The Veil and the Mask

Taking culture and ideology as the axes of the sociology of culture, J.G. Merquior in his book The Veil and the Mask (originally published in 1979) discusses the relevant methodological issues in this crucial area of social science. He gives an up-to-date critical survey of the theoretical literature on culture and ideology, focusing on problems such as the operational meaning of infrastructure in sociological analysis, the ‘holism versus individualism’ debate, the relationship between sociology and psychology, and the chief epistemological tenets of the main trends within western Marxism. The concept of ideology and its bearing on power processes is analysed, while the concept of culture is examined from an inter-disciplinary viewpoint, ranging from German historicism, which foreshadowed the anthropological notion of culture, to classical and modern sociological theory, structural anthropology and psychoanalysis. Particular attention is also given to the role of symbolism in culture and ideology. The book is concerned to show how some of the theoretical developments in social science and the humanities at the time directed new light on the age-old questions of the place of the individual within society and the scientific status of humanistic ideals. The last section deals with French structuralist Marxism and the Frankfurt ‘critical theory’ and includes a lively short polemic on the scientist claims of Althusser and his school. By providing an integrated treatment of ideology and culture and focusing on the methodology of the sociology of culture (as distinct from its substantive content), this work will be of interest to students and researchers of sociology, anthropology, political science, and philosophy.