Culture—Reconstructing the Social Sciences

Author: (English) Smith, translated by Zhang Meichuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Culture, on one hand, has attracted the attention of nearly all fields of modern social sciences, as if it has become an unchanging backdrop for most stages. On the other hand, in the context of the cultural turn, the re-cognition of culture has become a brand-new journey, as if we never truly understood culture. Indeed, in the contemporary context, there is perhaps no social science concept more popular, more variable, and more puzzling than "culture." If we rely solely on the over 100-page book titled Culture for its expression, it would be difficult to believe that our confusion about culture could be resolved so swiftly. Although constrained by its length, the author cannot fully elaborate on a grand analysis of culture, yet his mastery and synthesis of various complex and intricate materials, as well as his clear argumentation of viewpoints, still leave us in awe of his scholarly expertise. Whether the author's post-disciplinary approach can effectively explain cultural transformation or what he refers to as the "cultural backlash" is a matter to be discussed later. He skillfully employs theoretical symbols from figures like Foucault and Althusser to subvert orthodox cultural concepts and proposes his own insights into the democratization of culture, countering the elite's accusation that the massification of modern culture is merely low-level assimilation. He also emphasizes the importance of the relationship between cultural studies and social science practices. These perspectives are highly enlightening for us.
Of course, it must be noted that the author discusses cultural issues from the perspective of Western scholars, and his understanding is highly limited. Additionally, many of his viewpoints bear very obvious traces of postmodern theory, tending to lean too heavily in one direction. Moreover, when discussing Marxism and the extension of Marxist theory by Western scholars, the author's grasp of related issues is not entirely accurate. These shortcomings are clearly due to the author's limitations in understanding. Regarding this point, readers are encouraged to maintain a rational and critical attitude while reading and to weigh the content appropriately.