Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology
Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States

This book provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding cross-national cultural differences.

Michèle Lamont (Edited by), Laurent Thévenot (Edited by)

9780521782630, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 December 2000

392 pages, 9 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.74 kg

"Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology is the product of an unprecedented multiyear collaboration between 11 French and American researchers...[it is] an extraordinary contribution to the field of comparative cultural sociology." American Journal of Sociology

This book provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding cross-national cultural differences. Focusing on France and America, it analyses how the people of these two different cultures mobilise national 'repertoires of evaluation' to make judgements about politics, economics, morals and aesthetics. The analysis draws on eight case studies by eleven French and American researchers who have worked together over a number of years to develop systematic comparisons between these countries. The topics are wide-ranging, comparing how individuals use the cultural tools at their disposal to answer questions such as: are races equal? What constitutes sexual harassment? What is the value of contemporary art? Should journalists be neutral? How can the defense of the environment be reconciled with economic imperatives? Moving beyond simplistic essentialist models of national character, this comparative approach offers important insights that will interest not only sociologists but also political scientists and anthropologists.

1. Introduction: toward a renewed comparative cultural sociology Michèle Lamont and Laurent Thévenot
Part I. Race, Gender, and Multiculturalism: 2. The rhetorics of racism and anti-racism in France and the United States Michèle Lamont
3. Sexual harassment in France and the United States: activists and public figures defend their definitions Abigail Cope Saguy
4. Assessing the literary
intellectual boundaries in French and American literary studies Jason Duell
Part II. The Cultural Sphere: Publishing, Journalism, and the Arts: 5. Culture or commerce? Symbolic boundaries in French and American book publishing Daniel Weber
6. Involvement and detachment among French and American journalists: to be or not to be a 'real' professional Cyril Lemieux and John Schmalzbauer
7. From rejection of contemporary art to culture war Nathalie Heinich
Part III. Political Cultures and Practices
8. Community and civic culture: the Rotary Club in France and the United States Agnès Camus-Vigué
9. Political practice and culture in French and American environmental disputes: 9a. French and American disputes: an introduction Claudette Lafaye, Michael Moody and Laurent Thévenot
9b. Forms of valuing nature: arguments and modes of justification in French and American environmental disputes Laurent Thévenot, Michael Moody and Claudette Lafaye
9c. Comparing models of strategy, interests, and the public good in French and American environmental disputes Michael Moody and Laurent Thévenot
10. Conclusion: Exploring the French and the American polity Laurent Thèvenot and Michèle Lamont.

Subject Areas: Sociology & anthropology [JH]