The study of culture is crucial for understanding many of the most important aspects of human life. Social scientists increasingly regard it as one of their central areas of interest, and sociologists have offered valuable and provocative insights into the nature of cultural life. Yet up until now, no single volume has brought together in a comprehensive fashion the array of ideas and viewpoints that together make up the specifically sociological study of culture. Confronting Culture rectifies this situation, offering a clear and accessible introduction to the complex field of the sociology of culture. Inglis and Hughson critically discuss the key contributions made to the study of culture by different streams of thought within sociology. They examine the nature of cultural matters as perceived by classical sociology, the Frankfurt School, English and American mass culture theorists, culturalists and cultural materialists, semioticians, poststructuralists and postmodernists, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and scholars within the 'production of culture' paradigm. The book will appeal to those studying culture both from within sociology and from the perspectives of other disciplines, such as cultural studies, media and communication studies, anthropology and literary studies.