Showing papers in "Sociology in 1995"
TL;DR: In this article, the Foucauldian perspective is used to identify the growing influence of Foucaultian perspectives in industrial sociology and develop a critique of the way in which such theory and research overstates the extent and effectiveness of new management practices, while marginalising the potential for resistance.
Abstract: Though perspectives underpinning research may have differed sharply, industrial sociology at its best has been able to uncover the variety of workplace resistance and misbehaviour that lies beneath the surface of the formal and consensual. The paper argues that this legacy is in danger of being lost as labour is taken out of the process and replaced by management as the active and successful agency. While there are a number of practical and theoretical forces shaping this trend, the paper identifies the growing influence of Foucauldian perspectives. It goes on to develop a critique of the way in which such theory and research overstates the extent and effectiveness of new management practices, while marginalising the potential for resistance.
410 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that an examination of the cultural identities of the researcher and the interviewee, and how they may impact upon the interview process, needs further exploration, and they find that their interview experiences as mixed-descent Chinese-English and Korean-American researchers ''positioned'' them in terms of both commonality and difference vis-a-vis their interviewees.
Abstract: The last few decades have witnessed a notable growth in literature addressing the politics and ethics of social research. Much of this literature has stressed difference between the researcher and the interviewee, and has addressed the importance of sensitising researchers to the difficulties and dilemmas encountered in in-depth interviewing crossing sex, class, and race boundaries. We argue that an examination of the cultural identities of the researcher and the interviewee, and how they may impact upon the interview process, needs further exploration. As two independent researchers of Chinese young people in Britain, we found that our interview experiences as mixed-descent Chinese-English and Korean-American researchers `positioned' us in terms of both commonality and difference vis-a-vis our interviewees. More attention needs to be given to how assumptions made by interviewees regarding the cultural identity of the researcher shapes interviewees' accounts. Interviewees could claim either commonality or...
267 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the relationship between the labour movement and the New Social Movements requires further analysis in terms of the local and the global, and the rationale and characteristics of such an analysis are discussed in the context of opposition to the practices of transnational corporations, the transnational capitalist class and its local affiliates.
Abstract: While capitalism is increasingly organised on a global basis, effective opposition to capitalist practices tends to be manifest locally. The traditional response of the labour movement to global capitalism has been to try to forge international links between workers' organisations in different countries. This strategy, despite some successes, has generally failed and the paper argues that the relationship between the labour movement and the New Social Movements requires further analysis in terms of the local and the global. The rationale and characteristics of such an analysis are discussed in the context of opposition to the practices of the transnational corporations, the transnational capitalist class and its local affiliates, and the culture-ideology of consumerism.
143 citations
TL;DR: The work of Erving Goffman is of great relevance and importance to the contemporary sociological interest in the body and embodiment, and very little has been written on his contribution to this area as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The work of Erving Goffman is of great relevance and importance to the contemporary sociological interest in the body and embodiment. Very little has been written on his contribution to this area, ...
134 citations
TL;DR: Two sociological views of death in modernity are currently dominant. They are that death is not acknowledged in public, and that a public discourse does exist, the discourse of medicine as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Two sociological views of death in modernity are currently dominant. They are that death is not acknowledged in public, and that a public discourse does exist, the discourse of medicine. The articl...
130 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between sociology and nature or the environment is discussed and a sociological agenda for a sociology of such natures is developed, which comprises four elements: a sociology of environmental knowledges; social variation in the reading of natures; a sociology on the diverse forms of environmental damage; and a more general examination of environmentalism and society.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the relationship between sociology and nature or the environment. We briefly summarise the various ways in which historically `nature' has been conceptualised, including the connections between the `natural' and the `market'. We suggest that there are many `natures' and then proceed to develop an agenda for a sociology of such natures. This comprises four elements: a sociology of environmental knowledges; social variation in the reading of natures; a sociology of the diverse forms of environmental damage; and a more general examination of environmentalism and society. We conclude with an examination of the relations between culture and nature suggesting that changes in this relationship now demonstrates what has always been the case, namely, that nature is elaborately entangled and fundamentally bound up with the social and the cultural. As the social and the cultural are both rapidly changing provides deciphering that relationship immensely fruitful but complex areas for future sociological work.
118 citations
TL;DR: Most research on social mobility in Britain has found high absolute rates of upward and downward mobility but has emphasised the apparently low relative rates as measured by disparity and odds rati... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Most research on social mobility in Britain has found high absolute rates of upward and downward mobility but has emphasised the apparently low relative rates as measured by disparity and odds rati...
112 citations
TL;DR: The authors used a community sample of couples to show that, although women may hit their partners more often than men do, if context and meaning is included in the assessment of violence, male violence is...
Abstract: Since the publication of large, representative, structured questionnaire surveys suggesting that women were equally or more likely than men to hit their partners, there has been considerable debate over women's use of violence in marriage. This debate has focused on the methods used to study marital violence. On the one hand, it has been suggested that this female-perpetrated marital violence is a genuine problem which has been uncovered by the rigorous use of representative samples and quantitative methods of data collection. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the use of methods which simply measure acts of physical aggression and ignore the context and meaning of any violence results in the failure to demonstrate very obvious differences between male and female-perpetrated marital violence. This study uses a community sample of couples to show that, although women may hit their partners more often than men do, if context and meaning is included in the assessment of violence, male violence is ...
99 citations
99 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine les travaux de Stevi Jackson, Jean Duncombe and Dennis Marsden on les emotions and preconise une approche de la question en termes sociologique et psychanalytique.
Abstract: L'A examine les travaux de Stevi Jackson, Jean Duncombe et Dennis Marsden sur les emotions Il preconise une approche de la question en termes sociologique et psychanalytique Il estime que l'on ne peut reduire la vie emotionnelle a ses seuls aspects «sociologiques» L'A affirme que les emotions presentent certains aspects sociologiques mais qu'en meme temps elles ont une dimension pre-sociale Selon l'A il existe un registre d'emotions commun a tous les hommes meme si leur expression varie selon le temps et les cultures Il etudie les stereotypes de comportement
85 citations
TL;DR: Clark and Lipset as mentioned in this paper pointed out the lack of theory underlying ''class analysis'' as a practical approach to the problem of class analysis. But their critique of the usefulness of the concept of class has developed into more specific criticisms of the lack in theory underlying 'class analysis' as pract
Abstract: Recent critiques of the usefulness of the concept of class (Pahl 1989; Clark and Lipset 1991) have developed into more specific criticisms of the lack of theory underlying `class analysis' as pract
TL;DR: In this paper, the distinction between the public and the private spheres as often used in family studies is examined, and it is suggested that the public/private dichotomy should be understood not as an objective division of the world into two spheres, but as a flexible cultural image which is put to use in wide variety of situations so as to serve a great diversity of interests and purposes.
Abstract: This paper offers a critical assessment of the distinction between the public and the private spheres as often used in family studies. In place of the focus on a single public/private dichotomy which is common in sociological usage, it points to the multiple, cross-cutting, context-specific zones of privacy found in social life. It provides an empirical illustration of the nature and effects of such zones of privacy by examining some instances of social policy development in Ireland in the present century where questions of family privacy were very much at issue. It concludes by suggesting that the public/private dichotomy should be understood not as an objective division of the world into two spheres, but as a flexible cultural image which is put to use in wide variety of situations so as to serve a great diversity of interests and purposes.
TL;DR: It is argued that behind the untroubled clinical appearance of contemporary family planning clinics, and despite its acceptance by the medical profession, there persist many of the `old' concerns about the state-sanctioned provision of contraception.
Abstract: The covert regulatory content of medical practice has been well documented. This paper presents the tensions inherent in family planning practice through a deconstruction of the views of practition...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the arguments about the possible existence of a spatially segregated underclass in urban industrial contexts in Britain, with reference to the propositions about the nature of the ''ghetto poor' advanced in the United States by W. J. Wilson.
Abstract: This article reviews the arguments about the possible existence of a spatially segregated underclass in urban industrial contexts in Britain, with reference to the propositions about the nature of the `ghetto poor' advanced in the United States by W. J. Wilson. Data from censuses of population and employment, and from the annual Cleveland Social Survey, are used to explore the nature of changes in the socio-spatial structure and the character of households in a Northern English industrial conurbation. The pattern of socio-spatial division identified for the 1990s is distinguished from that existing in an earlier era of full employment and related to data about school examination success for young people resident in different areas. The study concludes that there has been a major increase in socio-spatial differentiation in this locality which is the product of interaction between deindustrialisation and urban development policies over the postwar period. The product is not an `underclass', but a social fo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the theoretical and empirical neglect of children's contribution to household work is considered, drawing upon a two-stage study of the transfer of responsibility from parents to their children.
Abstract: This article considers the theoretical and empirical neglect of children's contribution to household work. It draws upon a two-stage study of the transfer of responsibility from parents to their si...
TL;DR: The authors argue that the distinct analytical issues raised by the problem of political strategy which social movements face can only be addressed through a synthesis that builds upon, but goes beyond, the contributions made by American and European scholars.
Abstract: A survey of the literature on social movements shows that the contributions by American and European scholars have shed considerable light on two problems: why social movements emerge with particular identities and how organisers give coherence to a movement and co-ordinate the actions of their followers. The challenge faced by movement organisers in seeking to bring about change - a challenge that forces a social movement to engage strategically as a social actor, with its political-institutional environment - has received, however, relatively little attention. Seeking to fill this gap in the literature I argue that the distinct analytical issues raised by the problem of political strategy which social movements face can only be addressed through a synthesis that builds upon, but goes beyond, the contributions made by American and European scholars. The challenge is to conceive of social movements as strategic actors, while acknowledging the implications that a movement's collective identity and social n...
TL;DR: Beck, Ulrich, Anthony Giddens and Scott Lash, Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition s and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order, Cambridge: Polity, 1994, £12.50, paperback £11.95, xii + 291 pp as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Beck, Ulrich, Anthony Giddens and Scott Lash, Reflexive Modernization: Politics , Tradition s and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order , Cambridge: Polity, 1994, £12.95, viii H225 pp. Gibbons, Michael, Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott and Martin Trow, The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies } London: Sage, 1994, £30.00, paperback £11.95, ix+179 pp. Giddens, Anthony, New Rules of Sociological Method , 2nd edition, Cambridge: Polity, 1993, £39.50, paperback £11.95, viii 4186 pp. Stehr, Nico, Knowledge Societies s London: 1994, Sage, £45.00, paperback £14.95, xii + 291 pp.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address recent feminist epistemological claims and argue that they share difficulties with other forms of anti-positivist social theory and contribute to an impasse in social inquiry which is becoming increasingly acute.
Abstract: In this paper, I address recent feminist epistemological claims - in particular, those associated with `standpoint theory' and `feminist postmodernism' - arguing that they share difficulties with other forms of anti-positivist social theory and contribute to an impasse in social inquiry which is becoming increasingly acute. This impasse is traced to the displacement of explanation from the centre of theoretical concerns. In arguing this, I am not, however, proposing a return to positivist social science. The view that explanation can be equated with positivism - that `empirical' equals `empiricism' - is a common misconception. It has led some advocates of a distinct feminist epistemology to describe much research on gender issues as `feminist empiricism'. Such research, they argue, involves a paradoxical or contradictory reliance upon the very `masculine' epistemological criteria which feminist theory has done so much to challenge. In this paper I shall criticise this argument, proposing instead a `post-p...
TL;DR: This article applied a reworked version of Waddington's flashpoints model to an incident of football violence which occurred at the Hotel Tamsa in Istanbul, the night before a European Cup game.
Abstract: This article applies a reworked version Waddington's flashpoints model to an incident of football violence which occurred at the Hotel Tamsa in Istanbul, the night before a European Cup game betwee...
TL;DR: The authors argue that Mouzelis's recent work constitutes a weighty response to the prevailing climate of ambivalence about the purpose and type of social theory that is required today, and in so doing it also interestingly reflects a loose but noticeable neo-traditionalist revival, ''after postmodernism''.
Abstract: I outline and examine the reassertion by Nicos Mouzelis of some `traditionalist' elements in the idea of sociological theory, following what he sees as an excess of philosophising in the discipline. I argue that Mouzelis's recent work constitutes a weighty response to the prevailing climate of ambivalence about the purpose and type of social theory that is required today, and in so doing it also interestingly reflects a loose but noticeable neo-traditionalist revival, `after postmodernism'. At the same time, there are some conservative elements in the `back to sociological theory' movement which are decidedly questionable, and in any case Mouzelis's conceptual apparatus is more entangled in contemporary dilemmas and complexities than his more headline statements about the nature of sociology indicate.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the supply side factors likely to influence older married and cohabiting women's employment participation, comparing the importance of their own human capital (in terms of age, health, occupational class and qualifications) and the characteristics of their household (husbands' employment, class and earning).
Abstract: Women's labour force participation rate declines steeply in the 15 years preceding their state pensionable age, in spite of their generally lacking childcare responsibilities during this stage of the life course. Employment of women in the years following childrearing is important in enabling women to obtain a significant improvement in their pension entitlements. There has been little research on the factors influencing mid-life women's employment participation and especially on why fewer women in their fifties than in their forties are in paid work. This paper uses data from the 1988-90 General Household Survey to explore the employment participation of women in their forties and fifties. We examine the supply side factors likely to influence older married and cohabiting women's employment participation, comparing the importance of their own `human capital' (in terms of age, health, occupational class and qualifications) and the characteristics of their household (husbands' employment, class and earning...
TL;DR: This article examined the effects of parents' occupational classes on the probability of their children attaining service class occupations, regardless of the sex of the child and concluded that one's interpretation of the findings is contingent on one's perception of the nature and scope of class analysis, and that the empirical importance of mother's occupation in relation to the occupational mobility of children of both sexes suggests that married women's occupations should be integrated into the process of determining the class of family units.
Abstract: This research note uses survey data from six British local labour markets collected as part of the ESRC Social Change and Economic Life Initiative to examine the effects of parents' occupational classes on the probability of their children attaining service class occupations. Both mother's occupational class and father's occupational class are found to have independent effects on this probability, regardless of the sex of the child. The implications of these findings in relation to the debate on the class assignment of families are considered, and it is concluded that one's interpretation of the findings is contingent on one's perception of the nature and scope of class analysis. If one takes a broad view of class analysis then the empirical importance of mother's occupation in relation to the occupational mobility of children of both sexes suggests that married women's occupations should be integrated into the process of determining the class of family units.
TL;DR: The authors conducted a textual analysis of some key writings by feminist theorists to see whether a specifically post-modernist philosophical ambience suited feminism better than an enlightenment ambience, and found that it did not.
Abstract: Feminism's eminent position in critical social science is now beyond question, and a range of substantial texts on feminism, epistemology and social theory have reworked the dominant male images of knowledge and society. However, within feminist discourses, some key epistemological questions - such as `is feminist standpoint epistemology viable?' - remain unresolved. Indeed, they have become compounded by the anti-epistemological impetus of postmodernism. In this paper I draw attention to some general problems in the area of feminism and epistemology, and conduct a close textual analysis of some key writings by feminist theorists to see whether a specifically postmodernist philosophical ambience suits feminism better than an enlightenment ambience.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the operation among exilic Jamaicans of the rotating savings and credit societies that are known as ''partners'' in modern Jamaica and examine the social context in which partnering was generated.
Abstract: This paper describes the operation among exilic Jamaicans of the rotating savings and credit societies that are known as `partners' in modern Jamaica. The social context in which partnering was generated is examined. An analysis of the dynamics of partnering reveals that it rests on trust, which has advantages and disadvantages for participants. In conclusion, it is noted that as the social situation of West Indians in Britain has changed, so the importance of partnering has declined.
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that this subject is better explained by variables relating to the political position of the Palestinian minority in Israel, and the structural changes in the economy and the labour market.
Abstract: The Palestinian citizens of Israel have been concentrating in blue-collar, less well paid, and insecure jobs. This is viewed as a result of two processes: their gradual incorporation into the state/Jewish labour market, and at the same time, the reproduction of an elaborate division of labour within a split labour market. Unlike the bulk of the existing research, which explains the disadvantaged position of these Palestinians by variables relating to the process of stratification, such as education, age, and residential area, it is argued that this subject is better explained by variables relating to the political position of the Palestinian minority in Israel, and the structural changes in the economy and the labour market. This analysis takes into account the dominant role that the state has assumed in managing the economy and regulating the labour market, and the subjugation of the economy to what is ideologically conceived as representing the `common good' of the Jewish majority. The implications of t...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used multivariate techniques to investigate the extent of bias in teachers' perceptions and treatment of pupils from different social groups, and found no evidence of social class or racial discrimination by teachers, but it was found that girls were significantly less likely to be punished than boys after differences in behaviour had been taken into account.
Abstract: The popular consensus in the field of education is that teachers consciously or unconsciously discriminate against pupils on the basis of social class, ethnicity and sex. However, in exploring the extent of bias in teachers' perceptions and treatment of pupils from different social groups, few studies have satisfactorily taken into account variation in pupils' conduct. More specifically, the research in this area has frequently failed to demonstrate whether teachers respond to some pupils more than others because of their social attributes or because of their behaviour. In this paper multivariate techniques were used to address this problem. The results of the analysis showed little evidence of social class or racial discrimination by teachers. It was, however, apparent that girls were significantly less likely to be punished than boys after differences in behaviour had been taken into account.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make use of data from the Republic of Ireland to assess the extent to which the gender in a class analysis is correlated with the performance of the class analysis.
Abstract: Gender has frequently been identified as the most controversial issue confronting class analysis. In this paper we make use of data from the Republic of Ireland to assess the extent to which the in...
TL;DR: This paper studied the relationship between labour force and domestic life course trajectories, in the context of employment and transition to adult status, in a study of youth and the transition to adulthood.
Abstract: Over the past decade research into youth and the transition to adult status has focused on the relationship between labour force and domestic life course trajectories, in the context of employment ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the ways in which political issues suffuse the research process in contexts like City Challenge and examine the difficulties experienced in convincing gatekeepers of the efficacy of novel research methods (drama was used in the project).
Abstract: `Local consultation', `community involvement', and `partnership' are terms that are assuming increasing prominence in the discourse on urban regeneration. The actual substance of such labels is unclear, but with the increasing diffusion of City Challenge and similar initiatives it is likely that `people-related' themes will be a particular concern for policy-makers in these contexts. Drawing on my experience as a consultant on a project that aimed to operationalise such notions through an exercise designed to elicit the needs of young people in a City Challenge area, this paper examines the ways in which political issues suffuse the research process in contexts like this.Three key issues are examined: how the political priorities of policy-makers impinge upon the conduct of research from the pre-fieldwork stage to well beyond the conclusion of the project; the difficulties experienced in convincing gatekeepers of the efficacy of novel research methods (drama was used in the project); and the importance of...
TL;DR: The authors argue that lack of clarity in the use of concepts such as "practical research", "research practice" and "reflective practitioner", and the uneven power relations between students, supervisors, funders and employers, create situations where students have to become more adept at pragmatically handling evidence than at learning how to collect it in an independent and scholarly way.
Abstract: Recent policy discussions on research methods training and the funding of post-graduate students in sociology have not paid adequate attention to the conflicts and contradictions experienced by students working on projects which are sponsored, or simply `housed', by external funders, employers and information `users'. This discussion note argues that lack of clarity in the use of concepts such as `practical research', `research practice' and `reflective practitioner', and the uneven power relations between students, supervisors, funders and employers, create situations where students have to become more adept at pragmatically handling evidence than at learning how to collect it in an independent and scholarly way. The changing nature of professional practice within organisations, increasingly characterised by growing managerialism and hostility towards open information, contributes to the dilemmas faced by students, as do structural pressures on the curriculum facing higher education institutions themselv...