Interpreting Society: The Path of Culture and Structure: The Path of Culture and Structure

Author: Zhou Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: The vibrant society constitutes abundant material for sociological research, but seemingly scattered sociological explanations have always revolved around two orientations: culture and structure. The research object exists within the structure and also within the culture defined by the structure, and no one can sever the interconnectedness of the two. The purpose of this book is to explore and interpret the two perspectives of social explanation and their connections through the deductive process of theory itself. Although mainstream sociology has always emphasized structural, systematic, and empirical interpretations, the decline of structural explanations and the emphasis on cultural explanations are creative or realistic efforts pursued in each chapter of the book. Despite the persistent ambiguity of the concepts of structure and culture, the author clarifies the original forms of these two concepts in the tone where the individual serves as the carrier of structure and culture, and in the theoretical discussions of specific social phenomena. Although this is a collection of purely theoretical reviews, the author's meticulous analysis throughout the text enables divergent concepts, viewpoints, or theoretical schools to gain new interpretations through dialogue.