Original scientific paper
CULTURE AND POWER
Rade Kalanj
; Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb
Abstract
The text is concerned with the analysis of contemporary sociological approaches to the issue of culture. Relying on the attitudes of D. Crane and, especially, N. Smelser, the author holds that contemporary sociological thought is characterized by the three main approaches: sociologistic, socioanthropologic and sociopolitical science. However, in the latest period, in other words until the early 70s, the dominant place is of an approach of sociopolitical science, that had an innovative role in a sociology of culture. Its peculiarity is that it analyzes cultural processes in the political power range of knowledge. So the relation of culture and power becomes once a very significant topic in contemporary sociology. With regard to this the author particular attention gives to the Gramsci's notion of cultural hegemony, the British school of cultural studies, Foucault's theory of knowledge and power, Bourdieu's sociology of cultural capital and Baudrillard's theory of simulation and simulacrum. Their innovativeness is in that they surpass traditional ("implicite") culture comprehension and even more they turn towards a reality of medium and communicational age, in other words, towards that what some contemporary sociologists denote as "recorded culture".
Keywords
culture; cultural studies; cultural capital; recorded culture; simulacrum; sociology of culture
Hrčak ID:
141349
URI
Publication date:
15.1.1995.
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