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Showing papers by "Bryan S. Turner published in 2003"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Total ADH for both species decreased linearly with increasing temperature with no evidence of any minimum threshold temperature effect and use of ADH in PMI estimations has shortcomings particularly during the winter period where low temperatures are involved or where there are sudden summer cold spells during the development period.
Abstract: Traditionally the calculation of accumulated degree days or hours (ADD or ADH) involves the concept of a minimum threshold temperature below which development ceases. Hence in fluctuating conditions, where temperatures drop below this threshold, there may be periods of time when development is taken to be zero. This has important implications when the calculation of postmortem interval (PMI) is based on the ADD or ADH of larval dipterans. Normal development of larvae of the blowflies Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy and C. vomitoria L. (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at 20 degrees C was interrupted by cold episodes. The expectation was that total development time would increase by the period at low (therefore no development) temperature but the total ADD or ADH should be the same as non-cold treated cohorts. The results, however, showed that total ADH for both species decreased linearly with increasing temperature with no evidence of any minimum threshold temperature effect. The increased ADH at low temperatures may be due to either continued but reduced development or a delay in development restarting after the cold episode. Use of ADH in PMI estimations has shortcomings particularly during the winter period where low temperatures are involved or where there are sudden summer cold spells during the development period. As blowfly development progresses from egg to pupa such errors will be compounded.

155 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This empirical study of classical ballet dancers draws on the concepts of social solidarity and collective consciousness in Emile Durkheim to show that injury is mediated through the social bonding of dancers into a professional ballet company, where injury is accepted as a sign of vocational commitment.
Abstract: This paper contributes to debate on social constructionism in the sociology of health and illness through a study of injury among ballet dancers. In this empirical study of classical ballet dancers, we outline a phenomenology of the injured and ageing body in terms of a critical commentary on constructionism. We explore dancers’ experiences of embodiment to illustrate our critique of recent interpretations of dance as a textual practice. Those forms of social constructionism that define the body as a text provide a forceful attack on discourses of authority and legitimation, but we argue that they are problematic as epistemologies and ontologies of embodiment. Through a phenomenological understanding of the experiences of embodiment, we observe how injury and ageing disrupt the practical accomplishments that underpin the ballet habitus and the dancer's identity. Although ballet injuries can terminate a dancing career, they are accepted as an inevitable part of the vocation of ballet. Our aim is to understand the interaction between injuries, dancers’ experiences of discomfort and the social support that emerges from the ballet dancers as a social group. We draw on the concepts of social solidarity and collective consciousness in Emile Durkheim to show that injury is mediated through the social bonding of dancers into a professional ballet company, where injury is accepted as a sign of vocational commitment, and suggest that this ‘collective effervescence’ gives a novel meaning to the idea of a corps de ballet.

145 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The human body has been a potent and persistent metaphor for social and political relations throughout human history as mentioned in this paper, and different parts of the body have traditionally represented difference social relations.
Abstract: The human body has been a potent and persistent metaphor for social and political relations throughout human history. For example, different parts of the body have traditionally represented differe...

82 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Social capital theory has become a fashionable paradigm for the explanation of differences in health and illness between social groups in the last decade, particularly in the public health arena as discussed by the authors, and its roots are to be found in classical sociological theory particularly in Emile Durkheim's sociology.
Abstract: ‘Social capital’ has become a fashionable paradigm for the explanation of differences in health and illness between social groups in the last decade, particularly in the public health arena. The theory provides a particularly potent criticism of the social consequences of neo-liberalism, and hence the foundation for a sociological critique of the negative effects of modern individualism. In this discussion of social capital, I want to show that its roots are to be found in classical sociological theory, particularly in Emile Durkheim's sociology. In fact, the modern debate reproduces Durkheim's attack on utilitarian individualism as an explanation of social happiness, but this dependence on Durkheim's analysis is rarely acknowledged. The notion that the quantity and quality of a person's social relationships and social networks play an important part in the maintenance of their health, and at the same time provide resources for their recovery from illness, has been a basic component of much public health research, but mainstream sociology has neglected this important vindication of the sociological tradition. In fact, social capital theory is the most promising sociological, as opposed to social psychological, anthropological or cultural, account of health and illness that we have. Although the social capital perspective is attractive as sociology, a number of theoretical and methodological issues need to be confronted. In particular, the problem with these sociological theories of social connectedness has been twofold. They have to describe more precisely the linkages between health, social membership and psychological well-being, and secondly they need to give a more coherent account of these social relationships. If these theoretical problems can be addressed, then social capital theory can make an important contribution to the sociological understanding of health and illness. In this article, my intention is to outline the development and claims of social capital theory, and to show the dependence of recent work on the legacy of Durkheim's sociology.

67 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a critical assessment of Max Weber's rationalization thesis, develop an alternative to Weber's classical argument, and explore the impact of local cultures on the McDonaldization process.
Abstract: McDonaldization is the most prominent and powerful instance of rationalization in contemporary societies. This article provides a critical assessment of Max Weber's rationalization thesis, develops an alternative to Weber's classical argument, and explores the impact of local cultures on the McDonaldization process. Whereas modernization could be said to follow a linear path of historical development, the differentiation of modernity and the rise of hybrid cultures can be defined as an example of “liquid differentiation.” The argument is that Fordist models of unidimensional rationalization are being replaced by a new dynamic in which there is a permanent but unstable interaction between linear and liquid modernity. This concept of a dynamic is important because it avoids the simple dichotomy between McDonaldized modernity and postmodernity.

53 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examine the role of religion in the civilizing process, particularly with respect to controlling human violence, and examine Elias' theory through a commentary on charisma and the sacred in human society.
Abstract: Norbert Elias (2001) produced one of the most influential theories on the history of violence in human societies in terms of ‘the civilizing process’. With the transformation of feudalism, the rise of bourgeois society and the development of the modern state, interpersonal violence was increasingly regulated by social norms that emphasized self-restraint and personal discipline. His theory was a moral pedagogics of the body in which the ‘passions’ are self-regulated through detailed social regimes. While his theory is influential, it has also been the subject of systematic criticism. I examine three obvious lacunae in Elias’ theory. First, his theory does not provide an adequate account of the role of religion in the civilizing process, particularly with respect to controlling human violence, and I examine Elias’ theory through a commentary on charisma and the sacred in human society, namely the role of sacred violence. Second, Elias had relatively little to say about t...

42 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper—although a review of three ethnographic studies on the seemingly disparate and narrow fields of the embodiment of working class experience, boxing, and ballet—illuminates the broader relationships between the body, self, and society.
Abstract: Bodies matter as our experience of them is the basis both for social life and also for much medical and social research. There has been a spectacular increase in academic research on the body in the last twenty years or so. This paper—although a review of three ethnographic studies on the seemingly disparate and narrow fields of the embodiment of working class experience, boxing, and ballet—illuminates the broader relationships between the body, self, and society. Our paper works on three levels: firstly, as an account of the “lived experience” of embodied vulnerability; secondly, as an application of Bourdieu’s theoretical schema, and thirdly, as a philosophically grounded critique of radical social constructionist views of the body.

38 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: L'A dicute ici du livre de Gilles Kepel, Jihad, ainsi que des publications occidentales sur les conditions sociales de l'emergence d'un mouvement islamiste and la responsabilite des politiques neo-liberales.
Abstract: Dans cet article, l'A dresse un tableau des principaux mouvements fondamentalistes islamiques de la planete. L'A dicute ici du livre de Gilles Kepel, Jihad, ainsi que des publications occidentales sur les conditions sociales de l'emergence d'un mouvement islamiste et la responsabilite des politiques neo-liberales

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The State of the World Children, an attempt by UNICEF, is an annual review and report on different dimensions of child development on a global level as discussed by the authors, and one of the key indicators in this report is the Under 5 Mortality Rate.
Abstract: The growth of development theories has resulted in acknowledging the importance of social dimensions of human development in the poverty and development discourse. Planning for children requires a careful attention to different dimensions of their lives (e.g. education, health, nutrition, shelter, etc.). This approach enables decision makers to have a better understanding of the current situation when planning for betterment of children’s lives and in order to achieve the ideal situation. The State of the World Children, an attempt by UNICEF, is an annual review and report on different dimensions of child development on a global level. One of the key indicators in this report is the Under 5 Mortality Rate. This indicator reports on the death toll of children from the time they are born until they reach their 5th birthday. For UNICEF, this is the most important indicator that could be utilized for analysis of the situation of children

7 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: A review of three ethnographic studies on the seemingly disparate and narrow fields of the embodiment of working class experience, boxing, and ballet can be found in this article, where the relationship between the body, self, and society is discussed.
Abstract: Bodies matter as our experience of them is the basis both for social life and also for much medical and social research. There has been a spectacular increase in academic research on the body in the last twenty years or so. This paper—although a review of three ethnographic studies on the seemingly disparate and narrow fields of the embodiment of working class experience, boxing, and ballet—illuminates the broader relationships between the body, self, and society. Our paper works on three levels: firstly, as an account of the “lived experience” of embodied vulnerability; secondly, as an application of Bourdieu’s theoretical schema, and thirdly, as a philosophically grounded critique of radical social constructionist views of the body.


Book
01 Jan 2003


Book
01 Jan 2003