
Author: Sarah Joseph
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 198
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8170367298
Description
Drawing on the experiences and concerns of Third World societies like India, the book discusses some important debates in contemporary political theory. The author maintains that to understand the dynamics of social life, it is necessary to study the complex and mediated relations between culture and other social processes.
Examining the concept of culture in contemporary social and political theory, this well-argued book maintains that there has been a continuing tendency in the social sciences to view culture in a totalizing, idealist and apolitical manner. The author argues that culture is often treated as an ubiquitous given of social life which influences, but is not itself influenced by, social structures and power.
Such as the liberal/communitarian debate, colonial discourse analysis and the debate between communitarians and secularists in India. The book critically examines the concepts of culture which these discourses embody and addresses issues of power and knowledge in relation to culture.
Sarah Joseph also discusses the relevance of Marx’s views on culture and ideology and argues for the need to build on his insights regarding the relationship between culture and society. A major emphasis in the book is on the need to relate the study of culture to the traditional concerns of political theory such as justice, equality and liberation.
An important contribution to on-going debates in both the West and developing countries like India, it will be of considerable interest to those in the fields of social and political theory, cultural studies, postmodernism, sociology and political science.
Contents
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
CHAPTER TWO
Culture and Community
CHAPTER THREE
The Curse of Modernity?
CHAPTER FOUR
Culture /Knowledge: The Indigenous Social Science Debate
CHAPTER FIVE
Liberals, Communitarians and the Protection of Cultural Diversity
CHAPTER SIX
Indian Communitarians and the Politics of Difference
CHAPTER SEVEN
Conclusion
Subject Index
Author Index
About the Author