Cultural Sociologists Research Articles

The telepresence era: global village or "media slums"?

The ongoing debate between technological determinists and cultural sociologists with regard to the impact of new technologies exposes much of the uncertainty involved in forecasting even the near future, of the dangers involved in simplistic interpretations of the technology-society-culture relationship, and of the difficulties involved in the attempt to reconcile these contrasting approaches. The issue of telepresence is an excellent illustration of this complexity. Telepresence is the generic term for a set of activities performed from a distance through the use of telecommunications. It refers to working (telecommuting), playing, providing and using services (telemedicine, teleshopping), and teaching and learning (tele-education)-all from a distance. A dialogue between a "true believer" in technology, and a sociology-oriented "devil's advocate" is used as a format for exploring and clarifying some of these matters.

SOCIAL WORLD APPROACH TO CULTURAL STUDIES

Cultural sociologists and those studying socialization share an interest in understanding the ways in which media are important within social life. Studies of mass media include those focusing on the production of culture, the content of cultural products, and individual interpretations of media images. However, a fourth domain in cultural studies, the social world, or the context in which media are experienced, has been disregarded. This ethnographic analysis of an adolescent microculture uses a unique method for studying media influence—a group of friends in their natural school setting spontaneously and collectively make gendered meanings based on media content. The influence of mass media on gender relations can be seen as the boys produce and reproduce meanings, based on stereotypical media messages, within their peer group. This occurs through appropriating scenes from cable television films that embody traditional male culture, identifying with the models of masculinity available through media content and imputing stereotypical notions of gender to the mass media. Integrating this important fourth realm of cultural studies—the social world of media—with an interpretive reproduction approach to socialization provides a fuller understanding of how mass media are influential within modern society.

The Sociology of Music

In Sweden, over a relatively short but intensive period of time, the sociology of has travelled the entire spectrum, moving from dry, computerized statistical studies to extremely personal sensitivity studies. There is no comprehensive academic research field known as sociology of in Sweden, so the question that arises is whether people working in this area have any generalizable common objectives. In Sweden, I think sociologists of would probably be willing to sign a statement formulated as follows: Our primary aim is to attain a culture in which is an active, integrated part of society and in which there is understanding for many different forms of musical expression. We also aim to develop new forms through which people can make use of well-functioning established ones. In recent years the questions that have increasingly preoccupied sociologists of have been: does communicate? and effects does produce upon the listener? These questions bring the work of the sociologist close to that of the psychologist of and other behavioral scientists. Music is an excellent object of research for cultural sociologists precisely because it is a carrier of meaning without being descriptive. All that has to be done is to decode the meaning conveyed by the musical message! This is one of the fundamental tasks of the sociologist of music. Music is often approached by the sociologist via its functions. I will begin by exemplifying some of the broadest functions of with the aid of some examples from history. A Historical Perspective In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri moves the reader, via the hand of Virgil, from the noises of Inferno, via the sounds of Purgatory with its light songs and of earthly devotion, to the zenith of Paradise, where angels make heavenly without end. Noise, sound, and are the three levels that exist in all known societies. There are researchers who would see a further division of into at least two levels: an original one of body music, and a secondary one which is more and abstract. The latter level is then seen as having developed alongside the development of musical notation, the written language. The emotional and intellectual development which moves from noise and sound to music is, unquestionably, a special ability peculiar to the human brain which, in completing this development, creates a philosophy of sound based on emotion, but of course in interplay with thought and language. But the distinction between the components of this process that are body and those that are and abstract can never be made with accuracy and will always remain in the realm of speculation. What can be said is that the phenomenon of has occurred through artistic use of our sound environment, or through communicative sounds, such as the sounds of language, being given an organized harmonic dimension. This has taken place in every known period of history, but in widely varying ways, depending upon what accumulation there has been of the music of the preceding period(s). Although we appear to be quite capable of characterizing the of exotic cultures and of the past, it is more difficult for us to describe and musical functions that are contemporary and near at hand. This is the primary task of the sociologist. I will attempt to specify the role of the phenomenon of as a cultural indicator by using the following pair of concepts: culture and anti-culture. Advanced ancient civilizations such as those of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians had an official culture, in which instruments, melodies, and the like had been inherited from immemorial nomadic and agricultural cultures. Through time, they had been transformed into cult instruments and cult songs. The gods, like the planets, the seasons, the dimensions of the temple, were classified in terms of simple numerical proportions such as 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4, which, in turn, when applied to segmenting the string, gave the consonant, concordant intervals - unison, octave, fifth, and fourth. …

Book Reviews: The Manufacture of News: Deviance, Social Problems and the Mass Media, Social Stratification and Trade Unionism, Racism and the Mass Media, Labour Relations on the Docks, Marxism versus Sociology: A Guide to Reading, Man and Organization: The Search for Explanation and Social Relevance, Tinker, Tailor … the Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Sociologists and Religion, Drivers after Sentence, Language,

Book Reviews: The Manufacture of News: Deviance, Social Problems and the Mass Media, Social Stratification and Trade Unionism, Racism and the Mass Media, Labour Relations on the Docks, Marxism versus Sociology: A Guide to Reading, Man and Organization: The Search for Explanation and Social Relevance, Tinker, Tailor … the Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Sociologists and Religion, Drivers after Sentence, Language,

Public Opinion from a Behavioristic Viewpoint

The vagueness and variety of usage of most of the concepts of sociology are in part the result of an attempt to apply individualistic terms to collectivistic situations. The history and variety of definition of public opinion is reviewed as an illustration. A behavioristic definition consistent with the realistic view of society as held by the cultural sociologists and others is proposed. This definition is applied to the major controversial points regarding public opinion, such as its unanimity, its changeability, and its superiority to individual opinion. The implications of the behavioristic position regarding the organismic view of society are accepted and defended.