The culture crunch
Daniel Bell’s The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4781899 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew Gilbert (0000-0002-5645-8833, La Trobe University), Allan S Gilbert (0000-0002-0525-8516, La Trobe University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 118 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 83-95 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Thesis Eleven (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0725513613500383 |
| OpenAlex | W2013002888 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 13 |
Daniel Bell's The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism lies at the intersection of the three main theoretical currents of sociological thought, those of Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim and Max Weber. His 'three realms' methodology moves away from deterministic accounts that subordinate the political and cultural to the economic realm. By granting each realm an autonomy and principles of their own, Bell locates the contradictions of capitalism in the friction between them. With constant innovation, individual expressiveness and libertarian social values becoming forces in-and-of-themselves, prevailing social structures and the roles within them are left looking increasingly incoherent, illegitimate and meaningless. Likewise, the shift from Protestant asceticism to modernist hedonism creates a sharp tension between the demand for a disciplined and responsible workforce and the demand for economic growth through unrestrained and instantly gratifying consumerism. The result is a complex of crisis scenarios which were manifest with the end of the post-war boom. However, as other commentators have pointed out, Bell's prophetic theses often seem to fail under the light of subsequent history
Autonomy · Capitalism · Economics · Modernization theory · Neoclassical economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Protestant work ethic · Realm · Sociology · Law · Political Economy and Marxism
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,43 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2023 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |