Sociology Looks at the Arts

Sociology Looks at the Arts covers themes that are central for understanding art’s current position in complex, post-industrial societies like our own. The book also addresses the social and historical construction of art and aesthetic experience in Western societies by drawing on literature from the fields of history, art history and aesthetics. By providing this important background knowledge, this book prepares undergraduates who may not have taken courses in philosophy and history with tools for a deeper and more critical understanding of sociology’s approach to the arts.