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Sociology of Culture and of Cultural Practices traces the development of the sociology of culture from its origins (Weber and Simmel) and examines the major trends that have emerged in this branch of sociology. It raises issues of cultural hierarchy, of distinction, and of legitimate culture and mass culture, and focuses on new areas of research, including the role of institutions, the reception of works of art, aesthetic experience, and emancipation through art and presents a synthesis of resea...

If the National Football League is now a mammoth billion-dollar enterprise, it was certainly born into more humble circumstances. Indeed, it began in 1920 in an automobile showroom in Canton, Ohio, when a car dealer called together some owners of teams, mostly in the Midwest, to form a league. Unlike the lavish boardrooms in which NFL owners meet today, on this occasion the owners sat on the running boards of cars in the showroom and drank beer from buckets. A membership fee of $100 was set, but...

Hollywood Remembrance and American War addresses the synergy between Hollywood war films and American forms of war remembrance. Subjecting the notion that war films ought to be considered ʻthe war memorials of today’ to critical scrutiny, the book develops a theoretical understanding of how Hollywood war films, as rhetorical sites of remembering and memory, reflect, replicate and resist American modes of remembrance. The authors first develop the framework for, and elaborate on, the co-evoluti...

"The definitive account of the FIFA scandal, the biggest international corruption case of recent years, touching dozens of countries and spearheaded by U.S. investigators, published on the eve of the biggest sporting event on the planet, soccer's World Cup"-- The FIFA case began with an IRS agent's review of an American soccer official's tax returns. It led to a huge worldwide corruption scandal that crossed continents and reached the highest levels of the soccer's world governing body in Switz...

Prior to the 1972 passage of Title IX, women's basketball was a minor sport in the United States. It was played by companies such as Cook's Goldblume Beer and Sunoco and for obscure colleges such as Iowa Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist as part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). But during the two generations of the mid-twentieth century, women's basketball improved and became more popular throughout the country. AAU All-Star teams dominated women's international basketball until the emergence of...

By the time Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, the idea of a black man playing lead guitar in a rock band seemed exotic. Yet a mere ten years earlier, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley had stood among the most influential rock and roll performers. Why did rock and roll become "white"? Just around Midnight reveals the interplay of popular music and racial thought that was responsible for this shift within the music industry and in the minds of fans.Rooted in rhythm-and-blues pioneered by black musicians, 1950s...

American media is the subject of constant critique. The seeming exaltation of violence, sex, and illicit themes creates virulent opponents of the media and its content. But could it be that the American experiment--even the quest to fulfill the American Dream--actually encourages media to act in a way that deserves these critiques? Probing deep into the canon of all things screen, Thomas Hibbs uncovers the disturbing truths about the contemporary media landscape. Beneath the shallow facade of e...

Action figures are more than toys or collectibles - they are statements on race, gender, class, body positivity and more. This collection of nine new essays and one interview argues that action figures should be analyzed in the same light as books, movies, televisions shows and other media. Through an examination of the plastic bodies that fill our shelves and toy boxes, ""action figure studies"" can inform the next generation of toys.