Showing papers in "Sociology in 2006"
TL;DR: The authors summarizes two dominant tropes in the sociology of identity in recent years, centred on the concepts of self-reflexivity and habitus, followed by an overview of extensive critical debate to which both have been subjected.
Abstract: This article initially summarizes two dominant tropes in the sociology of identity in recent years, centred on the concepts of self-reflexivity and habitus, followed by an overview of extensive critical debate to which both have been subjected. It is claimed that the key criticisms of the extended reflexivity thesis gather around accusations of excessive voluntarism in accounting for contemporary identity, while critiques of Bourdieu's conceptualization of habitus deem it overly deterministic. In an attempt to move beyond the conceptual stalemate of two distinct approaches to identity, a number of hybridized accounts have emerged in social theory.The remainder of the article discusses a number of these accounts in relation to social change, and offers an initial consideration of their strengths and limitations. It is argued that the importance of post-reflexive choice must remain integral to any attempt at hybridization of these important terms, particularly in relation to the contemporary workings of soc...
420 citations
TL;DR: In an insecure post-industrial society working-class young men must forge new youth transitions as mentioned in this paper, which involves rethinking what it is to be a "man" beyond the world of industrial paid employment.
Abstract: In an insecure post-industrial society working-class young men must forge new youth transitions. This entails rethinking what it is to be a ‘man’ beyond the world of industrial paid employment. It also involves a reshaping of a whole ‘way of life’ with the erosion of traditional labour and leisure lifestyles. This ethnographic study contrasts the cultural habitations of young men from traditional skilled working-class backgrounds with those from families experiencing long-term inter-generational unemployment. It explores their differently textured ‘going out’ experiences, their values, attitudes and practices. By focusing upon the subtle and explicit demarcations that distinguish the ‘rough’ from the ‘respectable’ working-class, the article argues that social class is of marked and continuing salience in youth culture. Furthermore, the work suggests that by exhibiting ‘spectacular masculinities’ of white male excess, young men accrue a body capital that has a currency and a local exchange value within the...
351 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of practice is employed to explore the relationship between respondents' non-work practices and five dimensions of time, and the most significant socio-demographic constraints (gender, age, life-course and education) are considered.
Abstract: There is a tension in time studies between measuring and accounting for the changing distribution of units of time across social activities, and explaining temporal experiences. By analysing in-depth interviews with 27 people, this article employs a theory of practice to explore the relationship between respondents’ ‘non-work’ practices and five dimensions of time. It hypothesizes that practices which demand a fixed location within daily schedules anchor temporal organization, around which are sequenced sets of interrelated practices. A third category of practices fills the gaps that emerge within temporal sequences.The most significant socio-demographic constraints (gender, age, life-course and education) that shaped how respondents engaged and experienced practices in relation to the five dimensions of time are then considered. It is argued that the relationship between different types of social practices, five dimensions of time and sociodemographic constraints presents a conceptual framework for the s...
244 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that London Fashion Week (LFW) is a materialization of the field of fashion, making visible the boundaries, relational positions, capital and habitus at play in the field, reproducing critical divisions within it.
Abstract: This article, based on two studies of the fashion industry examines one of its key institutions, London Fashion Week (LFW). Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, we argue that this event is a materialization of the field of fashion.We examine how LFW renders visible the boundaries, relational positions, capital and habitus at play in the field, reproducing critical divisions within it.As well as making visible the field, LFW is a ceremony of consecration within it that contributes to its reproduction. The central aim of this article is to develop an empirically grounded sense of field, reconciling this macro-structural concept with embodied and situated reality.
210 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a third way politics that purports to remove the tensions and conflicts between professions and various stakeholders, the private and the public, and markets and civic society is proposed.
Abstract: In recent decades neo-liberal reform has significantly impacted on public sector professionals. Sociological interest in such impact has tended to focus on professionals as subjects of such reform: as either de-professionalized ‘victims’ who feel oppressed by the structures of control or strategic operators seeking to contest the spaces and contradictions of market, managerial and audit cultures. Such a dualism is reflective of wider separations of agency and structure that have plagued sociology down the years. Our approach challenges modernizing agendas which seek to re-professionalize or empower professionals without examining the changing conditions of their work or the neo-liberal conditions which frame their practice. It also questions the policy outcomes of reconciling the dualism between agency and structure through a ‘third way’ politics that purports to remove the tensions and conflicts between professions and various stakeholders, the private and the public, and markets and civic society.
186 citations
TL;DR: This paper used the data of the Project for International Student Assessment (PISA) on 25 nations to study the influence of social origins on student achievement and found that social origins had a strong influence on student success.
Abstract: This article is devoted to the explanation of the influence of social origins on student achievement. Using the data of the Project for International Student Assessment on 25 nations, I show that c...
178 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined change and continuity among fathers and sons, focusing in detail upon one family, examining the scheduling of fatherhood in the life course of three generations; the ways in which they talked about "fathering" and fatherhood when their children were young; and the transmission of fathering within families.
Abstract: Drawing upon biographical-narrative research involving case studies of British families in which four generations were alive at the same time, the article examines change and continuity among fathers and sons, focusing in detail upon one family.The article examines the scheduling of fatherhood in the life course of three generations; the ways in which they talked about ‘fathering’ and fatherhood when their children were young; and the transmission of fathering within families. The particular case, a family of low-skilled men, demonstrates how structural changes and cultural resources combine in the negotiation of a model of ‘hands-on fathering’ in the current father generation. The article draws out some theoretical aspects of the analysis; in particular, how structural and cultural changes and gender intersect differently for different social classes.The theoretical insights depend upon a biographical approach which emphasized the changing context and the ways in which each generation acted upon that con...
176 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined how older fans of punk rock articulate their continuing attachment to the music and its associated visual style and found that older punks develop particular discursive practices as a means of legitimating their place within a scene dominated by younger punks.
Abstract: This article examines how older fans of punk rock articulate their continuing attachment to the music and its associated visual style.While sociological research on popular music audiences is well established, little attention has been paid to the articulation and management of fan practices of individuals beyond the age of 30. Based on ethnographic interviews conducted with older punk fans in East Kent, England, the article begins to redress this oversight in studies of popular music audiences.This involves an assessment of both the way in which articulations of punk style transgress with age from the visual to the biographical and how older punks develop particular discursive practices as a means of legitimating their place within a scene dominated by younger punk fans.
168 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the experiences of intimacy within the context of gender transition, and suggested that the incorporation of transgender experiences into analyses of contemporary practices of intimacy enables a richer understanding of wider social changes in patterns of sociality.
Abstract: This article begins by examining sociological studies of intimacy and suggests that, despite a rise of interest in non-normative practices of sociality, transgender lives and experiences are absent from analyses of changing social relationships. Drawing on research data in the form of three case studies, I explore the experiences of intimacy within the context of gender transition: first to consider the impact of gender transition upon partnering relationships, and second to reflect upon how gender transition is negotiated within parenting relationships. I conclude by suggesting that the incorporation of transgender experiences into analyses of contemporary practices of intimacy enables a richer understanding of wider social changes in patterns of sociality.
163 citations
TL;DR: This paper applied narrative methods to an analysis of the meaning of British domestic culture and found that narratives and objects inhabit the intersection of the personal and the social, and that people account for themselves in recounting stories of their home possessions.
Abstract: This article applies narrative methods to an analysis of the meaning of British domestic culture.The data are from an exploratory study investigating how and why people displayed objects in their homes. Although mantelpiece displays were the principal focus, other display areas were considered, and interview respondents were invited to tell stories about the provenance and meaning of objects. Analysing such narratives as social performances demonstrates the extent to which the apparently ‘private’ experiences of the self are manifested by means of display objects and domestic artefacts. Narratives and objects inhabit the intersection of the personal and the social. An analysis of four narratives that two women related during interviews in their homes shows how people account for themselves in recounting stories of their home possessions. In conclusion, a research strategy combining narrative accounts with an interpretation of photographic data is suggested.
157 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the use of focus groups as a method for investigating the construction of collective identity and highlighted the crucial importance of analysing data generated by focus groups for both process and content.
Abstract: This article explores the use of focus groups as a method for investigating the construction of collective identity. Questions of collective identity are particularly pertinent to social movement theory and the methodologies developed by Touraine and Melucci for studying social movements are used as a starting point to inform the use of the focus group method.The research, conducted with members of the Women's Institute (WI), demonstrates how focus groups can be developed in a manner which overcomes the problems associated with Touraine and Melucci's methods. It involved rejecting generally held assumptions as to how this method should be used, and highlighting the crucial importance of analysing data generated by focus groups for both process and content. The article argues that the use of focus groups provides a robust and flexible method which possesses distinct characteristics that make it particularly suited to researching the construction of collective identity, and, consequently, for advancing the ...
TL;DR: The authors identify, elucidate and synthesize the major ways in which whiteness in sociology and social history can be identified, elucidated and synthesized, and then synthesize them.
Abstract: Whiteness studies are trans-disciplinary, but here the focus is principally on sociology and social history. Firstly, I identify, elucidate and synthesize the major ways in which whiteness in this ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe Royal Ballet dancers' perceptions of their bodies, of ageing, of injury and of their careers, drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital in their investigation of embodiment.
Abstract: Ballet is, for reasons that are unclear, a neglected topic in the sociology of the body. Our article works on three levels: firstly, as an account of ex-dancers’‘lived experience’ of embodiment; secondly, as an application of Bourdieu’s theoretical schema; and thirdly, as a philosophically grounded critique of radical social constructionist views of the body.We describe Royal Ballet dancers’ perceptions of their bodies, of ageing, of injury and of their careers.We draw on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and cultural capital in our investigation of embodiment. Ageing and injury are potential epiphanies that encourage dancers to reflect on their embodied habitus and their career. We argue that the decline in a dancer’s physical capital undermines radical social constructionist views.This study, although set within the narrow field of dance, illuminates the broader relationships between the body, self, and society.
TL;DR: The authors argue that British Chinese identities remain under-theorized within sociology and the sociology of education, and yet they offer a potentially interesting angle to debates around the production of privil...
Abstract: British Chinese identities remain under-theorized within sociology and the sociology of education – and yet they offer a potentially interesting angle to debates around the (re)production of privil...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine some of the implications for the sociological analysis of social class of the migration of geodemographic classifications of various sorts into software systems designed to sort out people and places.
Abstract: This article examines some of the implications for the sociological analysis of social class of the migration of geodemographic classifications of various sorts into software systems designed to ‘sort out’ people and places. It begins by offering an overview of the history and development of geodemographic classifications. It then argues that such classifications are increasingly becoming embedded in ‘soft-ware sorting’ procedures of various sorts, which in turn leads to the prospect of ‘automated spatiality’ becoming a common feature of the contemporary constitution of social class.
TL;DR: The authors argued that claims for the demoralization of cultural industries may be premature, and argued that social and political values are biographically important and made evident in the routine context of work.
Abstract: While the ‘culturalization’ of the economy has led some to welcome the ‘turn to life’ (Heelas, 2002) and anticipate the remoralization of economic activity, others argue the cultural turn is conducive only to consolidating neo-liberalism's characteristic demoralization of economic relations.The cultural industries, as a leading sector of the culturalized economy, are seen to be particularly culpable in this respect, offering the illusion of freedom, but actually eroding the ethical basis of work through tendencies for individuation and exploitation. Building on the recent renewal of interest in ‘moral economy’, this article argues that claims for the demoralization of cultural industries may be premature. Empirical evidence is presented from interviews with cultural entrepreneurs in Manchester, UK, to reveal how social and political values are biographically important and made evident in the routine context of work. The conclusion offers that individualization may provide some opportunity to re-establish ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the value of reflexivity in relation to a quantitative research project which we worked on as contract researchers is discussed and the difficulties of being reflexive given the financial and time constraints of contract research is discussed.
Abstract: This article considers the value of reflexivity in relation to a quantitative research project which we worked on as contract researchers. Reflexivity in the research process has been discussed by social scientists for over three decades. However, many quantitative researchers continue to avoid explicit forms of reflexivity, especially in relation to data collection. We discuss our specific experiences and also raise general questions about the application of reflexivity to quantitative methods. In addition, we outline the difficulties of being reflexive given the financial and time constraints of contract research. We consider this article a timely contribution to current discussions about the continuing growth of contract research and debates about the relevance of quantitative research methodologies for social scientists.
TL;DR: The authors examines contests within bio-gerontology as to the nature of ageing, identifies the methods through which old age is constructed by reference to particular kinds of knowledge and thus considers the impact of the culture of science on the contemporary meaning of old age.
Abstract: Recent developments in the fundamental science of biological ageing have raised the possibility of extending the human lifespan. This article examines contests within bio-gerontology as to the nature of ageing, identifies the methods through which old age is constructed by reference to particular kinds of knowledge and thus considers the impact of the culture of science on the contemporary meaning of old age. Definitions of ageing and death that focus on biological failure lead to a cultural construction of old age whereby diversity across the life course is devalued.
TL;DR: The authors explored constructions of risk and safety in the leisure lives of young women, drawing upon qualitative data from two action research projects based in the north-east of England, they an...
Abstract: This article explores constructions of risk and safety in the leisure lives of young women. Drawing upon qualitative data from two action research projects based in the north-east of England, we an...
TL;DR: This paper developed Hochschild's theory to include both its relational and unconscious aspects, and attempted to begin the process of recovering emotion by identifying hidden unconscious emotion processes from its management, using 14 months of participant observation, audio diaries and semi-structured interviews.
Abstract: This article develops Hochschild’s (1975, 1979, 1983) notion of emotion and emotion management/emotional labour through a critical analysis of her ‘new social theory of emotion’ as laid out in Appendix A of The Managed Heart (1983). The article suggests that Hochschild’s theory conceptually limits the interactive, relational nature of emotion (Burkitt, 1997, 2002) and prioritizes external social factors at the expense of unconscious ones. Drawing on empirical research (including 14 months of participant observation, audio diaries and semi-structured interviews) examining emotion and emotional labour among nurses, I develop Hochschild’s theory to include both its relational and unconscious aspects. This article attempts to begin the process of recovering emotion by identifying hidden unconscious emotion processes from its management.
TL;DR: This paper argued that in many contexts there is a two-way relationship between religion and ethnicity, rather than religion simply playing a supporting role to the ethnic centrepiece, and that identity conflicts and other social struggles may stimulate the return of the religious, once reactivated, the religious dimensions of identity may take on a logic of their own.
Abstract: The religious dimensions of ethnic identities have been under-theorized. In contemporary industrial societies there is a tendency to characterize religiously demarcated groups as ‘really’ ethnic.This article suggests that the religious content of ethnic boundaries may be more important than might initially be assumed. A religious identification may have specific religious content and assumptions that may cause it to operate in different ways from other identities. Even if identities do not seem primarily religious per se, they may have latent religious dimensions that can become reactivated. Whilst identity conflicts and other social struggles may stimulate the return of the religious, once reactivated, the religious dimensions of identity may take on a logic of their own.Therefore, the article argues that in many contexts there is a two-way relationship between religion and ethnicity. Each can stimulate the other, rather than religion simply playing a supporting role to the ethnic centrepiece.
TL;DR: This paper examined the ways in which mothering involves practices and identities which are classed, raced and gendered. But they focused on the construction and articulation of middle-classness with whiteness.
Abstract: Drawing on interviews with white middle-class mothers, this article examines the ways in which mothering involves practices and identities which are classed, raced and gendered In particular, it focuses on the construction and articulation of middle-classness with whiteness The article examines the women’s descriptions of how they constructed social networks as mothers, chose schools for their children and planned their after-school activities It argues that these activities involved in being mothers and bringing up children can be understood as performative of race, class and genderThat is, practices of mothering are implicated in repeating and re-inscribing classed and raced discourses
TL;DR: The authors examine how young British Asians experience and articulate recent transformations in popular notions of race, nation and culture, and present a context for the analysis of these transformations in British Asians' experiences.
Abstract: The overall scope of this article is to examine how young British Asians experience and articulate recent transformations in popular notions of ‘race’, nation and culture The context for the analy
TL;DR: The authors examined the extent to which these conceptions are likely to include or exclude those characterized by "difference" in terms of their national or ethnic origins, and found that for two key minority groups, access to a Scottish identity can be undermined by the perspectives of the majority, who were likely to have a more straightforward sense of this identity.
Abstract: This article considers how the increasing national and ethnic diversity typical of many contemporary societies relates to conceptions of national identity in such societies. Particular concern is given to the extent to which these conceptions are likely to include or exclude those characterized by ‘difference’ in terms of their national or ethnic origins. Contemporary survey evidence is used to explore exclusion from a specific national identity - Scottishness. The findings show that for two key minority groups, access to a Scottish identity can be undermined by the perspectives of the majority, who are likely to have a more straightforward sense of this identity. At the same time, the agency which people have in determining their own identities is illustrated, not least by an evident process of ‘becoming’ Scottish among a small minority who were neither born in Scotland nor have Scottish parents.
TL;DR: This paper explored the interface between lesbian-parented families and mainstream society through the example of schools and found that a significant minority of families felt respected, supported and safe within the school environment.
Abstract: This article explores the interface between lesbian-parented families and mainstream society through the example of schools. Lesbian-parented families are an increasingly visible family form; they are diverse and complex and raise challenges for heteronormative social institutions. Based on qualitative family interviews with lesbian-parented families in Melbourne, we discuss the dialectic between schools and families. In many heteronormative school contexts family members were stigmatized and burdened by secrecy and fear about their family configuration. However, there were also a significant minority of family members who felt respected, supported and safe within the school environment.These parents and children were out and proud about their families, and schools had responded with acceptance in both the schoolyard and the curriculum. We discuss the contextual factors (including social location and family formation), impacting on and constraining the interface between the families and schools, and point to opportunities for change.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how sociology can contribute to an understanding of the work, power and impact of the pharmaceutical industry, drawing on Latour's theoretical and empirical analysis of science, in conjunction with a more explicit consideration of power.
Abstract: This article examines how sociology can contribute to an understanding of the work, power and impact of the pharmaceutical industry. Drawing in particular on Latour’s theoretical and empirical analysis of science, in conjunction with a more explicit consideration of power, it examines the scientific ‘fact making’ involved in the clinical trials of drugs designed to assess their safety and effectiveness, assessments that are the basis for securing approval for their release onto the market. It also examines post-approval drug assessments and the fuller evaluation of a drug that emerges with time. It shows how the industry’s control over this science, especially in the pre-approval stage, has helped to encourage extensive, and often excessive, use of pharmaceuticals.
TL;DR: There has been an increasing interest in the use of psychoanalytic ideas within a sociological framework over the past few years as discussed by the authors, but these ideas have been largely developed within sociological theory rather than practice.
Abstract: Over the past few years there has been an increasing interest in the use of psychoanalytic ideas within a sociological framework. These ideas have been largely developed within sociological theory rather than practice. There does, however, seem to be a new frame of thought and practice emerging which we could term psycho-social studies, perhaps even a new discipline in its own right. In this article I will discuss the development of the use of psychoanalytic ideas around sociological issues, explore some of the tensions that have arisen and evaluate the implications for methodological practice.
TL;DR: This article focused on the return experiences of first-generation British Hindu Gujaratis retiring to India, and explored how this aspect of migration refigures their transnational social spa, to explore how they refigured their trans-national social spaces.
Abstract: This article concentrates on the ‘return’ experiences of first-generation British Hindu Gujaratis retiring to India, to explore how this aspect of migration refigures their transnational social spa...
TL;DR: In this paper, recycling is investigated within the context of domestic labour in an attempt to understand how it fits in with or overrides traditional divisions, which brings an important new perspective to the recycling debate and at the same time updates the domestic division of labour literature to include green activities.
Abstract: Domestic or household recycling has a crucial role to play in meeting EU targets for overall recycling rates. However, researchers have yet to agree on the characteristics of the domestic recycler and how recycling is actually carried out in the home. In this article, recycling is investigated within the context of domestic labour in an attempt to understand how it fits in with or overrides traditional divisions. This brings an important new perspective to the recycling debate and at the same time updates the domestic division of labour literature to include green activities. It is suggested that recycling contradicts prevailing trends towards decreasing time spent on household chores, but that, like domestic labour, it is initiated and largely sustained by women alone or together with a partner. In this sense, recycling follows a similar pattern to more established household chores.
TL;DR: The authors explored the importance of class and collectivism to personal identity, and the role this played during a period of personal and collective crisis created by mass redundancy in the Welsh steel industry, arguing that the continued concern for class identity reflected efforts to avoid submergence in an existence akin to Beck's (1992) vision of a class-free "individualized society of employees".
Abstract: This article explores the importance of class and collectivism to personal identity, and the role this played during a period of personal and collective crisis created by mass redundancy in the Welsh steel industry. The research findings demonstrate the importance of occupational identity to individual and collective identity formation. The apparent desire to maintain this collective identity acted as a form of resistance to the increased individualization of the post-redundancy experience, but rather than leading to excessive particularism, it served as a mechanism through which class-based thinking and class identity were articulated. It is argued that the continued concern for class identity reflected efforts to avoid submergence in an existence akin to Beck’s (1992) vision of a class-free ‘individualized society of employees’.These findings therefore challenge the notion of the pervasiveness of individualism and the dismissal of class and collective orientations as important influences on identity for...