Synopses & Reviews
This study of Williams provides the most detailed account available of the sociological dimensions of his project. While including an overview of central themes throughout his work, in particular it unlocks his late sociology of culture. Previously overlooked aspects of Williams's work are thus highlighted. These include: his critique of Birmingham cultural studies; his use of an Adorno-like approach to 'cultural production'; his 'social formalist' alternative to structuralism and post-structuralism and his later approach to 'the media'.
Review
"A critical, meticulous and coherent account of Raymond Williams's principal ideas and intellectual development, Paul Jones provides a scholarly overview of Williams's immanent emancipatory theory. In charting the growth of Williams's sociology of culture, this volume explores the complex and conflictual relations between sociology, cultural studies and literary theory. The Raymond Williams book for which we have all been waiting."--Bryan Turner, University of Cambridge
Synopsis
This detailed study of Williams unlocks his late sociology of culture. It covers previously overlooked aspects, such as his critique of Birmingham cultural studies, his use of an Adorno-like approach to 'cultural production', his 'social formalist' alternative to structuralism and post-structuralism and his approach to 'the media'.
About the Author
Paul Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figures * Preface * Acknowledgements * List of Abbreviations * Settling Accounts with 'Culture' * Cultural Materialism Versus 'Received Marxism' * From Criticism to Critique * Social Formalism * Towards a New Sociology of Culture * Cultural Production and Means of Communication * The Long Revolutions of Modernity * Bibliography * Index