Showing papers in "Sociology in 1992"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the JIT/TQM approach is both enabled and enhanced by the operation of two complementary disciplinary forces, the first of which derives from the scrutiny of one's peers in a manufacturing cell, qualit...
Abstract: Theory and observations are used to argue that JIT/TQC regimes both create and demand systems of surveillance which improve on those of previous factory regimes by instilling discipline and thereby enhancing central control.For its theoretical inspiration this paper draws upon the work of Michel Foucault, especially his conception of Power/Knowledge as articulated in his book Discipline and Punish. This theoretical framework is extended to provide a means of analysis of the mechanisms of surveillance and control that operate in the contemporary work place.While there is a sense in which tactical responsibility is delegated in an organisation practising JIT/TQM, strategic control is simultaneously centralised - a form of devolutionism. Drawing on the work of Foucault we will argue that the JIT/TQM approach is both enabled and enhanced by the operation of two complementary disciplinary forces. The first of these is the discipline which derives from the scrutiny of one's peers in a manufacturing cell, qualit...
726 citations
TL;DR: The authors summarized the features of such a methodology under four headings: the ubiquitous social significance of gender, the validity of experience as against method, the rejection of hierarchy in the research relationship, and the adoption of the emancipation of women as the goal of research and the criterion of validity.
Abstract: There is now a considerable literature advocating a feminist methodology. This article summarises the features of such a methodology under four headings: the ubiquitous social significance of gender, the validity of experience as against method, the rejection of hierarchy in the research relationship, and the adoption of the emancipation of women as the goal of research and the criterion of validity. The arguments supporting each of these themes are assessed. The conclusion reached is that while some of these arguments are convincing the overall case for a feminist methodology is not.
486 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that much of this criticism is misplaced and that the promise of class analysis is far from exhausted and that, as a research programme, class analysis has not yet been exhausted.
Abstract: Class analysis has recently been criticised from a variety of standpoints. In this paper we argue that much of this criticism is misplaced and that, as a research programme, the promise of class analysis is far from exhausted. The first part of the paper clarifies the nature and purpose of class analysis, as we would understand it, and in particular distinguishes it from the class analysis of Marxist sociology. The second part then makes the case for the continuing relevance of class analysis, in our conception of it, by reviewing findings from three central areas of current research.
363 citations
151 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the different ways in which sociologists have studied careers and suggest that the analysis of processes of change in career structures and career experiences can best enable researchers to avoid reification in their conceptualizations of career.
Abstract: The paper considers the different ways in which sociologists have studied careers. It examines the various dimensions in careers research which constitute a developing research tradition. It highlights the problems associated with reification in analyses of career which are either implicit in particular models or are addressed in others but in ways which fail to resolve the difficulties. The paper suggests that the analysis of processes of change in career structures and career experiences can best enable researchers to avoid reification in their conceptualizations of career.
126 citations
TL;DR: The paper takes as a concrete example the practices involved in the nursing care of the terminally ill, but the arguments advanced here may be applied to a range of health and welfare professions.
Abstract: Ideas about interpersonal relations between health care practitioners and their clients have been radically reformulated over the past two decades. In the face of critiques of the ways in which health care systems objectified the populations which they served, a new vocabulary - stressing holistic and personal care - has become thoroughly accommodated within health professions. This paper examines the ways in which this new definition of the patient raises questions about power and control in health care. The paper takes as a concrete example the practices involved in the nursing care of the terminally ill. However, at a general level the arguments advanced here may be applied to a range of health and welfare professions.
89 citations
TL;DR: Martyn Hammersley's observations and comments "On Feminist Methodology" very usefully draw attention to the continuing critical debates between feminists on methodological and epistemological issues as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Martyn Hammersley's observations and comments 'On Feminist Methodology' very usefully draw attention to the continuing critical debates between feminists on methodological and epistemological issues. Since Caroline Ramazanoglu has focussed on issues which generally fall under his fourth heading of 'the adoption of the emancipation of women as the goal of research and the criterion of validity' I shall restrict my response to the first three of Hammersley's headings. Under his first heading Hammersley questions whether or not it is justifiable to privilege the significance of gender. What strikes me here is the assumption that gender is indeed privileged by feminists in a uniform way. The case for criticism is considerably weakened when Hammersley himself cites leading feminist writers who have not only questioned the privileging of gender over other factors such as race and class, but who presumably do not privilege gender in their work.
81 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the connection between race and ethnic categories is more fundamental than this position implies and argued that race and ethnicity are different but connected discourses for articulating collectivity and belongingness.
Abstract: This paper seeks to connect `race' and ethnic phenomena and locates this discussion within a multiculturist context that seeks to redress racial disadvantage by providing for ethnic difference. It is argued that the connection between race and ethnic categories is more fundamental, and yet the connection between fighting racism and ethnic pluralism is more problematic than this position implies. Ethnicity and racism are different but connected discourses for articulating collectivity and belongingness, and serve diverse political projects which include those of class and nation building. The paper rejects the view that they can be explained with reference to a generic race or ethnic process. Their understanding as concrete social relations however, requires attending to gender and class processes and the state.
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of social workers employed in three organizations suggests that conflict and tension arising from specific bureaucratic requirements combined with professional workers' claims for a compensation claim for a...
Abstract: This case study of social workers employed in three organisations suggests that conflict and tension arising from specific bureaucratic requirements combined with professional workers' claims for a...
37 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used data from the 1985 General Household Survey to examine the prevalence and location of informal care-giving among women and men by class and by stage in the life course.
Abstract: Class differences in the provision of informal care have received little research attention. Since class gradients in ill-health and life expectancy are strong, differences in need for informal care are to be expected between classes. We use data from the 1985 General Household Survey to examine the prevalence and location of informal care-giving among women and men by class and by stage in the life course. Although informal carers as a whole are drawn equally from all classes, if the two locations of care - whether within the same household or for someone in a different household - are examined separately, class differences emerge. Co-resident care, which places greater constraints on the carer's life, is more frequently provided by working class men and women than the middle class. Thus the working class bear the greatest burden of providing care, while at the same time possessing fewer material resources to aid them in the task.
35 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of a medium-sized British company in the computer components industry is presented, which focuses on the relationships between development engineers and managers, and analyses the structural reasons for the failure to innovate.
Abstract: The paper argues the need for a sociology of management which relates the micro-sociology of management activities to the economic performance of the firm and to debates about power relations and the distribution of wealth. The substance of the paper is a study of a medium-sized British company in the computer components industry. The research focuses on the relationships between development engineers and managers, and analyses the structural reasons for the failure to innovate. In particular it shows that management, in attempting to pursue an instrumental rationality, undermined the achievement of their own objectives. The contradiction between the logic of short-term instrumental controls and the espoused organic, human resources model of management produced a damaging pattern of workplace relations characterised by distrust and defensiveness. The result was a motivational crisis over the management of innovation, which contributed to the eventual failure of the business.
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of fashion and social climate on social speculation is discussed and the ''underclass'' notion is used as a nice example of fashion, its various versions are influential les...
Abstract: The concern of this article is with the influence of fashion and social climate on social speculation. The `underclass' notion is a nice example of fashion. Its various versions are influential les...
TL;DR: In this article, it is recognized that a problem of collective action must be solved if a status group is to operate in this way, that it is individually irrational for members of the group to support its monopolistic activities even if they profit from them.
Abstract: Max Weber's description of how status groups monopolise goods and opportunities is now widely used by sociological theory to understand the economic and political relationships between groups. However, it is rarely recognised that a problem of collective action must be solved if a status group is to operate in this way, that it is individually irrational for members of the group to support its monopolistic activities even if they profit from them. Once the collective action problem is recognised, it is immediately apparent that Weber's own account of the definitive features of a status group identifies precisely the means by which the problem is solved. Weber on the operation of status groups and Weber on their nature may then be fused into a single coherent and comprehensive account, an account of profound and far-reaching theoretical interest.
TL;DR: The authors re-analyse data from the Essex census and show that class is the major social structural influence on social consciousness and ideological conflict in modern Britain, which is contrary to the claim of Marshall et al.
Abstract: Marshall et al. have claimed that class is the major social structural influence on social consciousness and ideological conflict in modern Britain. In this paper I re-analyse data from the Essex c...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on research carried out in Hartlepool, based on data from three groups of male respondents: (1) those employed for at least the last twelve months; (2) those recently recruited to...
Abstract: This paper reports on research carried out in Hartlepool, based on data from three groups of male respondents: (1) those employed for at least the last twelve months;(2) those recently recruited to...
TL;DR: Although it has long been recognised that industrial conflict embraces both strikes and other ''unorganised'' forms of conflict, such as absenteeism, there has been remarkably little empirical analysis as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Although it has long been recognised that industrial conflict embraces both strikes and other `unorganised' forms of conflict, such as absenteeism, there has been remarkably little empirical analys...
TL;DR: In this paper, a promising way of exploring issues of social work talk and causality is through ethnography, and preliminary directions are outlined towards an ethnography of causal accounting within professional discourse in social work, and identify incidents and events that may be investigated as possible 'triggers' for such account- ing.
Abstract: Causal accounts are a relatively neglected aspect of occupational discourse. Using the example of social work, it is argued that the metaphor of narrative drama may have led to a framework in which the inspection of causal texture is not central to the analytic task. Starting from the literature on accounts, we argue that a promisingly fruitful way of exploring issues of social work talk and causality is through ethnography. Preliminary directions are outlined towards an ethnography of causal accounting within professional discourse in social work, and we identify incidents and events that may be investigated as possible 'triggers' for such account- ing. Causal accounts are viewed in part as occupational 'survival kits'. We speculate on possible implications of such an ethnography for thinking about social work practice and management.
TL;DR: In this paper, the conduct of videotaped interviews between suspected victims of child sexual abuse and police officers and social workers investigating the allegation is examined, and the authors assesses the presen
Abstract: The article examines the conduct of videotaped interviews between suspected victims of child sexual abuse and police officers and social workers investigating the allegation It assesses the presen
TL;DR: In 1986, the Church of England permitted women to enter the lowest rank of the clerical profession, the diaconate, while reserving to men the offices of priest and bishop as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In 1986, the Church of England permitted women to enter the lowest rank of the clerical profession, the diaconate, while reserving to men the offices of priest and bishop. For male clergy, the period served as a deacon is normally a one-year probation before ordination to the priesthood, whereas for women it is a terminus. This limited incorporation of women into the clerical profession has been accompanied by a prolific discourse on the need for an enriched diaconate. Although the focus of debate is ostensibly the diaconate, the discourse is a power struggle over the ordination of women to the priesthood. For those who oppose women's entry into the priesthood, the discourse of enriched distinctive diaconate legitimizes women's subordinate and marginal position in the clerical profession. For women deacons, on the other hand, in so far as the metaphor of diakonia has salience it is typically mobilized in a critique of authoritarianism amongst the male clergy. Evidence gathered from women serving as deacon...
TL;DR: This article examined concepts of obligation and altruism in relation to short-and long-term childcare services provided by paternal grandmothers and found that, other than in exceptional circumstances and only with reluctance, maternal grandmothers do not wish to provide longterm support for working mothers.
Abstract: This paper draws on empirical data from research on maternal relationships between affinal women. It examines concepts of obligation and altruism in relation to short- and long-term childcare services provided by paternal grandmothers. Whilst grandmotherhood is welcomed as a positive and enjoyable experience by middle-aged women, it is not seen as an opportunity to resume mothering or to repeat the more demanding aspects of childcare. This paper offers some evidence that paternal grandmothers, at least, do not wish to provide long-term support for working mothers, other than in exceptional circumstances and only then with reluctance. The views expressed here question assumptions that all family women are `naturally' altruistic and prepared to subordinate their own interests in support of each other.
TL;DR: This article examined the conventional, ''dominance'' and ''joint'' approaches to determining women's political identification and found that not only are a person's own characteristics important in determining their political partisanship, but wives' characteristics also exert an independent influence on the political choices of their husbands.
Abstract: One of the most contentious issues to emerge out of recent British political sociology is the problem of locating women in the political structure. Using recent Australian data, we examine the `conventional', `dominance', `joint', `cross-class', and `individualistic' approaches to this problem of determining women's political identification. The results suggest that not only are a person's own characteristics important in determining their political partisanship, but wives' characteristics also exert an independent influence on the political choices of their husbands.
TL;DR: The authors found that more young people stayed on in full-time education post-16 in areas of high adult unemployment than in low unemployment; this was particularly true for those with middling-level qualifications.
Abstract: A recent analysis of data from Scotland found evidence of `discouraged worker' effects. More young people stayed on in full-time education post-16 in areas of high adult unemployment than in areas of low unemployment; this was particularly true for those with middling-level qualifications. Using comparable data on English young people the paper attempts to replicate the Scottish analysis. Although evidence of local labour market effects is offered, no `discouraged worker' effects were found; in fact, more young people stayed on in areas of low unemployment. Some possible reasons for differences between the two countries, including the potential influence of different structures of post-16 educational opportunities, are explored.
TL;DR: The authors discusses a number of problems with labour process accounts of worker subjectivity, which are manifested as ambiguities about the meaning of worker behaviour, and have their origins in co...
Abstract: This paper discusses a number of problems with labour process accounts of worker subjectivity. They are manifested as ambiguities about the meaning of worker behaviour, and have their origins in co...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline the use of a data collection technique referred to as the ''simulated client'' which was developed in order to gather information about how solicitors negotiate the financia...
Abstract: In this paper, we outline the use of a data collection technique referred to as the `simulated client' which was developed in order to gather information about how solicitors negotiate the financia...
TL;DR: The authors examined the way organizational practices affect the recruitment of men and women lawyers by comparing twelve in-house legal departments in manufacturing and financial services corporations and found that women lawyers are less likely to be employed in the former than men.
Abstract: Despite women's entry into the legal profession differences remain in men's and women's employment opportunities. This paper examines the way organizational practices affect the recruitment of men and women lawyers by comparing twelve in-house legal departments in manufacturing and financial services corporations. On the whole, women lawyers are less likely to be employed in the former. This pattern can be explained by the different requirements of each sector for specific legal skills and their recruitment of lawyers from various segments of the labour market in which women and men are differentially distributed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a political process perspective that links structure and action in a four-component account, namely state structure, political culture, temporal opportunity, and movement organisation, to explain cross-national variations of the examined anti-nuclear movements.
Abstract: A recurrent theme in social theory is the micro-macro linkage. In recent social movement research, too, the building of conceptual and empirical linkages between agency and structure has become a prominent concern. Based on empirical examples drawn from the nuclear energy debates in Germany and the United States, an attempt is made to develop a political process perspective that links structure and action in a four-component account. The components considered are: state structure, political culture, temporal opportunity, and movement organisation. This political process perspective helps to explain cross-national variations of the examined anti-nuclear movements.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the dual nature of military power, the material and die moral; and it shows how moral power played a decisive role in the February revolution in Russia in 1917.
Abstract: This case study is concerned with discussing the dual nature of military power, the material and die moral; and it shows how moral power in fact played a decisive role in the February revolution in Russia in 1917. There are four parts to the argument. Firstly, the introduction, where the problems addressed in the paper as well as its theoretical framework are outlined. The second part is a brief account of events during the first four days of the February revolution, and an extended treatment of the soldiers' mutiny on the fifth day; in addition the strength of the soldiers' solidarity is compared with that of the workers' solidarity. In the third part existing explanations for the mutiny are examined and critically assessed, and an alternative explanation is developed. Finally the relevance of the study for some wider theoretical issues is briefly discussed.
TL;DR: Kunda et al. as discussed by the authors conducted an ethnographic study of the mechanisms by which corporate goals are implanted in professionals employed by an unnamed American high-tech corporation famed for its strong organisational culture.
Abstract: Corporate 'culture' - a way of harmonising organisational goals with the aspirations of individual employees, a sinister form of mind control, or just vacuous and pious waffle that forms the current fad of management consultants and similar-minded prophets? This book engages such issues through a detailed ethnographic study of the mechanisms by which corporate goals are implanted in professionals employed by an unnamed American high-tech corporation famed for its strong organisational culture. By Gideon Kunda, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, 297 pp.