things that he
mutual tearing and wounding. But lovers fear was familiar with in his own early years, but this
that sustaining their relationship for its own style of engagement had few resonances with
sake may subvert their ability to love to the point other lectures at the Collège. In fact, Leiris soon
of losing themselves in love. Thus, to sustain the distanced himself from its activities. One might
intensity of their feelings they must give them- speculate that this was associated with the fail-
selves to turbulent passions and be with each ure of Acéphale’s sacrificial promise, but, overtly
other in a state of heightened drama, even to the at least, he did so, from another place, as a pro-
point of being willing to embrace death. This may fessional ethnologist. In a letter to Bataille he
involve just the two, but they may seek to increase suggested three major objections to the way the
the intensity of their experience by incorporating activities of the Collège had developed. It tended
another person into their erotic domain, leading to work from ideas that were ill-defined, thus
to an even more annihilating expenditure. It is comparisons were often carelessly made with so-
not hard to see why Bataille would conclude his cieties which were very different from each
lecture by claiming that eroticism slips easily into other; it was in danger of becoming a mere
orgy, but it is not as self-evident why he links this, clique; and, finally, it overemphasized the sacred,
as he does, with sacrifice becoming an end in itself thereby subverting Mauss’s idea of a total social
and a universal value. fact. Caillois had made clear that the quality of
At that time, Bataille hoped, by the ritual exe- the collective work should be such that its results
cution of a consenting victim, to release sacred could be substantiated and that the research
energies. This was to have been a ritual enacted would command respect. He had become increas-
by the members of the second Acéphale, the anti- ingly uneasy about the extent to which this was
Christian and Nietzschean secret society Bataille being achieved. Indeed, his lecture “The Soci-
formed in 1936 and for which the Collège repre- ology of the Executioner” could be seen as a cri-
sented an outside activity. Much has been revealed tique of Bataille’s overly voluntaristic and
in the recent volume edited by Marina Galletti, socially decontextualized understanding of sacri-
L’Apprenti Sorcier du cercle communiste démocratique ficial ritual, an understanding which also, it
à Acéphale: Textes, lettres et documents (1917–1962); might be added, underestimates the necessary
rassemblés, présentés et annotés par Marina Galletti role that alea or chance plays in producing the
(1999). From this it is evident that Acéphale’s sacred. Eventually, Caillois also distanced himself
goals — “to change the torture that exists in the from the Collège. Bataille, alone of the three, in
world into joy within us; the Crucified into happy July 1939, attended the last session. In September
laughter; our old immense weakness into will to of the same year, all of its members withdrew
power” – were meant to be “communifying.” They from Acéphale. FRANK PEARCE

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 Collins, Randall (1941– ) colonialism

Collins, Randall (1941– ) tends to mean that the colonies eventually aim
Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsyl- at independence and self-rule – even if, as in the
vania, Collins has made important contributions case of some of the American colonies, this has to
to historical sociology, the study of networks, and be accomplished by force. We can – cautiously –
sociological theory. His work in macrosociology call this the Greek model, as it follows the basic
has been influenced by Max Weber, and he has pattern of Greek colonization in the ancient
developed a distinctive interpretation of Weber in world.
Conflict Sociology: Towards an Explanatory Science The other form of modern colonialism is closer
(1975), The Credential Society. An Historical Sociology to the old Roman model. Here a superior power
of Education and Stratification (1979), Weberian Socio- incorporates, usually by conquest, peoples of dif-
logical Theory (1986), and Max Weber. A Skeleton Key ferent ethnicities and levels of development.
(1986). From a Weberian perspective, Collins has Examples of this form would include the Euro-
analyzed the rise and fall of major civilizations pean colonization of much of Asia, Africa, and
and empires, and studied the conditions for capit- the Pacific in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
alist growth in Macro History. Essays in Sociology of turies. In this form, colonialism shades over into
the Long Run (1999). His most ambitious and influ- imperialism. There is usually an official ideology
ential study was on the global consequences of of “the civilizing mission,” whereby the colonizing
networks for the development of philosophy in power aims to bring up the colonies to the levels
his The Sociology of Philosophies. A Global Theory of of culture and material standards of its own soci-
Intellectual Change (1998). He has also used the ety. There is no expectation, in principle at least,
work of Erving Goffman to develop a theory of that the colonies will eventually achieve inde-
“interaction chains” to study such phenomena as pendence, though their people may well, as in
violence and sexual interaction in Interaction Ritual the case of certain French colonies, achieve
Chains (2004). BRYAN S. TURNER degrees of citizenship. Though the civilizing mis-
sion is offered as justification to the world at
colonialism large, to their own peoples colonial powers usu-
Often treated as synonymous with imperialism, it ally justify colonial possessions in terms of their
seems helpful to distinguish between them. Im- benefit to the mother country. They are expected
perialism refers to rule by a superior power over to be a source of wealth and power, and to provide
subordinate territories, but it is consistent, as raw materials and markets for the goods of the
with the Roman Empire, with the extension of colonial powers, together with opportunities for
citizenship to members of the conquered territor- investment. The fact that in very few actual cases
ies. The early forms of colonialism, as with the have things turned out as the colonizers hoped
ancient Greeks, could also give rise to more or has not prevented many people from continuing
less equal, self-governing colonies; but modern to believe in the benefits of colonies – the Nazis,
colonialism, which has given the term its domin- for instance, attempted a form of colonialism in
ant meaning, usually refers to a fundamental in- Eastern Europe, as did the Italian fascists in North
equality between metropole and colony, often Africa.
codified in law, and resulting in a basic depend- In the best-known instances of colonialism, the
ence of the colony on the metropolitan power. colonies are overseas, separated from the metro-
There have been two main forms of modern pole by large distances. But there can also be “in-
colonialism. In the first, inhabitants of one coun- ternal colonialism,” in which what are effectively
try establish colonies in another country, often in colonies exist on the doorstep of the metropole.
the process displacing or even exterminating the Such, argued Michael Hechter in an influential
indigenous inhabitants of that country. This was book Internal Colonialism (1975), is the case of the
the case, for instance, with the British colonies in United Kingdom, with the English the dominant
North America, Australia, and New Zealand; “colonial” power in relation to the “colonized”
though originally unintended, this also turned Welsh, Scottish, and Irish. A similar argument
out to be essentially the condition of the Spanish has been made about Russia in relation to its
and Portuguese colonies in the New World. Even eastward expansion, especially as regards regions
though it is clear that the colony is an off-shoot of such as Siberia. There is an obvious degree of truth
the parent body and remains tied to it in many in this conception, but the limitations of the in-
ways, the similarity of sentiment, habits, and pol- ternal colonialism model become apparent in the
itical attitudes between metropole and colony cases of Spain and Canada, where the regions of

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 color blind communism

Catalonia or Quebec do not at all fit the idea of commodity Fetishism

exploited “colonies,” whatever the protestations – see alienation.
of the inhabitants.
Colonialism gave rise in due course to decolon- communism
ization, especially in the period following World As a form of social organization and ideas about
War II, when most European empires shed their it, the term indicates societies in which property
colonies, with varying degrees of violence and is commonly and fully owned and shared. In this
usually under the pressure of nationalist move- sense, the only societies to which this definition is
ments. Decolonization was generally hailed as a empirically applicable have been pre-agrarian
victory for the principles of democracy and na- (hunter and gatherer societies) or early agrarian
tional self-determination, and in some senses stateless societies. This so-called primitive com-
therefore could be held to be the fulfillment of munism is said to have disappeared with seden-
the western mission, since the principles clearly tary living, economic surplus, and social status
derived from western thought and practice. But to differentiation related to material wealth. In Karl
many observers the triumph was hollow, since Marx’s stage-theory, history began with primitive
what took the place of formal colonialism was communism. Within modern state societies, forms
informal neo-colonialism. In this view, the col- of communal living with shared property have oc-
onies achieve formal independence and national curred, but for sociological purposes are not
sovereignty, but remain in many essential re- treated as examples of communism. Likewise, con-
spects as dependent on the former colonial temporary hunter–gatherer societies have escaped
powers as when they were colonies. This is shown this label in sociological theorizing, partially as an
in such matters as a narrow economic specializa- outcome of disciplinary struggles with anthropol-
tion, geared to the requirements of the economies ogy. In contemporary usage in the social sciences,
of the advanced nations, and a culture that is communism is often used as a shorthand for the
equally dependent on foreign, mostly western, political regimes of the twentieth century that
sources. Neo-colonial theorists point, as a telling were based on a diverse range of interpretations
parallel, to the situation in Latin America, whose of Marxist theory and doctrine. China, Cuba, and
countries were never formally colonized but North Korea are contemporary examples of soci-
whose pattern of development was in important eties explicitly led by communist doctrine.
respects dictated by the needs and interests of Where it is used as regime-type label, however,
dominant foreign powers, notably Britain and the the connotation deviates sharply from the ori-
United States. ginal theorizing of communism by Marx and
One should mention, finally, post-colonialism. Friedrich Engels, where it did not signify a future
Unlike the other terms, this refers mainly to a and desirable ultimate type of society (as inter-
school of cultural criticism and analysis con- preted by the Young Hegelians), but a “real move-
cerned with the conditions of societies that have ment” to transcend contemporary society
achieved independence, following a period of grounded in the present – for example in the
dependence and subordination as a part of colo- German Ideology (1845 [trans. 1965]) of Marx and
nial empires. Its most thriving branch to date has Engels. Therefore in Marx’s system of thought,
been on the Indian sub-continent, especially in the communism was no utopia. Marx’s concept
work of the Subaltern Studies group; but it is of communism is deeply rooted in philosophical
normal also to refer, for the founding texts, to debates, specifically the Hegelian concept of
such works as Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the time. Disagreeing with Hegel’s conception of
Earth (1961) and Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978). the Spirit and its role in history, Marx understood
Post-colonial studies cover a wide variety of fields, the transcendence of time and history as resulting
but are especially marked by their exploration from human action. Seeing humans as expressing
of the complex and often contradictory effects of themselves and their purposes, rather than
the interaction between the colonized and the merely reproducing themselves, when engaging
colonizers in imperial settings, and of the lasting in economic activities, Marx came to define the
legacy of this experience in the post-colonial workers as the agents of such transcendence. This
period. KRISHAN KUMAR proposition introduced a much-debated paradox
into Marx’s theorizing, because he had to argue
color blind that, at the same time as the material conditions
– see prejudice. of capitalist production brought drudgery and

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 communism communitarianism

misery to the workers, work itself was also the dissolved in 1876 it was followed by two more
source of human creativity and self-fulfillment Internationals. The political movement behind
for the laboring class. The crux of the matter for the International featured both agreement and
Marx was that labor time, not labor as such, was disagreement about the overthrow of capitalism
commodified in the capitalist mode of produc- from diverse progressive forces.
tion, thus leaving a residual for the self-actualiza- The history of social organization based on com-
tion of labor. As he argued, with what now munist ideology cannot be understood without
appears as great foresight, taking control of labor reference to socialism. While all forms of socia-
time becomes a paramount concern in class lism are critical of capitalist organization and the
struggle, industrial relations, and management resulting social inequality, not all variants agree
in capitalism. over a centralized role for the state and the eli-
Within this paradox, Marx – decisively for mination of private property as preconditions for
future generations of Marxian faith-based polit- a better society. Eduard Bernstein (1850–1932), for
ical systems – had carved out a charismatic role example, embraced Marx’s scientific theory but
for labor, in the form of collective proletarian found it at odds with the real development of
revolutionary action. This vision contradicted his industrial capitalism that showed an improved
evolutionary understanding of history, according standard of living and class inequalities far less
to which gradual progress within existing bour- polarized than anticipated by Marx. He found a
geois institutions (the fulfillment of particular pacification of class protests and institutionaliza-
objective material factors) would eventually bring tion of socialist and communist parties. Bernstein
about ultimate human freedom. Marx took the emphasized the role of democracy and advocated
concept of communism to mean the social move- social reform. A departure from Marx in another
ment uniting all revolutionary proletarians, but it direction was made by V. I. Lenin, who forged the
remains unresolved as to how proletarian auton- idea of the necessity of a vanguard party that
omy and consciousness, necessary to transcend would translate the interests of the workers into
the current conditions, can be achieved against revolutionary action. Lenin’s version of Marxian
the historical-materialist axiom of the theory theory stressed socialism as more than a transi-
that social existence determines consciousness tional phase: the bourgeois state would be elimin-
and not vice versa. ated while the proletarian state would be built.
Marx’s writings show incoherence in terms of Marx had anticipated, on the contrary, that the
his assessment of the possibilities lying in the state would wither away. He did not use in his
empirically existent working class during his writings the term “dictatorship of the prole-
lifetime. On one hand, he argued, the totality of tariat,” but subsequent ideologies and regimes,
the relations of production, constituting the eco- and commentators on them, used the term to
nomic structure, is the foundation of the legal– establish or express the supreme role of the com-
political superstructure, corresponding to definite munist party in state leadership. ANN VOGEL
forms of social consciousness. The working class
thus was locked into structures provided by the communitarianism
laws of history (see social structures). On the A social philosophy that favors social formulations
other, as he and Engels argued in The Communist of the good, communitarianism is often con-
Manifesto (1848) and observed in reality, he saw trasted with liberalism, which assumes that the
some societies at the eve of a revolution, and good should be determined by each individual.
hoped this would carry enough critical mass to To the extent that social institutions and policies
overthrow the ruling classes and deliver a whole- are required, these should be based on voluntary
some transformation. agreements among the individuals involved, ex-
Marx himself, after many years as a commenta- pressing their preferences. In contrast, communi-
tor on labor’s collective action, became the leader tarians view institutions and policies as reflecting
of the first International, which was founded in in part values passed from generation to gener-
1863 by labor leaders as a nation-spanning al- ation. These values become part of the self
liance of workers in pursuit of the replacement through internalization, and are modified by per-
of the current economic system with one of col- suasion, religious or political indoctrination, lead-
lective ownership of the means of production. The ership, and moral dialogues.
International became an active political threat to In the 1980s communitarianism was largely ad-
those in fear of the “specter of communism” vanced by Charles Taylor, Michael Sandel, and
the Manifesto had promised, and although it Michael Walzer. They criticized liberalism for its

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 communitarianism communitarianism

failure to realize that people are socially “embed- Communitarians pay special attention to social
ded,” overlooking that people can have a strong institutions. Several of these form the moral infra-
attachment to their societies. They lamented lib- structure of society: families, schools, commu-
eralism’s focus on the individualistic concept of nities, and the community of communities.
self-interest. Infants are born into families whose societal role
Asian communitarians argue that, to maintain is to introduce values and begin the development
social harmony, individual rights and political of the moral self. The role of schools is to develop
liberties must be curtailed. Some seek to rely heav- the moral self and to remedy moral development
ily on the state to maintain social order (for in- if it was neglected or distorted by the family.
stance, leaders and champions of the regimes in Communitarians emphasize that children
Singapore and Malaysia), and some on strong reared in well-functioning families and schools
social bonds and moral culture (as does Japan). will still not be sufficiently equipped for member-
Asian communitarians also hold that the West’s ship in a good, communitarian society. This is a
notion of liberty actually amounts to “anarchy”; point ignored by those social philosophers who
that strong economic growth requires limiting assume that, once people have acquired virtue
freedoms; and that the West uses its idea of legal and are habituated, they will be adequately
and political rights to chastise other cultures that guided by their inner moral compass. In contrast,
have inherent values of their own. communitarians assume that commitments to
In 1990, a new school of communitarianism was moral values tend to deteriorate, unless these are
founded. Among its leading scholars are William A. continuously reinforced. A major societal role of
Galston (political theory), Mary Ann Glendon (law), communities is to reinforce these commitments
Thomas Spragens, Jr. (political science), Alan in their members. This is achieved by the commu-
Ehrenhalt (writer), and sociologists Philip Selznick, nity’s “moral voice,” the informal sanctioning of
Robert Bellah and his associates, and Amitai others, built into a web of informal affect-laden
Etzioni who wrote books that, in 1990, laid the relationships, that communities provide.
foundations for responsive (democratic) communi- Within this context, responsive communitar-
tarianism. Key communitarian texts include Habits ians point out that, if a society has communities
of the Heart (1985) by Robert Bellah and colleagues, whose social webs are intact, who share a moral
The Spirit of Community (1993) and The New Golden culture, and whose members are willing to raise
Rule (1996) by Amitai Etzioni, Communitarianism their moral voice, such a society can rest its social
and Its Critics (1993) by Daniel Bell, and The order largely on moral commitments rather than
Communitarian Persuasion by Philip Selznick (2002). on the coercive state. That is, the moral voice can
Responsive communitarians, a group founded reduce the inevitable tension between liberty and
by Amitai Etzioni, assume that societies have mul- social order and enhance both.
tiple and not wholly compatible needs, in contrast In the same vein, communitarians argue that,
to philosophies built on one core principle, such while everyone’s right to free speech should be
as liberty for libertarianism. Responsive commu- respected, some speech – seen from the commu-
nitarianism assumes that a good society is based nity’s viewpoint – is morally highly offensive and,
on a balance between liberty and social order, and when children are exposed, damaging. For in-
between particularistic (communal) and society- stance, the (legal) right to speak does not render
wide values and bonds. This school stresses re- verbal expressions of hate (morally) right.
sponsibilities people have for their families, kin, While sociologists made numerous contribu-
communities, and societies – above and beyond tions to altered communitarian thinking, this
the universal rights all individuals command, philosophy challenged sociology to face issues
the focus of liberalism. raised by cross-cultural moral judgments. Sociolo-
While a carefully crafted balance between gists tend to treat all values as conceptually equal;
liberty and social order defines a generic concept thus sociologists refer to racist Nazi beliefs and
of the good society, communitarians point out those of free societies by the same “neutral” term,
that the historical–social conditions of specific calling both “values.” Communitarians use the
societies determine the rather different ways a term “virtue” to indicate that some values have a
given society in a given era may need to change high moral standing because they are compatible
to attain the same balance. Thus, contemporary with the good society, while other values are not
Japan requires much greater tolerance for individ- and hence are “aberrant” rather than virtuous.
ual rights, while in the American society excessive In the same vein, communitarians reject the
individualism needs to be curbed. claim of cultural relativism that all cultures

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 community community studies

command basically the same moral standing, and Journal, “there is a problematic inattention to the
do not shy away from passing cross-cultural moral less attractive, unjust features of tradition.” Amy
judgments. Thus, they view female circumcision, Gutmann (“Communitarian Critics of Liberalism,”
sex slaves, and traditional hudud laws (such as 1985, Philosophy and Public Affairs) pointedly re-
chopping off the right hand of thieves) as violati- marks that communitarians “want us to live in
ons of liberty and individual rights, and abandon- Salem,” a community of strong shared values that
ing children, violating implicit contracts building went so far as to accuse nonconformist members
into communal mutuality, or neglecting the envir- of witchcraft during the seventeenth century.
onment as evidence of a lack of commitment to Communitarians counter that behind many
social order and neglect of social responsibilities. of these criticisms lies an image of old, or total,
Communitarian terms became part of the communities, which are neither typical of mo-
public vocabulary in the 1990s, especially refe- dern society nor necessary for, or even compatible
rences to assuming social responsibilities to with, a communitarian society. Old communities
match individual rights, while the term commu- (traditional villages) were geographically bounded
nitarianism itself is used much less often. The and the only communities of which people were
number of articles about communitarian think- members. In effect, other than escaping into no-
ing in the popular press increased during the man’s-land, often bandit territories, individuals
last decade of the twentieth century. had few opportunities for choosing their social
AMITAI ETZIONI attachments. In short, old communities had
monopolistic power over their members.
community New communities are often limited in scope
Critics argue that the concept of the community and reach. Members of one residential community
is of questionable value because it is so ill de- are often also members of other communities,
fined. In Colin Bell and Howard Newby’s edited for example, work, ethnic, or religious ones (see
The Myth of Community Studies (1974), Margaret work and employment, ethnicity, and religion).
Stacey argued that the solution to this problem As a result, community members have multiple
is to avoid the term altogether. Bell and Newby sources of attachments; and if one threatens to
similarly pointed out, “There has never been a become overwhelming, individuals will tend to
theory of community, nor even a satisfactory pull back and turn to another community for
definition of what community is” (1974: xliii). their attachments. Thus, for example, if a person
Amitai Etzioni (New Golden Rule, 1996) points finds herself under high moral pressure at work
out that community can be defined with reason- to contribute to the United Way, to give blood,
able precision. Community has two characteris- or to serve at a soup kitchen for the homeless,
tics: (1) a web of affect-laden relationships among and these are lines of action she is not keen to
a group of individuals, relationships that often follow, she may end up investing more of her
crisscross and reinforce one another (as opposed energy in other communities – her writers’ group,
to one-on-one relationships); and (2) a measure for instance, or her church. This multicommunity
of commitment to a set of shared histories and membership protects the individual from both
identities – in short, a particular culture. David E. moral oppression and ostracism. A M I T A I E T Z I O N I
Pearson states:
To earn the appellation “community,” it seems to community enterprise
me, groups must be able to exert moral suasion – see social economy.
and extract a measure of compliance from their
members. That is, communities are necessarily, community studies
indeed by definition, coercive as well as moral, These studies are concerned with interrelation-
threatening their members with the stick of ships of social institutions in a locality. Some stud-
sanctions if they stray, offering them the carrot of ies encompass all such relations, while others (for
certainty and stability if they don’t. (“Community example Michael Young and Peter Willmott’s
and Sociology,” 1995, Society) Family and Kinship in East London, 1957) focus on
Critics generally suggest that those who long particular relations. Community studies tradition-
for communities ignore the darker side of trad- ally understand “community” as a space defined
itional communities. “In the new communitarian by multiple contiguous social networks. Studies
appeal to tradition, communities of ‘mutual aid often share a number of characteristics. They
and memory,’” writes Linda McClain in “Rights often use participant observation with the re-
and Irresponsibility” (1994: 1029) in the Duke Law searchers living in the locale, sharing some of

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 companionate marriage complexity theory

the experiences of the inhabitants, for whom they [a] genuinely analytic study comparing the stages of
consequently display sympathy. They tend to offer development of the ancient polis with those of the
detailed and lively descriptions of community life medieval city would be welcome and productive . . .
but may not be extensively theorized. Robert and Of course . . . such a comparative study would not
Helen Lynd’s classical Middletown: A Study in Ameri- aim at finding “analogies” and “parallels,” as is done
by those engrossed in the currently fashionable
can Culture (1929) charted cultural change and
enterprise of constructing general schemes of
strain in a “typical” American town, organized
development. The aim should, rather, be precisely
around six themes – “getting a living,” “making the opposite: to identify and define the individuality
a home,” “training the young,” “using leisure,” of each development, the characteristics which
“religious practices,” and “community activities.” made the one conclude in a manner so different
Many studies followed, one of the most famous from that of the other. This done, one can then
being W. F. Whyte’s Street Corner Society (1943), a determine the causes which led to these differences.
study of gang life in Boston’s East End. Commu- (1976: 385)
nity studies remained popular through the 1950s For Weber, then, comparison did not consist in
and there were several classical British studies drawing parallels and analogies but in exploring
including N. Dennis, F. M. Henriques, and C. the trajectories of social institutions in their irre-
Slaughter, Coal is Our Life (1956), but the method ducible differences and singularities (for example,
was increasingly criticized as a-historical, having Stephen Kalberg, Max Weber’s Comparative-Historical
an implicit model of functional equilibrium and Sociology, 1994). Here, as elsewhere, Weber’s debt
difficulty analyzing change. Ray Pahl’s six-year to Nietzsche’s conception of genealogy is unmis-
study of the Isle of Sheppey (1978–83), later pub- takable and perhaps remains one of Weber’s
lished as Divisions of Labour (1984), addresses these lasting legacies for empirically grounded theoriz-
criticisms by exploring changes in household div- ing (for example, David Owen, Maturity and Mod-
isions of labor over time in relation to broader ernity: Nietzsche, Weber, Foucault and the Ambivalence
social structural processes. But in a period of of Reason, 1994). ENGIN ISIN
high social mobility, internet communications,
and transnational networks, the notion of
spatially defined communities has become less complexity theory
central to sociology. LARRY RAY A recent development in social theory, gaining
currency through the last decade of the twentieth
century, this has been described as an amalgam or
companionate marriage “rhetorical hybrid” of a range of insights drawn
– see marriage and divorce.
from a variety of different fields, mainly in the
natural sciences, and applied to social relations.
comparative method Complexity theory is closely associated with the
It is rather paradoxical to write about comparative foundation of the Santa Fe Institute in 1984, an
method. All sociological method is intrinsically interdisciplinary research institute comprising
comparative in the sense that it either involves physicists, mathematicians, computer program-
explicit and direct comparison of time and/or mers, and systems analysts. It was also championed
space differentials or involves concepts that by world-systems sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein
were developed through such comparisons. Émile and Nobel-prize-winning scientist Ilya Prigogine
Durkheim was well aware of this paradox already (1917– ) in the Gulbenkian Commission’s influen-
when he argued that “comparative sociology is tial 1996 report on the restructuring of the social
not a particular branch of sociology; it is sociology sciences, Open the Social Sciences. The theory is es-
itself, in so far as it ceases to be purely descriptive sentially concerned with issues of order, adapta-
and aspires to account for facts,” in The Rules of tion, and feedback emerging from interactions
Sociological Method (1895 [trans. 1982]). But what between the different elements or parts of com-
exactly did comparison mean? Did it mean simply plex systems, from weather systems to business
to compare and contrast across time and space? organizations. While it has produced compelling
Did it mean to search for analogies and parallels insights in economics it is probably too soon to
across cultures and societies? Max Weber certainly say how fruitful it will prove to be in sociology.
opposed such simplistic comparisons. In a note on An essential point for complexity theory, as it is
method hastily added to his The Agrarian Sociology for realism, is that the properties, powers, and
of Ancient Civilizations (1909 [trans. 1976]), almost as effects of the system or entity that emerges from
an afterthought, Weber suggested that the combination of parts can be both greater than

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 complexity theory Comte, Auguste (1798–1857)

and different from the parts themselves. In Global Comte, Auguste (1798–1857)
Complexity (2003), John Urry explains this, using the A grand philosophical synthesizer who coined the
taste of sugar as an example. This taste is simply term sociology, he was the first to attempt its
not present in the prior carbon, hydrogen, and establishment as a science. For Comte, society
oxygen atoms that need to combine to produce was a rule-governed order of reality, irreducible
sugar. The flavor of sugar is thus an “emergent” to the individuals who comprised it, and sociology
property that results from the relational inter- was a fundamental branch of knowledge which,
action between the parts. It is a “nonlinear” conse- together with mathematics, astronomy, physics/
quence (one that differs from a “linear,” billiard chemistry, and biology, made up knowledge as a
ball, conception of cause and effect, in which nei- whole. Comte’s approach to sociology was com-
ther the ball that is hit nor the ball that hits alters parative and historical, aiming to understand
its essential properties) that arises from a transfig- how each type of society was institutionally con-
uring combination of individual components. stituted, and by what logic of development human
Complexity theory embraces insights from society passed from one form to another. Comte
chaos theory, sharing the latter’s emphasis on divided his sociology into a “statics” (laws of order)
nonlinear laws, but its focus is ultimately on order and a “dynamics” (laws of progress). The first
rather than anarchy. Chaos theory concentrates stressed the fragile relations between individual
on the disruption of order, on turbulent behavior and society, and the importance of family and
in complex systems in instances where nonlinear religion in securing the social tie. The second was
laws amplify the smallest of changes in initial organized around a “law of stages” according to
conditions, as in the classic example of the flap- which collective mental development, like that of
ping of a butterfly’s wings producing large an individual, passed from an infantile “theistic”
weather effects on the other side of the world. stage, marked by imaginary causes and anthropo-
Complexity theory is more interested in the com- morphic projection, to a hybrid and abstractly
bination of order and disorder that is produced by idealizing – “metaphysical” – stage of adolescence,
such emergent interactions, stretching away, as to a maturely “positive” stage where knowledge,
they do, across space and time in open and inter- understood to be limited, became soundly based
dependent networks. Institutionalized social pro- on the evidence of the senses.
cesses, from households to large international The rebellious son of a Catholic-royalist family,
organizations, are in fact conceptualized as Comte studied mathematics at the École Polytech-
islands of order within a sea of disorder. However, nique in Paris and later transferred to the École du
even these forms of order themselves, manifested Médecine at Montpellier to study biology. After
as they are in billions of repeated social actions, moving back to Paris he became Claude Henri de
are seen to be constantly changing and transmu- Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon’s private secretary
ting, as the tiniest of local changes in these from 1817 until their acrimonious parting in
repeated, iterated, actions generate “unexpected, 1824, and then supported himself through
unpredictable, and chaotic outcomes, sometimes writing, private teaching, and a part-time post as
the opposite of what agents thought they were a secondary school mathematics examiner.
trying to bring about.” Thus there are “pockets” Comte’s overall project was to provide the
of relative order existing within an overall pat- science-based (positiviste) intellectual and religious
terning of disorder, and the relations between synthesis he saw as needed to complete the work
the two are complex. The effects of any particular of the French Revolution by establishing a new
localized action within this context is said to be industrial form of society. He founded the Positiv-
highly contingent; they can be microscopic or ist Society as his main organizational vehicle
global. Relatively ordered systems that appeared which, following his conversion in 1854 (associ-
robust can turn out to be vulnerable, and the ated with the death of his beloved Clothilde de
reverse can equally be the case. Metaphors, from Vaux), assumed the explicit character of a church,
attractors and fractals, through implicate orders with l’Humanité as its god and Comte as its grand-
and self-organization, to autopoeisis and emer- prêtre.
gent orders, have been liberally imported from At the center of Comte’s attention was the post-
many natural and social science paradigms 1789 crisis of industrial society, with its unre-
and combined in an attempt to theorize this sense solved class and ideological warfare between, as
of “order on the edge of chaos” and guidance he saw it, one-sided partisans of order and pro-
without a guide. ROB STONES gress. Comte diagnosed the ongoing turmoil of

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 concentric zone theory conservatism

French society as a crisis of transition, which he to agree to sexual relations with her husband) and
tried to understand and resolve by seeking to this understanding could be expected of all
synthesize the secular-progressivist viewpoint of married individuals. The theory did not allow for
Étienne Condillac (1715–80) with the integralist differences in power in marriage (for example, the
social theorizing of Catholic counter-revolutionar- control of husbands over money) nor conflicts
ies like Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821). In all this, that might arise from distinct and conflicting
Comte followed Saint-Simon, but before advocat- interpretations of a particular conjugal role.
ing a specific program of social reform he insisted The very concept of a conjugal role, with its
on the need for preparatory intellectual work, implicit fusion of husband and wife (and its
beginning with the establishment of sociology. equally implicit expectation of the greater power
Sociology would not only provide politics with a within marriage of the husband – a power re-
scientific basis, but was itself an essential element flected in much western law until the 1970s),
of the new synthesis of scientific knowledge with- disappeared when feminism challenged the
out which the moral order appropriate to indus- masculinist assumptions of certain aspects of
trial society could not be constructed. Comte’s sociology and – with gay and queer theory –
six-volume Système de philosophie positive (1830–42) problematized previously held understandings
carried out both aims. His later work – including about sexuality and marriage. Empirical studies
Système de politique positive (1851–4) as well as his of the household suggest that many traditional
unfinished Synthèse subjective – was taken up with expectations about male and female behavior in
further developing his system, now centrally or- marriage/cohabitation persist but that these no
ganized around positivism as a religious and not longer have the social or legal legitimacy which
just theoretical project, and expanded to include the idea of conjugal roles once enjoyed.
feelings (with altruistic love as the highest), as MARY EVANS
well as knowledge and action, as organizing cat-
egories. Sociology, in this revision, was the the- conservatism
ology of Humanism, doctrinally anchoring an This is a political movement – an ideology with a
elaborate and grandiose plan for the unification set of principles that relate to human nature,
of l’Humanité through planetary federalism and rationality, and the role of the state and nation.
the establishment of a new post-theistic world It arises historically as a reaction to liberalism and
religion. a fear that the logic of liberalism points to notions
Comte is a relatively unexamined founding of universal emancipation that conservatives
figure of modern sociology. Ignored because of consider unrealistic and utopian.
his eccentricities, passion for systems, and sectar- Conservatism is not, then, a disposition or atti-
ianism, his thought, nevertheless, has strongly tude to life. This makes the notion far too broad. It
influenced classical and post-classical French soci- is often said that being a conservative involves
ology, as well as many philosophers and social a pragmatic view that if things are “not broken,
theorists from John Stuart Mill and Friedrich don’t fix them.” While a conservative disposit-
Nietzsche to Karl Mannheim, Gaston Bachelard, ion may involve an unwillingness to accept
and Louis Althusser. ANDREW WERNICK change, conservatism as a social and political
movement is much more precise than this (see
concentric zone theory social movements).
– see urban ecology. It is argued – particularly by conservatives who
follow the ideas of Edmund Burke (1729–97) – that
conjugal roles conservatism is too flexible to be an ideology or an
This term belongs to those sociological traditions “-ism.” But if we use the term ideology to denote
that assumed heterosexual marriage to be the merely a system of thought (and not an argument
normal status of adult human beings. Despite that is inherently dogmatic and authoritarian),
the fact that this pattern never accorded with all then conservatism is an ideology since it has a
known individuals in any society, it was neverthe- set of principles, and these principles become
less assumed that women and men would intern- clear when the doctrine is challenged.
alize sets of social norms about the behavior Conservatism sees people as naturally unequal,
appropriate to marriage. Each party was expected and therefore holds that people do not have rights
to acquire an understanding of both the rights that are universal. Why are they unequal? People
and the responsibilities of their role (for example, have differing innate abilities; they are brought
the husband to “provide” for his wife and the wife up in differing circumstances; some are more

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 conservatism conservatism

rational than others; they are influenced by the conservative critiques of the industrial revolution,
particular nation in which they live; and so forth. while demurring at the aristocratic “solutions” to
It is revealing that, although Margaret Thatcher is the problem. Charity is preferred to welfare rights
often seen as a “neoliberal” and a Whig, rather since the former relies upon the benevolence
than a true Tory, she argues that people are inher- of the few rather than the entitlements of the
ently unequal. In this, she is impeccably conserva- many. Support for private property must fit into
tive. It is true that “libertarian” conservatives of a hierarchical view of society.
the New Right pushed further away from trad- The state is favored as an institution (although
itional conservatism by extolling the virtues of of course conservatives may disagree on the
the “pure” market. They are better described extent of state intervention) on the grounds that
as anarchists – anarcho-capitalists – rather than people cannot govern their own lives, but need
conservatives as such. leaders and authorities to tell them what to do
The notion of difference for conservatives and think. The need to use force as a weapon of
expresses itself in the form of natural hierarchies. last resort accords well with the conservative ar-
Conservatives have interpreted the notion of gument that order cannot rest simply upon ra-
“nature” to indicate a differentiation in roles – tionality or persuasion. Some conservatives do
between men and women, “civilized” and “uncivil- not reject reason so much as a view of reason
ized” – and conservatives, for this reason, have at that is deemed abstract and liberal. Humans are
times opposed democracy, sexual (that is, rela- imperfect, and will harm others or themselves
tions between gays and straights) and gender unless social pressures including force are
equality, the rights of all nations to determine brought to bear upon them. Rulers are like
their own destiny, and so on. Nature is an eternal parents who have, from time to time, to chastise
force that promotes hierarchy and differentiation wayward children.
rather than equality and sameness. Religion is important for conservatives, since
Conservatism is not just a philosophy of “real- they are skeptical that people can act in an orderly
ism.” Conservatives may advocate radical change way without an element of prejudice and mysti-
in egalitarian societies that they deem “unnat- cism. God is conceived as a patriarchal creator, a
ural.” The status quo deserves to be conserved lord and master whom we should obey instinct-
only if it is conservative! ively (as we do our parents). National and
Although ancient conservatism (as among the local sentiments that differentiate insiders from
Greeks) opposed democracy and the rule of the outsiders, are seen as natural and inevitable.
“free” poor, in its modern form conservatism Historically, conservatism supported empire and,
takes its identity from opposition to the French in the case of Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81), con-
Revolution. Conservatives were particularly scan- servatives regarded it as the key to “safely”
dalized by the French Revolution because of its expanding the vote, and the creation of working-
beliefs in natural rights and universalistic notions class conservatives. Conservatives are nationalists
of freedom and equality. These were seen as ab- since they believe that certain nations are “natur-
stract – that is, propositions that ignored circum- ally” more preeminent than others and regard any
stance and context. Notions of emancipation and attempt to replace the nation-state with inter-
“perfectibility” are anathema since these concepts national institutions as dangerous and misguided.
ride roughshod over hierarchy and hierarchical Altruism, whether collective or individual, is
differentiation. something that extends only to family, neighbors,
Conservatives favor the concepts of family, and friends. Of course, the conservatives of one
state, religion, and nation. It is revealing that in nation will differ from those of another nation,
the statement so often cited by Margaret Thatcher even though, ironically, the mutual antagonism
– “there is no such thing as society” – she does arises from broadly shared principles.
speak of individuals and their families. The family It is important to differentiate conservatism
as a patriarchal and hierarchical construct is from doctrines of the radical right, like fascism,
favored by conservatism since it deemphasizes in- even though conservatives often supported fascist
dividual choice and stresses differentiation and regimes on the grounds that they were the only
inequality. This accounts for the fact that there is force capable of crushing socialism and trade
invariably a tension between conservatism and unions. Fascism is counterrevolutionary – creating
the market, since market forces are seen as a society that is quite new – whereas conservatism
eroding hierarchical communities and traditional seeks to restore traditional regimes and values.
relationships. Indeed, Marxism draws upon JOHN HOFFMAN

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 consumer society consumption

consumer society Zygmunt Bauman, also a principal theorist of

This is an ill-defined, but nonetheless popular, postmodernity, is the most eminent recent the-
concept gesturing towards the enhanced societal orist of consumer society. He maintains that
importance of the purchase of commodities and consumption has superseded production as the
their cultural meanings and significance, it impl- dominant organizing principle of society. Where-
ies a comparatively greater role for consumption – as industrial society engaged with its members in
in contrast with work and employment, religion, their capacity as workers, the consumer society
family, investment, or politics – in determining “engages its members – primarily – in their cap-
economic organization, cultural institutions, and acity as consumers. The way present day society
personal motivations and experience. In general it shapes up its members is dictated first and fore-
is a term with negative connotations, appearing most by the need to play the role of the consumer”
mostly in the course of critiques of the misuse of (Work Consumerism and the New Poor, 1998). The
affluence in postwar western countries. It is less consumer attitude becomes pervasive; that is to
frequently used than the term consumerism, say, people expect that their problems will find a
which is often considered one of its associated solution, and their needs satisfaction, through
properties. It has received much less systematic their capacity to purchase goods and services. Con-
scholarly attention than the concept of consumer sumption then becomes the principal means of
culture, a term with more ambivalent and poly- achieving social integration as a majority of the
semic moral connotations and which has pro- population are seduced by the promises of con-
duced its own distinctive tradition of research. sumer freedom. ALAN WARDE

John Benson, in The Rise of Consumer Society in

Britain (1994), summarizes the historians’ depic- consumption
tions of consumer societies as those “in which A somewhat nebulous concept which has only
choice and credit are readily available, in which so- recently been used extensively by sociologists, it
cial value is defined in terms of purchasing power remains primarily a topic of interdisciplinary at-
and material possessions, and in which there is a tention, with the related concept “consumer”
desire, above all, for that which is new, modern, more widely deployed, especially in economics,
exciting and fashionable.” But there is no consen- psychology, and marketing. Its growing import-
sus on the defining empirical features of a con- ance arose from observation that, in a context of
sumer society. There is also much disagreement material abundance, in consumer societies, focal
about when such a society might have first come interests in much of everyday life had been reori-
into existence, its origins having been dated vari- ented towards the possession and use of an in-
ously from the seventeenth century to the 1980s. creasingly wide range of goods and services,
In social theory, the term was promulgated most purchased through the market, but also
partly in reaction to economistic explanations many provided by the state.
of social structure and social change prominent The concept has two separate historic mean-
during the period of the revival of neo-Marxism ings. The first, and earlier, one had a negative
in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1970, Jean connotation – to destroy, to waste, to use up. In
Baudrillard published the French version of The political economy in the eighteenth century, a
Consumer Society: Myths and Structures (1970 [trans. neutral sense emerged to describe market rela-
1998]), a reflection on the contemporary role of tionships, hence distinctions between consumer
consumption. Arguing that the productivist and producer, consumption and production. This
concepts of Marxism – use-value and exchange- second meaning signaled concern with the
value – were inadequate to capture consumerist changing values of items exchanged in market
tendencies, he directed attention to sign-values. economies, rather than the purposes to which
Commodities are given meaning through a logic goods and services might be put. These two mean-
of signs. The system of consumption was like a ings persist in analytic and normative tension.
symbolic code or language, a basis for communi- Negative attitudes to consumption long pre-
cation rather than for the satisfaction of needs. vailed, Puritan and Protestant cultures in particu-
Baudrillard’s writing soon after took a postmod- lar displaying suspicion of luxury and waste.
ernist turn: indeed, consumer society is now T. Veblen coined the term conspicuous consump-
considered by some as coterminous with post- tion in his Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) to de-
modern society. His personal legacy is found scribe the competitive pursuit of social status
more in cultural studies of consumption. through display of possessions by a section of the

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 consumption consumption

American middle class. The Frankfurt School were for example for food, interior decoration, and
critical of mass consumption for its uniformity, music. Taste was shown to be a weapon in social
cultural mediocrity, and tendency to induce pas- conflicts, as groups and classes towards the top of
sivity. Modern modes of consumption were said, the social hierarchy used their economic and cul-
variously, to engender narcissistic and hedonis- tural capital (see social capital) to establish and
tic personalities, to reduce public participation, legitimate their privilege.
to be indifferent to the labor conditions under Another source of inequality is access to pos-
which goods are produced, and to cause envi- itional goods. A positional good is one which de-
ronmental damage. Such critiques were often livers value to its user for only so long as not too
associated with a more general critique of capi- many others also have it. Thus, the use-value of
talism, especially the fundamental process of an automobile decreases the more roads become
commodification. congested with other motorists. The distinguish-
Empirical research about consumption was rare ing symbolic value of a prestigious, novel, or
until recently, the main exception being the trad- fashionable product declines as others acquire
ition of research on poverty and inequality whose them.
roots lie in the nineteenth century. Access to Symbolically significant items attracting the at-
food, drinking water, and adequate health care, tention of sociologists of consumption include
still critical issues from the perspective of global possessions, cultural knowledge, and cultural par-
inequality, were tackled through state welfare ticipation, as well as preferences. As part of the
provision in Europe and North America through- “cultural turn” in the 1970s, attention was in-
out the twentieth century. In recognition, studies creasingly shifted from the instrumental aspects
of the material circumstances of private house- of consumption, from use-values, to the symbolic
holds were complemented in the 1970s by ana- dimension of the process, to sign-values. Increa-
lyses of collective consumption, examining the singly, consumption came to be seen as a means
extended role of the state in delivering income, by which individuals and groups expressed their
goods, and public services to citizens. If the modern identities. When combined with diagnoses of
postwar welfare state resulted in some overall postmodern culture, which stressed the fluidity
de-commodification, as provision through the and malleability of identity, consumption came
market was replaced or supplemented, the pol- to be understood as a key element in a process of
icies of the New Right from the 1980s gradually continually renewed self-constitution or self-
reversed this. One consequence was described as assembly. The slogan that “there is no choice but
the creation of consumption cleavages. Some to choose,” now frequently applied to consumer
people depend on public provision – for transport, behavior, captures the sense in which individuals
health care, housing, and pensions – while others are attributed with an autonomy previously
purchase these services through the market. To denied both by lack of resources and by the weight
the extent that state provision is of poorer quality, of group or community conventions.
which it may be because raising taxation to pay In tandem came a reorientation in the ethical
for expensive services for everyone is politically evaluation of consumption. Beginning in the
contentious, a new social division (arguably, 1980s in European sociology and cultural studies,
superseding class) emerges. Those entirely or the moral condemnation of consumer behavior
mostly dependent upon public provision are com- was increasingly contested. (The USA had earlier,
paratively disadvantaged, with some demon- from the late nineteenth century but particu-
strated effect on their voting behavior and larly from the 1930s, a much more optimistic
political attitudes. understanding of the cycle of economic growth
Differential consumption of goods and services and increased consumption.) The view of the con-
became of increasing interest in studies of social sumer as a passive victim of processes associated
stratification and cultural sociology in the later with mass production, of which advertising was
twentieth century. Pierre Bourdieu’s classic study the epitome, was countered by demonstrations of
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste how people actively and creatively engaged with
(1979 [trans. 1984]) demonstrated a strong associ- goods, appropriating them for their own pur-
ation between class position and cultural taste in poses. The importance of consumer social move-
France. He showed differences in taste between ments and associations, mobilizing in the name of
the commercial and professional bourgeoisie, the “the consumer” was also increasingly appreciated.
intellectual fraction of the middle classes, and the And as they flourish, governments claim more
working class. They differed in their preferences, frequently to speak and act on behalf of

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 consumption cleavages convergence

“consumers,” rather than of, say, classes, the

nation, or citizens, and political discussion
increasingly refers to consumer sovereignty, con-
sumer choice, and consumer rights. The discourse
of neo-classical economics takes prominence in
contemporary practical and ideological under-
For a somewhat facetious example, let’s say
standing of consumption. ALAN WARDE
that a researcher suspects that cigarette smoking
causes health problems. She or he recruits 10,000
consumption cleavages young children, and randomly divides them into 2
– see consumption. groups of 5,000 each. The experimental group is
required gradually to take up smoking in child-
consumption function hood, with the amount of cigarettes gradually
Rarely used in sociology, this term was central to rising to between 15 and 35 per day. The other
the macro-economics of J. M. Keynes, who was 5,000, the control group, are never allowed to
concerned with the relationship between expend- smoke. The researcher then monitors the health
iture for consumption and saving (and thus capital of the two groups over the decades. If the experi-
investment) in fluctuations in capitalist economic mental group tends to develop more medical con-
growth. The consumption function describes the ditions such as emphysema, lung and throat
relationship between consumption and income, cancer, and heart disease than the control group,
proposing that, all things being equal, consump- the researcher can conclude that smoking causes
tion increases in proportion to income, though disease and lowered life expectancy. The experi-
not necessarily instantaneously. Indeed, many mental and control groups are the same before-
conditions must be met for this relationship to hand, during the course of the experiment the
hold; stability of prices, rate of replacement of only difference is that the experimental group is
durables, availability of credit, and level of infla- exposed to the “experimental stimulus” (in this
tion all affect the decision about when and case, smoking), so that any difference in the end
whether to consume. The proportion of income must be due to (caused by) the experimental
devoted to saving also increases with rise in stimulus.
income; the poor being less able to afford to The control group is the group in an experimen-
save, and poor countries therefore having less re- tal design that does not receive the experimental
sources for investment. Subsequent work modifies stimulus and hence provides the essential com-
the Keynesian account. One alternative argues parator for the experimental group.
that the relationship holds only in relation to The essence of the true experiment is control –
permanent income: if income fluctuates from the researcher controls everything except the
year to year, expenditure levels will be set in an- experimental stimulus so that any difference
ticipation of long-run and predictable levels between the experimental and control groups
of income. This is the permanent income hypoth- must arise from the experimental stimulus. The
esis associated with Milton Friedman (1912– ). An- main advantage of the randomized experiment is
other alternative, the life-cycle hypothesis, that, if it is carried out correctly, the researcher
maintains that the age of consumers affects their can infer causality.
expenditure, with the young and the old spending BERNADETTE HAYES AND ROBERT MILLER
a larger part of their income on consumption,
less on saving, than those in middle age. Such convergence
accounts aim to estimate aggregate levels of ex- Identifying a tendency for societies to become
penditure and the savings ratio, indicators im- more alike, in principle on any institutional di-
portant to national macro-level economic mension, the term “convergence” has most usu-
management but of limited relevance to under- ally been applied to macro-economic and political
standing the social and cultural dimensions of trends, most notably in the work of Clark Kerr,
consumption. ALAN WARDE John T. Dunlop, Frederick Harbison, and Charles
Myers in Industrialism and Industrial Man (1960).
control group Their convergence thesis, an account of social
This term relates to classic experimental design, development much debated in the 1960s and
such as the pretest–posttest control group design, 1970s, maintained that there was a tendency for
which may be diagrammed like this: industrializing countries to develop similar

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 conversation analysis conversation analysis

institutional arrangements. They argued that “in- tion of social interaction, conversation analysis
dustrial systems, regardless of the cultural back- (CA), notwithstanding the name, is concerned
ground out of which they emerge and the path with all forms of spoken interaction, including
they originally follow, tend to become more alike not only everyday conversations between friends
over an extended period of time” and that they and acquaintances, but also interactions in med-
move towards a “pluralistic industrialism” where ical, educational, mass media, and sociolegal con-
power is shared between state, firms, and individ- texts, “monologic” interactions such as lecturing
uals. Consciously in opposition to Marxist and or speech-making, and technologically complex
conflict theoretical accounts of social structure, interactions such as web-based multiparty com-
the convergence thesis envisaged greater har- munication. Originating within sociology in the
mony and consensus as industrialization pro- 1960s and then developing with the privately cir-
gressed (see industrial society). Driven by the culated lectures of Harvey Sacks in 1992, CA has
so-called “logic of Industrial Society industrial- grown into a field of research that is practiced
ism,” causal priority was given to technology and worldwide.
the requirements of the industrial system. It was CA emerged from two intellectual streams in
anticipated that industrialization would produce sociology. The first is based on Émile Durkheim
similar patterns of division of labor and industrial and derives most proximately from the work of
relations, the separation of households from Erving Goffman, who argued that social inter-
work, urbanization, with rationalization spreading action constitutes a distinct institutional order
from the economic sphere into other realms of comprising normative rights and obligations that
social life. Hence, the social and cultural differ- regulate interaction, and that function in broad
ences between pre-industrial societies would independence from the social, psychological,
reduce. In many ways, this amounted to a predic- and motivational characteristics of persons. The
tion that all countries would eventually converge second is Harold Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology.
on a pattern established by the modern societies This stresses the contingent and socially
of the western world. This quasi-evolutionary ac- constructed nature both of action and of the
count has not stood the test of time. It has been understanding of action, and the role of shared
criticized for inadequacies of theoretical explan- methods in the production, recognition, and
ation; for its propensity to economic and techno- shared understanding of joint activities. The CA
logical determinism; for the implication that perspective was formed from a fusion of these
there is only one possible direction for the path two perspectives by H. Sacks and Emmanuel
to economic development, that taken in Europe Schegloff, who were in direct contact with their
and North America; and for lack of clarity as to originators. Within CA, the Goffmanian inter-
whether it is industrialism rather than capitalism action order structures the production, recogni-
that has the effects detected. Empirically, tion, and analysis of action as it unfolds in real
while industrial societies do have features in time, through the use of shared methods or prac-
common, they still exhibit very considerable vari- tices. This process (and its analysis) are possible
ation in their economic, social, and political ar- because participants reflexively display their ana-
rangements. It is currently more common to lyses of one another’s conduct in each successive
consider instead varieties of capitalism, seeing contribution to interaction. Correlative to this, CA
the prior institutional arrangements of countries starts from the perspective that (contra both Noam
as laying down different paths of development. Chomsky and Talcott Parsons) the details of con-
Nor does it appear that material inequalities be- duct in interaction are highly organized and or-
tween countries are diminishing, another condi- derly and, indeed, that the specificity of meaning
tion which would have to be met in order to and understanding in interaction would be impos-
achieve convergence. Though the convergence sible without this orderliness.
thesis is no longer invoked, some accounts of the CA research centers on the analysis of audio- or
effects of globalization make similar projections video-recorded naturally occurring interaction.
regarding the homogenization of culture, based Recording is essential because no other form of
on the worldwide diffusion of the production data retrieval is sufficiently detailed and accurate.
activities of large corporations. ALAN WARDE Naturally occurring interaction is essential be-
cause other forms of interaction – for example,
conversation analysis scripted theatre, role playing, or interaction in
A field of study concerned with the norms, prac- experimental contexts – are designed in terms of
tices, and competences underlying the organiza- the designer’s beliefs about interaction which

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 conversation analysis Cooley, Charles Horton (1864–1929)

bear an unknown relationship to the interaction Based on this framework, CA has developed as
order itself. Accordingly, CA practitioners regard an empirical discipline focused on a range of
naturally occurring interaction as the basic data domains of interactional conduct, including
for the analysis of interactional structure and turn-taking (the allocation of opportunities to
process. speak among participants), the organization of
CA proceeds at several analytic levels. At the conversational sequences, the internal structur-
most basic level, CA looks for patterns in social ing of turns at talk and the formation of actions,
interaction for evidence of practices of conduct the organization of repair (dealing with difficul-
that evidence systematic design. To be identified ties in speaking, hearing, and understanding talk),
as a practice, particular elements of conduct must story-telling and narrative, prosody, and body
be recurrent, specifically situated, and attract re- behavior.
sponses that discriminate them from related or Implicit in CA’s sequential perspective is the
similar practices. A central feature of this proced- idea that social action is both context-shaped and
ure is that the analysis of the practices used to context-renewing, and that social context is not a
perform a social action (for example, prefacing an simple “container” of social interaction, but
answer to a question with “oh,” or identifying a rather something that is dynamically created, sus-
co-interactant by name in the course of a turn) can tained, and altered across an interaction’s course.
be validated through the examination of others’ Similar conclusions hold for the relevant social
responses. identities of the participants, which are also acti-
Second, CA focuses on sequences of actions. In vated, sustained, or adjusted on a temporally con-
performing some current action, participants nor- tingent basis. This perspective has generated a
mally project (empirically) and require (norma- growing CA research presence in the analysis of
tively) the production of a “next” action, or range social institutions. Some of this research has inves-
of possible “next” actions, to be done by another tigated practices, sequences, and organizations
participant. Moreover, in constructing a turn that are earmarks of particular institutions or
at talk, they normally address themselves to their tasks. Much of this work has been descriptive
immediately preceding talk, and design their and naturalistic, but it has also been used in
contributions in ways that exploit this basic pos- explanatory or predictive multivariate models. Be-
itioning. By the production of next actions, partici- cause these analyses are internally valid in an
pants show an understanding of a prior action and “emic” sense, they have proved to be robust pre-
do so at a multiplicity of levels – for example, by an dictors of conduct, attitudes, and social outcomes,
“acceptance,” an actor can show an understanding and this use of CA is likely to grow in the future.
that the prior turn was possibly complete, that it JOHN HERITAGE
was addressed to them, that it was an action of a
particular type (e.g. an invitation), and so on. Cooley, Charles Horton (1864–1929)
Within this framework, the grasp of a “next” Rooted near his birthplace by the University of
action within a stream of interactional projects, Michigan campus, Cooley led an uneventful life
the production of that action, and its interpret- as an eccentric, renowned professor. A student of
ation by the previous speaker are the products of John Dewey, he helped introduce pragmatist ideas
a common set of socially shared practices. CA ana- into American sociology.
lyses are thus simultaneously analyses of action, Cooley’s Human Nature and the Social Order (1902)
context management, and intersubjectivity, be- set forth his famous notion of the “looking-glass
cause all three of these features are simultan- self ” – that the individual’s sense of self is
eously, if tacitly, the objects of the actors’ actions. “mirrored” through others. He propounded this
At a third level, practices cohere at various against prevailing utilitarian assumptions of the
levels of systemic organization. For example, the self as a natural given. His view of the self as a
turn-taking system for conversation is composed social product – that individual and society are
of sets of practices for turn construction and turn not separable, but different aspects of the same
allocation. The question–answer pair is organized thing – became a key stimulus, along with ideas of
by a large number of practices that structure the George Herbert Mead, to symbolic interactionism.
timing and internal organization of responses to Relatedly, Cooley called on sociologists to employ
maximize social solidarity. Evaluations of states of an empirical method he called sympathetic
affairs are structured by a range of practices introspection – investigating the consciousness
through which people manage the relative prio- of actors by putting oneself in their place. This
rity of their rights to evaluate them, and so on. formulation anticipated by generations the

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 corporate crime Coser, Lewis A. (1913–2003)

late psychoanalytic catchword of “empathic they get richer they can afford more of the good
introspection.” things in life like ice cream and lawyers? Or is it
In Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind because lawyers make an economy operate more
(1909), Cooley elaborated another key concept, efficiently, so that countries with more lawyers
the primary group, a core process at the heart of become richer? Or is the relationship spurious,
institutions where close, intimate, face-to-face and both lawyers and affluence are by-products
interactions establish common symbols and of a certain type of capitalism? We would need
meanings. His Social Process (1918) emphasized some more complex form of analysis than simply
how human plasticity leads to social change as a calculating the correlation to be able to under-
never-ending but fragile process of reciprocal stand that one! BRENDAN J. BURCHELL
change in self, primary group, and social defin-
itions. His pragmatist conception of the creative Coser, Lewis A. (1913–2003)
potential of social disorganization held that social Born Ludwig Cohen in Berlin, Coser left for Paris
dissolution of traditions generates virtues as well in 1913, where he studied comparative litera-
as vices. ture and sociology. He was arrested by the French
Other works include Life and the Student: Roadside government in 1940, but eventually escaped,
Notes on Human Nature, Society, and Letters (1927) and emigrating to the United States in 1941, where
posthumous papers, Sociological Theory and Social he changed his family name to Coser. Under the
Research (1930). A volume of selected writings, On guidance of Robert Merton and Paul Lazarsfeld,
Self and Social Organization (1998), was edited by he obtained his doctorate from Columbia Univer-
Hans-Joachim Schubert, who wrote an authorita- sity. In the postwar period, he became a member
tive intellectual biography. DONALD LEVINE of the circle of New York intellectuals and pub-
lished critical articles in Partisan Review, Commen-
corporate crime tary, and the Nation, and with Irving Howe and
– see crime. others he founded Dissent, for which he served as
co-editor. He founded the sociology department at
correlation Brandeis University and taught there for fifteen
Used in a number of more or less precisely defined years, before moving to the University of New
senses in sociology, in its loosest sense, this means York – Stony Brook, where he remained until his
that two variables are related. So, if we state that retirement. He was the President of the Society for
longevity is positively correlated with social the Study of Social Problems in 1967–8. He was
status, then we are saying that higher-status President of the American Sociological Associ-
people in any society live longer than lower-status ation in 1975. Coser received an honorary degree
individuals. A negative or inverse correlation from the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1994.
would mean that as one variable increases, Coser is well known for his contributions to
the other decreases. So, cigarette smoking and the history of sociological theory, including Men
longevity are negatively correlated. of Ideas (1970) and Masters of Sociological Thought.
In its stricter sense, correlation is defined as a Ideas in Historical and Social Context (1971). He
statistical test to determine whether two variables edited, with Bernard Rosenberg, Sociological Theory
are related. There are a number of different (1957). He contributed to the study of social con-
classes of statistic, and the choice of the appropri- flict in The Functions of Social Conflict (1956). The
ate type of correlation to calculate is determined principal influences behind Coser’s sociology
by the nature of the data, and whether it is were Max Weber and Georg Simmel who inspired
parametric or non-parametric. his approach to classical sociological theory, but it
Knowing that two things are correlated is itself was Simmel in particular who shaped his study of
interesting, but usually social scientists want to social conflict. Coser was concerned by the process
go beyond simple correlation and investigate of professionalization in American sociology,
cause before they can really state that they have which had to some extent undermined the im-
started to understand the relationship between portance of sociology as social criticism. He feared
two variables. Just the fact that two variables are that the dominance of empiricism and methods
correlated tells us little about the causal relation- would erode the substance and significance of
ships between them. For instance, there is a cor- sociological investigation. Coser was an influen-
relation between the affluence of a country and tial teacher of sociology, as illustrated in his
the proportion of lawyers in the population. Is this Sociology Through Literature (1963).
because people like the services of lawyers, so as BRYAN S. TURNER

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 cosmopolitan sociology cosmopolitanism

cosmopolitan sociology idea of “world patriotism” against the narrow

With the development of globalization, critics of nationalism of his day. It can also be argued
traditional sociology have argued that it was im- that the political economy of Karl Marx sought
plicitly concerned with studying societies that to understand the global economic process of cap-
were nation states, and hence, to become more italism, and through communism developed a
relevant to a global world, sociology would have to socialist version of cosmopolitanism.
change direction and become more cosmopolitan. Second, the globalization thesis may often
The conventional methodologies that employed, underestimate the resilience of the sovereignty
for example, comparative and historical research of the nation-state, and hence sociologists may
could not understand global flows of goods and be justified in concentrating on the United States
communication where national boundaries are of or United Kingdom or France rather than on
declining relevance. Ulrich Beck (2000) in Want is global networks. There is little evidence that the
Globalization? has spoken of the emergence of a growth of global networks of interaction and
cosmopolitan vision in the evolution of trans- communication have seriously undermined the
national society, calling for sociology to embrace political sovereignty of states, or that there is
a global understanding of an open world horizon. any prospect of global governance.
A similar stance has been taken by Anthony Gid- Finally, it raises methodological problems about
dens in The Consequences of Modernity (1990) where how exactly sociologists might study global soci-
he argued that classical sociology had been too ety. While sociology has developed a methodology
much focused on the social structures of the that is relevant, for example, to the study of social
nation-state, which was implicitly but inad- groups, cities, and societies, we have yet to de-
equately equated to the universalistic study of velop adequate methodologies relevant to global
society. society. The study of the internet is, of course, one
There are at least three issues which the notion promising area of research, and sociologists – for
of cosmopolitan society raises. The first is possibly example, in Chris Mann and Fiona Stewart’s
trivial, namely, did traditional sociology make Internet Communication and Qualitative Research
an unwarranted equation of society with nation- (2000) – have started to develop the opportunities
state? For example, while anthropological re- made possible by electronic communication
search had the consequence of promoting the systems.
idea of human diversity, nineteenth-century soci- Despite these criticisms, cosmopolitanism will
ology as a product of the Enlightenment embraced become an important research topic in sociology,
the idea of a unified science of society. Claude and the moral implications of cosmopolitan
Saint-Simon and Auguste Comte (1798–1857) duties will have important consequences for the
shared a common evolutionary view of society in evolution of sociology, which to some extent
which the new industrialism would bring about remains bound within its national frameworks,
the destruction of Christian religion, but Comte despite the emergence, for example, of the In-
saw sociology as a new science – a new “religion of ternational Sociological Association and the
humanity.” Positivist sociology promoted the idea International Institute of Sociology. While global-
of socialism to transcend both the social class ization is influencing the intellectual develop-
divisions of capitalism and the Darwinian struggle ment of sociology, the American Sociological
of the races. Émile Durkheim, as the heir of Saint- Association remains the dominant national insti-
Simon and Comte, saw the moral dimension of tution, and publishing houses still focus on the
socialism as a solution to the individualism and publication of work that is relevant to the English-
anomie of modern society. For Durkheim, the role speaking, western world. BRYAN S. TURNER

of the state was to provide some moral guidance

to society to compensate for the instability that cosmopolitanism
was engendered by the market in a capitalist en- Historically cosmopolitanism has two related
vironment. Because Durkheim belonged to the meanings. Firstly, a cosmopolitan is someone
Enlightenment tradition, his view of history was who embraces plurality and difference. In this
universalistic, and, while he was influenced by respect, modern cities are often seen as providing
British anthropology in The Elementary Forms of the the backdrop for the development of cosmopol-
Religious Life (1912 [trans. 1954]), his thought did itan sensibilities in that they house a number of
not incline towards cultural relativism. In Profes- distinctive cultures, ethnic groups, and lifestyles.
sional Ethics and Civic Morals (1992) he defended the A cosmopolitan is a polyglot who is able to move

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 cosmopolitanism credentialism

comfortably within multiple and diverse commu- “ordinary” or excluded populations. In this re-
nities, while resisting the temptation to search for spect, some have suggested that we focus upon
a purer and less complex identity. Cosmopolitan the emergence of cosmopolitanism from below
selves and communities, in this understanding, in respect of nongovernmental organizations
will thrive when the right to be different is re- (NGOs). (3) Finally, some have been concerned
spected. Second, a cosmopolitan is literally a citi- that the two meanings of cosmopolitanism are
zen of the world. This refers to a set of perspectives not compatible with one another. Despite the ac-
that have sought to jettison viewpoints that are ceptance of universal human rights, the rule of
solely determined by the nation, or their geo- law, and democracy, many communities remain
graphical standing within the world. excluded from participatory forms of democracy.
The political philosophy of Immanuel Kant Here there is a concern that universal rules fail to
(1724–1804) argued that a cosmopolitan democ- appreciate the difference in people’s identities.
racy should be developed to replace the law of NICK STEVENSON
nations with a genuinely morally binding inter-
national law. For Kant the spread of commerce counterfactual
and principles of republicanism could help foster – see explanation.
cosmopolitan sentiments. Kant’s vision of a peace-
ful cosmopolitan order based upon the obligation credentialism
on states to settle their differences through the “Credentials” are the key factors at the interface
court of law has gained a new legitimacy in the between systems of education and systems of em-
twentieth century with the founding of the ployment. Randall Collins’s The Credential Society
United Nations and the European Union. (1979) was an extension of his doctoral thesis on
More recently a number of political philoso- “Education and Employment” which coincided
phers have argued that Kant’s earlier vision can closely with the publication in 1967 by Peter M.
be revised to provide a new critical politics for an Blau and O. D. Duncan of The American Occupational
increasingly global age. A cosmopolitan political Structure. Belief in the acquisition of credentials –
response is required where national politics has educationally tested and graded capacities to per-
lost much of its power but little of its influence. form occupationally in commensurately graded
Globalization has undermined the operation of employment tasks – is a by-product of a techno-
national democracies as they are increasingly cratic model of the social function of education.
unable to control the flow of money, refugees, As Collins succinctly represented it, the model
and asylum seekers, viruses, media images, and assumes that “Education prepares students in
ideas and perspectives. Many have argued that to the skills necessary for work, and skills are the
begin to address these problems requires the main determinant of occupational success . . .
construction of overlapping forms of political Hence education determines success.” Collins per-
community connecting citizens into local, na- ceived that the de-schooling movement was an
tional, regional, and global forms of government. attempt to liberate education from credentialism,
The development of cosmopolitan perspectives is and that the early work of Pierre Bourdieu on
fostered by the growing acceptance that many social reproduction (which he linked with that of
of the problems that face the world’s citizens Louis Althusser on the reproduction of the class
cannot be resolved by individual states and are relations of capitalism) was also an attempt to
shared problems. The cosmopolitan project discredit the claims of technocratic and merito-
seeks to revive democracy in an age where it is cratic thinking. Nevertheless, neither critique suf-
increasingly under threat. ficiently emphasized the importance of cultural
There are three main criticisms of these argu- markets in distorting the transmission of occupa-
ments. (1) Such proposals are part of the liberal tional opportunities. Collins argued that even the
enterprise of state building and fail to appreciate civil rights movement in the United States failed
the power of strategic interests apparent on the to destroy the supposed legitimacy of an a-cultural
global stage. In this understanding, many have model of educational and occupational allocation.
been concerned that the United States (the world’s Disadvantaged groups sought to work the system
last remaining super power) will refuse, and even of credentialism, generating an inflation of
try to subvert, cosmopolitan institutions. (2) grades dubiously related to levels of educational
Cosmopolitan politics is an elite top-down version achievement.
of politics that will inevitably come to represent Collins argued that in the 1960s the credential
the interests of the powerful rather than more system went into a state of “explicit crisis.” He

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suggested that the credential system was caught the eventual codification of conduct into formal
between opposing forces. On one side the system criminal and procedural laws. Before the develop-
had become central to sustaining an economy of ment of such formalized codes, wrongs were dealt
excess productive capacity. On the other side, it with on an individual level. The norm was for
had become very expensive and relatively unre- aggrieved parties to settle disputes or to right
warding for many individual investors. A balance wrongs between themselves. However, as societies
remained possible but there was a potential crisis became more densely populated, urbanized, and
on either side. In the first instance, too organized, behaviors that violated the sensitivities
much growth in the credential market generates of the collective were handled more formally and
disillusion and withdrawal of material invest- eventually judiciously. Codification of unaccep-
ment, while, in the second, too little investment table behavior became necessary. This formaliza-
produces economic depression. tion of expectations established the boundaries
He suggested that different ideological pos- of acceptable behavior by which citizens were to
itions had been adopted about credentialism. abide. These violations of the social order have
The basic opposition was between what he called evolved into what is today referred to as “crime.”
“credential capitalism” and “credential social- Jay Albanese in Criminal Justice (2002: 13) asserts
ism,” but pressure from ethnic groups stimulated that “[c]rime is a natural phenomenon, because
“ethnic-patrimonial” or “patronage” credential- people have different levels of attachments, mo-
ism which, in turn, provoked “credential fascism” tivation, and virtue.” He was, no doubt, building
in reaction. He characterized “de-schooling” as a on the notion first put forward by Émile Dur-
form of “credential radicalism” but his view was kheim. Crime, Durkheim observed, is present in
that there were only two “honest and realistic” all societies and is seen as an integral part of
positions: either “credential Keynesianism” which “healthy” communities. In the chapter on “The
would recognize that education “creates an artifi- Normal and the Pathological” in The Rules of Socio-
cial credential currency” which does not assume logical Method (1895 [trans. 1958]), Durkheim
any precise occupational purchasing power, or, asserted that “what is normal, simply, is the exist-
preferably, “credential abolitionism” which would ence of criminality, provided that it attains and
force education to re-emphasize its intrinsic, does not exceed, for each social type, a certain
rather than instrumental, value. D E R E K R O B B I N S level.” He further defined crime as being actions
that offend certain very strongly held “collective
crime sentiments” (1958: 67). What makes crime
Societies have been concerned about behavioral “normal” for Durkheim and Albanese is society’s
expectations, disruptions to social order, and the inability to be exempt from it. In other words, all
protection of the natural flow of life since ancient societies experience transgressions, albeit in vary-
times. Ancient Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi is ing forms and varying levels of severity. The mere
the earliest evidence of a society that clearly iden- presence of crime across time and place makes it a
tified a set of rules governing social life. King normal and expected part of group living.
Hammurabi (1795–1750 BC) established a histor- Interestingly, once a society can identify tan-
ical precedent for other societies to follow. By gibly those actions that are disruptive, the pres-
drawing notice to his subjects of what he saw as ence of crime can play a unifying role. For
acceptable behavior, he laid the foundation for a example, if particular behaviors are seen as offen-
more organized, purposeful, and civilized social sive or threatening the greater social order, those
order. With varying degrees of formalization and behaviors will be barred, thus strengthening what
success, rulers have endeavored to protect their a group believes to be important defining charac-
kingdoms, albeit the wealth and power of mon- teristics of its culture. Violations that offend core
archs have frequently superseded the interests values and beliefs of a collectivity become the
and protection of their citizens. The key issue foundations for the formalization of codes of con-
here is that rules governing social life have been duct at a given point in time and place. The crit-
part of the social order of human communities ical issue here is that the behavior must offend
since recorded time. Violations of these codes of collective sentiments rather than the sentiments
conduct have also been part of the social fabric of an individual, thus differentiating between
and social experience since humans began living civil and criminal wrongs.
in social groups. While violations of social norms are a constant
Hammurabi was no doubt a prescient ruler. in all societies, the term “crime” is stubbornly
There was a lengthy period between his rule and recalcitrant to precise definition. It is a complex

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 crime crime

concept that has been the focus of criminological Three perspectives have been prominent in the
and juridical research for many centuries. Crime definition of crime, namely the legalistic ap-
is a concept whose definition varies across time proach, conduct norm, and conflict perspectives.
and place. The definition is dependent upon per- While there are other perspectives – as described,
spective, viewpoint, and perception. Within crim- for example, in John Hagan, Modern Criminology:
inology, there exist several competing theoretical Crime, Criminal Behavior and Its Control (1987) –
foundations, all of which construct different and these three approaches have been at the intellec-
distinctive definitions of crime. tual core of the definitional debate for some
As with any element of social science, context, decades. Undoubtedly, criminologists and others
perspective, and ideology play a significant part who study crime will never come to any firm
in the formulation of concepts, variables, and agreement or lasting consensus as to what exactly
their operational definition. Crime is a social con- constitutes a criminal act. Nevertheless, these
struct that reflects normative values, customs, perspectives or approaches do yield some
mores, and tradition of a given society at a given important starting points.
point in time. Definitions of crime are also re- Somewhat naively, crime has been taken for
flected in the political values and historical foun- granted as simply being acts that violate criminal
dations of a social system. For example, the law, the basis for the legalistic perspective. Wil-
medieval church played an important and in- liam L. Marshall and William L. Clark in their
strumental role in shaping and monitoring the essay on “The Legal Definition of Crime and Crimi-
morality of society, which in turn shaped what nals,” in Marvin E. Wolfgang, Leonard Savitz, and
was defined as criminal. For example, in seven- Norman Johnston (eds.), The Sociology of Crime and
teenth-century Europe, the criminality of witch- Delinquency (1962: 14), state very clearly that
craft was constructed by political leaders who “crime is an act or omission prohibited by public
were profoundly influenced by the religious com- law for the protection of the public, and made
munity. The practices of witchcraft and sorcery punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding
were feared and regarded as a serious crime in its own name.” Inherent in this perspective is
against the community, and as a result punish- the fact that laws are based on consensus. There is
ments were ultimately severe. Most jurisdictions general agreement as to what behaviors are repug-
have since abolished their statutes and laws nant and unacceptable. These are then reflected in
pertaining to witchcraft with the development of substantive criminal law. Crime is, therefore, a
secularization. function of beliefs and morality. Those actions
Another example of how community values which violate morality and general social mores
shape the definition of crime is the specific crime become crimes and are constrained by law. In
of theft. In western societies, theft is commonly theory these laws are to be applicable to all
included in criminal statutes. However, in some members of society, regardless of social class and
indigenous communities, there is no recognizable the personal attributes of individuals.
crime of theft owing to a longstanding tradition Marshall and Clark clarify the argument that
of community ownership. Because there is no crimes are public wrongs in contrast to civil injur-
legal tradition of private property, there is ies, which involve individual victimization. These
no corresponding formulation of a crime of theft. authors’ views on the legal framework of crime
Finally, religious doctrine also influences crimino- are not uncommon. In fact, from the Classical
logical and juridical perspectives on what is School through to the 1970s the legalistic ap-
acceptable behavior and what constitutes a crime. proach has existed somewhat in isolation, and
For example, the holy law of Islam, the Shari’a, is has gone without systematic challenge. More
deeply rooted in the religious practices and in- simply put, crime, according to the legal ap-
stitutions of Muslim societies, and the basic as- proach, is any behavior prohibited by criminal
sumptions of the various schools of religious law law. Elements that constitute criminal behavior
are reflected in the criminal codes of many Middle and that are codified in the law change over
Eastern and Asian societies today. However, in the time. This problem of social change emerges
United States and other western societies, there from the fact that norms, values, and beliefs
exists a philosophical and juridical doctrine that evolve in a given social context. Interestingly, at
mandates the separation of church and state. The various points in time, the norms and values of a
result is that many beliefs and activities that are given society may well conflict with legal statutes.
offensive to religious groups are not necessarily For example, in the United States during the
criminalized. 1920s, national and local laws prohibited the

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sale, distribution, and manufacture of alcoholic between the conflicting interests and resources
beverages. However, the existing laws did not of dominant elites and those of marginalized
quench the public demand for alcohol. Public social groups, thus setting the stage for constant
demand for alcoholic drinks is believed to have conflict.
contributed to the emergence and proliferation of Closely aligned to the conflict school of crimi-
organized criminal gangs. In the 1930s, social nology, definitions of crime within the conduct
pressure forced the US government to reconsider norm perspective are constructed in the interests
its stance, which led to the decriminalization of of the dominant class. In other words, the group
laws pertaining to the sale, transportation, and exercises power in such a manner as to construct
manufacture of alcohol. criminal laws to reflect their economic and social
Two principles of law are associated with the position and interests. Furthermore, laws are un-
legalistic approach. Under common law, the basis evenly applied in society. The poor and the under-
for many western legal systems, crimes are classi- class are most susceptible to unequal and unfair
fied as either mala in se (evil in and of itself) or practices and treatment before the law. Examples
mala prohibita (proscribed by law). Additionally, of this inequality are the harsh treatment and
under the legalistic approach, for a crime to punishments handed down for street crime, trad-
occur, it must have three elements. The first fea- itionally attributed to offenders from the poor
ture of any crime is that of a guilty act (actus reus). and the underclass segments of society. White-
The second feature is that of a guilty mind (mens collar offences, such as embezzlement and insider
rea). Finally, both of these must concur — the crim- trading, have far-reaching fiduciary losses and
inal act must converge with a culpable mental long-term implications for their victims, but they
state. carry with them relatively minor penalties in com-
Crimes are generally categorized as felonies, parison to street crimes. However, the treatment
misdemeanors, and acts of treason. Felonies are of professional and business leaders in the Enron
the more serious transgressions and are usually accounting scandals in the United States may
punishable by imprisonment for over a year. Mis- suggest a change in legal attitudes towards such
demeanors are considered less serious and punish- business crimes.
ments range from community-based sanctions According to the conduct norm perspective, def-
through to jail time for less than one year. Treason initions of crime are controlled by the wealthy
is an act against the state, thus reflected in and powerful people of position, not from the
Federal Law, although some state constitutions broad consensus of society. Therefore, crime is a
and statutes do contain treason definitions and political concept designed to protect the powerful
provisions. members of the ruling class. According to this
While seemingly accurate, the legalistic per- perspective, “real” crimes include economic and
spective does not address the complexities and political domination, poor and inadequate work-
intricacies of the conceptual problems surroun- ing conditions, violations of human rights as re-
ding crime. Therefore the reliance on the legalistic flected by racism, sexism, and imperialism, and
aspect only tells a partial story. inadequate opportunities for education, housing,
The conduct norm model for defining crime and health care, and unequal participation in
is perhaps best described in Thorsten Sellin’s the political process.
Culture Conflict and Crime (1938). He postulated Along with the conflict and conduct norm per-
that the norms and values of the dominant social spectives, the symbolic interactionist perspective
class are reflected in criminal law. There is, as a began to challenge the legalistic perspective from
result, a built-in opportunity for disagreement the 1970s. The interactionist perspective in defi-
and conflict between the dominant group and ning crime has its roots in the works of George
subordinate sections of society. Frequently, splin- Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, and
ter groups emerge that are based on racial or William I. Thomas. The tenets of this intellectual
ethnic criteria of membership, and as a result tradition hold that people act in accordance to
they formulate their own subcultures. From this their subjective interpretation of social reality,
situation, a set of conduct norms evolve based through which they assign meaning to things
on their own values, beliefs, and interests. There- and events. Individuals learn the meaning of real-
fore, society can be regarded as a collection of ity based on the ways in which others react, either
diverse groups that compete for scarce resources negatively or positively, towards those social def-
because they possess conflicting interests and pol- initions. From this reaction, a person re-evaluates
itics. The perspective is built around a division and interprets his or her own behavior in

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accordance with the meaning and symbols they racism. Finally, Hagan defines crime via a human
have learned from others. diversity approach. Related to the human rights
The definition of crime reflects the preferences perspective, an action is a crime as a consequ-
and opinions of people who hold social power ence of the social deprivations that arise from
in a given area. These individuals use their influ- oppressive and discriminatory situations.
ence to impose definitions of “right” and “wrong,” The determination of what exactly constitutes
“acceptable” or “unacceptable,” on the rest of the a crime has far-reaching consequences. It is not
population. As a result, criminals are those whom just the philosophical considerations that are
society labels as undesirable or as outcasts. The taken into account when trying to set the bound-
reason for this label is that they have behaved aries for acceptable and unacceptable social be-
in a manner counter to the norms and values of havior. The process of defining a behavior as
the rest of the group. Crimes are outlawed be- criminal is left to the legal scholars and crimin-
cause society or the group defines them as such, ologists to determine. However, the practical ram-
not necessarily because they are evil in and of ifications are important for policymakers. How a
themselves. society decides to respond to and enforce the laws
The interactionist perspective is similar to the is somewhat dependent on the perceived legitim-
conflict tradition in that people of influence de- acy of the existing law. For example, laws that
termine the boundaries of acceptable conduct. prohibit the personal use of marijuana have not
However, unlike the conflict school, the interac- been enforced to the full extent that law permits.
tionists in criminology do not assume that the Rather, the law enforcement community, in some
exploitative relations of capitalist society are the areas, has been implicitly tolerant of the infrac-
chief determinant of the disparity. By contrast, tion, thus giving it a degree of legitimacy.
interactionists argue that the boundaries of be- The study of crime has captured the attention of
havior are determined by moral crusaders, and many different academic fields. Many schools of
when morality shifts, so too do the criminal criminology have emerged over the past decades,
laws. Larry Siegel sums up the interactionists’ def- and in the social sciences the study of crime is
inition of crime in Criminology (2000: 20) by con- multidisciplinary, including sociology, psych-
cluding that “[c]rime is a violation of society rules ology, biology, economics, ecology, and law. In
of behavior as interpreted and expressed by a historical terms, criminology is a new member of
criminal legal code created by people holding the social sciences. Within these social sciences,
social and political power.” countless research programs have been conducted
Hagan in Modern Criminology (1987) identifies over the decades in order to understand the pro-
several additional ways in which the term crime cess of criminality, and how and why crime occurs.
can be defined. These definitions include: the The search for causal answers to the existence of
formal legal; social harm; cross-cultural universal crime has covered free-will arguments, biological
norm; labeling; human rights; and human diver- and genetic causes, psychological and sociological
sity. In line with the legalistic perspective, the variables, and more recently environmental
formal legal definition holds that whatever influences.
the state defines as being criminal constitutes a Eugene McLaughlin, John Muncie, and Gordon
crime. Social harm, according to Hagan, includes Hughes in Criminological Perspectives (2005: 8–9)
both civil wrongs (disputes between individuals) claim that crime is a “social fact.” Crime is a
and criminal actions (disputes between the state product of free will, meaning that offenders
and the individual). The universalistic interpret- make rational choices when deciding to engage
ation of crime assumes that there is no variation in specific criminal behaviors. This viewpoint is
in different societies. For example, the crime of compatible with the classical school of crimino-
murder is a universal violation in all societies. A logy’s founding fathers. Cesare Beccaria (1738–94),
crime can only exist when a society reacts to the a utilitarian philosopher, believed that people
repulsiveness of its consequences. The foundation exercise free will when they choose to engage in
of the labeling perspective therefore regards social any form of behavior, including criminal actions.
reaction to the offensive action as the most crit- He also argued that people’s choices could be
ical issue. The most comprehensive way to define influenced by the level of the corresponding pun-
crime is Hagan’s human rights perspective, in ishment, which should be proportionate, swift,
which any action that violates an individual’s severe, and certain. Another juridical philoso-
human rights would constitute a crime. This pher, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) postulated
would include acts of oppression, sexism, and that humans considered several factors before

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engaging in a particular behavior. Specifically, the self-gratifying actions in the absence of thoughts
hedonistic or “felicific calculus” measured various about how the behavior may affect others.
aspects of pleasure and pain, thus providing a The sociological approach to crime is by far the
framework for decisionmaking. Simply stated, if most common and popular among those avai-
the pleasure gained from engaging in the activity lable. These sociological approaches evolved out
outweighs the pain associated with it, the person of the weakness of biological and psychological
will engage in the crime. Derek Cornish and theories in their ability to describe and explain
Ronald V. Clarke in The Reasoning Criminal: Rational fully the occurrence of crime. Jay Albanese in
Choice Perspectives on Offending (1986) further de- Criminal Justice (2002) categorizes the sociological
veloped the idea of a rational criminal by explor- approaches to crime into four types: learning the-
ing the decisionmaking process of contemporary ories; blocked opportunity theories; social bond
offenders. Deciding on whether or not to engage theories; and choice-based theories, which have
in crime, the person considers personal circum- been discussed previously. Edwin H. Sutherland
stances and motivations, such as the need for in Principles of Criminology (1934) first posited that,
money, revenge, in relation to situational con- along with all other forms of behavior, crime is
straints or opportunities, for example the degree learned. Individuals learn how to behave by wat-
to which a target is protected, secure, or moni- ching others or through role modeling. In essence,
tored. The decision to commit the crime will those who commit crime have interacted with
take into account the risks of apprehension and others who have committed crime, thus learning
the threat of punishment against the benefits the process of committing the particular offense,
of partaking in the activity. It is a matter of per- including ways of eluding police, or improving
sonal choice, given the availability of attendant their criminal technique. Theories highlighting
information. blocked opportunities developed during the
Since the earliest foundations of criminology, 1940s–1950s, resulting eventually in the classic
biological causes of crime have also been assessed, work of Richard A. Cloward and Lloyd E. Ohlin
especially in the debate about “criminal types.” in Delinquency and Opportunity (1960). Crime, accor-
Cesare Lombroso (1836–1909) studied physical at- ding to these theories, occurs as a result of indi-
tributes of offenders in Italian prisons and con- viduals encountering structural barriers that
cluded that there were indeed “born criminals.” prohibit them from achieving culturally accept-
Other biologically related studies included works able goals through legitimate means. Travis
by Enrico Ferri (1856–1929) and William Sheldon Hirschi in his seminal research on the social
(1898–1977). In contemporary criminology, there bond in Causes of Delinquency (1969) found that
is a renewed interest in turning to genetics in the the degree to which a person is “tied” to society
explanation of crime. In particular, studies have directly reflects the probability of committing
focused on chromosomal abnormalities, chemical crime. In other words, someone who has a great
imbalances, and nutritional deficiencies among deal of attachment to a community, including
offenders. The research results of this approach feelings of commitment to others, to conventional
are mixed and inconclusive in their findings, but activities, and to a sense of moral values, is less
the resurgence in biological theories has been sig- likely to commit a crime.
nificant in modern criminology. The search for a A final approach to the study of crime is the
“criminal gene” is perhaps the most prominent environmental perspectives. According to Jacque-
feature of this resurgence. line Schneider in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Socio-
Psychological approaches to the study of crime logy (2006), environmental criminology is a
examine how and why the mind operates and theoretical tradition that examines crime in rela-
therefore influences individuals to commit crime. tion to its physical setting. Anthony Bottoms and
Historically, the ideas of Sigmund Freud were in- Paul Wiles in “Environmental Criminology,” in
fluential in suggesting a variety of conditions, the Oxford Handbook of Criminology (2002), also
such as the weakened ego or superego structures, claim that environmental criminology, rooted
that fail to contain the urges of the id, in the theoretically in human and social ecology, studies
explanation of criminal behavior. In addition to crime, criminality, and victimization in relation
the psychoanalytical approach, cognitive theories to place, space, and the interaction between the
approach crime slightly differently. Cognitive two. Of particular concern to environmental crim-
theorists believe that crime occurs as a result inologists is the manner in which criminal op-
of a particular pattern of thinking, which portunities are generated by the characteristics
often includes short-term, self-indulgent, and and attributes of the physical setting. The overall

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aim is to identify methods by which to alter these justice or a moral panic regarding particular
spatial characteristics in order to reduce criminal crimes. The shape of the criminal justice system
opportunities at various points in time. Although may also be influenced by business and public-
environmental criminology has been historically employee organizations, which have a major stake
under-utilized within mainstream criminology, in criminal justice issues. Although legislators and
the perspective has been gaining prominence other elected officials are not involved in individ-
since the 1970s. ual cases, they are involved in the formulation of
Pat Brantingham and Paul Brantingham in En- criminal laws and criminal justice policy, and this
vironmental Criminology (1991) observe that crime necessarily has a major impact on the way in
has four determinants: law; offenders; targets; which a system functions.
and places. Classical criminology has focused on Other institutions may also affect the oper-
the legal aspects, while the positivists have con- ations and policy of criminal justice. In Europe,
centrated their work on the offenders and their for example, the European Court of Human Rights
motivations. Environmental criminology ad- serves to protect the rights and liberties of indi-
dresses the last two determinants, targets and viduals within Europe. In this sense, the European
places. JACQUELINE SCHNEIDER Court serves as a final appeal court for those dealt
with within European criminal justice systems.
criminal justice system There have been longstanding debates about
This refers to a set of legal and social institutions how far agencies of the criminal justice system
established to enforce the criminal law in accord- cooperate, how far they have a shared vision, and
ance with defined procedural rules and limita- how far they might be said to serve as a smooth-
tions in any one country, society, or subdivision functioning system rather than as a series of
of a society. loosely connected agencies. In this sense, we may
There are generally four key elements in a crimi- distinguish between agency-specific functions and
nal justice system: (1) law enforcement – involving the goals of the system as a whole. Existing
the police, prosecution, and defense, which deal systems include some ancient components (for
with offenders from the stage of reporting of a example, jury trials) and some which are of recent
crime and arrest to prosecution in court; (2) the origin (for example, specialized drug courts).
courts – which normally make decisions about pre- There are many variations in criminal justice
trial detention, adjudicate on the guilt of offenders, systems around the world. Crime, guilt, and
and decide on sentences for those convicted; (3) the punishment are conceived and dealt with very
penal system (or department of corrections) – which differently according to the laws and cultures
involves fine enforcement through the courts, and of different countries. The operation of any one
the delivery of penalties through community-based criminal justice system inevitably raises issues of
penalties and intermediate sanctions such as fairness and equality, rights, and responsibilities.
supervision, probation, and prisons, jails, or re- Crime control (with a focus on repressing criminal
formatories. In addition, parole agencies or boards conduct) and due process (with a focus on the
determine whether or not offenders might be re- inviolability of legal rules and procedures so as
leased from custody early and under what condi- to protect the offender and victim from the arbi-
tions; (4) the fourth element of criminal justice trary exercise of power) have been presented as
concerns crime prevention – which, in addition to alternative models of criminal justice by Herbert
the agencies already mentioned, often involves a Packer in The Limits of the Criminal Sanction (1968) as
local or regional unit of government and a wider if systems are one or the other, but often criminal
group of agencies which address broad social and justice systems are a mixture of these values or
structural conditions that may lead to crime completely different.
(for example, drug addiction help sources and In Australia and New Zealand, for example,
housing advisory services). In addition, there are crimes are perceived as community conflicts and
numerous other agencies whose work involves resolved outside the formal criminal justice
criminal law enforcement: vehicle licensing agen- system via local restorative justice mechanisms
cies, tax authorities, and transport authorities, for which involve local families and communities
example. meeting to resolve the conflicts and find informal
The criminal justice system in each jurisdiction ways of repairing the harm done. Such approaches
undergoes periodic change, most often following (sometimes known as family-group conferencing)
a change in government and ideological direction, are commonly used by indigenous populations.
or following media attention to a miscarriage of Increasingly, criminal justice systems across the

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world are expressing interest in the possibility of Criminology: Theory and Context (1996), regardless of
adopting and adapting elements of this approach which underlying perspective is utilized, is to “un-
as an adjunct to the formal system. ravel, or deconstruct, the concept of crime.”
LORAINE GELSTHORPE The study of crime could be said to have origin-
ated with theologians, who equated criminal be-
criminal statistics havior with sin, demonic influences, or witchcraft.
– see crime. Transgressions were investigated and found to
have causes firmly rooted in the dark workings
criminology of the netherworld. Clergy were the obvious
The study of crime has a longstanding and rich choice to turn to for intervention, becoming
history. In its earliest days, criminology was responsible for purging society from evil doings
thought to encompass any study that pertained (that is crime) by way of very harsh methods, such
to the problem of crime. This simple description as exorcisms and trials by fire. After this period of
was born out of a fundamental desire to know religious influence, came two defining periods
more about deviant behavior, those actions that that shaped today’s criminology: the Classical
violated social norms and mores. Today, crimin- School and the Positivist School.
ology is an advanced theoretical field of study Foundations for modern criminological
pertaining to crime, criminal events, the actors — thought were laid down during the eighteenth
offenders, victims, and those who respond to century with the seminal works of Cesare Beccaria
crime – the etiology of crime, legal foundations (1738–94) and Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), thus
and parameters, and societal reactions to crime. creating the Classical School of Criminology. De-
However, the definition, while accurate, is some- veloped during a time where individual rights and
what misleading and seemingly uncomplicated. interests were competing against those of the
Reality tells us another story. Criminology is not states, most of Beccaria’s and Bentham’s writing
simply a science left to criminologists. There are a revolved around the need for reformation of the
number of related disciplines, with varied inter- criminal justice system. In other words, they were
ests and perspectives, associated with this particu- advocates for structural changes that ended the
lar social science. Criminology is firmly rooted in arbitrary application of laws and severe punish-
sociology, but is also studied by anthropologists, ments. Instead, Beccaria and Bentham called for
biologists, psychologists, economists, political sci- the universal application of laws to all society’s
entists, and legal scholars, among others. Crimin- citizens, thus providing equal protection before
ology has been described by Eugene McLaughlin, the law. Following this, they called for proportion-
John Muncie, and Gordon Hughes in their edited ate punishment. The utilitarian ideal of propor-
volume Criminological Perspectives (2003) as “a ‘site’ tionality meant that punishment was determined
of contested meaning where competing theoret- by the severity of the crime committed, not on the
ical perspectives meet.” Owing to the diverse individual characteristics of the offender. This
nature of those involved in the study of crime, idea provides the foundation for most criminal
the literature is often rich with discussion, debate, justice systems worldwide, thus leaving the clas-
and interpretation. sical school’s ideological mark on modern society.
Modern criminology is faced with multiple Prevention was another guiding principle of the
areas of focus, thus making it a truly multidis- Classical School. Feeling that prevention is far
ciplinary field of study. The particular focus of preferable to punishment, the philosophers put
criminology is dependent on the perspective forth the idea that social systems of control must
taken. Generally speaking, criminology: describes take into account the rationality of people. Bec-
and analyzes the extent, nature, and distribution caria and Bentham believed that free will guided
of the various forms of crime, offenders, and behavior and that decisions to violate laws were
victims; analyzes causes of crime with the aim of calculated in accordance to hedonistic tendencies.
forwarding theoretical constructs; studies formu- People wanted to experience pleasure and avoid
lation of criminal law; studies the processes of pain; therefore individual decisions were based
justice, including police, adjudication, and pun- on the probability of detection, and of being pu-
ishment; evaluates policy responses and initia- nished, set against the pleasure gained by partak-
tives; and evaluates social reactions to crime. ing in the offending activity.
Given the large undertaking, the great task of all The classical school ended a system of arbitrar-
criminology, according to John Tierney in his book ily applied justice and punishment. It also

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 criminology critical race theory

provided a new way of examining theories of crim- the idea that an array of social factors impacted
inality that acknowledge the free will of partici- behavior. In other words, a range of social
pants. However, this school falls short in its factors caused or determined the course of action
undertakings by failing to acknowledge external an individual took.
forces that may well influence criminal behavior, The legacy of the positivists is the use of sci-
for example, social stratification and inequality, entific methodology to frame criminological en-
thus providing a foundation for a new paradigm quiry. However, this school is not without its
to evolve. shortcomings. While the utilization of scientific
The origin of the positivist tradition in crimin- method is preferable to conjecture, there exists
ology in the late nineteenth century is often asso- the possibility of the misapplication of technique
ciated with the work of Cesare Lombroso (1835– and misinterpretation, thus resulting in mislead-
1909), whose main contribution to the field was ing conclusions.
the measurement of physical characteristics of Other criticisms of the Positivists relate to the
Italian prisoners. It is important to note that, definition of the term “crime.” Conflict crimino-
while the Positivist School rejected the free will logy emerged in response to positivists’ claim that
philosophies of the Classical School in favor of an underlying consensus existed regarding the
determinism, the most important contribution nature and meaning of the concept of “crime.”
of the new school was the step-change in ideology Rather, conflict criminologists believe that state
that was characterized by the drive to measure interests and the interests of the powerful deter-
empirically those phenomena associated with mine the definitional parameters of the concept.
crime. While Lombroso’s work is largely acknow- This skewed viewpoint puts those already at the
ledged as the starting point, the quest to measure margins of society at risk for further disadvantage.
social phenomena can be traced to the work of Additionally, critics believe that, all too often,
French and Belgian statisticians in the 1820s. For positivists ignore the relevance of cultural dif-
example, Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874) found pre- ferences, as well as varying value systems that
dictability in the distribution of crime and crime underpin the concept of crime. The power of crim-
rates within French society. Therefore, the key aim inology is in its ability to “travel.” In other words,
of the Positivist School was to quantify observa- theories, strategies, and criminological and crim-
tions. Measuring phenomena provided data upon inal justice policy generated in one country are
which investigators could make inferences about increasingly exported to other countries. The in-
causal relationships. Empirical evidence obtained fluence is not just in the empirical research, but
via methods used in the natural sciences not only also in the language and conceptual framework.
provided an avenue for theorists to advance their These can have a profound impact on politicians,
work, but also gave to the field of inquiry scien- policymakers, and government officials, not to
tific respectability. mention those who are afflicted by crime, as well
The work of Lombroso, Enrico Ferri (1856–1929), as the general citizenry. However, it is ultimately
and William Sheldon (1898–1977) into physical important to gain a firm understanding about the
characteristics and body types highlighted the values, culture, and social expectations within a
Positivist School’s contributions to criminology. given society before setting forth to seek causal
Lombroso, referred to as the father of criminology, explanations for crime. JACQUELINE SCHNEIDER
was a physician employed by the Italian penal
system, who noted the physical characteristics of
those imprisoned, thus putting forth the idea of a critical race theory
criminal type. Running parallel with the work of Critical of liberal theories of rights, especially in
Charles Darwin, Lombroso’s scientific observa- the area of race and ethnicity, this theory evolved
tions of the physical characteristics of prisoners initially in legal theory in the post-civil-rights era.
made generalizations about criminality possible. Critical race theory (CRT) attacked the color-blind
Going beyond the examination of body types approaches to justice that were typical of the early
and their connection to criminality, the Positivist days of reform. In fact, lack of significant progress
School also focused on isolating the differences in social reform for black Americans was the main
between criminals and non-criminals in terms of force behind critical race theory. Many leading
psychological, social, and economic factors. Posi- black American intellectuals, such as Cornel
tivists disregard the notion of free will, as for- West in Race Matters (1993), criticized the hollow
warded by the classical criminologists, in favor of promises of liberal reform and argued that there

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was a cynical if implicit acceptance of racial racism in European societies has had a somewhat
hierarchy and inequality in the distribution of different history. BRYAN S. TURNER
economic wealth and power in the United States.
In an influential article, D. A. Bell in “Remem- critical theory
brance of Racism Past. The Civil Rights Decline,” in This phrase operates implicitly as a code for the
J. Hill and J. E. Jones (eds.), Race in America. The quasi-Marxist theory of society of a group of inter-
Struggle for Equality (1993: 73–82), outlined three disciplinary social theorists collectively known as
shortcomings of existing liberal philosophies of the Frankfurt School. The term Frankfurt School
race. First, the Constitution rewarded property refers to the work of members of the Institut für
over claims for justice. Second, whites support Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research)
racial reform only when it is in their self interest; that was established in Frankfurt, Germany, in
and finally, whites will not support reform if it is a 1923 as the first Marxist-oriented research center
challenge to their social status. CRT had its affiliated with a major German university. Under
origins in jurisprudential debates about justice, its director, Carl Grünberg (1861–1940), the Insti-
but it has also had an impact on educational tute’s work in the 1920s tended to be empirical,
theory and practice, where it is argued – for historical, and oriented towards problems of the
example by W. F. Tate in “Critical Race Theory” European working-class movement.
(1996: 201–47), and by J. A. Banks in “The Histor- Max Horkheimer became director of the Insti-
ical Reconstruction of Knowledge about Race” tute in 1930, and gathered around him many tal-
(1995: 4–17) – that a restrictive interpretation of ented theorists, including Erich Fromm, Franz
anti-discrimination laws limits the progress and Neumann (1900–54), Herbert Marcuse, and Theo-
educational attainment of African-Americans. CRT dor Wiesengrund Adorno. Under Horkheimer,
has also begun to influence theories of multicul- the Institute sought to develop an interdisciplin-
turalism, where the liberal agenda does not ary social theory that could serve as an instrument
appear to have been successful from the perspec- of social transformation. The work of this era was
tive of black America. a synthesis of philosophy and social theory, com-
CRT has a number of distinguishing features. It bining sociology, psychology, Cultural studies,
has been critical of the traditional binary division and political economy.
between “black” and “white,” especially where The first major Institute project in the Horkhei-
blacks have “race” as a biological category and mer period was a systematic study of authority, an
whites have “ethnicity” as a social category. It investigation into individuals who submitted to
has welcomed sociological studies of the law be- irrational authority in authoritarian regimes.
cause conventional jurisprudence has often neg- This culminated in a two-volume work, Studien
lected the social conditions that determine über Autorität und Familie (1936), and a series of
injustice. It has taken a more positive view of studies of fascism, including Adorno, Else Frenkel–
victims in giving recognition to the personal nar- Brunswik, and Daniel J. Levinson, The Authoritarian
ratives of the oppressed. For example, M. Matsuda, Personality (1950). Most members were both Jews
R. Delgado, and K. Crenshaw, in Words That Wound and Marxist radicals and were forced to flee
(1993), explored victims’ narratives to understand Germany after Hitler’s ascendancy to power. The
the connections between hate speech, the law, majority emigrated to the United States and the
and racial violence. Like African-American Studies, Institute became affiliated with Columbia Univer-
CRT has encouraged interdisciplinary and com- sity from 1931 until 1949, when it returned to
parative studies of racial oppression, such as Frankfurt.
Howard Winant’s The World Is a Ghetto (2001). From 1936 to the present, the Institute has re-
There are several valuable introductions to CRT, ferred to its work as the “critical theory of soci-
such as Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s Crit- ety.” For many years, “critical theory” was
ical Race Theory. The Cutting Edge (2nd edn., 2000) distinguished by its attempt to found a radical
and K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, and K. interdisciplinary social theory rooted in Hegelian–
Thomas (eds.), Critical Race Theory. The Key Writings Marxian dialectics, historical materialism, and
that Formed the Moment (1995). Although CRT has the critique of political economy. Members
been influential in law and pedagogy, it has argued that Marx’s concepts of the commodity,
been less prominent in the sociology of race and money, value, exchange, and fetishism character-
ethnicity. It appears to have had relatively little ize not only the capitalist economy but also
impact outside the United States, possibly because social relations under capitalism, where human

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relations and all forms of life are governed by what promised to be instruments of truth and
commodity and exchange relations and values. liberation into tools of domination. In their scen-
Critical theory produced theoretical analysis of ario, science and technology had created horrific
the transformation of competitive capitalism into tools of destruction and death, culture was com-
monopoly capitalism and fascism, and hoped to modified into products of a mass-produced cul-
be part of a historical process through which cap- ture industry, and democracy terminated in
italism would be replaced by socialism. Horkhei- fascism, in which masses chose despotic and
mer claimed that: “The categories which have demagogic rulers. Moreover, in their extremely
arisen under its [traditional theory’s] influence pessimistic vision, individuals were oppress-
criticize the present. The Marxist categories of ing their own bodies and renouncing their own
class, exploitation, surplus value, profit, impover- desires as they assimilated and made their
ishment, and collapse are moments of a concep- own repressive beliefs and allowed themselves to
tual whole whose meaning is to be sought, not in be instruments of labor and war.
the reproduction of the present society, but in its Sharply criticizing enlightenment scientism
transformation to a correct society” (“Traditional and rationalism, as well as systems of social dom-
and Critical Theory,” 1972: 218). Critical theory is ination, Adorno and Horkheimer implicated, how-
thus motivated by an interest in emancipation ever implicitly, Marxism within the “dialectic of
and is a philosophy of social practice engaged in enlightenment” since it too affirmed the primacy
“the struggle for the future.” Critical theory must of labor, instrumentalized reason in its scientism
remain loyal to the “idea of a future society as the and celebration of “socialist production,” and
community of free human beings, in so far as such shared in western modernity and the domin-
a society is possible, given the present technical ation of nature. After World War II, Adorno,
means” (230). Horkheimer, and Frederik Pollock returned to
In a series of studies carried out in the 1930s, Frankfurt to reestablish the Institute in Germany,
the Institute for Social Research developed theor- while Lowenthal, Marcuse, and others remained
ies of monopoly capitalism, the new industrial in the United States.
state, the role of technology and giant corpor- In Germany, Adorno, Horkheimer, and their as-
ations in monopoly capitalism, the key roles of sociates published a series of books and became a
mass culture and communication in reproducing dominant intellectual current. At this time, the
contemporary societies, and the decline of demo- term Frankfurt School became widespread as a
cracy and of the individual. Critical theory drew characterization of their version of interdiscipli-
alike on Hegelian dialectics, Marxian theory, nary social research and of the particular social
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), Sigmund Freud, theory developed by Adorno, Horkheimer, and
Max Weber, and other trends of contemporary their associates. They engaged in frequent meth-
thought. It articulated theories that were to odological and substantive debates with other
occupy the center of social theory for the next social theories, most notably “the positivism dis-
several decades. Rarely, if ever, has such a talented pute,” where they criticized more empirical and
group of interdisciplinary intellectuals come to- quantitative approaches to social theory and
gether under the auspices of one institute. They defended their own more speculative and critical
managed to keep alive radical social theory during brand of social theory. The German group around
a difficult historical era, and provided aspects of a Adorno and Horkheimer was also increasingly
neo-Marxian theory of the changed social reality hostile towards orthodox Marxism and were in
and new historical situation in the transition turn criticized by a variety of types of “Marxists–
from competitive capitalism to monopoly Leninists” and “scientific Marxists” for their al-
capitalism. leged surrender of revolutionary and scientific
During World War II, the Institute split up Marxian perspectives.
due to pressures of the war. Adorno and Horkhei- The Frankfurt School eventually became best
mer moved to California, while Leo Lowenthal known for their theories of “the totally adminis-
(1900–93), Marcuse, Neumann, and others worked tered society,” or “one-dimensional society,”
for the United States government as their contri- which analyzed the increasing power of capita-
bution to the fight against fascism. Horkheimer lism over all aspects of social life and the devel-
and Adorno worked on their joint book Dialectic of opment of new forms of social control. During
Enlightenment (1947 [trans. 1972]), which discussed the 1950s, however, there were divergences be-
how reason and enlightenment in the contempor- tween the work of the Institute relocated in
ary era turned into their opposites, transforming Frankfurt and the developing theories of Fromm,

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 cross-sectional design data cultural deprivation

Lowenthal, Marcuse, and others who did not born in one week in March, 1958, across the
return to Germany, which were often at odds United Kingdom, to investigate the relationship
with both the current and earlier work of Adorno between childhood environments and experiences
and Horkheimer. Thus it is misleading to con- and outcomes in adult life or old age.
sider the work of various critical theorists during BRENDAN J. BURCHELL
the postwar period as being produced by mem-
bers of a monolithic Frankfurt School. Whereas cult(s)
there were both a shared sense of purpose and The word cult is often used interchangeably
collective work on interdisciplinary social theory with new religious movements and, in everyday
from 1930 to the early 1940s, thereafter critical language, tends to have a strong negative conno-
theorists frequently diverge, and during the tation (for example James Beckford, Cult Controver-
1950s and 1960s the term the Frankfurt School sies: The Societal Response to New Religious Movements,
can really be applied only to the work of the 1989). Cults are generally seen as evolving around
Institute in Germany. DOUGLAS KELLNER individuals and/or beliefs that are outside the
mainstream. Specifically, the term is used to
cross-sectional design data denote the group solidarity attendant on an exces-
One of the most common forms of data used in sive degree of attachment and ceding of influence
sociological analysis, this is the sort of data to a particular person or to a particular set of
gathered by a simple survey. It can be collected ideas and beliefs. The imposing leadership qual-
relatively quickly and (dependent on how the ities displayed by founders of new religious move-
questionnaire is administered) cheaply. For in- ments, such as Jim Jones (the People’s Temple) or
stance, if a researcher wanted to determine the David Koresh (Branch Davidians), or specific ideas
attitudes of employees to their jobs, then a simple about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) or pag-
cross-sectional design research project could be anism can variously produce a tightly bound
completed by sending questionnaires to a sample cult following among their respective associates
of, say, several hundred or thousand employees. If and believers. Cult-like behavior, however, is not
care was taken, and the employees were selected confined to religious movements; paralleling
to be representative of a larger population (say, all charisma, of which it is an accentuated expres-
employees in the United Kingdom) then the sion, leadership or personality cults are found
results could be generalized to that larger popula- across politics (for example the cult of the em-
tion through the use of inferential statistics. Aver- peror) and pop culture (for example Princess
ages could be calculated to describe the typical Diana), and in economic corporations, among
British employee, or correlations or regressions other spheres. Within the religious domain, more-
could be calculated to investigate the relation- over, there is a long history of cultic adoration –
ships between the variables, and find answers to the cult of the saints and of devotion to the Virgin
questions such as “what sorts of employees are Mary represent strong traditional forms of popu-
most satisfied with their jobs?” lar religion. Such cults play a large role today in
However, cross-sectional designs have a number religious tourism and the popularity of religious
of limitations that restrict their usefulness for festivals, devotional rituals, local apparition sites,
serious sociological enquiry. They provide a “snap- and pilgrimages (see W. Swatos and L. Tomasi
shot” of how things are at one particular point (eds.), From Medieval Pilgrimage to Religious Tourism,
in time, but do not provide information on the 2002). Cults promote religious engagement, but
dynamics of a system; for example how things also stimulate concerns among church officials
develop over time, how inequality is perpetuated, that the cultic status of a particular saint may
or how institutions reproduce themselves. They undercut the routinized and institutionalized au-
are also poor at determining the causal nature of thority of church (see church–sect typology) offi-
the relationships that are detected. cials to demarcate sacred beliefs, practices, and
Because of these limitations, much effort has places. MICHELE DILLON
been expended on gathering large datasets that
provide more insight into how things change over cultural capital
time, for instance the British Household Panel – see social capital.
Survey (BHPS) that re-interviews the same individ-
uals and households each year ( see panel studies), cultural deprivation
or birth cohort studies such as the National Child This phrase refers to the idea that some racial and/
Development Study that follows an entire cohort or working-class cultures are deficient because

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 cultural deprivation cultural imperialism

they hinder school and social success. Cultural the schoolboys came to be known in his study)
deprivation theory was influential during the were seen to be actively engaged in processes of
1960s and 1970s. It was linked to ideas about the resisting the meanings and values of mainstream
culture of poverty, the underclass (see social life. While the versions of cultural deprivation
class), and to the idea of a cycle of poverty in theory developed by Bourdieu and Bernstein
which the values associated with being poor were extremely useful in illuminating some
(such as fatalism and an antipathy to individually of the cultural mechanisms through which strati-
accumulated wealth) and the practices associated fication systems are reproduced, the idea of
with poor communities prevented marginalized cultural deprivation can be understood as, ultim-
groups from social and economic advancement. ately, conservative, insofar as it implied that mar-
Within the purview of cultural deprivation ginalized groups needed to abandon their initial
theory, the concept of subculture took on its logics and practices in favor of “legitimate” forms,
earlier derogatory (and now discredited) defin- to gain access to economic and expressive oppor-
ition as a deviant or otherwise marginal milieu. tunities. In this respect, cultural deprivation
From within the sociology of culture, the idea of perpetuates what Richard Sennett and Jonathan
cultural deprivation drew upon work by Basil Cobb once famously referred to as The Hidden
Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu. While Bernstein’s Injuries of Class (1972). TIA DENORA
focus was on language – in particular, the notion
that working-class speakers employed a “re- cultural imperialism
stricted” (versus “elaborated”) communicative Though the impact or imposition of foreign cul-
code – Bourdieu’s emphasis was on the idea that tural values on subject peoples can be routinely
the dominated class were unable to appropriate regarded as part of the general phenomenon of
“legitimate” forms of culture and thus were de- imperialism, the term cultural imperialism has
prived of opportunities for advancement. Work in come to be used more widely in discussions of
the sociology of education buttressed these ideas the influence of the values and beliefs of the dom-
by showing how children from backgrounds inant global powers on the poorer and weaker
lacking in cultural capital or “home advantages” societies of the world, whether or not these are
were destined to fail because of a mismatch be- or have been subject colonies. Specifically the
tween the cultures of home and school. This argu- term refers to the use of superior economic and
ment was explored in Annette Lareau’s Home political power to export or impose values and
Advantage (2000). The idea of cultural deprivation attitudes at the expense of native cultures.
has inspired various policy initiatives, such as At the most general level, this imposition can be
Headstart, from the 1960s onward, with the aim considered as a cultural or ideological offshoot of
of providing working-class and minority children the more general spread of a whole economic
with the cultural tools they otherwise lack. It has system, such as that of capitalism (communism
also been subject to considerable critique on a in its heyday was also accused of cultural imperi-
variety of fronts, most notably ethnographic and alism). In that sense, cultural imperialism takes
sociolinguistic. the form of the promotion of capitalist values of
On the linguistic critical front, William Labov’s individualism, competition, and materialism, at
many studies – such as Language in the Inner City the expense of alternative or more traditional
(1972) – of nonstandard English described how de- values, such as communalism and cooperation.
pictions of the inferiority of black communicative More discretely, cultural imperialism can be seen
styles were simply ignorant of the meanings as- simply as the expression of the influence and
sociated with that speech community, therefore popularity of the culture industries of the great
also showing how the idea of cultural deprivation powers – the reach and influence of their televi-
illustrated the white middle-class bias of both sion, film, music, publishing, and advertising
social institutions and social science. In her study products.
of a black and economically disadvantaged com- While certain non-western and non-capitalist
munity in Chicago, Carole Stack in All Our Kin powers – such as China in Tibet or the Soviet
(1978) demonstrated how community members Union in eastern Europe – have been accused of
posed alternative values and meanings, ones that cultural imperialism, it is generally laid at the
were, given the structural disadvantages and rou- door of the major western capitalist societies, the
tine contingencies they faced, highly logical and European and, especially, the American. In many
deeply practical. In Britain, Paul Willis’s Learning ways, indeed, cultural imperialism has become
to Labour (1977) showed also how the “lads” (as synonymous with Americanization, since even

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 cultural lag cultural relativism

some European societies, notably that of France, activities we pursue, should be deemed cultural
have protested at the degree of American influ- since they are part of (rather than reflect) material
ence on their culture. What is normally meant reality. Whereas a traditional materialist view of
by this is the steady spread of such things as society examines the difference between social
American eating habits, as symbolized by the reality and our cultural perceptions of it, a cul-
McDonald’s chain, and the dominant position in tural materialist view of society sees this social
the world of the American film and television reality as itself culturally constituted.
industries, as symbolized by Hollywood. Another Culture, then, is a force that actually creates
common concern is the worldwide spread of (rather than reflects or expresses) the material
large leisure and entertainment complexes, world. Even conventionally conceived culture –
such as the Disney Corporation with its Disney- literature, music, and art – is seen as practical
lands and Disneyworlds, and the dominant pos- and not merely theoretical, since it constitutes
ition assumed by large news corporations such the world as “discourse.” To put the matter
as CNN. philosophically, culture ceases to be simply
But “Americanization” is something of a mis- “epistemological” – that is, concerned with accur-
nomer, as is clear from the power of the Austra- acy, truthfulness, etc. – and becomes “ontological”
lian media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his – that is, it constitutes the real world.
company News International – even though this Cultural materialism is vulnerable to the argu-
has large American operations, and Murdoch him- ment that it makes critique impossible, since to
self became an American citizen in 1985. More- criticize a culture it is necessary to refer it to a
over, it has been shown by many studies that the world that is external to it. JOHN HOFFMAN
idea of cultural imperialism exaggerates the one-
way flow of values and ideas. The claim for the cultural relativism
McDonaldization or “Disneyfication” of the world This doctrine has two prevailing variants. One of
ignores the extent to which local cultures mediate these is a version of moral conventionalism
and reinterpret the influences from outside, large positing that the validity of norms and values is
as these may be. The ambience and use of, say, a culturally specific and transcends cultural bound-
McDonald’s restaurant can be very different aries only coincidentally. Less rigorously but more
depending on whether it is in Dallas, Delhi, or familiarly, this is a version of moral liberalism
Beijing. In general one might say that cultural that acknowledges that values vary both cross-
imperialism is bound up with globalization, and culturally and interpersonally, and prescribes
while, as with all processes of globalization, there the accommodation of as great a plurality of
is a general tendency towards standardization and them as is procedurally possible. It has partial
uniformity, this is by no means uncontested or precedents in the celebration by Johann Gottfried
ever complete. KRISHAN KUMAR von Herder (1744–1803) of the special “genius” of
each “nation”; in Giambattista Vico’s liberation of
cultural lag the history of the “gentiles” from the preordained
– see William F. Ogburn. destiny of the elect; even in the legal contextual-
ism of such Renaissance humanists as Desiderius
cultural logic of late capitalism Erasmus. Narrowed to a principle of method, it
– see Fredric Jameson. emerges in the German humanistic academy in
the later nineteenth century, hand in hand with
cultural materialism the development of hermeneutics and the prin-
Materialists have traditionally seen culture as a ciples of the Geisteswissenschaften (see human sci-
representation of an external reality. Culture is ences). Thus narrowed, it is an intrinsic aspect of
deemed truthful to the extent that it “reflects” Max Weber’s interpretive sociology – in principle
the material world in an accurate way. if not always in Weber’s own practice. It has a
Cultural materialism breaks from this notion in more expansive – and, in Europe at least, even
two ways. The first is that it argues that culture more influential – analogue in Émile Durkheim’s
itself is part of the material world. Culture is early insistence on the analytical precedence of the
defined much more broadly as human activity – intersocietal variety of normative prescriptions
the way we organize our lives – rather than an and proscriptions over the normatively universal.
aesthetic representation of the world through As Elvin Hatch points out in Culture and Morality
music, literature, and art. For example, the houses (1983), it has its first advocates in the United
we build, the way we relate to others, the leisure States in the anti-racialists and anti-evolutionists

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 cultural reproduction cultural studies

of the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth reinforced through interaction with others.
centuries, none of them of greater academic im- Each carries distinctive social status within the
portance than the founder of American cultural social order and constitutes the basis for econo-
anthropology, Franz Boas. It remains the signa- mic resource allocation and the distribution of
ture of that anthropology from Boas at least until prestige.
the 1970s, when it begins to weaken with the Alternative uses can be found in the work of
weakening of the conceits of cultural insularity Louis Althusser (Lenin, Philosophy and Other Essays,
and of ethnographic neutrality themselves. 1971) in relation to the functions of the Repressive
The other variant of the doctrine is one version State Apparatus, the Ideological State Apparatus,
or another of epistemological conventionalism, and the interpellation of subjects; in Antonio
positing at its most radical that what constitutes Gramsci (Selections From Prison Notebooks, 1971) in
knowledge is culturally specific and culturally relation to hegemony, complex unity, and cul-
bounded. It has its most immediate ancestor and tural resistance; and in Basil Bernstein’s Class,
most enduring complement in the linguistically Codes and Control, 1971–7), an analysis of schooling,
inflected conventionalism that emerges among power, and elaborated and restricted codes.
such German Romantic philosophers as Friedrich The concept is often criticized for dissolving
von Schlegel (1772–1829) in the late eighteenth agency, knowledge, and reflexivity into social
and early nineteenth century, and acquires in- mechanics. On this account, cultural reproduc-
creasing temper and refinement in the work of tion is a substitute for social determinism. How-
linguist Benjamin Sapir, anthropologist Melville ever, in Bourdieu’s sociology, the concept is
Herskovits, philosophers Williard Quine and generally attached to the notion of an intellectual
Nelson Goodman, and historians Thomas Kuhn or symbolic field which allows for the reflexivity
and Michel Foucault in the twentieth. Lucien of the agent. Moreover, it is difficult to envisage
Lévy-Bruhl argues more directly for the incom- how questions of social order and change can
mensurability of primitive and modern scientific be addressed without utilizing a version of the
thought in How Natives Think (1922 [trans. 1926]) concept. CHRIS ROJEK
and several other works of the same period. The
issue of the cultural relativity of both reason and
cultural rights
conceptualization engages the contributors to
– see rights.
Bryan Wilson’s important collection, Rationality
(1970). If there is a single manifesto of the several
versions of epistemological conventionalism cir- cultural studies
culating in the contemporary disciplines of cul- This is an interdisciplinary field that arose in
tural analysis, however, it is most likely Peter the late twentieth century, and that focuses on
Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s The Social Construc- the study of modern and postmodern culture, cul-
tion of Reality (1966). The “cultural relativism” of ture being broadly understood as meanings, re-
only a few decades past seems to have been largely presentations, symbols, and identities, together
displaced by the “social constructionism” of the with related sites and practices. Cultural studies
present. JAMES D. FAUBION draws on many disciplines and discourses, includ-
ing semiotics, communications studies, literary
cultural reproduction theory, psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism of
This refers to the transmission of cultural capital various kinds, sociology, cultural anthropology,
through inheritance; the cultivation of order continental philosophy, (post)structuralism, and
through normative coercion. The concept is most critical theory. Media and popular culture are
closely associated with the sociology of Pierre prominent topics, but it encompasses high as
Bourdieu, who developed it in relation to the an- well as popular arts, literature and speech as
alysis of habitus and “symbolic repression” in Out- well as newer media, and extends to the examin-
line of a Theory of Practice (1972 [trans. 1977]) and ation of advanced industrial culture as a whole.
Distinction (1979 [trans. 1984]). He proposed that The methods and perspectives of Cultural studies
every individual interiorizes symbolic master-pat- have also been applied to early and pre-capitalist
terns of thought and values as a condition of the phenomena. While there have been tendencies to
socialization process. These constitute a distinct- institutionalize Cultural studies as a new trans- or
ive social and cultural perspective that facilitates quasi-discipline, it is not unitary, and the lines
orientation and acts as a marker of social between it and neighboring areas like sociology
belonging. These symbolic master-patterns are and literary studies have remained blurred. In

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larger compass, Cultural studies is the site of a such as the body, technology, and virtuality, the
more general, and contested, renovation of the cultural economy of media, and globalization.
humanities and social sciences, as shaped by the American Cultural studies has followed the
explosive post-1960s growth of various forms of same general course. Here too a turn to culture
critical theory. within literary studies and social theory com-
The emergence of Cultural studies as a distinct bined, in the context of post-1960s intellectual
(and distinctly named) area of study has been radicalism, with a turn to (European) theory. This
mainly a development of the English-speaking is exemplified in the work of Fredric Jameson,
world. In the United Kingdom, a formative role who moved from a Lukacsian examination of mo-
was played by the Centre for Contemporary dernist literature to a multi-dimensional (though
Cultural studies (CCCS) at Birmingham University still Marxist) interest in language, painting, and
established in 1964 under the directorship of architecture. The work of Jameson and others
Richard Hoggart. His Uses of Literacy (1958) traced was also important in fashioning an analysis of
the impact of commercialized media (especially postmodernism (as an aesthetic and intellectual
print) on the formation of working-class cul- style) in relation to “the cultural logic of capital.”
ture. Another early influence was Raymond Cultural studies in the United States, however,
Williams, whose Culture and Society (1958) traced was less social-science oriented than in Britain,
the history of, and broadened, the category of and more an outgrowth of developments in li-
culture itself, and whose later writings on litera- terary studies, philosophy, and art history. Hence
ture, politics, and mass media connected these an emphasis on reading cultural phenomena, as
interests with the 1960s and 1970s revival of in the title of the influential journal Social Text. It
European Marxism, especially with regard to the was in the United States too that there first deve-
non-mechanistic understanding of ideology and loped a characteristic emphasis on the social
consciousness. construction of race and gender, and on the mar-
Under Hoggart and his successor (in 1968) ginalization and silencing of various types of op-
Stuart Hall, the CCCS did groundbreaking work pressed other. While some work in this vein has
on urban youth subcultures, consumerism, and been linked to identity politics and has tended
the cultural side of Thatcherism and post-Fordist to be experiential and anti-theoretical, an interest
restructuring. As against the Frankfurt School cri- in otherness has also connected to high theory
tique of “mass culture,” the Birmingham School through the ethical phenomenology of Levinas
tended to emphasize the active and creative side and through the linguistically and philosophically
of popular culture, its differential elements of self-conscious spirit of Derridean deconstruction.
class, race, and gender, and the political ambiguity Judith Butler’s Gender Troubles (1989) drew anti-
of, for example, punk. Its theoretical inspiration essentialist implications for understanding gen-
was Marxist and neo-Marxist (Antonio Gramsci, dered bodies and helped to initiate queer theory.
Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Wiesen- Donna J. Haraway’s “Manifesto for Cyborgs,” in
grund Adorno, Lucien Goldmann), but this was Simians, Cyborgs and Women (1991), developed and
accompanied by the assimilation of semiology celebrated a general notion of hybridity. Also re-
via Roland Barthes and Mikhail Bakhtin; poststruc- lated has been the development of postcolonial
turalism via Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, and studies, with Edward W. Said’s Orientalism (1978)
Jacques Derrida; Sigmund Freud through Jacques as a paradigm, to which are linked such further
Lacan; as well as of feminist theory and much else. developments as subaltern studies in India (spear-
The conceptual strains introduced by this mixture headed by Gayatri Spivak) and the growth of abo-
led to controversies about agency, the status of riginal studies in Australasia, Canada, and Latin
the human subject, and the social power of dis- America.
course, as well as to a noteworthy polemic, in E. P. A further ingredient in the formation of Cul-
Thomson’s Poverty of Theory (1978), against the ele- tural studies has been the rise of media theory,
vation of theory as such. Following the CCCS especially as influenced by the Toronto School of
lead, other centers for Cultural studies were estab- communications, with its sensory grammar of
lished in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, media and its civilizationally attuned interest in
and elsewhere. From the 1980s onwards a promin- media, culture, and technology. This influence
ent role was also played by (the journal and has been felt mainly through Marshall McLuhan,
center) Theory Culture & Society (TCS) led by Mike though the Cultural studies mainstream has been
Featherstone. The TCS current was more closely largely dismissive of McLuhan’s work both be-
linked to sociology, and has pursued themes cause of its apparent technological reductionism

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 culture culture

and because of its crypto-theology (the “global the peoples of the world, and thus also to unify
village” of “the electric age” has echoes of Teilhard their study; it forms the counterpoint to physical
de Chardin’s “noosphere”). Chardin (1881–1955) anthropology’s theories of human nature. Histor-
defined “noosphere” as the stage of evolutionary ical sociology, however, has shown the connec-
development characterized by the emergence of tions between the anthropological imagination
consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal re- and various nationalist and colonialist projects
lationships. In Canada, the work of McLuhan’s of nineteenth-century Europe, whereby the total-
mentor, Harold Innis, has also received renewed izing concept of culture was complicit in the exo-
attention, while a more Baudrillardian version of ticization and simultaneous subordination and
the culture and technology approach is evident colonization (and sometimes extermination) of
in the work of Arthur Kroker and the journal native populations. Extensive debates about the
C-Theory. ANDREW WERNICK political valences and historical guilt of the con-
cept of culture have ensued. But perhaps more
culture importantly for ongoing empirical research, soci-
Traditionally the province of either anthropology ologists have found the anthropological concept
or the humanities, culture has become increa- of culture to be underspecified; for sociology, dif-
singly central to sociology, both as a subject of ferentiating culture from nature is not enough.
study, and as a theoretical challenge to sociology’s Rather, culture must be defined in relation to
self-conception. The sociological definition of and society, history, and individual psychology, and,
approach to culture, which refers to the form, furthermore, the differentiation between culture
content, and effects of the symbolic aspect of and nature must itself be examined historically
social life, has emerged out of a critical encounter with an eye towards its varying social effects
with the two more traditional definitions. (many anthropologists have also come to this con-
In the definition of the humanities, culture clusion). Thus, while sociology has drawn exten-
refers to intellectual and artistic activity and the sively on symbolic, structuralist, and linguistic
artifacts produced thereby, to what Matthew anthropology for its own studies of culture, it
Arnold (1822–88) called “the best that has been has resisted the temptation to conflate culture
thought and said.” Culture is taken as the highest directly with the social as such, and the culture/
moral and aesthetic achievements of civilization. society distinction has been a productively un-
The sociology of culture has always provided crit- stable one. And it would be fair to say that social
ical distance from the pretensions of culture so constructionist forms of cultural research have
understood and its ensuing enshrinement in the distanced themselves significantly from the
literary, dramatic, and musical canon. By showing “essentializing” concepts of an earlier era.
the links between social status maintenance and However, both the sociology of culture and the
taste, but also by carefully examining the aesthet- critique of culture inside and outside of anthro-
ics of both popular cultural artifacts, and the pology beg fundamental questions. Why are social
creative cultural activities of social classes, races, actors so interested in cultural artifacts in the
and genders traditionally excluded from the first place, as opposed to other, functionally
realm of high arts production, the sociology of equivalent, status markers? If cultural difference
culture has been essential to the deconstruction cannot be grasped inside scientific anthropo-
of the high/middle/lowbrow culture typology. In logical theory, does that mean that it cannot
approaching culture as a social object of study, be grasped at all? What is the role of meaning
the sociology of culture forms a subfield alongside and symbolic structures in modern and late capit-
the sociology of religion and the sociology of alist societies? To answer these questions outside
science, and takes within its purview both high of the confines of the humanist tradition and
literature and pulp fiction, Fellini films and postcolonial anthropology has been the central
Hollywood schlock, art music and rock ’n’ roll. task for cultural sociologists, who since the 1960s
With the advent of the production of culture per- have developed a set of increasingly subtle and
spective in the 1970s, centered around the work of nuanced approaches to this contested term of
Richard Peterson, and the concepts of field and culture.
cultural capital, drawn from the work of Pierre For sociology, then, culture refers to the sym-
Bourdieu, this subfield has gained both empirical bolic element of social life, which has been
purchase and theoretical sophistication. variously conceptualized, identified, and studied:
In the anthropological definition, culture is exp- signifiers and their signifieds, gestures and their
ected to do the comparative work of differentiating interpretation, intended and unintended

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meanings, written discourse and effective speech, suggested that culture, through the normative in-
situational framing and scientific paradigms, and terpenetration of society, could perform an
moral and political ideals. Concretely, culture integrative function in the service of social equi-
refers to those social objects and activities which librium, and thus that social change came with a
are primarily or exclusively symbolic in their breakdown in value consensus (as in Chalmers
intent or social function, such as art, music, and Johnson’s (1931– ) theory of social revolution).
sports. Analytically, culture refers to the symbolic These assertions were then subjected to relent-
and ideational element of any social action, social less ideological attack for suppressing the role of
relationship, or historical pattern. In modern and strife and domination in society (and in the use of
postmodern societies, these two senses of culture culture). However, it is perhaps more instructive,
are increasingly intertwined in ways that must now, to notice a deeper problem with structural-
be studied empirically: people may learn how to functionalism, namely its interpretive deafness.
conduct intimate relationships from poetry or By approaching culture as “norms and values,”
romantic movies, and rock stars may endorse structural-functionalism not only projected cer-
politicians. tain liberal ideals onto its model of society, but
The methodologies for studying culture so more significantly, evacuated meaning from cul-
conceived range widely, and include surveys of ture, robbing its analysis of nuance and empirical
attitudes and beliefs, participant observation, specificity. For an engagement with the multiple
ethnography, structured and unstructured inter- layers of the symbolic immediately reveals that
views, textual analysis of written and visual culture in modern societies is neither homogen-
media, and conversational analysis. Ultimately, ous nor consensual. Rather, the size and makeup
however, all of these methods involve the inter- of collectivities that share certain symbolic articu-
pretation of meaning, and thus cannot be mapped lations vary significantly (from small religious
directly from the methods of the natural sciences, cults to large voting populations), and these sym-
though the extent to which scientific methods can bolic articulations are contested both within and
be adapted to the study of culture is a matter of without collectivities.
significant dispute. Furthermore, culture not only Mid-century Marxism and post-1960s conflict
requires interpretation, but the meanings of sym- theory insisted that culture was more of a guaran-
bols have to be understood in a holistic manner, tor of hierarchy, exploitation, and inequality, and
which is to say that any given sign or symbol takes thus saw culture as ideology. And though the pol-
its meaning in relation to those with which it is itical commitments and theoretical presuppos-
contrasted and figuratively related. The meaning itions of conflict theory were fundamentally at
of the term culture is not an exception to this, odds with those of Parsonian functionalism, one
and as culture has become central to sociology, its can discern in the studies of the objective basis
meaning has emerged in relation to three central of systematically distorted communication, and
concepts, namely social structure, action theory, in references to the political and economic func-
and critical theory. After discussing these, we will tions of ideology, very similar problems to those
briefly discuss the ways in which the consider- that plagued the structural-functional approach.
ation of culture has affected other aspects of the Here too, culture is assumed to be relatively uni-
sociological field. form, at least in its social effects, and its study is
The distinction between culture and society is, guided by theoretical intuitions about the work-
like culture itself, contested and controversial, ings of the social system, in particular the exploit-
and, since it often conflates the analytic and con- ation of labor, and for a contemporary example
crete dimensions of culture, it is perhaps better to see David Harvey’s The Condition of Postmodernity
discuss the relationship of culture to social struc- (1989). Thus Marxist repudiations of culture as
ture. Talcott Parsons distinguished the cultural ideology also suffered from a lack of musicality,
from the social system in a strictly analytic fa- and inattention to the empirical details of
shion (his student Niklas Luhmann would later culture’s varied production, performance, and
claim that this should in fact be a concrete dis- reception.
tinction). And Parsons suggested that the study of In both cases, these problems were exacerbated
culture in all its symbolic elaborations could be by imagining social structures as hard, real, and
left to anthropology, and that sociology could external to the actor, in opposition to culture as a
focus on the place where culture and social struc- more pliable and less efficacious possession of
ture met, namely, on the institutionalization individual minds. Furthermore, both structural-
of values and norms. Structural-functionalism functionalism and Marxism were embedded in

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teleological philosophies of history and social in Foucault, Madness and Civilization (1961 [trans.
evolution that enabled them to locate the appro- 1971]) and Chandra Mukerji, A Fragile Power: Scien-
priate relations between social structure and cul- tists and the State (1990).
ture in an a priori theoretical manner. As these Finally, the conception of culture as a struc-
teleologies came to be seen as more the meaning- ture in its own right has enabled the sociological
ful, ideational constructions of sociologists’ own transformation of a set of tools from literary
cultures than ontological certainties about actual theory and semiotics. Culture can be studied as
societies, the strict scientific distinction between a social text, replete with codes, narratives,
social structure and culture began to break down, genres, and metaphors. Then, culture can be
as did the various conceptions of their relation- examined in both its concrete and its analytic
ship. This breakdown created an opening for soci- autonomy from social structure, which enables
ology to develop the tools necessary for a more us to isolate and make clear its effects (and its
sensitive and empirically sophisticated approach varying political valences) from a sociological
to culture in its collective forms. This has been point of view. So, for example, the long struggle
accomplished by studying culture as a structure for women’s rights in the United States can be
in its own right, a theoretical development that seen as a discursive battle for civil inclusion,
has taken three main forms. according to which a new set of actors came to
First, the study of symbolic boundaries, associ- be coded in a democratic and morally positive
ated with the work of Michele Lamont (Money, way (Jeffrey Alexander, “The Long and Winding
Morals and Manners, 1994) and her students, has Road: Civil Repair of Intimate Injustice,” 2001).
shown how actors construct and maintain mean- This conception of culture suggests, moreover,
ings as a mode of ordering, including, and exclud- that social structures themselves are interpreted
ing their fellow humans, over and against the variably by social actors, and thus must be
exigencies of social structure. Thus, the economic attended to hermeneutically by cultural sociolo-
basis for class is overwritten by an attribution of gists, with an eye to their meaningful aspects,
certain moral qualities to certain humans, based their locality, and their historical specificity
on criteria (including religion, race, and so forth) (see Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures,
that may crosscut the expectations of more reduc- 1973, and Jeffrey Alexander, The Meanings of Social
tively minded sociologists that would map class Life, 2003).
consciousness directly onto economic position, If culture was often contrasted to social struc-
and so on. ture, and furthermore associated with subjecti-
Second, the study of discourse and its relation- vity, then it should not be surprising that it has
ship to power, based on the pioneering work of often been erroneously conflated with action and
Michel Foucault, has enabled sociologists to exa- its related terms: agency, reflexivity, and con-
mine not only articulated boundaries, but also sciousness. However, as culture has become re-
unstated exclusions, and more generally the cul- cognized as a structure in its own right, the
tural construction of certain taken-for-granted relationship of culture to action has become a
“positivities” of modern life. Thus one can exa- key component both of sociological action theory
mine from a reflexive historical perspective how and of sociological research more generally. The
certain kinds of human subjects (for example, ongoing debate about culture and action has its
insane people and medical patients) and social roots in two different sociological traditions, both
problems (for example, homosexuality) came to of which contribute to the contemporary under-
be of such great concern, and how their meaning- standing of culture within sociology.
ful construction effected the way they were dealt On the one hand, the analytic tradition, des-
with, inside and outside mainstream society. cending from Parsons’s formalization of Max
Though Foucault’s work has been largely appro- Weber’s means–ends approach to action, ap-
priated in the humanities as a set of theorems proached culture in terms of the ways culture
concerning power and knowledge more appropri- sets the ends of action. Action is thus structured
ate to critical theory than to empirical sociology, not only by interests, but by norms as well. Origin-
his early studies of madness, medicine, and the ally opposed to economistic accounts of social
episteme of the classical and modern ages are in action, the strictly analytic approach to purposive
fact rich historical reconstructions of landscapes action has been revived in contemporary socio-
of meaning, and their essential role in the social logical debates about agency and rationality. But
processes of treatment, exclusion, and philosoph- a deeper understanding of the role of culture
ical understanding. These issues are developed for action has been developed from within this

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tradition by recognizing culture as an internal One important manifestation of the symbolic

environment for action, arguing thus that culture interactionist tradition has been Gary Fine’s deve-
orients action by structuring subjectivity. Social lopment of the concept of idiocultures, whereby
actors respond to sets of internal typifications of small groups develop an idiosyncratic set of mea-
the social world and thus are dependent upon nings (beliefs, knowledge, and customs) that
meaningful symbolization in setting their goals, forms the basis for mutual understanding and
and in imagining how they can go about meeting further interaction and action. Thus, cooks in vari-
them. By reintroducing the symbolic as an envir- ous classes of restaurants develop an aesthetic
onment of action full of rich narratives and mor- language that enables them to communicate
ally and emotionally loaded oppositions, this with each other concerning the manifestly prac-
approach integrates the expanded approach to tical problems of smell and taste.
culture-as-structure elaborated above. Alternately, Robin Wagner-Pacifici, in The Moro
On the other hand, the pragmatic tradition, Morality Play (1986) and Theorizing the Standoff
descending from George Herbert Mead and (2000), has developed the concept of social drama
Herbert Blumer, rejects the means–ends charac- within the more analytic tradition of action and
terization of action outright, and suggests instead its environments, so as to enable the study of
that actors constantly negotiate situations in an social situations where symbolic and physical vio-
improvisatory way, attempting to make sense of lence interact. In studying terrorist kidnappings,
and solve both social and physical problems as standoffs between government and its discon-
they arise. Originally, because of its distance tents, and surrenders, she develops a deep under-
from the analytic abstractions of the Parsonian standing of morally loaded environments for
tradition, and its tendency towards methodo- action. When the social fabric is breached, actors
logical individualism, this tradition was not really must work within certain dramatic frameworks,
oriented towards culture per se, though it had a and with certain obtainable identities. Thus, in a
conception of the use of symbols and framing on standoff between the Freemen of Montana and
the micro level. Increasingly, however, the des- the United States Government, it was a mediator
cendants of this tradition have developed a con- who had fought in Vietnam and, like some of the
ception of culture-as-use that conceives of the leaders of the Freemen, had formed his core iden-
knowledgeable agent as the link between culture tity in the crucible of that experience and its
and society. It is actors, in social situations, who subsequent narration who was able to bridge the
draw on culture when institutional consistency symbolic gap between the antagonists. Action was
breaks down. deeply structured by the symbolic environments
Thus the contemporary debate is structured by of traumatic memory and the enactment of
two positions, that of culture-in-action which is masculinity.
illustrated by Ann Swidler in “Culture in Action: The specificity of the kinds of meanings that
Symbols and Strategies” (1986), and that of culture are enacted, however, points both to the possible
as thick environment for action by Jeffrey Alexan- misinterpretations of the relationship between
der in Action and Its Environments: Toward a New action and culture, and to the way forward in
Synthesis (1988). Both approaches have significant the theoretical debate. For the exclusive emphasis
insights to offer. The first emphasizes that actors on culture as it is used by actors can support the
continually work to render coherent and solvable naturalistic approach to social structure and thus
discursive and institutional problems that arise in an understanding of culture as unstructured and
the flow of social life. The second emphasizes the primarily the possession of individuals. In this
way in which the social world is constructed for conception, it is meaningless institutions that set
the actor by previous interpretations and collect- the parameters of the action problem, and culture
ive languages. In either case, these approaches is merely the way actors make sense of things as
suggest the importance of culture for the study they are solving it – perhaps important for filling
of social life. For example, we should perhaps out an explanation, but not essential to it. The
discuss the discursive repertoires of politicians, environments to action approach is faced with a
and the resonance of these repertoires with the similar danger, for, insofar as it retains vestiges of
shared codes of their audience–electorates, as op- Parsons’s action frame of reference, it can be
posed to the “revealed preferences” of either. The taken to indicate that sociology can produce, in
contrasts between the two approaches have, how- theory alone, a mechanistic explanation of the
ever, produced significantly different forms of interaction of norms and interests that will apply
theory and research. everywhere, regardless of cultural differences.

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Perhaps most significantly, it is important that remained nonetheless within the discourse of sus-
action theory be prevented from becoming a sort picion about culture, usually understood as bour-
of existential meditation on the capacities (or in- geois culture (and its discontents). Increasingly,
capacities) of human freedom, rather than a way however, sociology has brought its normative con-
to examine the social contingencies of actually cerns with democracy, social inclusion, and the
existing meaning. If the knowledgeable agent be- critique of power to the interpretation
comes a sort of philosophical and methodological of culture, as well as to the debunking of ideology.
hero, whose reflexivity about her location in struc- This is to say that the project of hermeneutics,
ture ultimately makes her the master of the cul- once associated with the conservative aesthetic
tural formations in her head, then the sociological hierarchies of the German philosophical tradition,
purpose of examining cultural structures is viti- can now be seen as a rich source of critique in
ated, as collective meaning formations melt away a post-positivist and post-orthodox-Marxist age,
in the face of agency and knowledge as developed as exemplified by the work of Michael Walzer,
by Anthony Giddens in The Constitution of Society Luc Boltanksi, and Laurent Thevenot. The epi-
(1984). stemological implication of their work is that
Thus, the way forward in the action–culture sociological critique must abandon its pseudo-
debates lies in the development of a meaningful scientific assumption of an exterior stance or
account of action through a theorization of social view from nowhere, and develop critical distance
performance, by linking action theory to Erving through extensive engagement, dialogue, and in-
Goffman’s dramaturgical sociology and Kenneth terpretation. They develop critical perspectives
Burke’s literary theory, but also to Judith Butler’s on contemporary societies that share some of
reconception of the poststructuralist tradition of the empirical purchase of cultural sociology, but
social thought. By thinking of social situations of have as their ultimate goal the articulation of
varying scope (from small-group interactions to new normative understandings of justice and
media events watched by millions) as dramas equality. More generally, in so far as sociological
being played out on a public stage, with certain critique is no longer beholden to scientific cer-
actors and audiences, props and social powers, tainty, revolutionary upheaval, and the genre of
emergent scripts and cultural backgrounds, we debunking, its normative repertoire of critical
can conceive of the exigencies of social action in tropes, subtle ironies, and imagined ideals can be
a thoroughly cultural way that does not reduce expanded.
meaning to social structure. Action, then, involves That culture has become a central theoretical
putting certain intended and unintended mean- term in sociology means that it has had signifi-
ings into the social scene. This is to say that the cant effects on the sociological imagination as a
theorization of action not only has to take into whole, extending beyond the study of culture as a
account cultural structures, but must further set of socially produced artifacts. “Culture,” in
focus on how actions are themselves interpret- sociology, indicates a perspective as well as an
ations of these structures, and thus respond to object of study, and as such has addressed itself
logics of meaning and identity underneath the to nearly all of the classic and varied problems of
interests and norms that were once supposed to sociological research. We cannot do the wide var-
do the analytical work of explaining these actions; iety of cultural research in sociology full justice
this argument is developed in Jeffrey Alexander, here, rather we will point to a few particularly
Bernhard Giesen, and Jason Mast (eds.), The Cultural telling examples.
Pragmatics of Social Performance (2006). Sociology’s ongoing occupation with modernity,
The sociological critique of culture used to be and the history of state formation, has led to a
based almost entirely on references to the social focus on the constitution of nations as collective
as existing outside of culture itself. It was thus identities. In explaining economic takeoff in west-
diametrically opposed to the sense of criticism ern Europe, the consolidation of the power of
associated with the detailed reading of the literary states, and the emergence and importance of
canon, and with humanistic studies more gener- democratic publics and the free press, sociologists
ally. The obvious exception was Marxist literary have increasingly focused on the construction of
criticism, in particular that of Georg Lukács and nations as “imagined communities,” or “discur-
Raymond Williams, which entered into literary sive fields,” and nationalism as “a unique form
texts themselves to find the logics of ideology in of social consciousness,” for example in Benedict
the content and form. While their work fore- Anderson’s Imagined Communities (1991), Lyn Spill-
shadowed the development of Cultural studies, it man and Russell Faeges, “Nations,” in Julia

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Adams, Elisabeth S. Clemens, and Ann Shola Orl- structuralist and poststructuralist theories of lan-
off (eds.), Remaking Modernity (2005), and Liah guage have merged with Marxist historiography
Greenfeld’s Nationalism (1992). to produce a central thesis concerning postmod-
The sociology of sex and gender has likewise ernism, namely that the postmodern age is one
experienced a cultural overhaul. While feminist in which the workings of capitalism are increas-
and queer theory have questioned the naturalness ingly dependent on signifiers as well as signifieds,
of the sex/gender distinction, sociological research that is, on the relational field of social symbol-
has examined the effects of actually existing cul- ism. These approaches are illustrated by Frederic
tural schemas of gender and sex for social out- Jameson, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1992),
comes, including family structure, women’s and Jean Baudrillard, For a Critique of the Political
tendency to join or opt out of the workforce, and Economy of the Sign (1972) [trans. 1981]).
the ongoing existence of sexism in wage levels and Likewise, since the mid-1960s, we have seen a
status attainment. These studies examine both recovery of Weber’s sociology of art, as well as
gender as a highly rigid structure of meaning, continuing debate on the Protestant Ethic thesis.
and its varying enactment by women and men However, most significantly, the concern with
who attempt to negotiate the political and eco- culture has also entered into Weberian debates
nomic contradictions of modern society, for in- about the consolidation of state power and the
stance in Judith Stacey, Brave New Families (1990); institutionalization of rational bureaucracy. Here,
Sharon Hays, The Cultural Contradictions of Mother- sociologists have increasingly read Weber as a
hood (1996); and Mary Blair-Loy, Competing Devotions hermeneutic student of rationality as a cultural
(2003). form specific to western history. In doing so,
Finally, sociology’s longstanding normative con- Weber’s concerns are read as not so different
cern with democracy and its incipient populism from Foucault’s, and bureaucracy as less a mech-
has also taken a cultural turn. For example, ana- anism to be uncovered than a form of symbolic
lyses of American political participation and activ- action to be interpreted. This interpretation is
ism have investigated how certain meanings developed in Philip Gorski, The Disciplinary Revolu-
either enable or discourage civic participation. tion (2003).
The results have often been counterintuitive: Finally, the cultural turn in sociology has seen
doctrines of individual empowerment encourage a renaissance and reconsideration of Durkheim’s
activity and public responsibility, while norms of later works, and, in particular, of The Elementary
civility and politeness discourage political conver- Forms of Religious Life (1912 [trans. 2001]). This work
sation and involvement, a theme which is de- has come to be seen as a key prolegomena to the
veloped in Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding Politics (1998), symbolic study of society as a general project, as
and Paul Lichterman, The Search for Political Commu- well as to the study of the role of culture in
nity (1996). modern, industrial societies. Durkheim is thus
Culture has thus moved towards the center of read as uncomfortable with the materialist inter-
sociological discourse, as both a topic of study and pretations given to The Division of Labor in Society
a perspective from which to view the social. As re- and as having made a key epistemic break in the
interpretation is a primary form of theoretical years between the publication of Suicide (1897
advance, the perhaps predictable result of this is [trans. 1951]) and that of Elementary Forms, an
that, simultaneously, the classics of social theory argument developed by Jeffrey Alexander in “Re-
have come to be seen in a new light. New readings thinking Durkheim’s Intellectual Development II”
of Karl Marx, Weber, and Émile Durkheim have (1986). As a result, Durkheim can be seen as a
emerged. precursor to cultural structuralism in his em-
While all twentieth-century Marxisms have phasis on the autonomy of symbolic forms, and
given more importance to culture and ideology the importance of belief and ritual for the organ-
than did the crude economic Marxist orthodoxy ization of society.
that followed Marx’s death, the turn to culture in If culture has become central to sociology
the 1960s and 1970s is evident in the increasing (though some may not hold this opinion, or at
attention given to Marx’s analysis of commodity least be unhappy with this development), it has
fetishism in Capital, as well as to the importance of also remained a controversial subject. And as em-
the early, humanist, and perhaps even idealist- pirical research on culture has exploded, the the-
Hegelian Marx. Either way, Marx is read as atten- oretical presuppositions of this work, which often
tive to the capacity of meaning as a social force. does not fit the model of positivist or scientific-
One important result of this has been the way realist sociology, have been left relatively

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unexplored. This is to say that, in the future, social important effect will be to push the central con-
theory must address not only culture, but its ac- cepts of sociology (structure, action, critique),
companying methodological and epistemological empirical research topics, and the readings of
term: interpretation. This can be done by sociological classics towards the interpretation
returning to the fundamental questions of the of meaning. I S A A C R E E D A N D J E F F R E Y A L E X A N D E R
philosophy of social science, as well as by arti-
culating the immanent epistemological self- culture industry
consciousness of cultural research in sociology. – see Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno.
There are two fundamental concerns central to
the question of sociological interpretation, culture of poverty
broadly understood. – see poverty.
The first regards the role of the investigator in
social analysis. Though most cultural sociologists custom
accept neither scientific norms nor postmodern – see norm(s).
normlessness as the parameters for their truth
claims, what norms they do accept is an import- cybernetics
ant issue to discuss in the abstract. In particular, it A field of scientific inquiry devoted to self-regulat-
seems clear that sociologists want the meanings ing information systems, cybernetics, derived
they reconstruct to be translatable, so that cul- from the Greek word meaning helmsman or gov-
tural comparison is possible, not so much so as ernor. Developed alongside computing in the later
to determine active and latent mechanisms, but years of World War II, the reference to governors
so as to perceive more clearly the varied relation- attaches the term to the regulatory mechanisms
ships of meaning in action. Thus, even single case first used on nineteenth-century steam engines.
studies or ethnographies implicitly contain a The first phase of cybernetic science was math-
comparison, at least to the investigator’s own ematical, an attempt to quantify the amount of
meaningful social contexts, and this comparative information in a given system. A critical break-
consciousness forms an important basis for the through came with the information theory pro-
development of theory and research in cultural posed in The Mathematical Theory of Information
sociology. (1949) by C. E. Shannon and W. Weaver, employees
The second question concerns how much the of Bell Labs, the leading commercial research la-
methods and modes of explanation common to boratory of the time. Bell needed to find engineer-
cultural sociology may apply outside the domain ing solutions for massive increases in telephone
of what is analytically or concretely called culture. use in the later 1940s. Shannon and Weaver pro-
A lot of work within poststructuralist theory has posed a probabilistic model in which the informa-
examined the symbolic and discursive basis for tion content of a message could be calculated as
what sociologists are more likely to call social the ratio of signal – meaningful communication –
structure, namely, institutional formations, social to noise. “Noise” they defined as anything insig-
sanction and exclusion, and even violence, as nificant, from static hiss to repetitions and redun-
argued in Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1989). dancies. Mathematically, the highest probability
But the extent to which these aspects of social was for randomness in communication. In the
life can actually be explored empirically remains Cold War period, early cyberneticians identified
to be verified by an epistemology more comfort- randomness with entropy, the tendency of
able with the possibility of truth claims that are systems to cool down, to move to less ordered
relatively autonomous from power. Thus, for states. In complex systems such as living beings
example, we need to ask how even the reconstruc- or social organizations, increasing entropy dissi-
tion of political strategies and economic exigen- pates the information content or patterned rela-
cies involves the interpretation of highly reified tionships. The task of cybernetic technologies was
and strictly executed meaning. to maintain homeostasis: the state of a system
Ultimately, then, the advent of culture in soci- with a high degree of predictable structure, or
ology and the study of its subtleties and social order.
contestations leads to fundamental questions As the term suggests, however, homeostasis is
about sociology itself. If culture is a perspective negative entropy in the sense that it resists
from which to examine society, it is also a pers- change. This was the tenet of two Chilean re-
pective from which to examine the meaning- searchers, H. R. Maturana and F. J. Varela, in
formation called sociology. As such, its most Autopoesis and Cognition (1980); they proposed the

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term that ushered in cybernetics’ second phase: persons, groups, and information connected
autopoesis. Consonant with the ambitions of the electronically through the worldwide web. In
Macy conferences which, through the 1950s, some usages, for example that of the Electronic
extended the scope of cybernetics to embrace Frontier Foundation, the term describes an open
fields as diverse as economics and meteorology, terrain which may be occupied or homesteaded on
the concept of autopoetic machines is a general the model of the westward expansion of the
model of any self-sustaining system: a unity com- United States during the 1870s, and is in this
posed of processes which produce components conception a liberated and liberating geography,
which in turn realize the processes and constitute, parallel to reality – physically copresent social
continually reconstituting, the machine or organ- transactions – but potentially far larger. The am-
ization as a unity. This internal circuit depends, biguity of the term cyberspace and the juxtapos-
more explicitly than earlier models, on the inter- ition to real, social life – does it describe an actual
action of the autopoetic machine – technological, or a metaphorical geography? – derives from the
organic, or human – with its environment. This unprecedented social relations which the world-
variant of cybernetics provided Niklas Luhmann wide web enabled.
with the foundations for his influential con- For some, cyberspace denotes a field of open
ception of society as a network of discrete func- opportunities distinguished from the real world
tional systems (law, education, science, and so by its freedom from constraint. For others, it de-
on), each of which replicates itself according to notes a new market in information and services –
its own processes, but does so by treating neigh- one not substantially different from other
boring systems as environmental inputs. For markets, but different in the degree to which it
Luhmann, society’s internal differentiation debars has only begun to be tapped. For many social
it from acting as a single unified entity, a capacity theorists, cyberspace is interesting both for its
restricted to its internal systems. It can and internal relationships – new forms of socialization
indeed must, however, embody the mutual such as bulletin boards (BBSs) and massively multi-
feedback mechanisms between its distinct player game environments (MMPs) – and for its
components. articulation with real, geographical material
The third phase of cybernetics abandoned the spaces.
centrality of homeostasis in favor of theories The interconnection with reality takes several
capable of explaining change. Variously known forms. Cyberspace is a source of news and opin-
as chaos or complexity theory, contemporary cy- ions, many of them unsanctioned by traditional
bernetics uses dynamic models like hydrodynam- gatekeeping institutions, which may provide in-
ics to model complex boundary states between frastructure for the development of new forms of
order and chaos, with a special interest in the public life. Cyberspace is also feared as a barely
emergence of new ordered states from apparently comprehensible jungle where pedophiles and con
chaotic forebears. Importantly, the term chaos artists thrive. The greatest fear is that, through
does not signify randomness but rather a system the powers of the internet, cyberspace may inter-
whose subsequent states are not entirely predict- vene in real, social space, for example in allowing
able from its original state. The model is closely a child molester to make a rendezvous with a
allied with the development of network communi- potential victim, or con men to access real bank
cations, and may be related to Ulrich Beck’s con- accounts. Since Amsterdam’s, France’s, and India’s
cept of risk society, but is also widely used to initial forays in the early 1990s, many city and
justify free-market economics. SEAN CUBITT some national governments have extended the
provision of services to online environments, in-
cyberspace cluding in some cases voting and other forms of
This term is used to refer to electronic communi- citizen participation in government. At the same
cations networks and was first used by science- time, the subversion of electronic systems
fiction author William Gibson in his 1986 novel (“hacking”) has become a weapon of war, notably
Neuromancer to describe a fictional parallel uni- in the Middle East during the Second Intifada in
verse created by computers and inhabited by in- the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Identifying even
formation (including the “avatars” or data such basic data as the number of participants in
representations of human characters). With the cyberspace has proved difficult. Describing its
arrival of the worldwide web in 1993, the term sociological characteristics is equally difficult,
took on a practical application, describing the and a nascent scholarly field. Among significant
online world, the interactions and networks of contributions are A. R. Galloway’s Protocol (2004),

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S. Lash’s Critique of Information (2002), C. May’s Infor- are English, Mandarin, Spanish, and Korean.
mation Society (2002), and T. Terranova’s Network Many networks, routers, and servers are inte-
Culture (2004). grated with national and global telecommunica-
The material infrastructure of cyberspace is tion and entertainment corporations. But many
composed of a large number of computers linked are not, and the technology is cheaply available
by electronic networks. A proportion of these to individuals, groups, and companies who wish
computers act as servers, storage devices to communicate with the public. The most suc-
allowing open access from other computers. A cessful applications to date are e-mail, which
smaller proportion are routers, responsible for allows person-to-person communication, and
conveying data across the network. A small file-sharing, through which users can swap data,
number of globally agreed software packages commonly music, images, and software. Cyber-
(protocols) permit the traffic to be used on almost space raises serious challenges for law (intellec-
every personal or institutional computer. Some tual property), justice (online and international
subnetworks (intranets) are closed to all but crime), the military (information warfare), and
named users. The major languages employed representational democracy. SEAN CUBITT

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