Culture and Agency: The Place of Culture in Social Theory

381 Pages·1996·6.53 MB·English

by  Margaret S. Archer

Margaret Archer's Culture and agency was first published in 1988,
and proved a seminal contribution to social theory and the case
for the relatively autonomous role of culture in sociological
thought. Described in the Sociological Review as 'a timely and
sophisticated treatment', the book showed that the 'problems' of
culture and agency, on the one hand, and structure and agency,
on the other, could be solved using the same analytical frame-
work.
In this revised edition of Culture and agency, incorporating two
new chapters, Margaret Archer contextualises her argument in
1990s cultural sociology and links it explicitly to her latest book,
Realist social theory: the morphogenetic approach (Cambridge University
Press, 1995). A third volume is planned, and, together, they will
constitute a major statement on culture and society by one of the
world's leading social theorists.

Culture and agency
Revised edition

CULTURE AND AGENCY
The place of culture in social theory
REVISED EDITION
MARGARET S. ARCHER
University of Warwick
HI CAMBRIDGE
•W UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011 -4211, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1996
First published 1988
First paperback edition 1989
Reprinted 1992, 1994
Revised edition 1996
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Archer, Margaret Scotford.
Culture and agency, the place of culture in social theory /
Margaret S. Archer. — Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 56427 1. - ISBN 0 521 56441 7 (pbk.)
1. Culture. 2. Social structure. 3. Social integration.
I. Title.
HM101.A654 1996
306-dc20 96-3880 CIP
ISBN 0 521 56427 1 hardback
ISBN 0 521 56441 7 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2003
CE
For my mother Elise
a belated thank you

Contents
Preface page xi
1 The Myth of Cultural Integration 1
Part I Rejecting cultural conflation
2 'Downwards conflation': on keys, codes and cohesion 25
3 'Upwards conflation': the manipulated consensus 46
4 'Central conflation': the duality of culture 72
The different forms of conflation and their deficiencies:
a summary of Part I 97
Part II Reconceptualizing cultural dynamics
5 Addressing the Cultural System 103
6 Contradictions and complementarities in the Cultural
System 143
7 Socio-Cultural interaction 185
8 Elaboration of the Cultural System 227
9 Towards theoretical unification: structure, culture and
morphogenesis 274
10 'Social integration and System integration' 288
Notes 316
Index 348