A Sociology of Culture, Taste and Value [Paperback]

This book explores sociological debates in relation to culture, taste and value. It argues that sociology can contribute to debates about aesthetic value and to an understanding of how people evaluate.  1. Culture in a Rationalizing World 2. The Fate of Cultural Values 3. Why Do We Like What We Like? 4. Expressing Taste 5. Evaluating Culture 6. Culture in a Globalizing World 7. The Local on the Global Stage

Stewarts book is an accessible guide to the sociology of culture that takes us from Weber to issues surrounding globalisation and value. It offers a critical account of some of the central ideas of the discipline and opens up a space for new sociological enquiries that may be more attentive to the phenomenal forms of taste. (Ben Highmore, New Formations, Vol. 86, 2015)

Throughout the chapters of this book, Stewart elegantly puts forward his ideas as he discusses the work of key cultural theorists and sociologists Pierre Bourdieu, Theodor Adorno, Zygmunt Bauman, to name but a few. Drawing inspiration from these theorists, Stewart contributes to the debates about Sociology and aesthetic value and in doing so he emphasizes other values besides the economic. Cultural Sociology

This timely volume is a well-rounded reappraisal of taste's sociological function [...] the author's in-depth knowledge of the overlapping principles in processes of rationalization, globalisation and cultural capital lead to a thought-provoking and insightful challenge to long held cultural assumptions that test the boundaries of our subjective leanings. - LSE Review of Books

This finely written book provides an excellent overview of culture from the sociological perspective. It outlines the theories of culture central to the discipline, and does so with clarity and sophistication. It should be of great use to both students and specialists. - John Carroll, Professor of Sociology, La Trobe University, AustralĊ