The Sociology of the Symbolic Landscape: A Cross-national Theory of Culture and Inequality

• In Event: 2383 - Theory Section Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02.

Abstract

The sociology of the symbolic landscape combines attention to the primary boundary of society as described in Alexander’s Civil Sphere Theory and a focus on agency derived from Postcolonial thought. Focusing on the dynamic nature of categorizations active within the primary boundary of any given symbolic landscape, we maintain that the cultural becomes visible through its association with behavior, thereby creating real exclusion through symbolic processes. The sociology of the symbolic landscape allows for an illumination of the ways in which the indeterminacy of categorizations and their intersections with everyday life can promote agency as well as assure social reproduction. We demonstrate the theory’s utility by linking the sociology of the symbolic landscape to race theory to demonstrate the cultural construction of racial groups as “outsiders within.” We argue that the sociology of the symbolic landscape allows researchers to conduct cross-national analyses through the development of formal concepts based on the symbolic structure of society instead of the cultural contents of symbolic categories.

Authors

• Andrea M. Voyer, University of Connecticut

• Anna Lund, Linnaeus University