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Journal ArticleDOI

Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@@The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.

01 May 1986-Contemporary Sociology-Vol. 15, Iss: 3, pp 344
TL;DR: Giddens as mentioned in this paper has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.
Abstract: Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In "The Constitution of Society" he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddens' concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. "The Constitution of Society" is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on cultural processes that contribute to the production and reproduction of inequality through the routine and taken-for-granted actions of both dominant and subordinate actors, and highlight two types of cultural processes: identification and rationalization.
Abstract: Thispaperprovidesaframeworkforunderstandingthewaysinwhichsocialprocesses produce social inequality. Specifically, we focus on a particular type of social process that has received limited attention in the literature and in which inter-subjective meaning-making is central: cultural processes. Much of the literature on inequality has focused on the actions of dominant actors and institutions in gaining access to material and non-material resources, or on how ecological effects cause unequal access to material resources. In contrast, we focus on processes that contribute to the production (and reproduction) of inequality through the routine and takenfor-granted actions of both dominant and subordinate actors. We highlight two types of cultural processes: identification and rationalization. We describe and illustrate four processes that we consider to be significant analytical exemplars of these two types of cultural processes: racialization and stigmatization (for identification) and standardization and evaluation (for rationalization). We argue that attention to such cultural processes is critical and complementary to current explanations of social inequality.

322 citations


Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."

  • ...Third, cultural processes typically operate in a routine fashion (e.g. Sewell, 2005: Chapter 10; Giddens, 1984)....

    [...]

  • ...Thus, while considering cultural processes, we move from a focus on discrete, instrumental actions aimed at monopolizing material and non-material resources to a focus on a range of ongoing, routine relationships that enable and constrain social action (Giddens, 1984; Sewell, 1992)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors build a conceptual model of workplace gossip and its effects on the power of employees who initiate it and suggest how moderators may shape those effects and discuss implications of the model.
Abstract: Although gossip is widespread, seldom has it been a topic of management research. Here the researchers build a conceptual model of workplace gossip and its effects on the power of employees who initiate it. After defining and distinguishing among different kinds of workplace gossip, the researchers develop propositions about the effect of that gossip on gossipers' expert, referent, reward, and coercive power. They then suggest how moderators may shape those effects and discuss implications of the model.

322 citations


Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."

  • ...First, social scientists (e.g., Berger, 1994; Giddens, 1984; Mumby, 1988) have suggested that communication in general tends to shape power structures in organizations as well as society....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a series of hard-fought and lonely empirical battles, organizational process researchers have started to fortify a position in the no-researcher's land between inductive theory generation and deductive theory verification.

321 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that cultural scholars are misguided in their diagnosis of a problem (interviews can only access people's after-the-fact rationalizations), and their vision of a solution (culture scholars need to access the "snap judgments" that map onto the subterranean level of practical consciousness).
Abstract: This article evaluates the claims of a small but active group of culture scholars who have used theoretical models of bifurcated consciousness to allege important methodological implications for research in culture. These scholars, whom I dub ‘cognitive culturalists’, have dismissed the utility of in-depth interviewing to access the visceral, causally powerful level of ‘practical consciousness’. I argue these scholars are misguided in their diagnosis of a problem (interviews can only access people's after-the-fact rationalizations), and their vision of a solution (culture scholars need to access the ‘snap judgments’ that map onto the subterranean level of practical consciousness). I contend these flaws are tied to a limited understanding of the kind of information available in interviews, particularly the in-depth interview subjected to interpretive analysis. Using data from a recent book project on commitment, I elaborate on four kinds of information harbored in interviews: the honorable, the schematic, the visceral and meta-feelings. I rely on these forms of data to argue for scholars to expect, and to use analytically – rather than strive to ‘solve’ theoretically – the contradictory cultural accounts that our research subjects evince. Furthermore, I demonstrate how interpretive interviewing allows researchers access to an emotional landscape that brings a broader, social dimension to individual motivation.

321 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a practice-based framework of taste through qualitative and quantitative analysis of a popular home design blog, interviews with blog participants, and participant observation, and demonstrate how aesthetics is linked to practical knowledge and becomes materialized through everyday consumption.
Abstract: Taste has been conceptualized as a boundary-making mechanism, yet there is limited theory on how it enters into daily practice. In this article, the authors develop a practice-based framework of taste through qualitative and quantitative analysis of a popular home design blog, interviews with blog participants, and participant observation. First, a taste regime is defined as a discursively constructed normative system that orchestrates practice in an aesthetically oriented culture of consumption. Taste regimes are perpetuated by marketplace institutions such as magazines, websites, and transmedia brands. Second, the authors show how a taste regime regulates practice through continuous engagement. By integrating three dispersed practices—problematization, ritualization, and instrumentalization—a taste regime shapes preferences for objects, the doings performed with objects, and what meanings are associated with objects. This study demonstrates how aesthetics is linked to practical knowledge and becomes materialized through everyday consumption.

320 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1975

98 citations