The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780195306408)

In The Meanings of Social Life, Jeffrey Alexander presents a new approach to how culture works in contemporary societies. Exposing our everyday myths and narratives in a series of empirical studies that range from Watergate to the Holocaust, he shows how these unseen yet potent cultural structures translate into concrete actions and institutions. Only when these deep patterns of meaning are revealed, Alexander argues, can we understand the stubborn staying power of violence and degradation, but also the steady persistence of hope. By understanding the darker structures that restrict our imagination, we can seek to transform them. By recognizing the culture structures that sustain hope, we can allow our idealistic imaginations to gain more traction in the world. A work that will transform the way that sociologists think about culture and the social world, this book confirms Jeffrey Alexander's reputation as one of the major social theorists of our day.


Author: Jeffrey C. Alexander
ISBN-10: 0195306406
ISBN-13: 9780195306408
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 11/24/2005
Pages: 312
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 9.12h x 6.64w x 0.85d