RICHARD PETERSON
Ph.D. University of Illinois, 1962
TITLE:   Professor of Sociology, Emeritus
 



Remembering Pete.....

Pete’s intellectual contributions to the sociology of culture are evident;  his 1979 Annual Review article “Revitalizing the Culture Concept” provided early definition and identity to an emerging field. (He was especially gratified by the reception of his retrospective Annual Review article with N. Anand, twenty-five years later, on “The Production of Culture Perspective.”)   His personal contributions to the section were even more vital:   always approachable, he made it his business to know and follow (we might say, omnivorously) the work of new culturalists. It was realistic pride and joy in what his section had become that motivated him to compile the “Books of Note” column for Culture (even a more demanding task than it seemed) for two decades, and to attend nearly every Culture session ever held at ASA.  Pete liked to station himself center rear in the meeting room assigned to the section for its sessions;  that vantage point allowed him to survey the entire crowded scene.  He sometimes left his backpack to save his place during the breaks between sessions.  It will not seem right to take the podium at a Culture session without Pete occupying his accustomed spot.  Shall  we leave a seat empty on the podium of each Culture session in Atlanta?  If Claire will lend us that old backpack that Pete often used to save his seat during the breaks between sessions, we should save Pete’s place for him.

 

 


RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Peterson, Richard A. and Gabriel Rossman. 2007. "Changing Arts Audiences: Capitalizing on Omnivorousness." Bill Ivey and Steven Tepper (editors). Engaging Art: The Next Great Transformation of AmericanÕs Cultural Life. New York: Routledge.

Peterson, Richard A. 2005. "Problems in comparative research: The example of omnivorousness." Poetics. 33:257-282.

Bennett, Andy and Richard A. Peterson (editors). 2004. Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Richard A. Peterson and Andy Bennett. 2004. "Introducing Music Scenes," Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual, pp. 1-16. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Lee, Steve S. and Richard. A. Peterson. 2004. "Internet-Based Virtual Music Scenes: The Case of P2 in Alt.Country Music." Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual, pp. 187-204. Edited by Andy Bennett and Richard A. Peterson. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Peterson, Richard A. and Timothy Dowd (editors). 2004. "Music in Society: The Sociological Agenda," Poetics 32: #3-4.

Peterson, Richard A. and N. Anand. 2002. "How Chaotic Careers Create Orderly Fields." Creative Careers, pp. 257-289. Maury A. Peiperl, Michael Arthur, and N. Anand, editors. New York: Oxford Universitiy Press.

Ryan, John and Richard A. Peterson. 2001. "The Guitar as Artifact and Icon: Identity Formation in the Babyboom Generation." Guitar Culture, pp. 89-116. Andy Bennett, editor. London: Berg.

Peterson, Richard A. and Bruce B. Beal. 2001. "Alternative Country: Origins, Music, World-view, Fans, and Taste in Genre Formation." Popular Music and Society 25:233-249.

Anand, N. and Richard A. Peterson. 2000. "When Market Information Constitutes Fields: Sensemaking of Markets in the Commercial Music Industry." Organization Science 11:270-284.

Peterson, Richard A., Pamela Hull, and Roger Kern. 2000. The Aging of Arts Audiences National Endowment for the Arts. Seven Locks Press.