Title: A sociology of culture, taste and value /
Authors: Stewart, Simon, 1974-
Year: 2014
Subjects: Culture; Aesthetics Social aspects.; Values Social aspects.; Aesthetics Social aspects; Culture; Values Social aspects
Abstract: This book explores sociological debates in relation to culture, taste and value. It examines the tensions between formal and substantive rationality; between courses of action which are instrumentally rational and those which are formulated with particular cultural values in mind; between impersonal forces and creative impulses; between the logic of profit and the ambiguity of aesthetics; between a tendency to like what we are trained to like and affective or contrarian impulses. Simon Stewart argues that sociology can contribute to debates about aesthetic value and to an understanding of how people evaluate and seeks to contribute to alternative approaches that draw attention to other values and to other ways of valuing. Book jacket.
Contents: Introduction -- Culture in a rationalizing world -- The fate of cultural values -- Why do we like what we like? -- Expressing taste -- Evaluating culture -- Culture in a globalizing world -- The local on the global stage -- Conclusion.