The cultural and performative turns in social theory have enlivened sociology. For the first time these new developments are fully integrated into new approaches to the sociology of the arts in this important new book. Building on the established research into art worlds, what is interesting for the new sociology of the arts, understood in the broad sense to include popular culture as well the classical focus on music, painting, and literature, is the relationship between art works and meaning, myth, and performance. Also reflected in these rich essays, which range from Beethoven to John Lennon to Chinese avant garde artists, is the lived experience of the artist and its impact on the process of creation and innovation.

Authored by Eyerman, Ronald; McCormick, Lisa

Introduction, Ron Eyerman , Lisa McCormick; Chapter 1 Toward a Meaningful Sociology of the Arts, Ron Eyerman; Chapter 2 Chewing on Clement Greenberg, Robert W. Witkin; Chapter 3 The Meaning of Style, Julia Chi Zhang; Chapter 4 Seeker of the Sacred, Steve Sherwood; Chapter 5 Music as Agency in Beethoven's Vienna, Tia DeNora; Chapter 6 Music as Social Performance, Lisa McCormick;