This article examines the theory of cultural trauma and contrasts it to the. Sigmund freud, a neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalysis discipline, had characterized the memory of trauma as a foreign body which long after its entry must continue to be regarded as an agent that is still at work. Module 6 social protests and social movements lecture. Modernization theory has been one of the major perspectives in the sociology of national development and underdevelopment since the 1950s. Bernhard giesen is the author of intellectuals and the nation. Conspicuous exceptions to this generalization are sociobiology and its forebears, which tend to link culture. Jeffrey alexander published articles center for cultural. He is the founding figure in the school of cultural sociology he refers to as the strong program. Subaltern history and linguistic turn epistemology deals with the theory of historical knowl and discourse analysis in history. Doc culture theories simbarashe dexter choruma academia. On the theory of cultural ethnocentrism, the viewing of ones culture as superior to anothers there is the universalisation of the english language. Psychological trauma and cultural trauma 31 neil j. What these theorists try to get at is the necessity to integrate emotions in their account of cultural change and cultural sociology. Cultural study sociological theory polar codings actor network theory cultural.
One of the most popular and influential explanations of social movements and other forms of collective behavior is neil smelser s 1963 valueadded theory also called structuralstrain theory. Cultural theory genealogies, orientations and territories david oswell xxi volume i. The alexander school of cultural sociology mustafa emirbayer, 2004. Primary attention has focused on ways in which past and present premodern societies become modern i. As epis relevance for disciplines like history scott 1991 see temology is the theory of knowledge, historical gender history. For decades it has been regarded as the central organizing base for social anthropology sometimes, indeed, called cultural anthropology and is one of the several major objects of study and tools for explanation in sociology and political science smelser 1968, as the terms subculture, counterculture, organizational culture, civic culture. Regional oral history office university of california the. Richard hoggart, the uses of literacy and the cultural turn 3 stuart hall 2. Conspicuous exceptions to this generalization are sociobiology and its forebears, which tend to link culture to genetic.
Nonetheless, differences over the meaning of meaning lie at the heart of fundamental theoretical issues in the study of culture. If the proper determinants are present then collective behavior becomes inevitable. September 29, 2006 member of group selected from graduate class to present in gospel and culture segment of abilene christian university annual bible lectureship. Pdf cultural trauma and collective identity semantic scholar. Deprivation theory argues that social movements have their foundations among. One main concern will be to point out how smelser s explanations of collective behavior may be applied to social processes with the addition ofmyrdalsmodel of circular causation gluckman defines two new perspectives on equilibrium. A distillation of smelser s reflections after nearly four decades of research, teaching, and thought in the field of sociology, the essays identify, as he says in the first chapter. Since the culture ofany modern society seems likely to. Neil smelser, john lofland, and others have proposed three correspon. The first part of the course defines and contrasts various approaches to sociological theory. Janice hocker rushing 1983 has argued, for example, that an enduring myth in u.
Psychological trauma and cultural trauma california. A study in the integration of economic and social theory, the free press. The structural strain theory was proposed by smelser 1965. In cultural sociology, cultural trauma theory has been formulated specifically to address the intertwined dynamic of culture and emotions alexander, smelser et al. Cultural trauma and collective identity by jeffrey c. Each member was relieved of academic duties for one semester in each of his two years in the center. Slavery and the formation of african american identity 2001. The second part focuses on structural approaches that privilege the. Bernard giesen, neil smelser, and piotr sztompka have developed a rich literature for understanding trauma in such social, as opposed to psychological, senses. The relative coherence or incoherence of the field varies in terms of the questions posed smelser, 1992, pp. An analytical approach to social theory, edited by peter hedstrom and richard swedberg. Only later, evidently under the influence of morris and mead, did he turn his attention to culture, incorporating it into a theory of symbolization parsons 1951. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. According to the general theory of systems of action, process in any social system is.
The strain theory of social movement has been propounded by smelser 1962. Presented the eternal conversation of epistemological criticism. Psychological trauma and cultural trauma california scholarship. Smelser s method of explanation is implicitly durkheimean. Conversely, if any of the key determinants are not present no collective. Cultural trauma and collective identity pdf, epub ebook.
Third, the chapter draws on smelser s work on ambivalence which aids in elucidating those anomalies without abandoning the fundamental insight of the new paradigm. Sociology, cultural studies and the cultural turn springerlink. Base and superstructure in marxist cultural theory 15 raymond williams 3. Within the socalled action frame of reference of parsonss first and admirable sketch of a theory of the structure of social action, the concept of culturedid not play a central role parsons 1968 1937. As smelser suggests in chapter 2, following, lay trauma theory began to enter ordinary language and scholarly discussions alike in the efforts to understand the kind of shell shock that affected so many soldiers during world war i, and it became expanded and elaborated in relation to. Theory the newsletter of the research committee on sociological theory, international sociological association, springsummer 2014. Slavery and the formation of african american identity. The holocaust 112 as the traumatic reference of german national identity bernhard giesen 5. More specifically, racial components of ideology help to.
Rather, ratlonahzatlon is the cultural byproduct of collective practices that con. While smelser 1971 1962 advanced the idea that structural strain is a necessary component for collective behavior, another goal outlined in theory of collective behavior was to reconcile the tensions between different approaches to the study of collective behavior. Cultural trauma and collective identity presents seven contributions by the. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. For decades it has been regarded as the central organizing base for social anthropology sometimes, indeed, called cultural anthropology and is one of the several major objects of study and tools for explanation in sociology and political science smelser 1968, as the terms subculture, counterculture, organizational culture, civic culture, and political culture indicate. Enlisting smelsers theory of ambivalence to maintain. At meetings we discussed theoretical issues arising. More specifically, racial components of ideology help to bridge the cognitive and. This theory considers structural strain as the underlying factor contributing to collective behaviour. Known familiarly as the theory center, this group consisted of six or seven scholars from various departments. These skillfully written essays are based on the georg simmel lectures delivered by neil j. According to smelser, ambivalence, the state of holding opposing affective orientations towards the same person, object or symbol 1998, 5 is more characteristic of how individuals experience social life than certainty.
With the increasing focus on the concept of culture by sociologists and other social scientists, there is now a need for clarifying and developing theoretical. Theatre for young audiences and cultural identity springerlink. Smelser at humboldt university in berlin in the spring of 1995. Keywords alexander, culture, cultural sociology, social structure, theory. Distinguished sociologist, university professor and servant to the public conducted by jess mcintosh and lisa rubens 20112012, regional oral history office, the bancroft library, university of california, berkeley, 20. Cultural trauma and collective identity presents seven. Cultural sociology i sympathize with wuthnows 1987, pp. There is a difference between trauma as it affects individuals and as a cultural process. In all civilizations, men have thrown themselves into episodes of dramatic behavior, such as the craze, the riot, and the revolution.
Perspectives from the social sciences, ashgate, forthcoming iconic experience in art and life. Enlisting smelsers theory of ambivalence to maintain progress in. Killian as well as by the parsonian social theorist, neil smelser. Special issue of american behavioral scientist, 426. Smelser free pdf book 1965 excerpt from the authors introduction. Pdf cultural trauma and collective identity by jeffrey c.
Neil smelser s 1962 meticulous categorization of crowd behavior, called valueadded theory, is a perspective within the functionalist tradition based on the idea that several conditions must be in place for collective behavior to occur. Social science theory at the university of california, berkeley. Structural strain may occur at different levels such as norms, values, mobility, situational facilities, etc. Smelser s seminal work attempts to bridge this gap, yet the valueadded perspective fails to capture the cultural dimensions of race riots. Explaining the concept of culture is usually held to be a difficult task. In this article, the meaning, formstypes and theories of collective behaviour and. Beginning with giacomettis standing woman in theory, culture and society, 25 5. Pdf cultural trauma and collective identity semantic. Second, the chapter discusses the anomalies in the new paradigm if its foundation were to be taken as a rational choice theory. With the increasing focus on the concept of culture by sociologists and other social scientists, there is now a need for clarifying and developing theoretical perspectives on this issue. In so doing, they have created a lens and a language through which society can better comprehend what is now known as cultural trauma and have helped lay a foundation upon which remedies to. The theory advocates that any nascent social movement needs six factors to grow. Free download of theory of collective behavior by neil smelser. Dec 01, 2008 culture theory, an interrelated school of anthropological and semiotic thought challenges the view that culture is the entity of a single community serrat, 2008.
Slavery and the formation of african american identity 60 ron eyerman 4. Theory of culture new directions in cultural analysis. Smelser wrote that social movements and other collective behavior occur if and only if several conditions are present. Regents of the university of california and neil smelser, dated march 19, 2012. Theory, culture and society 23 problematizing global knowledge, special issue 23. A study in the integration of economic and social theory, the free press, glencoe, il, 1956. Theory of culture new directions in cultural analysis munch, richard, smelser, neil j. I contend that cultural factors serve to mediate between the structural and social psychological levels. Article information, pdf download for the alexander school of cultural sociology open. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows. Jeffrey charles alexander born 1947 is an american sociologist, and one of the worlds leading social theorists. A critique of talcott parsonss theory of culture michael schmid. The trauma in question is slavery, not as institution or even experience, but as collective memory, a form of remembrance that grounded the identityformation of a people. Smelser is the author of the social aspects of psychoanalysis california, 1998.
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