Abstract
Political conflict poses questions about social cohesion, power, and change that culturalist and materialist theories answer very differently. Comparative sociology requires a method for the integrated and weighted use of their answers. The following case study of environmental politics in Japan develops and illustrates the use of such a method. The types of sanctions used to build influence relations, analyzed through graphs and network matrices, indicate the relative validity of different theories. In this case, a class structure determines the main direction of environmental politics, but cultural legitimations sometimes divert it to other tracks.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 179-202 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Sociological Forum |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 1989 |
Keywords
- Japanese society
- cultural sociology
- political economy
- political sociology
- qualitative methods
- social movements