Power and Culture: The Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Sociology

Abstract

In this article, I analyse how Brazilian sociology articulates the relationship between culture and power, which is one of the central problems of cultural sociology. I analyse two theoretical traditions, culturalism and institutionalism, which traverse different areas of Brazilian sociology. Broadly speaking, the approach of culturalism takes culture as a dimension that structures power relations (culture over power), while institutionalism considers that the structure lies in the institutionalised power relations that produce the cultural codes of political culture (power over culture). I conceive of political culture as an expression of an Ethos, and show how it is considered either as a cause or an effect of the historical nation building process. In Brazilian sociology, the notions of culture and power pose a permanent interpretational challenge for both classical and contemporary scholars. This makes the discussion about the relationship between culture and power a key element in understanding past and present historical processes in Brazil. I seek to understand the variations of meaning regarding these notions and their implications for Brazilian sociology. In this sense, this article is a cultural sociology of cultural sociology in Brazil, or, in other words, an analysis of the cultural foundations of Brazilian sociology.