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Showing papers by "Bryan S. Turner published in 2015"



01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how technology and culture have historically been analysed as mediations between the scarcity of natural resources and the vulnerable human body, and demonstrate how these conceptual distinctions have assumed new dimensions in the contemporary era and analyse these by focusing on the implications of medical technologies for longevity (for example, therapeutic stem-cell research, regenerative medicine and new reproductive technologies).
Abstract: There are two parts to my discussion of the sociology of the body. I first examine, via an account of the development of anthropology and sociology, how technology and culture have historically been analysed as mediations between the scarcity of natural resources and the vulnerable human body. Technology has been crucial in providing societies with some control or dominion over nature, including therefore control over the human body, yet is often thought to involve hubris against the gods and a threat to human life. Culture, in contrast, has more usually been seen as nurturing nature, providing humans with a symbolic means of mediating and domesticating their external physical environment. Whereas culture nurtures nature, technology can so easily destroy it. In the second part of my article, I demonstrate how these conceptual distinctions have assumed new dimensions in the contemporary era and analyse these by focusing on the implications of medical technologies for longevity (for example, therapeutic stem-cell research, regenerative medicine, and new reproductive technologies). Medical technology holds out the promise of prolongevity as a new mirage of health, offering life-enhancement or the secular promise of eternal life.

21 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and its corollaries, Occupy Sandy and Occupy Debt, have been largely understood as secular movements as mentioned in this paper. But in spite of this, religious actors not only participate, but also participate in these movements.
Abstract: The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and its corollaries, Occupy Sandy and Occupy Debt, have been largely understood as secular movements. In spite of this, religious actors not only participate...

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify two different senses in which the concept of community can be seen to underpin the norm of vocal participation in democratic politics: a broadly liberal view of community, traceable to Alexis de Tocqueville, that promotes active, vocal, and autonomous citizens and acts as a buffer between the state and the individual; and a second broadly conservative view, for example, of Edmund Burke and T.S. Eliot, treats community as organic, passive, and largely silent.
Abstract: This article identifies two different senses in which the concept of ‘community’ can be seen to underpin the norm of vocal participation in democratic politics. The first is a broadly liberal view of community – traceable to Alexis de Tocqueville – that promotes active, vocal, and autonomous citizens and acts as a buffer between the state and the individual. A second broadly conservative view of community in the writings, for example, of Edmund Burke and T.S. Eliot treats community as organic, passive, and largely silent. It valorizes habit and habitual relationships as supporting political life through obedience to the law and respect for authority. While these two traditions stand apart, what is striking about both views of community is the one point about which both agree: citizens' sense of community is in decline within liberal democracies today. Thus silence and silent majorities are problematic to both traditions, albeit for different reasons.

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that emerging consumer markets in biomedicine are incrementally redefining the relationship between old age and society, and increasing longevity will force the emergence of a “sociology of limits” to maintain any degree of social solidarity.
Abstract: Biomedical and geriatric technologies are having major impacts on the development and management of human longevity. Our contention in this special issue is that longevity should be considered as a point of departure for new forms of politics in which social sciences, in particular sociology and politics, can play an important role. In this introduction, we argue that emerging consumer markets in biomedicine are incrementally redefining the relationship between old age and society. Techno-economic transformations are creating new sites of vulnerability that are masked by medical utopias of good health and “living forever.” In this context, it is unlikely that such technologies will be able to overcome inequalities in distribution and may well exacerbate various forms of injustice. By drawing on notions of institutional precariousness and scarcity, we conclude that to maintain any degree of social solidarity, increasing longevity will force the emergence of a “sociology of limits.”

14 citations



Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The authors explores whether recent political changes will lead to a modification of Singapore's "soft authoritarianism" and evolution of its policies on diverse religions, and explores the role of Islam in these changes.
Abstract: Singapore can be described as a sea-port that became a city-state. In the process it has successfully managed religious and ethnic diversity through the use of law to regulate society and to manage religion. Inheriting English common law, Singapore has managed legal pluralism and religious diversity through state agencies, such as MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore), that seek to modernise the Shari’a, and through the Religious Harmony Act. It has also facilitated Muslim education and family life, strictly controlled religious sites through urban planning, limited aggressive evangelism, rejected ‘shapeless multiculturalism,’ and modestly supported neo-Confucian ‘rule of virtue.’ The chapter explores whether recent political changes will lead to a modification of Singapore’s ‘soft authoritarianism’ and evolution of its policies on diverse religions.

6 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The founding fathers of sociology, such as Auguste Comte and Saint Simon, had a close engagement with debates and research in biology as mentioned in this paper, and they argued that it was by modeling itself on the holistic framework of biology that sociology could emerge as a scientific discipline and at the same time contribute to the revolutionary development of society.
Abstract: The founding fathers of sociology, such as Auguste Comte and Saint Simon, had a close engagement with debates and research in biology. Comte, for example, argued that it was by modeling itself on the holistic framework of biology that sociology could emerge as a scientific discipline and at the same time contribute to the revolutionary development of society. France was to be at the center of both revolutions in science and society (Gane 2006:3). Emile Durkheim (1951, 1958) and his generation thought in terms of medical metaphors such as “social pathology” to describe crime and deviance or the malfunctioning of social groups. In Suicide, the notion of anomie is an illustration of social pathology which he also developed in The Rules of Sociological Method. Ideas from evolutionary biology also entered into early sociology through the theories of Charles Darwin and primarily through the general impact of Herbert Spencer on early sociology. Spencer’s influence was fundamental to 19th-century sociology. The quest to create a science of society is neatly described by Daniel Breslau (2007:42–43) in his account of “The American Spencerians” when he notes that the “early sociologists were not interested in a sociology that looked like the natural sciences but in a natural science about society.” From these opening remarks, we can conclude that 19th-century sociologists closely followed developments in the natural sciences and that evolutionary biology provided an appropriate route toward “a natural science about society.”

4 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that one cannot understand the civil sphere without first understanding Alexander's version of cultural sociology and of the significance he attaches to performance and political rituals, and that the two are inextricably linked.
Abstract: The chapter’s analysis begins with its contention that one cannot understand the civil sphere without first understanding Alexander’s version of cultural sociology and of the significance he attaches to performance and political rituals. The chapter considers the two to be inextricably linked. In its analysis, the chapter stresses the centrality of performativity. This leads to identifying what it views as the three central shortcomings of the civil sphere project. First, it states Alexander exhibits a distinctly American optimism that does not resonate with the situation in Europe. Second, by focusing on dramatic political rituals, Alexander gives insufficient attention to public reasoning. Finally, he does not think the civil sphere is adequately defined.

4 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that the bulk of sociological discourses on the social can be located within one of the following categories or registers: society as structure; society as solidarity; and society as creation.
Abstract: Problems of defining such terms as ‘society’, ‘the social’, and ‘the social system’ remain an ongoing bane of social theory in general and sociology more specifically. This article is located in the context of recent debates that ‘society’ as an empirical reality and ‘society’ as a concept is in crisis. We begin by briefly reviewing sociological understandings of ‘society’ and noting the ‘death of society’ thesis in recent social theory. In an attempt to extend this debate beyond naive proclamations of the ‘end of society’, we argue – in an exploratory and provisional manner – that the bulk of sociological discourses on the ‘social’ can be located within one of the following categories or registers: (1) society as structure; (2) society as solidarity; and (3) society as creation. These three registers of the social are briefly sketched in the remainder of the article. This argument arises from a larger ‘work in progress’ on the logics of the social.

3 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the way Shari'a has been reported in key newspapers in Sydney and New York over the last five years and differentiates between perceptions of Islamic law as practiced in these global cities, as well as in other foreign countries and examines the different levels of perception.
Abstract: Drawing on methodologies used to analyse the negative portrayals of new religious movements in the press, this chapter analyzes the way Shari’a has been reported in key newspapers in Sydney and New York over the last 5 years. It differentiates between perceptions of Islamic law as practiced in these global cities, as well as in other foreign countries and examines the different levels of perception. The chapter also investigates portrayals and perceptions of ‘good’ Shari’a (i.e. Islamic banking) as opposed to ‘bad’ Shari’a (i.e. family and criminal law).


Book ChapterDOI
17 Dec 2015
TL;DR: The economic dynamic of global capitalism, associated now with China and the other BRIC economies, is only matched by its capacity to destroy value, radically increase global inequality and raise concerns that inequality and financial insecurity threaten social stability and capitalist modernity.
Abstract: The mood underpinning the study of globalization has also taken a distinctively gloomy direction. Enclave societies and global security In the euphoric fin-de-siecle of the last century, the possibility of peaceful globalization and expanding democratization had never looked more promising. Globalization, has become a convenient umbrella concept for a range of very disparate and sometimes conflicting processes and institutions from multi-national corporations to new information technology, cosmopolitanism and human rights. The economic dynamic of global capitalism, associated now with China and the other BRIC economies, is only matched by its capacity to destroy value, radically increase global inequality and raise concerns that inequality and financial insecurity threaten social stability and capitalist modernity. The shift of economic power and political economic influence will continue eastward as China and India continue the relative shift of world output away from North America and Europe.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: Parsons' medical sociology provides a theoretical site on which a more generous re-assessment of Parsonian sociology may be developed as mentioned in this paper, pointing to a major theoretical and substantive continuity in Parsonsian sociology.
Abstract: Talcott Parsons was the major exponent of a distinctively sociological perspective on health and sickness. Although his particular approach to medical sociology has been the subject of criticism, Parsons' argument that sickness is a social not a biochemical condition provided the basic premise for the sub-discipline. The problem of continuity and discontinuity in Parsons' sociology with respect to both theoretical and substantive issues has been much debated. The importance of Parsons' medical sociology is that it pinpoints a major theoretical and substantive continuity in Parsonian sociology. More importantly, his analysis of sickness and health via the concept of the sick role indicates that sociology does not have to choose between either an action frame of reference or social systems approach. Parsons has often been criticised as the conservative apologist of professional power and elite institutions. Parsons' medical sociology provides a theoretical site on which a more generous re-assessment of Parsonian sociology may be developed.

Book
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a scenario where a person is sent to work with a team of experts in a laboratory environment, and the team is composed of experts from different companies.
Abstract: 第1部 記号・文字・テクノロジー(新ライプニッツ派記号論のために—「中国自然神学論」再論;映画テクノロジーの新しい文字—モバイル・メディアとデジタル・イメージ;デジタルネットワーク社会において複合化する記録資料とアーカイブズ) 第2部 認識と批判のパラダイム(“テクノロジーの文字”と“心の装置”—フロイトへの回帰;メディアの消滅—一九八〇年代のメディア理論に見るマクルーハンの影;触覚、時間、技術—レヴィナス、または触覚的コミュニケーションの倫理;コミュニケーションのvectorとしての“キャラ”—indi‐visualコミュニケーション) 第3部 感性と経験(デジタルメディア時代のアート;経験変容としての瞑想イメージ—ビル・ヴィオラのヴィデオ・アート分析;アニメの創造性—クールジャパンを求める中でのキャラクターと設定;ニューメディアと浮遊する宗教)


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In many societies legal pluralism is now related to the recognition of indigenous traditional laws and, consequently, it is often referred to as ‘Unofficial Law' as mentioned in this paper, which is a challenge to legal centralism, a legal doctrine claiming that the state has a monopoly over law making in its sovereign space.
Abstract: Legal pluralism may be simply defined as the development of a number of different legal traditions within a given sovereign territory. Legal pluralism is often held to be a challenge to legal centralism, a legal doctrine claiming that the state has a monopoly over law making in its sovereign space. Opponents of state centralism based on state sovereignty and a legal monopoly often regard it as an ideology rather than a legal doctrine. The modern critique of legal centralism is associated with an influential article (‘What is Legal Pluralism?’) by John Griffith (1986), but the origin of the theory of legal pluralism goes back to Eugen Ehrlich’s Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law that was published in 1913. In many societies legal pluralism is now related to the recognition of indigenous traditional laws and, consequently, it is often referred to as ‘Unofficial Law.’ Studies of native traditions—such as Llewellyn and Hoebel’s The Cheyenne Way (1941)—have influenced recognition of the importance of custom in the normative foundation of law and thence the legal order of society. The debate about legal pluralism is also closely associated with theories of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism (de Sousa Santos and Rodriguez-Garavito 2005). These debates around pluralism raise a host of difficult conceptual issues, including the problem of defining law itself. Before turning to some of these vexed definitional issues, we should start with a brief consideration of the so-called ‘legal centralism’ position.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: Benton and Ross as discussed by the authors argued that legal pluralism appears in or is related to at least three different social and political contexts, including the globalization of labour markets, the development of permanent diasporic communities, and recognition of different legal traditions in multicultural societies.
Abstract: Looking back on this collection of chapters on the comparative study of legal pluralism, we can summarize our findings by proposing that legal pluralism appears in or is related to at least three different social and political contexts. The first example is the presence of legal pluralism in imperial systems before and during the consolidation of nation states (Benton and Ross 2013). The second is the awareness of legal pluralism arising from the process of de-colonization and the slow and contested recognition of indigenous rights. The third example, and the one most fully discussed in this collection, is the recognition of different legal traditions in multicultural societies in which a majority agrees, possibly under considerable political and judicial pressure, to recognize that a minority community has a claim to its own distinctive legal traditions. This third case is seen to be the consequence of the globalization of labour markets and the development of permanent diasporic communities. Before attempting to conclude, we will comment briefly on these three examples.