The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology: Balancing Between Culturalism and Scientism

The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology:
Balancing Between Culturalism and Scientism


Braslavskiy R.G.

Сand. Sci. (Sociol.), Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of FCTAS RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia r.braslavsky@socinst.ru

ID of the Article:


The work was supported by RFBR, research project No. 19-011-00950.


For citation:

Braslavskiy R.G. The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology: Balancing Between Culturalism and Scientism. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2021. No 2. P. 26-38




Abstract

The Strong Program in cultural sociology by J. Alexander and his colleagues since the mid-1980s is considered а major carrier of the cultural turn in sociology. Supporters and critics of the Strong Program tend to focus on its central thesis of “cultural autonomy” and on the challenge it poses to traditional, institutionally oriented social science. On the contrary, the article focuses on the “scientific” intensions of the Strong Program and the resulting ambiguities, limitations and contradictions for cultural-sociological theorizing.


Keywords
cultural sociology; cultural autonomy; scientism; analytical theorizing; sociological paradigm of civilizational analysis
Content No 2, 2021