Eduardo de la Fuente

The Artwork Made Me Do It: Introduction to the New Sociology of Art:

The sociology of art has experienced a significant revival during the last three decades. However, in the first instance, this renewed interest was dominated by the ‘production of culture’ perspective and was heavily focused on contextual factors such as the social organization of artistic markets and careers, and displays of ‘cultural capital’ through consumption of the arts. In this article, I outline a new mode of approaching art sociologically that begins with Alfred Gell’s (1998) Art and Agency, but comes to full fruition in what I am calling the ‘new sociology of art’. A major theoretical statement that captures many of the aspirations of the new approach is Jeffrey Alexander’s essay: ‘Iconic Consciousness: The Material Feeling of Meaning’. It is suggested that the new sociology of art has much in common with material culture studies, and that a more robust concept of the artwork’s agency is needed now that art has well and truly taken on a social and cultural life well beyond those institutions tra...The sociology of art has experienced a significant revival during the last three decades. However, in the first instance, this renewed interest was dominated by the ‘production of culture’ perspective and was heavily focused on contextual factors such as the social organization of artistic markets and careers, and displays of ‘cultural capital’ through consumption of the arts. In this article, I outline a new mode of approaching art sociologically that begins with Alfred Gell’s (1998) Art and Agency, but comes to full fruition in what I am calling the ‘new sociology of art’. A major theoretical statement that captures many of the aspirations of the new approach is Jeffrey Alexander’s essay: ‘Iconic Consciousness: The Material Feeling of Meaning’. It is suggested that the new sociology of art has much in common with material culture studies, and that a more robust concept of the artwork’s agency is needed now that art has well and truly taken on a social and cultural life well beyond those institutions traditionally understood as the ‘art world’.

In Defence of Theoretical and Methodological Pluralism in the Sociology of Art: A Critique of Georgina Born’s Programmatic Essay

This article welcomes Born’s proposal that the sociology of art learn from ‘adjacent fields’ that can ‘augment the sociological repertoire’. It agrees especially that sociologists can learn much from the anthropology of art and material culture studies. However, it challenges Born’s claim that the sociology of art has ‘seen little progress in recent years’ and thus questions certain aspects of her proposal for a ‘post-Bourdieuian theory of cultural production’. The central argument is: rather than an ‘analytics of mediation’ — which Born recommends — the sociology of art can benefit from studying material ‘mediators’ at work in concrete artistic networks, and the role of aesthetic agency and art in the constitution of social life more generally. The ar ticle concludes that the path forward for a sociology of art may lie precisely in not trying to force a reconciliation between macro and micro approaches, or between humanities and social science perspectives.This article welcomes Born’s proposal that the sociology of art learn from ‘adjacent fields’ that can ‘augment the sociological repertoire’. It agrees especially that sociologists can learn much from the anthropology of art and material culture studies. However, it challenges Born’s claim that the sociology of art has ‘seen little progress in recent years’ and thus questions certain aspects of her proposal for a ‘post-Bourdieuian theory of cultural production’. The central argument is: rather than an ‘analytics of mediation’ — which Born recommends — the sociology of art can benefit from studying material ‘mediators’ at work in concrete artistic networks, and the role of aesthetic agency and art in the constitution of social life more generally. The ar ticle concludes that the path forward for a sociology of art may lie precisely in not trying to force a reconciliation between macro and micro approaches, or between humanities and social science perspectives.

Sociology and Aesthetics

This review explores the present fashion for aesthetics in contemporary sociology. It evaluates the claims that society is undergoing a deep-seated process of aestheticization, and that sociology i...

The Art of Social Forms and the Social Forms of Art: The Sociology-Aesthetics Nexus in Georg Simmel's Thought*

This article examines the sociology-aesthetics nexus in Georg Simmels thought. The article suggests that it is useful to divide Simmels linking of sociology and aesthetics into three distinct types of propositions: (1) claims regarding the parallels between art and social form (the “art of social forms”); (2) statements regarding principles of sociological ordering in art and aesthetic objects (the “social forms of art”); and (3) analytical propositions where aesthetic and social factors are shown to work in combination. In the latter case, the sociology-aesthetic nexus moves beyond mere analogy. It is argued that in those instances where Simmel shows that aesthetic factors are central to the social bond the linking of aesthetics and sociology is theoretically most insightful.

On the Promise of a Sociological Aesthetics: From Georg Simmel to Michel Maffesoli

This article outlines the contribution of a sociological aesthetics to explaining social life. The central argument is that aesthetic phenomena are neither incidental nor epiphenomenal to social structure; rather the social bond itself possesses an aesthetic dimension. The two central thinkers discussed are Georg Simmel and Michel Maffesoli. The first pioneered a sociology grounded in aesthetics through the study of forms of sociation where, as social interaction becomes more fully autonomous, the aesthetic attraction of doing things together starts to dominate. The second emphasizes what social actors feel they have in common when they share tastes, customs or habits. He terms this an ‘ethics of aesthetics’ and asks whether it is becoming the dominant form of collective bonding. Synthesizing these insights, the article concludes by advocating that the full potential of a sociological aesthetics is realized only when: (i)careful attention is paid to the specific character of aesthetic forms of integration...This article outlines the contribution of a sociological aesthetics to explaining social life. The central argument is that aesthetic phenomena are neither incidental nor epiphenomenal to social structure; rather the social bond itself possesses an aesthetic dimension. The two central thinkers discussed are Georg Simmel and Michel Maffesoli. The first pioneered a sociology grounded in aesthetics through the study of forms of sociation where, as social interaction becomes more fully autonomous, the aesthetic attraction of doing things together starts to dominate. The second emphasizes what social actors feel they have in common when they share tastes, customs or habits. He terms this an ‘ethics of aesthetics’ and asks whether it is becoming the dominant form of collective bonding. Synthesizing these insights, the article concludes by advocating that the full potential of a sociological aesthetics is realized only when: (i)careful attention is paid to the specific character of aesthetic forms of integration; (2) aesthetic and non-aesthetic forms of sociation are clearly differentiated; and (3) socio-aesthetic analysis avoids vague ‘culturalogical’ generalizations.

Introduction: aesthetic capitalism

[Extract] The 2008–2010 Global Financial Crisis communicated a lot of messages. One of them was that the age of the post-industrial economy was over. Capitalism was changing, yet again. The great Joseph Schumpeter long ago observed that first comes the destruction and then comes the creation. The post-industrial age was now itself post, more past than future. The charisma of the knowledge industries was deflating. The reality of mass part-time service industries was upon us. Various advanced economies (it turned out) were much less high-tech than they had claimed to be. High-tech and info-tech proved instead to be a shaky facade for the low-interest rate fuelled housing booms. After 2000 these booms inflated under-performing economies. Inevitably in due course the booms turned to bust.

'Profane' rather than 'secular': Daniel Bell as cultural sociologist and critic of modern culture

Daniel Bell’s writings are often cast as offering a contemporary jeremiad regarding the corrosive effects of culture upon the modern economic and social order. In this paper, I take the opposite approach and argue that Bell is a sensitive cultural analyst who is claiming that human experience ought not to be deprived of culture – understood as symbol and myth that tap into the felt need for human transcendence. Bell could therefore be seen as a strong advocate for the concept of culture, and for a cultural sociology. It is only that the modern (and postmodern) versions of culture do not realize the full potential of culture to move and inspire human actors. The conclusion is reached that what ails modern culture is neither rationalization nor secularization, but rather what Bell termed the ‘Great Profanization’. Rendering culture profane is much more serious, and deleterious, than any of the other specific dynamics sociologists have diagnosed regarding modern culture.

Altered states: An essay on communication and movement

The concept of mobility seems to be sweeping across the humanities and social sciences. We argue that the close relationship between communication and movement is to some extent independent of specific communication technologies. We demonstrate this through the particular ‘knottings’ of music and physical/imaginative movement. We also suggest that in order to do justice to the complex entanglements of communication and movement, it would pay to re-examine social theories from an age when communication and transportation were not yet fully differentiated. The latter promises to reveal that communication is connection and interchanges/exchanges that impact the senses.

Prophet and Priest, Ascetic and Mystic: Towards a Cultural Sociology of the Twentieth Century Composer

This chapter analyzes questions of fate and destiny, good and bad fortune, in terms of the symbolic-work performed by different temporal narratives regarding modernity. The chapter argues that a theory of modernity needs to be attuned to the symbolic construction of narrative codes and binary distinctions built-into the idea of the modern, as well as its purported transcendence or negation. It presents a cultural sociology of modernity in the mould proposed by Jeffrey Alexander (2003) in his essay, Modern, Anti, Post, and Neo: How Intellectuals Explain Our Time. The chapter shows that twentieth century musical culture produced contrasting models of how the composer ought to relate to future, past and present; and, following Max Webers typology of religious professionals, suggests that the twentieth century composer has often resembled the prophet and priest, ascetic and mystic, in their attitude to the modern world. Keywords: cultural sociology; modernity; musical culture; religious prophet; twentieth century composer

Introduction: Philosophical And Cultural Theories Of Music

Music does what all creative media do. It translates one idiom into another. That is what philosophy and religion also do. This is the introduction chapter of the book, which reflects on the structural parallels between music and religion. Some of the most powerful interpretations of music are philosophical interpretations. What makes philosophical interpretations of music so powerful is that they are translations. It points out that music is an art of space. Musical performance and the acoustic physics of music all manifest their key characteristics in space. In addition to broaching these universal philosophical themes, the book tackles the question of how musical meaning and value are formed in specific times and places. Due to its peculiar connotative powers, music is able to perform a range of cultural functions: it can be used to reinforce identity or challenge it, and maximize social status or subvert it. Keywords: art of space; cultural theories; music; musical performance; philosophical interpretations; religion