Culture and Everyday Life

If we want to understand how people in different parts of the globe think, feel, value, act and express themselves, we have to examine the cultures that they create and are in turn created by. This lively and accessible new book reconsiders the different views as to what culture is, how it operates, and how it relates to other aspects of the human (and non-human) world.

Students are introduced to some of the major thinkers on culture from Matthew Arnold to Bakhtin and Bourdieu. Theoretical arguments are illustrated with examples from film, architecture, and daily life, making this an accessible and informative introduction that will prove indispensable reading for students of cultural studies and sociology.

Autorentext

David Inglis

Zusammenfassung
Culture is unquestionably a central topic in the contemporary social sciences. In order to understand how people think, feel, value, act and express themselves, it is necessary to examine the cultures they create, and are in turn created by. Here, David Inglis shows how the study of culture can be transformed by focusing in on how cultural forces shape, influence, structure - and occasionally disrupt - the day-to-day activities of individuals. Reconsidering different views on 'culture' - what it is, how it operates, and how it relates to other aspects of the human (and non-human) world - this new book covers key areas such as:high culture versus popular culturemodern and postmodern cultureglobalization and cultureculture and nature.Specific issues covered range from the everyday aspects of sportive play, artistic production and the mass media, to car culture and global cuisine, and students are introduced to some of the major thinkers on culture from Matthew Arnold to Bakhtin and Bourdieu. Written in a concise, student-friendly manner, theoretical arguments are illustrated with examples from film, architecture and daily life, making this an informative and indispensable introduction for those wishing to understand the complexities of culture.

Inhalt

Introduction: Culture and the Everyday 1. Culture, 'Nature' and Everyday Life 2. Modern Culture and Everyday Life 3. 'High', 'Popular' and 'Low' Cultures In Everyday Life 4. Globalization, Culture and Everyday Life. Conclusion