Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: The meanings of (social) life: on the origins of a cultural sociology -- 1. The strong program in cultural sociology (with Philip Smith) -- 2. On the social construction of "moral universals" -- 3. The "holocaust" from war crime to trauma drama: Cultural trauma and collective idenitity -- 4. A cultural sociology of evil -- 5. The discourse of American civil society (with Smith) -- 6. Watergate as democratic ritual -- 7. The sacred and profane information machine -- 8. Modern, anti, post, and neo: how intellectuals explain "our time".

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.