Cultural Sociology and Action

Summary

Cultural sociology is the primary area of sociology theorizing action. From Weber’s interest-driven approach, through Parson’s emphasis on values, initial thinking stressed culture as a singular, causal force motivating action long into the future. In the 1960s and 1970s, as cultural values turned into excuses for social ills, the predictive power of culture failed to materialize, and the problems of structural functionalism multiplied, sociology abandoned questions about culture and action. In the 1970s and 1980s anthropology carried the cultural torch, where it was seen as a rich tapestry of signs and symbols to interpret. At the same time, symbolic interactionists continued their focus on cultural vocabularies used to justify action. In the mid-1980s Swidler’s tool-kit theory reinvigorated cultural sociology’s engagement with action, though now questioning the role of cultural resources used in action. Since the mid-2000s, attempts to revise culture’s power to cause action, while avoiding the problems of the 1960s, have emerged. Alexander’s strong program in cultural sociology emphasizes the role of shared meanings and feelings in creating cultural structures. In the early 2020s, Ostertag built upon this with a theory of cultural work where a system shared morals and activating emotions motivate cultural action. Synthesizing the different and relevant ways cultural sociology approaches action, the MORR framework notes the combined importance of motives, opportunities, rationalizations, and resources, as together constituting action, and a useful heuristic for future scholarship.