"There is a pressing need ... for an intervention that is responsive to the real developments and disagreements that are taking place within the field [of cultural sociology] itself rather than a sales pitch to onlookers and potential converts. We see our volume as answering this call. ... We wish to document and reflect on the independent debates and modes of thoughts that have developed therein. In order to provide the rationale for this approach, we offer an account of the origins of cultural sociology and how it has grown into the maturity it enjoys today."--P. 5.