488 THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

fruitful but whichfail to provideus withany CUlture:A CriticalReviewofConceptsand Defi-

new elementsto analyze the problemswhich nitions. By A. L. KROEBER and CLYDE
Marx, Weber, or Mannheimdealt with. The KLUCKHOHN. ("Papers of the Peabody Mu-
exclusiveprivilegegrantedto thepublicopinion seum of American Archeologyand Eth-
researchmethodsinvolvesa sociologicalnarcis- nology,"Vol. XLVII, No. 1.) Cambridge:
sism. Societycontemplatesitselfand, identify- Harvard UniversityPress, 1952. Pp. xiii+
ingitselfwithitsownimage,becomesimmobile. 223. $5.25.
This conservative functionalism can be bestob- This most unusual and interestingmono-
servedin the studyof the soap opera. Warner graph by two distinguished Americananthro-
defendsthedaytimeserialwhich"providesmor- pologistsmarksthefirstprofessional attemptto
al reliefs,values, and techniquesfor solving make an inventory of definitions
of cultureand
emotionaland interpersonal problems."Actual- to trace,critically,the gradual emergenceand
ly, it is true that certainprogramshelp the refinement of the concept.The mostsignificant
feminineaudienceto accept theirpresentsitua- parts of the monographare commentson the
tion.Warnerhimselfpointsout theirconform- definitions and otherpassages cited,whichre-
ist,conservative role; but does not thefunction flectthe authors'own views on controversial
of the soap operalook different ifwe tryto de- questions.Above all, the workas a whole re-
fine it in relation not to the whole society flectstheir convictionthat theoretical,com-
globally consideredbut to the groups who parative analysis of basic concepts in social
controlthemass media?Radio, press,or movies scienceis an essentialprerequisiteof progress.
are not an expressionof the societyin general, Thus, the monographis not merelya semantic
or evena spontaneouscreationoftheaudiences. historyof the word"culture"but an examina-
Warner compares the creationsof the mass tion of the premisesunderlyingdifferences in
media to the folkarts,but is not the peculiar definition, undertakenwitha view to arriving
nature of the mass media that they provide ultimatelyat a basic uniformity.
somepeopleor somegroupswitha hithertoun- Of one hundredand sixty-four definitions
knownpower of manipulatingthe tastes, the cited,slightlyover halfare by anthropologists.
feelings,and the attitudesof a large audience? They are arrangedin various groupsor cate-
In other words,if the functionof a cultural gories: descriptive,historical,normative,psy-
artifactis defineddirectlyin relation to so- chological,structural,and genetic. There is
ciety as a systemof social relations,the only considerableoverlapping,and some authors,
possibleconclusionis that all aspects of social especiallyKluckhohnand Kelly, appear in al-
lifeare interrelated and perform positivefunc- mosteverycategory.Whiletheauthorsscrupu-
tions.If we wantto go beyondthiseasyobserva- lously refrainfromadding a one hundredand
tion,it is necessaryto break down the system sixty-fifth formaldefinition of theirown, they
of relationsand to examineits internalstruc- do presenta usefulsummaryof the basic com-
ture. ponentsofthedefinitions and passages.Culture
But it is clear that theseremarksdo not im- is said to consistof patterns,explicitand im-
pair the main interestof the book. It will help plicit,of and forbehavioracquiredand trans-
a large audience to becomemore consciousof mitted by symbols,includingtheir embodi-
the societyin whichit lives, to cast healthy mentsin artifacts;the essentialcore of culture
doubts on mythswhich fail to correspondto consistsof traditionalideas and especiallytheir
surrounding realities,and to fillthe large gap attachedvalues; culturesystemsmay be con-
which existsbetweenideologyand actual be- sideredas productsofactionand as conditioning
havior.Few books fromthis point of view are elementsof further action (p. 181). Undersub-
moreprovocativethanAmericanLife,in which group F-ill ("Emphasis on Symbols"), the
Warnerhas brilliantlypresentedthe main re- authorscitethedefinitions by Bain, White,and
sultsofhis studies,whoseinfluence has already Davis, beginningwithBain's definition of 1942.
given rise to a vast movementof concretere- They do not referto Ernst Cassirer's Die
searchon contemporary Americanlife. Philosopkieder symbolischen Formen(3 vols.,
1923-29),the classicexpressionof the symbolic
AIAIN TouRAINE, approachto the philosophyof culture.
Of especialinterestis the authors'emphasis
Centred'AtudesSociologiquces upon values as an integralelementof culture
Paris and as a legitimateobject of studyfortheeth-

This content downloaded from 138.025.078.025 on July 28, 2016 02:51:08 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 BOOK REVIEWS 489
nologist.Significance and values are recognized culture,whichis a distinctively humanmode of
as of the essenceof the organizationof culture livingand acting.Actualhumanbehavioris not
(p. 171) and are said to providethe only basis merelya precondition ofculture(p. 155) but,as
forits fullyintelligiblecomprehension (p. 173). a patternedprocess,constitutesactual culture.
The authorsdrawattentionto thecommonand As an inventoryof contemporary ethnologi-
unique values manifestedin culturesystems, cal thoughtand as a criticalcommentary upon
arguingas againstextremerelativists, thatcul- some of the controversial issues involved,this
tures are not utterlydisparate monads and monographmeritsthe most seriousconsidera-
noncomparableentities (p. 176). "Relativity tion of studentsof social science.
existsonly withina universalframework"(p. DAVID BIDNEY
178). Nevertheless,they are cautious; like Indiana University
Herskovits,theydistinguish betweenuniversals
and absolutes, while differentiating between
"trueuniversals"and values whichare merely
widespread(p. 178). Goals ofEconomicLife. Edited by A. DUDLEY
Kroeber appears influencedby Kluckhohn WARD.New York: Harper & Bros., 1953.
in acceptingcultureas an abstractionof forms Pp. x+470. $4.00.
or patternsfrombehaviorand an essentially These contributed essaysmake thefirstof a
logical construct(pp. 155, 189). Kroeber has projectedsix-volumeserieson ethicsand eco-
certainly gonea longway fromhis originalposi- nomiclifewhichoriginatedwitha studycom-
tion that cultureis a superorganicrealitysui mittee of the Federal Council of Churches.
generis.But how can culturebe treatedas an Charles P. Taft, the chairman,contributesa
autonomouslevelofphenomenaand at thesame forewordto the book. The second and third
timeas merelya logicalabstraction?The other volumesin theseries-The Organizational Revo-
levelsofphenomena,theinorganic,theorganic, lution by Kenneth Boulding and Social Re-
and the social, are not consideredby theirad- sponsibilities oftheBusinessmanby Howard R.
herentsas abstractionsbut as empiricalphe- Bowen-have alreadybeen published.
nomena,and thereis no reasonforputtingcul- The fifteenessaysin thebook hardlylive up
turein a specialclass. to its ambitioustitle but are, nevertheless,
as
Accordingto Parsons,whose views are dis- interesting forwhat theyimplicitlytell about
cussedin thebook,societyis an organizationof thecontemporary problemofscienceand values
interpersonal relationsviewedas activitywhich as forwhat theauthorsexplicitlysay. They re-
possessesgtructure (p. 134). These relationsand veal only too plainlyhow much an unresolved
structuresare said to be empiricaland differ- issue thisyet remains.
entiatedfromcultureformswhich,accordingto The firstfiveessaysare by economists.John
the authors,are nonempiricaland conceptual. Maurice Clarktracesthehistoricalevolutionof
But theauthorswil]notgrantthatpersonalities economists'attitudesabout economicgoals and
and social systemsare concretesystems,while policies;KennethBouldingexplorestheconcept
cultureis to be understoodas an organization of ofeconomicprogress;ClarenceDanhofuses his-
symbolsin abstractionfromthe othercompo- torical, anthropological, -and sociologicalma-
nentsof action.Instead, theyargue that social terialsto place economicvalues in theperspec-
systemsand social structureare all equally tiveofhumanculture;Eduard Heimannmakes
abstractions(p. 135)-a point whichthe soci- a comparativeanalysisof economicsystemsin
ologistswillnotgrant.The realcruxoftheprob- orderto characterizethe natureof capitalism;
lem centersabout whatis meantby abstraction and WilliamVickreydiscussesa seriesof ques-
and whatis itsontologicalimport.Someanthro- tionsbetweeneconomicsand philosophyon the
pologistsmay maintainthat they are dealing goals of economiclife.
only withlogical abstractionsand that culture One comes away with at least two distinct
has no realityotherthanthatofan abstraction, impressions.First, our contemporaryecono-
but theycan hardlyexpectothersocial scien- mistsare sensitiveto thevalue consequencesof
tists to agree with them,concedingthat the economicbehaviorand seem to sharea liberal,
objects of theirscienceshave no ontologica], middlepositionwhichJohnMauriceClarkcalls
objectivereality.Thus Kroeberand Kluckhohn "movingtowarda new balance betweenindi-
have confusedtheconceptof culture,whichis a vidual, group,and community."Their general
logical construct,with the actual, existential moralpositioncan perhapsbest be summarized

This content downloaded from 138.025.078.025 on July 28, 2016 02:51:08 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).