S.N. Eisenstadt’s theory of culture

Abstract

S.N. Eisenstadt’s theory of culture has remained little examined as such. This article starts by assessing the place given to theorizing culture in the vast corpus of his writings, and the part played by successive theoretical influences, as well as shifting research priorities in that regard. The following section delineates the core arguments or ‘key ideas’ that arise from his most explicit theoretical writings with respect to culture. The article ends by positioning Eisenstadt’s approach relative to some major trends and issues in contemporary cultural sociology at large and drawing some implications for the further elaboration of a ‘strong’, modular and multi-level approach to culture.