Showing papers in "Sociology in 1999"
TL;DR: The authors argue that the musical tastes and stylistic preferences of youth, rather than being tied to issues of social class, as subculture maintains, are in fact examples of the late modern lifestyles in which notions of identity are ''constructed'' rather than ''given', and ''fluid'' instead of ''fixed''.
Abstract: Despite the criticisms of subcultural theory as a framework for the sociological study of the relationship between youth, music, style and identity, the term `subculture' continues to be widely used in such work. It is a central contention of this article that, as with subcultural theory, the concept of `subculture' is unworkable as an objective analytical tool in sociological work on youth, music and style - that the musical tastes and stylistic preferences of youth, rather than being tied to issues of social class, as subculture maintains, are in fact examples of the late modern lifestyles in which notions of identity are `constructed' rather than `given', and `fluid' rather than `fixed'. Such fluidity, I maintain, is also a characteristic of the forms of collective association which are built around musical and stylistic preference. Using Maffesoli's concept of tribus (tribes) and applying this to an empirical study of the contemporary dance music in Britain, I argue that the musical and stylistic sens...
824 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it has been claimed that a particular form of intimacy, "the pure relationship" is increasingly sought in personal life, which involves opening out to each other, enjoying each other's unique qualities and sustaining trust through mutual disclosure.
Abstract: It has recently been claimed that a particular form of intimacy, 'the pure relationship' is increasingly sought in personal life. For a couple, 'the pure relationship' involves opening out to each other, enjoying each other's unique qualities and sustaining trust through mutual disclosure. Anthony Giddens (1992) postulates a transformation of intimacy in all personal relationships with radical consequences for the gender order. Popular discourse supports the view that heterosexual couples are more equal and intimate. However, stories of everyday lives told to researchers paint a very qualified picture. Much of personal life remains structured by inequalities. Gendered struggles with the gap between cultural ideals and structural inequalities result in a range of creative identity and relationship- saving strategies. More, perhaps much more, creative energy goes into sustaining a sense of intimacy despite inequality than into a process of transformation. Moreover, the rhetoric of 'the pure relationship' may point people in the wrong direction both personally and politically. It feeds on and into a therapeutic discourse that individualises personal problems and down-grades sociological explanations. In practice, intimacy remains multi-dimensional and for the contenders for successful heterosexual equality, acts of practical love and care have been more important than a constant dynamic of mutual exploration of each other's selves.
479 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make sociological sense of some contemporary trends in the consumption of policing services and security products and argue that the commodification of policing and security can fruitfully be theorised and investigated in terms of the spread of consumer culture.
Abstract: This paper sets out to make sociological sense of some contemporary trends in the consumption of policing services and security products. I argue that the commodification of policing and security can fruitfully be theorised and investigated in terms of the spread of consumer culture, a contention that I demonstrate in three (related) ways. I begin by examining how a culture of consumption is pervading the practices and rhetoric of the public police and outlining the impact of `consumerism' on lay sensibilities towards policing. I then set out some prevailing trends in the consumption of protective services and hardware and consider the effects of a burgeoning `security market' on the construction of authority, subjectivity and social relations. Finally, I detail a number of possible points of resistance to the spread of commercially-delivered policing and security and argue that these provide both some potential cultural limits to the extension of a `consumer attitude' in this field, and a space within wh...
235 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, data concerning the frequency of use of different commercial sources of meals and the social characteristics of customers using different types of restaurant in England are examined. And an attempt is made to infer the social and symbolic significance of variety of experience and, in particular, of familiarity with diverse ethnic cuisines.
Abstract: In the light of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper begins by reviewing an argument that Western populations no longer recognise any fixed cultural hierarchy and that, instead, individuals seek knowledge of an increasingly wide variety of aesthetically equivalent cultural genres. Contrasting versions of this argument are isolated. Data concerning the frequency of use of different commercial sources of meals and the social characteristics of customers using different types of restaurant in England are examined. An attempt is made to infer the social and symbolic significance of variety of experience and, in particular, of familiarity with diverse ethnic cuisines. The findings are interpreted in terms of the complex role of consumption in personal assurance, communicative competence and social distinction. It is maintained that the pursuit of variety of consumer experience is a feature of particular social groups and that some specific component practices express social distinction.
231 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the early 1990s' work of Giddens and Beck on self-identity in middle-class women undergoing the transition to motherhood and found parallels with the work of The authors.
Abstract: Drawing on data from a study of middle-class women undergoing the transition to motherhood, this paper critically examines the early 1990s' work of Giddens and Beck on self-identity. Parallels with...
220 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine current developments within the voluntary sector in Britain, arguing that the relation of voluntary organisations to questions of trust is increasingly problematic, and that a tension exists between trust relations based on principles of voluntarism and linked to shared values, and relations of confidence that are mediated by institutional and contractual forms.
Abstract: Recent debates within social and political theory, and within the public sphere more generally, reveal growing concern with issues of `trust'. While forms of voluntary association frequently are cited as prime examples of trust relations, they rarely provide a focus for such debates. In this paper we examine current developments within the voluntary sector in Britain, arguing that the relation of voluntary organisations to questions of trust is increasingly problematic. In particular a tension exists between trust relations based on principles of voluntarism and linked to shared values, and relations of confidence that are mediated by institutional and contractual forms. After surveying recent theoretical accounts of trust and confidence, we consider the relevance of these debates to the British voluntary sector. We then draw on a range of quantitative and qualitative research on the voluntary sector to examine how trust and confidence are negotiated with a number of key constituencies: the general public...
182 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the characterisation of "extreme" constructionism is problematic in two senses: first, in that it bears little resemblance to the mild approach actually used in the majority of empirical studies and, secondly, that it is a misleading characterization of a more radical constructionism.
Abstract: Within environmental sociology realist critiques of the use of social constructionist approaches abound. This paper challenges features of the realist critique and emphasises the appeal and utility of social constructionist approaches for the study of environmental issues. We start by outlining the criticisms levelled at social constructionism, particularly the claim that the approach amounts to a denial of the existence of environmental problems and provides no contribution to managing them. We argue that this characterisation of ‘extreme’ constructionism is problematic in two senses. First, in that it bears little resemblance to the mild approach actually used in the majority of empirical studies and, secondly, that it is a misleading characterisation of a more radical constructionism. We conclude that the utility of constructionism can be formulated in terms of two distinct approaches. One refrains from making overt moral and political claims, and treats such claims as topics for analysis; such an approach can, however, provide resources for social criticism. Another adopts an overtly political or environmentally motivated stance towards the issues investigated. Underlying these suggestions is our conviction that a particular model of engagement is implicit in many realist critiques and that others are possible, and perhaps, preferable.
177 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the relationship between agency and structure in explaining migration behavior through the study of one factor: the development of socio-spatial identities in youth, which is of interest not only as a facet of identity construction in childhood and youth, the product of an internal-external dialectic, but also because it appears to represent, alongside structural factors such as local disadvantage, an important but under-recognised factor influencing migration or staying-on decisions among young people brought up in rural communities.
Abstract: Concern is expressed about the demise of rural communities resulting from processes of out-migration of young people and in-migration of newcomers. Youth out-migration is the result of a combination of structural and motivational factors. Here the relationship between agency and structure in explaining migration behaviour is explored through the study of one factor: the development of socio-spatial identities in youth. This is of interest not only as a facet of identity construction in childhood and youth, the product of an internal-external dialectic, but also because it appears to represent, alongside structural factors such as local disadvantage, an important but under-recognised factor influencing migration or staying-on decisions among young people brought up in rural communities. Here, the construction of socio-spatial identities, the respective roles of the community and the individual in processes of inclusion and exclusion, inter-generational processes of social reproduction and, finally, the rel...
170 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a critique of the focus on the functions of employment and mental health of the unemployed is presented. But, as stated, "these functions are considered to be of equal importance for all unemployed".
Abstract: Classic research on unemployment and mental health has focused on the functions of employment. These functions are considered to be of equal importance for all unemployed. A critique of this perspe ...
159 citations
TL;DR: Work buildings, such as offices and factories, both make possible the organisation of the labour process and also serve as structures of non-verbal communication, providing cues on hierarchy, status and appropriate behaviour as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: For too long the built working environment has been excluded from the analysis of work organisations. Buildings, like other cultural artefacts, encapsulate social and economic priorities and values, and represent prevailing power structures. Work buildings, such as offices and factories, both make possible the organisation of the labour process and also serve as structures of non-verbal communication, providing cues on hierarchy, status and appropriate behaviour. Control over the working environment can be seen as a constituent part of the control of the labour process, displaying similar cyclical movements. Human resource management and information technology are currently combining to encourage a reappraisal of the working environment, but one that is not without its own contradictions.
120 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the role and meaning of nostalgia and its opposite nostophobia in the contemporary railway industry and argues that history and heritage are selectively annexed, negatively in order to win consent for change, and positively in an attempt to recapture the ''golden age of railways' for marketing purposes.
Abstract: This paper examines the role and meaning of nostalgia, and its opposite nostophobia, in the contemporary railway industry. It charts the way the past is passively and actively used by organisational actors, management as well as at the political level. It is argued that in the contemporary railway industry history and heritage are selectively annexed, negatively in order to win consent for change, and positively in an attempt to recapture the `golden age of railways' for marketing purposes. The paper makes sense of these processes by deploying a framework derived from various writers on issues connected with nostalgia and the emotional attachment to work.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the dilemmas raised in conducting a feminist research project with ''anti-feminist" women, and raise questions about the applicability of the existing feminist methodological literature to research with relatively powerful and potentially hostile women.
Abstract: The article describes the dilemmas raised in conducting a feminist research project with `anti-feminist' women. Drawing on a qualitative study of the perspectives of women in the British moral lobby, the author raises questions about the applicability of the existing feminist methodological literature to research with relatively powerful and potentially hostile women. In particular, a discussion of interview rapport in terms of `moments' of understanding and disjuncture, based on a recognition of the fractured and often contradictory subjectivities of researcher and researched, is presented as a contribution to debates about feminist standpoint research. Concerns about the desirability of research participants as active subjects at all stages of the research process and reflections on the fluctuating nature of power are also presented.
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of working utopias (WUs) and their relation to social movements are explored. And the significance of these WUs is explored by way of interviews with movement activists who have been involved with them in various ways.
Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of `working utopias' (WUs) and explores their relation to social movements. WUs are used in a variety of ways by social movements, it is argued, and they play a central role in the reproduction and advancement of movements. They reproduce the movement habitus and illusio, extend and reproduce networks, generate new forms of knowledge and practice, and serve, to some extent at least, as `proof' of the validity of movement claims. Two utopias from within radical mental health movements are focused upon in the paper: the Kingsley Hall therapeutic community and the `Trieste experiment'. The significance of these working utopias is explored by way of interviews with movement activists who have been involved with them in various ways.
TL;DR: This paper argued that national identities are not essentially fixed or given but depend critically on the claims which people make in different contexts and at different times, and that the processes of identity rest not simply...
Abstract: National identities are not essentially fixed or given but depend critically on the claims which people make in different contexts and at different times. The processes of identity rest not simply ...
TL;DR: In this article, a critique of the dominant and largely empiricist paradigm within which sociologists have approached the relationship between social class and health is presented, and the relevance of this theory for a revised and more sociological consideration of health inequalities is explored.
Abstract: This paper starts from a critique of the dominant and largely empiricist paradigm within which sociologists have approached the relationship between social class and health. Referring to the transformational model of social activity and the relational model of society advanced by Bhaskar, the nature and reality of class relations and the preconditions for their theorisation are discussed. A neo-Marxist theory of class relations owing much to Clement and Myles is outlined. The relevance of this theory for a revised and more sociological consideration of health inequalities is then explored and some pointers offered for future empirical enquiry. The authors contend that this theory may throw some light too on the theoretical and political timidity medical sociologists characteristically show in their current research on health inequalities.
TL;DR: Alcoholics Anonymous has developed an oral tradition for teaching people to alter their relation to their own desires and their own freedom fundamentally, teaching that is done through practice and experience.
Abstract: Alcoholics Anonymous has developed an oral tradition for teaching people to alter their relation to their own desires and their own freedom fundamentally, teaching that is done through practice rat
TL;DR: The ways in which operating a vehicle is systematically co-ordinated with the actions of others are considered, which features in the day-to-day work of drivers on London Underground; a rapid urban transport system which carries more than a million passengers a day.
Abstract: We have recently witnessed the emergence of a range of naturalistic studies concerned with work, interaction and technology in complex organisational environments. In this paper we examine a seemingly individual and isolated activity, which involves the use of relatively basic technology to guide a vehicle in accord with a highly regulated signalling system. The paper considers the ways in which operating a vehicle is systematically co-ordinated with the actions of others. These actions, whether by passengers or colleagues, are only `visible' by virtue of various technologies; technologies that offer restricted and even distorted access to people and their conduct. In one sense, therefore, the essay is concerned with explicating the socially organised and interactionally sensitive `intelligence' which features in the day-to-day work of drivers on London Underground; a rapid urban transport system which carries more than a million passengers a day.
TL;DR: This paper examined the relevance of power and subjectivity to British industrial and organisational sociology and reviewed theoretical positions that have influenced this field, and applied the ideas of Norbert Elias to a re-examination of the perspectives on power, subjectivity contained within labour process, Foucauldian and actor network theory.
Abstract: This paper links the ideas of Norbert Elias to the conceptualisation of power and subjectivity that has developed in British industrial and organisational (I/O) sociology. It examines the relevance of power and subjectivity to British I/O sociology and reviews theoretical positions that have influenced this field. Elias's work is examined in some detail, exploring his approach to power, agency, the self, individualisation and discourse. His work is then applied to a re-examination of the perspectives on power and subjectivity contained within labour process, Foucauldian and actor network theory. The paper attempts to show how Elias's work re-frames our understanding of power and subjectivity through a stress on interdependencies and their asymmetry, the `networked' nature of agency, and the interwoven form of human and socio-political development. It argues that Eliasian analysis maintains the critical concern with power asymmetries witnessed in labour process theory, yet avoids some of the difficulties i...
TL;DR: This paper explored how regime change affects social movements, drawing on studies of Latin America, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe, and argued that social movements do exist in authoritarian regimes, and hence the question of the effect of regime change upon them can be posed.
Abstract: The paper explores how regime change affects social movements, drawing on studies of Latin America, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. After discussing the concepts and method used, it is argued that social movements do exist in authoritarian regimes, and hence the question of the effect of regime change upon them can be posed. Contrary to the assumption that democratisation leads to the flourishing of social movements as repression is removed and new channels of participation are opened up, it is shown that in the immediate period between the end of an authoritarian regime and the initiation of a democratic one the opposite effect may occur. This is because liberalisation in authoritarian regimes can lead to a particularly high level of social movement activity which cannot be sustained once more `normal' conditions apply. The utility of the concept of regime change is questioned, and the desirability of breaking it down into its component parts which may be more or less present in different cases is st...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide evidence that social classes exist as phenomena generic to modern industrial societies and use class theory to provide explanatory and descriptive power to provide evidence for social classes.
Abstract: If class theory has explanatory and descriptive power it should be possible to provide evidence that social classes exist as phenomena generic to modern industrial societies. This paper addresses t...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the extent to which public service work is subject to processes of rationalisation and degradation and suggest that sociology needs to be able to explain why work is not in fact being decommodified, and why the new middle classes appear unable to offer substantive challenge to alienated work and the instrumentalism of modern societies.
Abstract: This paper offers a critique of the argument that the category of `work' is no longer useful in theories of society and suggests that sociology needs to be able to explain why work is not in fact being decommodified, and why the new middle classes appear unable to offer substantive challenge to alienated work and the instrumentalism of modern societies. The central focus of the paper is an examination of the extent to which public service work is subject to processes of rationalisation and degradation. Qualitative data, on the restructuring of local government, illustrates the argument. Senior officers' responses to the double-edged requirement of justifying and implementing reforms, according to a cost-quality rhetoric, are explored. The paper asks to what extent the trust relationship, embodied in the service class contract, is eroded by market principles. It suggests that divisions are emerging within the public service class between the entrepreneurial `strategists' and the welfare professionals. It a...
TL;DR: The authors examines the history of approaches to the study of power and resistance at work and suggests how this debate might be taken forward through developing the ideas of tactics and strategies and episodic and dispositional power.
Abstract: Following debates within this journal regarding the absence of adequate studies of resistance in the contemporary fields of industrial sociology and organisational behaviour, this paper seeks to understand its reasons and consequences. Through an examination of the history of approaches to the study of power and resistance at work, the grounds for this debate are considered and illuminated. The paper then suggests how this debate might be taken forward through developing the ideas of tactics and strategies and episodic and dispositional power.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between forms of labour, in the context of managerially directed organisational and cultural change, in a light engineering firm on Tyneside, and found that there is a reworking of both the substantive relations between generations and in the form of relationships of age and gender.
Abstract: This article emerges from a project that examines the relationship between forms of labour, in the context of managerially directed organisational and cultural change, in a light engineering firm on Tyneside. This material is situated within contemporary and historical accounts of workplace interaction. The paper will address the new emphasis on culture and its manipulation, that is increasingly forming a locus of interest in current literature. Whilst stressing that there is much in these accounts that was common in earlier writing the paper draws out what is distinctive about contemporary concerns.These issues are developed in the empirical account through an analysis of the manipulation of difference along the axes of gender, age and skill. The findings are located within a wider framework of the shift from post figurative to cofigurative culture. In this view there is a reworking of both the substantive relations between generations and in the form of relationships of age and gender.The result of this...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between social mobility and both social and physical factors such as education and material and cultural resources of the family of origin as the main influences on the chances and direction of social mobility.
Abstract: Mainstream sociological studies of intergenerational social mobility have emphasised social factors such as education and the material and cultural resources of the family of origin as the main influences on the chances and direction of social mobility. Medical sociology in contrast has been more interested in its physical correlates such as height and health status. Data from the West of Scotland Collaborative study allow an examination of the relationship between social mobility and both social and physical factors. Height, education and material circumstances in the family of origin, indexed as the number of siblings, were each independently associated with the chances of both upward and downward social mobility in this dataset. In each case the net effect of this social mobility was to constrain the social distribution of these variables. Any role which these factors may play in indirect health selection, it is argued, cannot account for social class differences in adult health.
TL;DR: The lack of change in the sexual division of housework, despite substantial change in factors believed to affect it, has been noted by numerous studies as mentioned in this paper, and it has been argued that men are at best making...
Abstract: Numerous studies have noted the lack of change in the sexual division of housework, despite substantial change in factors believed to affect it. According to popular thought, men are at best making...
TL;DR: The authors examines relations between Travellers and settled society in Ireland since the late nineteenth century, and argues that the racialisation and defamation of Travellers has been a major cause of their marginalization.
Abstract: This paper examines relations between `tinkers', or `Travellers', and settled society in Ireland since the late nineteenth century. It argues that the racialisation and defamation of Travellers the...
TL;DR: In this paper, the possibility for unification of sociological theory by the rational choice model was considered and the possibility of rational choice theory extending this model from a sociological perspective was examined.
Abstract: This paper reconsiders the possibility for unification of sociological theory by the rational choice model. This is induced by the claims of rational choice theorists that extending this model from...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe an integrated meta-theoretic framework called anti-reductionist sociology, which involves a focus on agency, structure, and conditions of action.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to describe an integrated (meta) theoretical framework that I call anti-reductionist sociology: this entails a focus on agency, structure (the `conditions-of-action'), ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on a case study in an attempt to show the difficulties of reconciling competing demands for relevance, and propose a strategy for creating a productive tension between policy and academic discussions.
Abstract: `Relevance', `accountability' and `users' are now prominent terms in the policies of public research funding agencies. In countries such as the UK, the funding of research in social science and other subjects has become increasingly dependent on the perception that research will contribute towards the achievement of certain national goals. Despite renewed discussions surrounding the utility of social analysis, these are rarely informed by debates in academic communities about the meaning of `relevance' or associated debates about the status of knowledge. However divergent policy and academic discussions about relevance may appear, they intersect in concerns over the identity of researchers, the practices of research, and the claims made on behalf of research. This article draws on a case study in an attempt to show the difficulties of reconciling competing demands for relevance. Preliminary reflections are offered on a strategy for creating a productive tension between policy and academic discussions.
TL;DR: The first instance of the political and media uses of social research can be traced back to the publication of Charles Booth's "household name" as discussed by the authors, which was widely reported around the world and across newspapers of very different political orientation.
Abstract: When Charles Booth first published his research on poverty in London in 1886 he became what might have been the first sociological `household name'. His findings were widely reported around the world and across newspapers of very different political orientation. As social scientists continue to grapple with the difficulties and rewards of publicity it is worth looking back to this first instance of the political and media uses of social research. In particular, it is worth noting the triangular and reflexive relationship between the researcher, the media, and policy makers.