Jeffrey Alexander and Cultural Sociology

Jean-François Côté is Professor of Sociology at the University of Quebec at Montreal.

“Jeffrey Alexander’s ‘strong program’ for cultural sociology is a major effort to revitalize the classical sociological tradition – and challenge both materialist and instrumental perspectives. It has evolved over many years, shifting among theoretical syntheses, programmatic statements, and analyses of practical issues in democratic culture. Fully understanding it calls for a guide, and Jean-Francois Côté performs this role with clarity and insight. Whether you wish to follow Alexander or challenge him, you will find Côté’s analysis invaluable.”Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University and LSE“An essential overview of Jeffrey Alexander’s cultural sociology, Côté’s important critical synthesis connects its many contributions to illuminate one of the most ambitious, sustained, and useful projects in contemporary sociology.”Lyn Spillman, University of Notre Dame

• PrefaceIntroductionChapter 1: The “strong program” of cultural sociologyAlexander’s “post-positivist” approach to sociologyFrom Parsons to neofunctionalismFrom Neofunctionalism to Cultural SociologyA new analysis of the relative autonomy of culture based on reflexivityChapter 2: A rereading of Durkheim: social ritual and cultural significanceThe presence of the religious in cultural lifeA sociology of religion in social life: politics and technologySymbolic forms of meaning in contemporary societyChapter 3: A critique of Marx, Cultural Studies, and BourdieuThe rejection of Marxian critiqueCritique of Cultural StudiesCritique of Bourdieusian determinismCritical theory and reflexivity: the power of representationChapter 4: Culture, Politics and Civil Religion: Weber and beyondWith Weber and beyond: a sociology of religion in modernityWeberian analysis reassessed by pragmatics and hermeneuticsThe civil sphere and political debates: reconstruction of civil religionChapter 5: The Civil Sphere and the “Societal Community:” beyond ParsonsFrom Parsons to Touraine and beyond: analysis of performative social movementsCultural pragmatics and the challenges of symbolic codificationSocial and cultural trauma theory: social claims of identityChapter 6: The power of representation and the representation of powerEmpirical analysis of political life: the representation of powerPower of representation: performance and dramatic action in the civil sphereThe power of the symbolic and the iconicA generalized social theatricality: the dramatic aesthetics of social actionConclusion