Seth Rachlin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Seth Rachlin

memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green work... more memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green worksheets my mother prepared, careful not to make a mistake that would ruin the multi-part carbon forms. I remember the clients as well. They were small businessmen for the most part who would complain to my parents that their taxes were unfair, that "Uncle Sam" wanted too much from them. My parents would nod in agreement and assure them that they would do their best within the confines of the law to ease their burdens. I dedicate this work to my parents' memory for everything they did to inspire in me a fascination with taxes and so much more. I began work on this dissertation in the early 1990's while a graduate student in the Department of Sociology. I owe much gratitude to the many professors with whom I worked during that time. Guenther Roth and Giovanni Sartori provided important foundations in social and political theory. Their influence on this work is subtle but important. Harrison White pushed me to think hard about aspects of the social world I took for granted and served valuably on my dissertation proposal committee, contributing in the unique ways only he could. Priscilla Ferguson and Mark Mizruchi also stand out in my memory, the former for sensitizing me to the importance of culture as a social force, the latter for teaching me how to work with statistics and quantitative evidence. I thank as well my fellow graduate students, Gwendolyn Dordick, Lewis Freeman and Andras Szanto, for their fellowship and support.

Poetics, May 1, 1993

This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Usi... more This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Using the case of the French Nouvelle Vugue (1958-611, I argue that the explanation of stylistic revolution in film requires a model significantly different from that developed for painting (White and White 1965, Crane 1987). The substantial cost of film production means that movements in film require some form of mass base, a base that, at least in the case analyzed herein, is formed by a combination of social, economic and cultural forces with which film has little to do. Consequently, the critical issue with respect to the success of film movements is not the formation of an audience as it is in painting, but rather the act of recognizing the potential of an audience already formed. In undertaking this process of recognition, cinema, because of its deep cost structure, is dependent on efforts within 'cheaper' media like literature and journalism to prove the viability of the audience for a particular range of styles, themes and narrative techniques.

The Communication Review, 1997

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the role of television in the lives of the residents of a public sh... more ABSTRACT This paper discusses the role of television in the lives of the residents of a public shelter for homeless men in New York City. Participant observation and informal interviewing support a detailed account of the ways and means of television watching in two of the shelter's recreation rooms. It shows that, over and above what is actually on TV, television as a cultural object is used by certain groups of homeless individuals to reflect and reinforce status differences and social boundaries between them. This finding suggests that the consumption of culture, well understood as part of the process of social distinction among the middle and upper classes, can perform a similar role among those at the bottom of the social structure as well.

Poetics, 1993

This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Usi... more This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Using the case of the French Nouvelle Vugue (1958-611, I argue that the explanation of stylistic revolution in film requires a model significantly different from that developed for painting (White and White 1965, Crane 1987). The substantial cost of film production means that movements in film require some form of mass base, a base that, at least in the case analyzed herein, is formed by a combination of social, economic and cultural forces with which film has little to do. Consequently, the critical issue with respect to the success of film movements is not the formation of an audience as it is in painting, but rather the act of recognizing the potential of an audience already formed. In undertaking this process of recognition, cinema, because of its deep cost structure, is dependent on efforts within 'cheaper' media like literature and journalism to prove the viability of the audience for a particular range of styles, themes and narrative techniques.

memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green work... more memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green worksheets my mother prepared, careful not to make a mistake that would ruin the multi-part carbon forms. I remember the clients as well. They were small businessmen for the most part who would complain to my parents that their taxes were unfair, that "Uncle Sam" wanted too much from them. My parents would nod in agreement and assure them that they would do their best within the confines of the law to ease their burdens. I dedicate this work to my parents' memory for everything they did to inspire in me a fascination with taxes and so much more. I began work on this dissertation in the early 1990's while a graduate student in the Department of Sociology. I owe much gratitude to the many professors with whom I worked during that time. Guenther Roth and Giovanni Sartori provided important foundations in social and political theory. Their influence on this work is subtle but important. Harrison White pushed me to think hard about aspects of the social world I took for granted and served valuably on my dissertation proposal committee, contributing in the unique ways only he could. Priscilla Ferguson and Mark Mizruchi also stand out in my memory, the former for sensitizing me to the importance of culture as a social force, the latter for teaching me how to work with statistics and quantitative evidence. I thank as well my fellow graduate students, Gwendolyn Dordick, Lewis Freeman and Andras Szanto, for their fellowship and support.

memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green work... more memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green worksheets my mother prepared, careful not to make a mistake that would ruin the multi-part carbon forms. I remember the clients as well. They were small businessmen for the most part who would complain to my parents that their taxes were unfair, that "Uncle Sam" wanted too much from them. My parents would nod in agreement and assure them that they would do their best within the confines of the law to ease their burdens. I dedicate this work to my parents' memory for everything they did to inspire in me a fascination with taxes and so much more. I began work on this dissertation in the early 1990's while a graduate student in the Department of Sociology. I owe much gratitude to the many professors with whom I worked during that time. Guenther Roth and Giovanni Sartori provided important foundations in social and political theory. Their influence on this work is subtle but important. Harrison White pushed me to think hard about aspects of the social world I took for granted and served valuably on my dissertation proposal committee, contributing in the unique ways only he could. Priscilla Ferguson and Mark Mizruchi also stand out in my memory, the former for sensitizing me to the importance of culture as a social force, the latter for teaching me how to work with statistics and quantitative evidence. I thank as well my fellow graduate students, Gwendolyn Dordick, Lewis Freeman and Andras Szanto, for their fellowship and support.

Poetics, May 1, 1993

This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Usi... more This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Using the case of the French Nouvelle Vugue (1958-611, I argue that the explanation of stylistic revolution in film requires a model significantly different from that developed for painting (White and White 1965, Crane 1987). The substantial cost of film production means that movements in film require some form of mass base, a base that, at least in the case analyzed herein, is formed by a combination of social, economic and cultural forces with which film has little to do. Consequently, the critical issue with respect to the success of film movements is not the formation of an audience as it is in painting, but rather the act of recognizing the potential of an audience already formed. In undertaking this process of recognition, cinema, because of its deep cost structure, is dependent on efforts within 'cheaper' media like literature and journalism to prove the viability of the audience for a particular range of styles, themes and narrative techniques.

The Communication Review, 1997

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the role of television in the lives of the residents of a public sh... more ABSTRACT This paper discusses the role of television in the lives of the residents of a public shelter for homeless men in New York City. Participant observation and informal interviewing support a detailed account of the ways and means of television watching in two of the shelter's recreation rooms. It shows that, over and above what is actually on TV, television as a cultural object is used by certain groups of homeless individuals to reflect and reinforce status differences and social boundaries between them. This finding suggests that the consumption of culture, well understood as part of the process of social distinction among the middle and upper classes, can perform a similar role among those at the bottom of the social structure as well.

Poetics, 1993

This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Usi... more This paper examines the social requirements for successful movements of change within cinema. Using the case of the French Nouvelle Vugue (1958-611, I argue that the explanation of stylistic revolution in film requires a model significantly different from that developed for painting (White and White 1965, Crane 1987). The substantial cost of film production means that movements in film require some form of mass base, a base that, at least in the case analyzed herein, is formed by a combination of social, economic and cultural forces with which film has little to do. Consequently, the critical issue with respect to the success of film movements is not the formation of an audience as it is in painting, but rather the act of recognizing the potential of an audience already formed. In undertaking this process of recognition, cinema, because of its deep cost structure, is dependent on efforts within 'cheaper' media like literature and journalism to prove the viability of the audience for a particular range of styles, themes and narrative techniques.

memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green work... more memories of being pressed into service, typing sheets of W-2's from information on the green worksheets my mother prepared, careful not to make a mistake that would ruin the multi-part carbon forms. I remember the clients as well. They were small businessmen for the most part who would complain to my parents that their taxes were unfair, that "Uncle Sam" wanted too much from them. My parents would nod in agreement and assure them that they would do their best within the confines of the law to ease their burdens. I dedicate this work to my parents' memory for everything they did to inspire in me a fascination with taxes and so much more. I began work on this dissertation in the early 1990's while a graduate student in the Department of Sociology. I owe much gratitude to the many professors with whom I worked during that time. Guenther Roth and Giovanni Sartori provided important foundations in social and political theory. Their influence on this work is subtle but important. Harrison White pushed me to think hard about aspects of the social world I took for granted and served valuably on my dissertation proposal committee, contributing in the unique ways only he could. Priscilla Ferguson and Mark Mizruchi also stand out in my memory, the former for sensitizing me to the importance of culture as a social force, the latter for teaching me how to work with statistics and quantitative evidence. I thank as well my fellow graduate students, Gwendolyn Dordick, Lewis Freeman and Andras Szanto, for their fellowship and support.