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Lawns of weeds: Status in opposition to life

  • Natural Resources And The Environment And Sociology
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Abstract

The modern high status lawn is a recent cultural form that motivates human responses with emerging negative physical outcomes. From a dualistic theoretical perspective, this article analyzes the modern lawn in terms of cultural dichotomies and applies a theory of status construction to show how the lawn becomes both an indicator of status and a component of identity and motivation. Then, it reports selected indicators of negative physical outcomes. The dual outcomes illustrate the empirical challenge of “Simmel’s lemma” stating that culture is in opposition to life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 46556, Notre Dame, IN

    Andrew J. Weigert (professor of sociology)

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  1. Andrew J. Weigert
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Weigert, A.J. Lawns of weeds: Status in opposition to life. Am Soc 25, 80–96 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691939

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