Showing papers in "Archives Europeennes De Sociologie in 2008"

A Sociology of Quantification

Abstract: One of the most notable political developments of the last thirty years has been increasing public and governmental demand for the quantification of social phenomena, yet sociologists generally have paid little attention to the spread of quantification or the significance of new regimes of measurement. Our article addresses this oversight by analyzing quantification – the production and communication of numbers – as a general sociological phenomenon. Drawing on scholarship across the social sciences in Europe and North America as well as humanistic inquiry, we articulate five sociological dimensions of quantification and call for an ethics of numbers.

Dictatorial Institutions and their Impact on Economic Growth

Abstract: Non-democratic regimes vary in the degree to which domestic groups threaten their rule and the extent to which they need the cooperation of these groups. To both neutralize threats to their rule and solicit cooperation, some dictators coopt potential domestic opposition by providing rents and policy concessions within nominally-democratic institutions, such as legislatures and political parties. These institutions, designed as instruments of cooptation, facilitate cooperation between the regime and outside groups which promotes economic growth.

Why No Religious Politics? The Secularization of Poor Relief and Primary Education in Denmark and Sweden

Abstract: In many European democracies, religion was an important political cleavage throughout the twentieth century But in Denmark and Sweden, religious differences have not been translated into political competition Instead, class conflict has dominated This article attempts to explain why Our argument is that in the first decades of the twentieth century, the issue that mattered most for the politicization of religion elsewhere in Europe – the role of churches in the provision of poor relief and education – was already settled The main reason was that in the nineteenth century, the secular state had captured the organizational infrastructure that churches used to provide these services

The Importance of Having a Different Opinion Europeans and GM foods

Abstract: Objectives. The article examines the opinions of Europeans concerning genetically modified (GM) foods. It first deals with the socio-cultural variables that favour acceptance of such products. It then analyses the minority of respondents who exhibit greater openness towards GM foods. Methods. Mokken Scale Analysis (MSA) is applied to 2002 Eurobarometer 58.0 data to construct an index of acceptance of GM foods. Results. The acceptance of GM foods is associated positively with trust in biotechnologies and negatively with concerns about the environment. The minority consisting of respondents in favour of GM foods possesses specific characteristics. Unlike the rest of the respondents, these principally consider the opportunity to spend less, the absence of fats, and the taste of foods. Conclusions. The analysis confirms that high education level does not favour acceptance of GM foods.

Method and Substance in the Military Field

Abstract: This article tries to assess the cognitive merits of various research programmes in the treatment of military issues. It contends that, on such topics more than on others, method influences conceptualization and theory construction. Having noted the infrequent showings of some programmes in the military field, it goes on to demonstrate, based on the literature produced over a century, that the blames laid at positivism's door are especially justified in it. The Weberian/Simmelian tradition has shown more promise. A brief synthetic formulation of its achievements suggests that it alone accords with Clausewitzian thought, and shows sufficient flexibility to account for recent changes which baffle other programmes, or to open avenues of collaboration with promising new approaches (notably, nonlinear dynamics).

Toward a Sociology of the State and War: Emil Lederer's Political Sociology*

Abstract: Although recognized for innovations in economics and economic sociology, Emil Lederer’s impressive contributions to political sociology have been almost completely ignored. Lederer wrote extensively on questions of practical and theoretical relevance for a sociological analysis of the state and war, especially in response to and anticipation of the World Wars of the last century. This article considers the elements of his political-sociological work in the context of the circumstances under which they developed and concludes with an attempt to construct an outline of the basic tenets of a sociology of the state and war derived from Lederer’s writings. This analysis highlights Lederer’s sensitivity to a dynamic understanding of the total social configuration and its impact on the individual psyche as central to explicating the characteristics of particular political-sociological phenomena.

Weber’s Theory of Radical Movements: A Reappraisal*

Abstract: The ongoing wave of radical religious protest confirms the need for an alternative to the rationalist approach that has come to dominate social movement research. At this moment, it seems promising to take another look at Weber’s sociology of religion: it offers a theory which (1) proposes an unfamiliar account of the relation between personal identity and political activism, (2) builds on this to explain the functioning of a specific type of social movements organization, and (3) thereby identifies mechanisms causing a dynamic of protest that cannot be reduced to a “rational” adaptation to an opportunity structure. These concepts can also elucidate the working of movements that are not explicitly religious in character.

Opposition der siebziger in Polen Ein Beitrag zur Integration neuerer Theorien sozialer Bewegungen

Abstract: Starting with Hans Joas’ theory of creative action and Alberto Melucci's theory of collective identity (with slight modifications), the paper specify the conditions for a useful application of newer theories of social movements. Using this (neo-) pragmatist perspective, and drawing on the example of the development of civic opposition in Poland, it endeavours to question and expand the explanatory potential of the theories of relative deprivation, political opportunity structures, network analysis and framing analysis.

Regeneration in Rural Catalonia

Abstract: Le declin economique et demographique des communautes rurales affecte les processus bioculturels qui sous-tendent la transmission intergenerationnelle. L'article explore les inventions symboliques remarquables d'un village de Catalogne et retrace les evolutions physiques et de la culture materielle qui sont sous-jacentes. Deux festivals mettent en evidence la force de l'effort passionne pour renouer les fils brises des relations inter-generationnelles. Le village a exporte sa fecondite vers les villes et travaille desormais a accueillir des nouveaux venus et a inventer des modes de vie. Les rituels publics ont fait beaucoup mais le defi est d'etre devenu une communaute sterile de residents secondaires et de maisons vides.

La démocratie participative et les devoirs du citoyen

Abstract: Les etudes portant sur la citoyennete privilegient souvent la question des droits des citoyens, qu'il s'agisse des droits-libertes (comme la liberte de conscience), des droits-creances (comme les droits sociaux relatifs a la sante ou a l'education) ou encore des droits objectifs face aux droits subjectifs (Schnapper, 2000). Peu d'entre elles s'interrogent sur le pendant de ces droits, c'est-a-dire sur les devoirs du citoyen. La question n'est certes pas nouvelle puisque des auteurs classiques comme Pufendorf (1673) s'y sont atteles depuis bien longtemps et le « devoir de civilite » qu'evoque Rawls de maniere plus contemporaine s'inscrit dans cet heritage. Or un tel devoir est davantage moral que legal puisqu'il consiste a « expliquer aux autres comment, sur ces questions fondamentales, les principes et les programmes qu'ils defendent et pour lesquels ils votent peuvent etre fondes sur les valeurs politiques de la raison publique » (Rawls, 1993, p. 264), c'est-a-dire sur des arguments qui constituent des raisons publiques justifiant les manieres d'agir au sein de la sphere politique. Ce devoir s'impose aux legislateurs comme a tout citoyen participant au forum public et prenant part aux elections. La citoyennete doit donc aussi se comprendre comme une participation politique se traduisant, notamment, par le fait de s'impliquer dans les processus de decision politique et les possibilites d'influencer les choix collectifs. Pour le dire d'une autre maniere, etre citoyen a part entiere ne correspond pas seulement a un etat, a une relation d'appartenance fonctionnellement specifiee et en quelque sorte passive entre l'individu et l'Etat ou la nation. C'est egalement un engagement en vertu duquel chacun est activement citoyen. Cette citoyennete « active », sur laquelle les recherches mettent aujourd'hui beaucoup plus l'accent (Gutmann et Thompson, 1997 ; Habermas, 1997 ; Blondiaux et Sintomer, 2002 ; Bevort, 2002), designe une participation a la gouvernance et implique que les citoyens acceptent ou rejettent les raisons qu'eux-memes et leurs representants offrent a l'appui des lois et des politiques qui les engagent mutuellement. Elle s'actualise factuellement dans nombre de processus et de procedes participatifs, tels que les conferences de citoyens, les conferences de consensus, les auditions publiques, etc. Autant d'instances ou s'opere une « codetermination de politiques publiques » (Joss, 1999, p. 291) permettant aux citoyens de reguler de maniere liberale leurs desaccords. C'est au total l'ensemble de ces implications qui donne son contenu a l'idee de « democratie participative », que nous retiendrons dans cette etude, en son acception large de participation a la vie politique publique. En regard du devoir de civilite qu'evoque Rawls, la question se pose alors de savoir quel lien existe entre la nature des jugements moraux convoques au titre de justification de normes collectives (de normes de justice, par exemple) et les attitudes des individus-citoyens a l'egard de la democratie participative. Cette question n'est cependant pas seulement theorique, elle est aussi empirique. Et c'est d'ailleurs uniquement sous cet angle que nous l'aborderons ici. En d'autres termes, dans les societes contemporaines qui sont les notres, existe-t-il un lien entre les devoirs que l'on assigne moralement au citoyen et les opinions sur la democratie participative d'une part, tout comme, d'autre part, les formes de participation active (a la vie civique, politique ou aux prises de decision) qui sont pratiquees ou valorisees ?

Basque Violence: A Reappraisal of Culturalist Explanations

Abstract: David Laitin has explained the occurrence of Basque and Georgian nationalist violence as the outcome of language revival in a bilingual setting and a specific locale. Based on game theory, he has suggested that violence, as a rational nationalist strategy, will increasingly be used if specific thresholds levels in language choice for education are met. A critical reappraisal of his approach is made in which the conceptual and methodological limits to the empirical testing are highlighted. Subsequently, an extensive dataset of Basque municipalities in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country is used to statistically verify Laitin’s model by multivariate analysis. In some areas of the Basque Country Laitin’s model seems to fit while in others not. With the help of both quantitative and qualitative data, alternative explanations for Basque ethnic violence are explored.

Claude Lévi-Strauss, a precursor?

Abstract: Le comite de Redaction de la revue a souhaite marquer le centenaire de Claude Levi-Strauss par deux contributions qui, chacune a sa maniere, temoignent de l’importance d’un maitre dont, depuis un demi-siecle la pensee a influence le devenir de toutes les sciences sociales.

Lévi-Strauss et le principe de réciprocité

Abstract: L a s o c i o l o g i e de l’action, qu’elle provienne soit des travaux de Max Weber et Georg Simmel, soit de la tradition du pragmatisme am ericain, s’est particulièrement int eress ee à la question de la r eciprocit e. Celle-ci fut comprise comme ins eparable du concept d’interaction : agir c’est r eagir. Ainsi Simmel ecrit : « Il y a soci et e là où il y a action r eciproque de plusieurs individus. » Il ajoute : « Si l’on veut qu’il y ait une science dont l’objet soit la soci et e, elle ne voudra pas etudier autre chose que ces actions r eciproques, les modes et les formes de la socialisation. » Telle serait la genèse pragmatique de la soci et e et la source même de son incessante formation. Mon action est toujours la r eponse à l’action d’un autre agent. La soci et e est l’int egrale de ces interactions r eciproques. On pourrait cependant comprendre cette r eciprocit e comme une simple relation de causalit e entre agents i.e. comme se ramenant à l’interd ependance des conditions pr ealables et des effets en feedback. Mais on peut – et même on doit – aller plus loin et se demander si l’action r eciproque, par delà une logique objective de r egulation spontan ee, n’est pas d efinie par des normes que l’agent int eriorise et qui d eterminent ses choix de comportement envers autrui. Telle est la question qui a pr eoccup e le sociologue am ericain Alwin Gouldner dans un article très remarqu e paru en 1960 : « The Norm of Reciprocity. » Il n’est pas question ici d’entrer dans le d ebat qu’ouvre cet auteur et notamment de discuter sa critique de Parsons et ses r eserves sur les approches fonctionnalistes. Je voudrais seulement relever que dans la liste des auteurs que Gouldner propose comme ayant fortement contribu e à formuler une sociologie de la r eciprocit e, un des noms cit es est celui L evi-Strauss et cela sans autre pr ecision. Or, sans r ef erence à ce dernier, un peu plus loin dans son etude, Gouldner remarque que l’universalit e de la norme de r eciprocit e est

Hybridräume: Zum Wandel von Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit in der Stadt

Abstract: The main characteristics of public space are accessibility and usability for all citizens. Current developments primarily observed in cities, however, point to the fact that the distinction between public and private is becoming blurred. Instead urban spaces of hybrid character are emerging. Spaces with public functions like train stations, parks or pedestrian areas change character; semi-private spaces like malls or plazas expand. In order to obtain a realistic assessment of these developments the paper offers a critical appraisal of recent privatization trends followed by a brief systematization. After a discussion of feasible reasons for the loss of public space, the paper considers potential implications for the future of citizenship.

Une enquête au début du Xe siècle : le questionnaire synodal de Réginon de Prüm

Abstract: In 906, the Abbot Reginon von Prum issued a questionnaire concerning the sins perpetrated during the past year within a given parish. Two important improvements can be found in the questionnaire as compared to the already existing handbooks of penance: instead of being used for the private confession of sins, it was designed for a public investigation, and it demonstrates an effort toward some objectivity, by avoiding reproofs or value judgements. For these reasons, it appears as a significant advance in survey questionnaires. A French translation of the questionnaire is provided in the appendix.

Moral Disturbances in Society

Abstract: S c a n d a l s f o l l o w one after the other in contemporary public life. Not surprisingly, the academic interest in scandals has risen in recent years as well. Few authors, however, are as wide in scope and ambition as Ari Adut in his book On Scandal. Moral Disturbances in Society, Politics and Art. The book covers a wide range of scandals, from the eventual fall of Oscar Wilde, to art scandals from the French impressionists till today, to contemporary political scandals in France and the US. Adut’s aim is to provide a general theory of scandal, answering such questions as: What makes a scandal? Why do some wrongdoings develop into full-blown scandals, and others not? By studying the conditions and dynamics of scandals, Adut aims to explain variation in frequency, reactions, and effects of scandals. He does so by combining phenomenological analysis (of lived experience) and interactional analysis with structural and strategic analysis. Adut defines scandal as ‘‘the disruptive publicity of transgression’’. He sees three main components in a scandal: a transgression (real or alleged), a publicizer (publicizing the transgression), and a public (reacting to the transgression). Publicity, hence, is essential: without publicity, no scandal. A transgression may be widely known – as was the case with Oscar Wilde’s sexual preferences and lifestyle long before the scandal broke out. However, publicity involves collective and focused attention, and it almost imposes the transgression on the audience. In an article published some years ago, Adut borrowed Ellickson’s concept ‘‘norm audience’’ and argued that transgression does not evolve into scandal unless a ‘‘norm audience’’ is in fact scandalized: ‘‘A norm audience is a public united by some level of identification with the norm that has apparently been violated, and it is in some capacity attentive and negatively responsive to the publicized transgression’’ (Adut 2005, p. 218, drawing on Ellickson 2001). In the present book, Adut seems to have abandoned this concept but kept the main idea. While the concept of a norm audience is, in my reading of Durkheim, fully compatible with Durkheim’s collective conscience, it has the advantage of signaling that, as there are many different norms, there are many norm audiences, co-existing in society (Jacobsson and L€ ofmarck 2008).