Culture and identity

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- The philosophy behind the book -- What are culture and identity? -- The importance and origins of culture and identity -- Using the skills of sociology -- Exam focus -- Study guidance -- Using concept maps -- The content of the book -- 2 Key Issues in the Study of Culture and Identity -- Introduction -- What is culture? -- What is identity? -- Attempts to define culture -- Non-sociological uses of the concept of culture -- Socialization, norms and values -- Evaluating the concept of culture: three problems -- Understanding the concept of identity: do not lose sight of the individual -- Conclusion -- 3 Classical Views on Culture and Identity -- Introduction -- Introducing two classical views on culture -- View one: culture as order - functionalism -- View two: culture as ideological control - Marxism -- Conclusion -- 4 The Development of 'Action' Sociology and Interactionists -- Introduction -- The role of meanings and motives in society -- Georg Simmel -- Contemporary forms of action sociology -- Conclusion -- 5 Socialization, Self-Identity and the Life Course -- Introduction -- Socialization -- Self-identity and the map of one's life -- The life course -- Age and ageing -- Returning to the relationship between the individual and society -- Conclusion -- 6 How Much Agency Do Individuals Have in Culture? -- Introduction -- Thinking using culture: the creative self -- Clarifying what is meant by 'agency' -- Reflexivity -- Conclusion -- 7 Modern and Postmodern Culture and Identity -- Introduction -- What is modernity? -- What is postmodernity? -- Postmodern identities -- Evaluation of postmodernism -- Theories of risk -- Conclusion -- 8 Mass Culture and Popular Culture -- Introduction -- Basic definitions -- The 'mass society thesis'.