Showing papers in "Review of Sociology in 2007"

Transnational Migration Studies: Past Developments and Future Trends

Abstract: The past two decades have witnessed a sea change in migration scholarship. Most scholars now recognize that many contemporary migrants and their predecessors maintain various kinds of ties to their homelands at the same time that they are incorporated into the countries that receive them. Increasingly, social life takes place across borders, even as the political and cultural salience of nation-state boundaries remains strong. Transnational migration studies has emerged as an inherently interdisciplinary field, made up of scholars around the world, seeking to describe and analyze these dynamics and invent new methodological tools with which to do so. In this review, we offer a short history of theoretical developments, outlining the different ways in which scholars have defined and approached transnational migration. We then summarize what is known about migrant transnationalism in different arenas—economics, politics, the social, the cultural, and the religious. Finally, we discuss methodological...

The Global Diffusion of Public Policies: Social Construction, Coercion, Competition, or Learning?

Abstract: Social scientists have sketched four distinct theories to explain a phenomenon that appears to have ramped up in recent years, the diffusion of policies across countries. Constructivists trace policy norms to expert epistemic communities and international organizations, who define economic progress and human rights. Coercion theorists point to powerful nation-states, and international financial institutions, that threaten sanctions or promise aid in return for fiscal conservatism, free trade, etc. Competition theorists argue that countries compete to attract investment and to sell exports by lowering the cost of doing business, reducing constraints on investment, or reducing tariff barriers in the hope of reciprocity. Learning theorists suggest that countries learn from their own experiences and, as well, from the policy experiments of their peers. We review the large body of research from sociologists and political scientists, as well as the growing body of work from economists and psychologists, pointing to the diverse mechanisms that are theorized and to promising avenues for distinguishing among causal mechanisms.

Moral Views of Market Society

Abstract: Upon what kind of moral order does capitalism rest? Conversely, does the market give rise to a distinctive set of beliefs, habits, and social bonds? These questions are certainly as old as social science itself. In this review, we evaluate how today’s scholarship approaches the relationship between markets and the moral order. We begin with Hirschman’s characterization of the three rival views of the market as civilizing, destructive, or feeble in its effects on society. We review recent work at the intersection of sociology, economics, and political economy and show that these views persist both as theories of market society and moral arguments about it. We then argue that a fourth view, which we call moralized markets, has become increasingly prominent in economic sociology. This line of research sees markets as cultural phenomena and moral projects in their own right, and seeks to study the mechanisms and techniques by which such projects are realized in practice.

The Sociology of Markets

Abstract: The sociology of markets has been one of the most vibrant fields in sociology in the past 25 years. There is a great deal of agreement that markets are social structures characterized by extensive social relationships between firms, workers, suppliers, customers, and governments. But, like in many sociological literatures, the theory camps that have formed often seem to speak by each other. We show that some of the disagreement between theory camps is due to differences in conceptual language, and other disagreements stem from the fact that theory camps ignore the concepts in other theory camps, thereby making their theories less complete. We end by considering deeper controversies in the literature that seem open both to new conceptualization and further empirical research.

The Sociology of the Radical Right

Abstract: During the past two decades, the radical right has reemerged as an electoral force in Western Europe, as well as in other stable democracies such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Aside from discussing the ideology of this party family and how it relates to older forms of right-wing radicalism and extremism, such as fascism, this review deals with the question of how the emergence of radical right-wing parties can be explained and why such parties have been considerably more successful among voters in some countries than in others. Possible explanations are grouped into two parts: The first consists of so-called demand-centered explanations, that is, explanations that focus on changing preferences, beliefs, and attitudes among voters. The second consists of so-called supply-side explanations, that is, explanations that focus on political opportunity structures and party organizational factors.

Inequality: Causes and Consequences

Abstract: The increase in economic disparities over the past 30 years has prompted extensive research on the causes and consequences of inequality both in the United States and, more recently, globally. This review provides an update of research on the patterns and causes of economic inequality in the United States, including inequality of earnings, wealth, and opportunity. We also explore the social and political consequences of inequality, particularly in the areas of health, education, crime, social capital, and political power. Finally, we spotlight an emerging literature on world inequality, which examines inequality trends within as well as across nations. Sociologists can advance research on inequality by bringing discipline-based expertise to bear on the organization and political economy of firms and labor markets, the pathways through which inequality has an effect, and the social, political, and cultural contingencies that might modify this effect.

Human Motivation and Social Cooperation: Experimental and Analytical Foundations

Abstract: Since Durkheim, sociological explanations of social cooperation have emphasized the internalization of values that induce norm compliance. Since Adam Smith, economic explanations of social cooperation have emphasized incentives that induce selfish individuals to cooperate. Here, we develop a general approach—the Beliefs, Preferences, and Constraints approach—showing that each of the above models is a special case. Our approach is based on evidence indicating that pure Homo Sociologicus and pure Homo Economicus views are wrong. We show that self-regarding and norm-regarding actors coexist and that the available action opportunities determine which of these actor types dominates the aggregate level of social cooperation. Our approach contributes to the solution of long-standing problems, including the problems of social order and collective action, the determinants and consequences of social exchanges, the microfoundations of emergent aggregate patterns of social interactions, and the measurement of...

From the Margins to the Mainstream? Disaster Research at the Crossroads

Abstract: The sociology of disasters has developed in ways that have weakened its ties with mainstream sociology. It has remained remarkably resistant to changes in the broader sociological landscape, and its strong applied focus has been a barrier to theoretical innovation. This situation is changing, as indicated by critiques of traditional ways of conceptualizing and explaining disasters; greater acceptance of constructivist formulations; willingness to acknowledge that disasters are accompanied by both social solidarity and social conflict; and recognition of the significance of the interaction of disasters and risk with gender, class, and other axes of inequality. However, the field is unlikely to overcome its marginal status without significant efforts to link the sociology of disasters with the related fields of risk and environmental sociology and, more broadly, to focus on core sociological concerns, such as social inequality, diversity, and social change.

Workforce Diversity and Inequality: Power, Status, and Numbers

Abstract: Workforce diversity refers to the composition of work units in terms of the cultural or demographic characteristics that are salient and symbolically meaningful in the relationships among group members. Although generally thought of as the purview of management research, the topic of workforce diversity draws from and is relevant to research from sociology and psychology. In this review, we highlight two issues: (a) the importance of the substantial research on inequality to an adequate understanding of workforce diversity and (b) the need to link discussions of workforce diversity to the structural relationships among groups within the society. We organize the review in terms of three dimensions of the relationships among groups: power, status, and numbers (or composition). We highlight research from sociology, psychology, and management and show similarities and gaps across these fields. We also briefly discuss the outcomes of workforce diversity in the workplace.

Gender in Politics

Abstract: Women’s political participation and representation vary dramatically within and between countries. We selectively review the literature on gender in politics, focusing on women’s formal political participation. We discuss both traditional explanations for women’s political participation and representation, such as the supply of women and the demand for women, and newer explanations such as the role of international actors and gender quotas. We also ask whether women are distinctive—does having more women in office make a difference to public policy? Throughout the review we demonstrate that a full understanding of women’s political representation requires both deep knowledge of individual cases such as the United States and broad knowledge comparing women’s participation across countries. We end with four recommended directions for future research: (a) globalizing theory and research, (b) expanding data collection, (c) remembering alternative forms of women’s agency, and (d ) addressing intersectionality.

Immigration and Religion

Abstract: This review synthesizes research about religion in the lives of post-1965 immigrants to the United States. Such research consists primarily of case studies, published since 1990, focused on individual religious organizations started and attended by immigrants. We analyze these case studies to demonstrate the different ways religion influences immigrants’ adaptation in the United States. We then consider how religion informs immigrants’ ethnic and gender-based identities, their experiences of civic and political life, and the lives of the second generation. We argue that current research is more descriptive than analytic overall, and we highlight a series of research questions and comparisons to enrich theoretical thinking. In particular, we advocate a comparative approach to examining immigrants’ religious organizations and increased attention to a “lived religion” perspective, which takes seriously the ways religion is important for immigrants outside of religious organizations in social institut...

Embeddedness and the Intellectual Projects of Economic Sociology

Abstract: In this review, we explore how the concept of embeddedness has shaped—and been shaped by—the evolution of the subfield of economic sociology. Although embeddedness is often taken as a conceptual umbrella for a single, if eclectic, approach to the sociological study of the economy, we argue that in fact the concept references two distinct intellectual projects. One project, following from Granovetter's (1985) well-known programmatic statement, attempts to discern the relational bases of social action in economic contexts. Another project, drawing from Polanyi's [1944 (2001), 1957, 1977] social theory, concerns the integration of the economy into broader social systems. Critically, these two formulations of embeddedness involve different views of the relationship between the economic and the social. The implication is that the obstacles to theoretical integration in economic sociology, while not insurmountable, are greater than is typically acknowledged.

Military Service in the Life Course

Abstract: We review research published in the past 15 years that explores the relationship between military service and the life course, focusing on criminal careers, marital status, lifelong health, and socioeconomic attainment. Throughout the review, we note the extent to which studies find that veterans experienced different outcomes in different historical periods, ranging from World War II to the more recent voluntary armed forces. The effects of military service depend on whether health, criminal, socioeconomic, or marital outcomes are considered. They also depend on the timing and era of service, and veterans’ family background and individual characteristics such as race and delinquency. Nevertheless, the evidence to date suggests one general conclusion: Veterans exposed to combat have suffered worse outcomes than noncombat veterans and than nonveterans. We conclude with suggestions for future research including a tighter integration of the research questions and strategies that have been employed to...

Bourdieu in American Sociology, 1980-2004

Abstract: This article traces the transatlantic diffusion of Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas into American sociology. We find that rather than being received as abstract theory, Bourdieu has been actively put to use to generate new empirical research. In addition, American sociologists have used their findings to problematize and extend his theory. Bourdieu’s sociology, in other words, has inspired a progressive research program in the United States. We trace this process in the two main forums for presenting research: journal articles and books. Content analysis of articles published in four major sociology journals reveals that, far from a recent fad, Bourdieu’s ideas steadily diffused into American sociology between 1980 and 2004. Case studies of four influential books in turn illustrate how researchers have used Bourdieu’s key concepts (capital, field, habitus, and symbolic power) to inform debates in four core subfields (political, economic, cultural, and urban sociology).

Hispanic Families: Stability and Change

Abstract: Spurred in part by the rapid growth of the Hispanic population, considerable progress has been made over the past several decades in documenting the family behavior of Hispanics. Scholars increasingly recognize the importance of disaggregating the Hispanic population by national origin and generation, but the literature remains inconsistent in this regard. With an emphasis on demographic indicators of family behavior, this review summarizes trends in marriage, fertility, and family/household structure among the major Hispanic subgroups and identifies key issues in the literature that attempts to explain existing patterns. The role of generation is systematically addressed, as are the shortcomings of the standard practice of using cross-sectional data on generation to draw inferences about assimilation. We conclude that new research designs are needed to address the complexities of the migration process and their links to family patterns. In addition, future research should push toward greater inte...

Production Regimes and the Quality of Employment in Europe

Abstract: Production regime theory has been one of the most innovative and influential recent contributions to neo-institutional debates about the varieties of capitalism. This review takes issue with its claim that there are major differences in the quality of work between the two principal regime types that are held to characterize European societies—coordinated market economies and liberal market economies—by examining the evidence for Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the UK. Although the broad pattern of skill differences corresponds reasonably well to the arguments of the theory, the evidence does not confirm the other claims about work and employment conditions, in particular with respect to employee job control, autonomous work teams, organizational participation, and job security. Rather, it points to the distinctiveness of the Scandinavian countries and hence to the importance of factors that lie outside the explanatory framework of the thesis.

The Niche as a Theoretical Tool

Abstract: For several decades, the concept of the niche has enriched sociological theory. The niche represents the position or function of an entity, such as an organization or population of organizations, within a larger community environment. Using the concept of the niche allows researchers to go beyond classifying entities to understanding (a) their life chances under different and changing environmental conditions and (b) how they interact under the competitive conditions induced by a finite environment. We briefly review the intellectual history of the niche concept as it came from bioecology to sociology. The bulk of the article reviews the two major streams of sociological research that use the niche concept: the population ecology of organizations and McPherson's ecology of affiliation. Finally, we survey commonalities between these approaches and highlight new directions, including applications that take the niche concept well beyond its origins in organizational studies.

The Consequences of Economic Globalization for Affluent Democracies

Abstract: In recent decades, economic globalization has grown significantly in affluent democracies. Taking this as a point of departure, we review social science research on the consequences of economic globalization for the state, the economy, and civil society. We advocate for a concrete position of empirical scrutiny, between the grand theorists and earlier empirical skeptics, and measure economic globalization as the heightening of international trade and investment. Social scientists have engaged in lively debates surrounding such topics as how globalization affects the welfare state, politics, deindustrialization, inequality, and organized labor. Among the themes that emerge from these debates are the distinct values of within- and between-country comparisons and the need for a stronger connection between theoretical accounts of globalization and empirical analyses. At the same time, many aspects of social life have been neglected by recent research on globalization. Throughout, we gauge current cons...

Toward a Historicized Sociology: Theorizing Events, Processes, and Emergence

Abstract: Since the 1970s, historical sociology in the United States has been constituted by a configuration of substantive questions, a theoretical vocabulary anchored in concepts of economic interest and rationalization, and a methodological commitment to comparison. More recently, this configuration has been destabilized along each dimension: the increasing autonomy of comparative-historical methods from specific historical puzzles, the shift from the analysis of covariation to theories of historical process, and new substantive questions through which new kinds of arguments have been elaborated. Although the dominant responses have centered on methodological elaboration and epistemological debate, greater attention to historical process also informs new strategies for defining cases and framing puzzles, thereby highlighting different categories of empirical questions: social caging, group formation, and multiple orders. The most striking shift is from the imagery of systems-and-crises, which highlighted...

Lost and Found: The Sociological Ambivalence Toward Childhood

Abstract: Recent social scientific research on childhood is oddly ambivalent. Despite much theoretically creative and empirically innovative work, the sociology of childhood, as a subfield, is often uncomfortable with its own object of inquiry. I identify three possible sources of this sociological ambivalence. First, much work does not fully differentiate children from childhood. Second, much of the literature conflates the notion of childhood as a social construct with childhood as a social good. And third, the construction of childhood in some of the literature is incommensurate with the social policies designed to protect or empower children. This review further illuminates this threefold equivocation with a schematic review of the sociological literature on childhood written since the 1980s. I conclude by briefly suggesting how recent insights from historical and poststructural approaches have begun to alleviate this ambivalence.

The Making of the Black Family: Race and Class in Qualitative Studies in the Twentieth Century

Abstract: This article reviews the history of qualitative research on the black family during the twentieth century. Most qualitative studies on black family life focused on social class differences among blacks and between blacks and whites until the mid-1960s. In the final third of the last century, attention largely turned to the study of low-income black families, a fact I attribute in part to the publication of the Moynihan report.

Old Inequalities, New Disease: HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: It is especially the social aspects of the disease that make HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa different—and worse—than HIV/AIDS in the United States or Europe. By making Africans more vulnerable to economic and sexual exploitation, poverty first increases the likelihood that they will be infected. By making them unattractive customers for pharmaceuticals, poverty also puts therapies out of the reach of most Africans who need them. This review examines research on the integration of sub-Saharan Africa into the international worlds of the pharmaceutical trade, public health, and medical research. It finds that the pull of these institutions diminishes but does not disappear as we move from the realms of trade treaties to the clinics where testing and treatment occur and, finally, to the daily lives of people living with HIV.

School Reform 2007: Transforming Education into a Scientific Enterprise

Abstract: The article begins with a brief review of prior school reform movements and how and why they are different from today. Unlike past reform movements, school reform efforts are now focused on two key ideas: performance and scientific evidence. Motivated in part by economic considerations, the underlying rationale for many school reform programs is to raise the performance of U.S. students by strengthening their knowledge base and skills. Similarly, the emphasis on scientific evidence can be viewed as an economic global response to rising costs of research and development in fields such as medicine, criminology, and social welfare. This focus on performance and scientific evidence is embodied in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which expanded the federal role in education and substantially altered what the purpose of education should be, when and how it should be measured, and what type of evidence should be used for its improvement. The review concludes by examining how these performance...

Control Theories in Sociology

Abstract: Sociologists use negative feedback loop systems to explain identity processes, interpersonal behavior, crowd behavior, organizational behavior, social relationships, and the behavior of political systems. Control system models help us to understand how actors enact social roles with enough stability to preserve institutional arrangements, while still demonstrating remarkable creativity in unusual circumstances. These theories take us away from an oversocialized view of the actor, without relegating us to exclusive reliance on grounded theory. They provide a foundation for several generative theories of adaptive, goal-seeking behavior on the part of social actors and institutions. This chapter begins by tracing the history of control theorizing in sociology, then describes several contemporary theories that rely on control imagery, reviews the empirical support for these theories, describes some of their significant points of overlap and departure, and examines some of the key tested and untested i...

Statistical Magic and/or Statistical Serendipity: An Age of Progress in the Analysis of Categorical Data

Abstract: This essay describes in simple terms some of the major concepts of categorical data analysis (CDA) that have been and will continue to be useful in the analysis of sociological data, examples of which include data in the area of social stratification and mobility, and in many other areas that make use of survey data and/or panel studies data, and in empirical studies of latent types, latent variables, and latent structures. The exposition does not make use of any mathematical formulas, and the only arithmetic used is very simple multiplication, division, and addition. Simple numerical examples, constructed for expository purposes, are used as an aid in describing the concepts of categorical data analysis that are considered in the essay. These concepts include quasi-independence, quasi-symmetry, symmetric association, uniform association, and other related concepts useful in the analysis of mobility tables, and also other concepts that are useful in other areas of study.

The Polish plumber in the West Midlands: Theoretical and empirical issues

Abstract: The influx of Polish workers into the UK requires a renewal of migration theories and presents important empirical puzzles. Both problems stem from the specificity of this migration wave, which does not correspond to classical models. The inadequacy of classical migration theories is demonstrated by the inaccuracy of forecasts from before 2004. The ‘optimistic’ forecasts (e.g. Boeri and Brucker 2001) foresaw an influx many times smaller than the actual one. But the ‘pessimistic’ forecasts were wrong when expecting a movement towards social benefits (so-called ‘social raids’). The paper shows how the influx of Polish workers is different from previous migration waves: it is, at least in the intention, short-term, and includes a high share of young women. In addition, these workers maintain strong contacts and networks with their home country (frequent travel, new communication technologies), often compare living conditions from different European countries, and show an unforeseen willingness to join local ...

Growth functions, social diffusion, and social change

Abstract: Owing to the spectacular currency of information and communication technologies, the diffusion of innovations has become one of the most exciting research topics in the social sciences in the past decade. This study gives an account of the most basic types of growth functions, and then inspects the broad applications of this diffusion of technological innovations. The second half of the study surveys the endeavors which seek to apply the use of growth functions to the broadest possible areas of social change via the long waves of economic development and logistic substitution processes.

Recent Migration from the new European Borderlands

Abstract: The Enlargement of the European Union to the East in 2004 and 2007 gave the EU some new neighbors. Countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia) were now found on the "Eastern frontiers". Part of the accession negotiations involved strengthening the borders with those countries, yet migration from them has increased. Based on an ethnosurvey funded by INTAS at the European Commission between 2005 and 2007 the paper explores the migration of people into the EU and elsewhere using a survey of their homelands combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The paper challenges conventional notions of migration based upon a one-way passage to a new land. It argues that recent migrations (at least post 1989) are characterized rather by temporary circulation of people and hence would not be classically called "migration". They include both temporary employment and various kinds of studentship. The project focuses upon people who have already migrated and returned since 2004. It was found that the main destination country for migrants was Russia, reflecting the more welcoming migration policies there to fulfill labor needs. For the European Union, migrants went to Northern European countries mainly by using schemes and agencies, whilst they went to the South and the New Member States by using more informal means including networks.

Transformation of migration patterns in post-soviet space: russian new migration policy of "open doors" and its effect on european migration flows

Abstract: The presented paper gives the analysis of migration patterns of CIS countries and their interrelations with migration policies of Russia from the time of dissolution of USSR. The migration processes for last 15 years in post Soviet space are developing in the connection with transformation of Russia Federation national and migration policy. Russia still is the main attractive country for CIS countries. The legal norms were introduced in Russia from 2001 to 2006 years (new Laws on citizenship, on foreign residents, on migrants registration and on regulation of labor migrants activities) converted many of internal and external migrants into irregular or semi-irregular. The restrictive migration policy of Russia pushed migrants mainly to 'shadow' economy. This restrictive migration policy has reduced migration flows from FSU countries to Russia and reoriented them toward the Western countries. Unfavorable demographic situation in Russia, the growth of competition for migrants cheap labor with Kazakhstan and Byelorussia and tremendous shortage of labor force lead Russian government to unprecedented steps - to introduce new migration policy of 'open doors' from 2007. This policy undoubtedly will influence migration flows from East Europe to the West. How the new liberalization in migration policy will influence the migration behavior in 'near abroad?' Does it affect migration inflows to Europe from the East? The paper gives the analysis of the first results of new migration policy in the context of migration processes on post-soviet space.

The Establishment of the Nigerian Community in Japan

Abstract: This paper examines the formation of the Nigerian community in terms of how the business owners manipulate capital resources through mutual-help relations. The conclusion is that the indicated mutual-help relationship enhances the expansion of both capital and investment of the Nigerian business owners. Bonding with the chieftaincy system of their native country they maximize their power toward the Nigerian community. Building up a fictive family relationship within the same ethnic group provides a stable and secured employee agreement between the business owners and employees. These characteristics represent the creativity and well-conceived strategies for using reciprocity among the Nigerian community.