Beyond the Cultural Turn: New Directions in the Study of Society and Culture Book

Honestly not much of this book has stayed with me since I read it, although I do recall that it was a valuable introduction to the cultural approach to social science that includes contributions from some of the most important writers in the area. Glancing through it again, I feel that one of its great strengths was the "Afterward" by Hayden White - a seminal figure in cultural studies whose work is addressed by many of the other writers herein. He emphasizes that "every perspective on society, Marxist or non- or anti-Marxist, is shot through with ideology" (316) and accuses history of being a discipline "more oblivious to the 'fictionality' of what it takes to be its data" (322) than any other. As I recall, this doesn't really address the texts compiled in here directly (and therefore is questionable as an "Afterward"), but it strikes me as one of the most important things for graduate students in history to consider. I think many of the essays in this collection are similar in that they stand alone as thought-provoking, but the whole never manages to take on a distinct identity. Find the essays that relate most to what you are doing and take them as jumping-off points for further background reading, but don't feel obliged to read the entire volume, would be my advice.