Review Sheet for Exam #2
Sociology of Culture
Spring 2005
I.
Format:
The exam will be short and/or long essay format (as mentioned, no other format
makes sense with this kind of material). You will not need anything but a pen
and your brain (hopefully containing knowledge of the subjects we’ve covered so
far).
II.
Content:
You’ll be responsible for chapters 6-8 in A
Disease of One’s Own, and chapters 1-3 of Juliet Schor’s The Overspent
American. You’ll also be responsible for knowing in-class materials
(lectures, videos [“The Overspent American” and “Merchants of Cool.”]).
a.
For
A Disease of One’s Own, you should
know and be prepared to discuss:
i.
The difference between the societal
and cultural context in which co-dependency emerged, and the social
horizon (the image of society and culture portrayed in the discourse)
ii.
How that difference helps
to understand co-dependency’s selection
iii.
The “requirements of
membership” in CoDA and why those requirements are significant
b.
For
Schor, you should know:
i.
The
central issues she addresses in the book:
a. what is the new consumerism?
b. what evidence does she adduce to show that
there is a problem (general data on debt, consumption, savings)
ii.
key
findings from her research that support her argument
a. e.g., visible vs. non-visible status
goods and how this supports her analysis
c.
You’ll
also be responsible for the lecture on Goffman’s analysis of symbols of class
status, as covered in lecture. For this, you should know:
i.
What
are status symbols? Why important?
a. Occupation and class
status symbols (how are they different?)
ii.
Mechanisms
to prevent misrepresentation of symbols
a. moral restrictions (e.g. it isn’t
right to misrepresent social position)
b. natural restrictions (e.g.
scarcity; historical closure)
c. socialization (as in style of
interaction) and cultivation (cultural capital)
iii.
other
considerations in re: symbols of class status
a. curator groups (who are they? What
do they do? Why important?)
b. circulation of symbols (symbols
change; always a search for new symbols
d.
For
“Merchants of Cool” (remember there is a website on this; You can review
without having to check out the video again from Randall), you should know
i.
The general thrust of the
analysis presented in the video
ii.
Who or what are “cool
hunters”? what do they do?
iii.
What is “under the radar”
marketing?
iv.
How does “Sprite”
illustrate some of the key points in the video?
1.
what is Sprite’s connection with youth culture?
2.
with MTV
3.
with cool hunting and marketing?
v.
Who are the “mook” and the
“midriff”?
vi.
What does Rushkoff mean
when he says that teen culture and corporate marketing constitute a “big
feedback loop”?
