Using a wealth of data collected in Israel, this study depicts a complete system in which art is created and evaluated--the scale of Israeli society allowing for a comprehensive and detailed description of all the agents involved in the production and consumption of modern art. The author analyzes the patterns of social relations and behavior created around two art worlds--the world of abstract avant-garde art and the world of traditional figurative painting. She argues that the two worlds differ radically both in terms of the factors that affect the formation of taste, the process of...

The Methodology of Herbert Blumer is a comprehensive critical account of the contributions of this important American sociologist to the methodology of social research. In a close reading of Blumer's texts, the author charts the development of Blumer's thinking, revealing a tension between an essentially realist ontology and Blumer's emphasis on the relationship of theory to methodology. The author describes Blumer's conception of methodology as a self-reflective exercise in which the principles of scientific inquiry are developed and criticized, and not merely as a matter of technique....

This study of the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance movements among North American Indians offers an innovative theory about why these movements arose when they did. Emphasizing the demographic situation of American Indians prior to the movements, Professor Thornton argues that the Ghost Dances were deliberate efforts to accomplish a demographic revitalization of American Indians following their virtual collapse. By joining the movements, he contends, tribes sought to assure survival by increasing their numbers through returning the dead to life. Thornton supports this thesis empirically by closely...

This study of the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance movements among North American Indians offers an innovative theory about why these movements arose when they did. Emphasizing the demographic situation of American Indians prior to the movements, Professor Thornton argues that the Ghost Dances were deliberate efforts to accomplish a demographic revitalization of American Indians following their virtual collapse. By joining the movements, he contends, tribes sought to assure survival by increasing their numbers through returning the dead to life. Thornton supports this thesis empirically by closely...

Using a wealth of data collected in Israel, this study depicts a complete system in which art is created and evaluated--the scale of Israeli society allowing for a comprehensive and detailed description of all the agents involved in the production and consumption of modern art. The author analyzes the patterns of social relations and behavior created around two art worlds--the world of abstract avant-garde art and the world of traditional figurative painting. She argues that the two worlds differ radically both in terms of the factors that affect the formation of taste, the process of...

This book, concerned with the theory and practice of social investment as a profession, offers a conceptual foundation for investment policy and research, and reviews empirical studies supporting new directions in investment policies. It also provides guidelines for fiduciaries, based on the best available knowledge of corporate behavior, and presents researchers with key hypotheses to follow in gathering data for the evaluation of social investment norms.

The author argues that the existing conceptual frameworks of political and social theory restrict both theorists and empirical researchers to a narrow definition of authoritarianism that focuses on governmental structure and fails to take account of forms of social control exercised outside the governmental sphere. Rather than define authoritarianism primarily by contrast to liberal democracy, Sciulli argues, we need to broaden our conception of authoritarianism to include "social authoritarianism," referring to social control imposed by private organizations and institutions, such as...

This analysis of the growth of welfare spending examines the relative impact of class and status groups versus demographic composition and political structures. Special attention is given to the role of the aged as representative of the importance of ascription and middle-class groups in welfare growth, and to the effect of welfare spending on income inequality. Aggregate cross-national data from the UN, ILO, and the World Bank are analyzed and the conclusion is drawn that a large aged population, especially in combination with democratic political processes, is a direct and crucial influence...

This book systematically examines prevailing cultural patterns in contemporary American society. Using information on several thousands of cultural organizations, including opera and chamber music companies as well as cinemas and live rock concerts, Professor Blau examines the geography of culture, the changing demands for culture, the interdependencies among cultural organizations of different kinds, the nature of labor markets for artists, and the effects of arts subsidies on nonprofit cultural establishments over a ten year period.

Describing the field of sociology as a comprehensive research tradition, this book analyzes the field's various sub-traditions, and demonstrates that many of these traditions not only intersect, but share conceptual components. In close analyses of its central theoretical elements, the author develops an integrative philosophy of the field. Classical traditions in sociological thought are honored and utilized while newer methodologies, such as process studies, ethnomethodology, and network analysis, are incorporated. The emphasis of the book is on the formalization and unification of...