?Culture and the periphery: Nomadic wanderings in the Argentine sociology of culture?

ALABARCES, PABLO

CURRENT SOCIOLOGY

Sage

Lugar: London; Año: 2012 p. 705 - 718

0011-3921

This work examines both a history and an overview of current production in the Argentine sociology of culture. Based on what we define as a double periphery?a periphery of Argentine sociology in the Western social sciences, but also in cultural research within local sociology?we seek to analyze its emergence in the field. This is owed to both the concern for mass culture and its relationship with populism at the end of the 1960s. At that time, these studies were done by researchers with training in literary criticism, researchers who approached cultural phenomenon as a political concern, in a way similar to what occurred when British cultural studies were born. At the end of Argentina?s last dictatorship (1976-1983), the reappearance and expansion of a sociology of culture expanded into nomadic terrains and into varied themes and institutions: this was owed to the proliferation of studies in social communication and new university departments, but it can also be attributed to the influence of Brazilian anthropology. Another factor is the delayed creation of graduate programs and their clearly multidisciplinary nature. Today the field is experimenting with its potential while undergoing both quantitative and qualitative growth. However, it is essential for the field to reexamine its sociological aspects along this path.