This paper discusses the contribution of Richard A. Peterson to the discipline of
sociology in general, and the sociological study of cultural production and
consumption more particularly. It illustrate the main tenets of the 'production of
culture' perspective proposed by Peterson from the early 1970s onwards, its
intellectual genealogy, and the impact this perspective has had on the development
of the sociology of culture in different countries. The paper also considers some of
the criticisms addressed to the production of culture approach by scholars who have
insisted on more interpretivist or critical analyses of culture. The paper concludes
by arguing for the heuristic usefulness and epistemological relevance of an approach
to cultural analysis which, while still cultivating a sense for the specificities of
cultural objects as symbolic representations and meaning structures, is empirically
focused on institutions and forms of social organization.
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