Cultural Sociology current issue

Folk Culture and Political Power: Practices and Representations of Moliceiro Culture in Portugal

Sarmento, C. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

This article analyses the painted panels of the moliceiro boat, a traditional working boat of the Ria de Aveiro region of Por tugal. The ar ticle examines how the painted panels have been invented and reinvented over time. The boat and its panels are contextualized both within the changing socio-economic conditions of the Ria de Aveiro region, and the changing socio-political conditions of Portugal throughout the 20th century and until the present day. The article historically analyses the social significance of ‘moliceiro culture’, examining in particular the power relations it expresses and its ambiguous past and present relationships with the political and the economic powers of the Portuguese state. The article unpacks some of the complexity of the relations that have pertained between public and private, local and national, folk culture and ‘art’, and popular and institutional in the Ria de Aveiro region in particular, and Portugal more generally.

Drugs and Symbolic Pollution: The Work of Cultural Logic in the Russian Press

Meylakhs, P. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

This article is devoted to analysis of the ‘media drug wave’ that occurred in Russia at the end of the 1990s. Following a general description of the coverage of the drug problem by the Russian press, the article sets out to explore some reasons that may help to explain the extremely negative attitude of the media and the overwhelming majority of the Russian population to drugs and drug users. Drawing on the cultural theory of risk, it is argued that such an attitude cannot be explained in rational terms of the negative consequences for the health and security of members of society; rather, drugs and drug users are perceived to be symbolic polluters of society. Cultural codes of purity and pollution can help clarify several key themes that inform political and public debates around drugs in Russia. The social context (rise of ‘Russian neomoralism’) in which the drug problem was constructed is outlined.

Rethinking Difficult Pasts: Bloody Sunday (1972) as a Case Study

Conway, B. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

The sociological literature on collective memory puts forward fragmented and multivocal commemorations as two dominant ways of responding to difficult pasts. This article argues that there is room for improvement in these models by specifying the conditions under which a controversial past can be remembered initially in a fragmented way and, with greater temporal distance from the original event, can evolve into a more consensual form of commemoration in which the past is seized upon as a resource to advance the politics of reconciliation between two opposing identity groups in an unsettled society. An evolving political climate, active memory choreography, and the usability of the past in the present all help account for this. The empirical evidence to support this theoretical claim comes from a long-range, historical study of the case of Bloody Sunday (1972).

Book Review: Kasia Boddy Boxing: A Cultural History Reaktion, London, 2008, {pound}25 hbk, {pound}17.95 pbk, 480 pp. ISBN: 1861893698

Sammons, J. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

Book Review: Michael Grenfell and Cheryl Hardy Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts Berg, Oxford and New York, 2007, {pound}55 hbk, {pound}16.99 pbk, 212 pp. ISBN: 1845202341

Bielsa, E. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

Book Review: Grant Blank Critics, Ratings, and Society: The Sociology of Reviews Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 2007, {pound}49.95 hbk, {pound}16.96 pbk, 244 pp. ISBN: 9780742547025

Allen, M. P. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

Book Review: Anthony Elliott Making the Cut: How Cosmetic Surgery Is Transforming Our Lives London, Reaktion, 2008, {pound}14.95 pbk, 196 pp. ISBN: 9781861893710

Watson, V. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST

Book Review: Anthony Elliott Making the Cut: How Cosmetic Surgery Is Transforming Our Lives London, Reaktion, 2008, {pound}14.95 pbk, 196 pp. ISBN: 9781861893710

Watson, V. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:54:39 PST