Showing papers in "The Sociological Review in 1993"

An electronic panopticon? A sociological critique of surveillance theory

Abstract: The concept of an electronic Panopticon is making increasingly frequent appearances within analyses of electronic surveillance. This paper traces briefly the history of the Panopticon from Jeremy Bentham to Michel Foucault and through a series of case studies shows how the idea seems relevant in the context of computer databases. It is argued that while the Panopticon has some salience to electronic surveillance, particularly through its enhanced capacity for invisible monitoring of personal details, the notion of a ‘societal Panopticon’ is sociologically mistaken. Nonetheless, where vestiges of the Panopticon are present within electronic surveillance, they present a challenge to social analysis and to political practice.

The pull of the fruit machine: a sociological typology of young players.

Abstract: This paper seeks to provide a sociological account of how children and young people orient to fruit machine gambling. The account is based upon the findings of an ethnographic study and is presented in the form of a typology. Arcade Kings and their Apprentices, Machine Beaters, Escape Artists, Action Seekers and Rent-a-Spacers comprise a classification which includes ‘addicts’ as well as ‘social gamblers’. The typology reveals the multi-dimensional nature of fruit machine gambling as a leisure pursuit. It thus provides a theoretical contribution to the sociology of gambling as well as an ‘ethnographic road map’ for researchers and counsellors in the field.

Locality and community: coming to terms with place

Abstract: The paper seeks to examine how social science has attempted to combine the uniqueness of place with general social processes. Two concepts which have traditionally been used to this end are examined; these are ‘locality’ and ‘community’. It is argued that although community has fallen out of favour, problems associated with the use of ‘locality’ could lead to a revival in the use of the former concept. Case study material from rural Wales is presented to show how the two approaches might usefully be combined.

Professionalism, educated labour and the state: hospital medicine and the new managerialism

Abstract: This article examines the degree to which doctors, as members of an autonomous profession, function as organic intellectuals within capitalist society (Abercrombie and Urry, 1983) and, more general...

Renegotiating the domestic division of labour? A study of dual career households in north east and south east England

Abstract: This paper is concerned with extending debate on the renegotiation of the domestic division of labour within the context of contemporary economic restructuring. Our focus is on a form of household ...

Research Notes: The Effects of Research on Participants: Findings from a Study of Mothers and Employment:

Abstract: The article explores a neglected topic – the effects of research on participants. At the end of a three year longitudinal research project concerning mothers return to the labour market after maternity leave, participants (mothers) were asked to assess their experiences of taking part in the research process. The paper examines three particular aspects of the research process which have important consequences for participants: the theoretical framework and research design, the research methods, and the study findings. A situation where there is a close match between the concerns and characteristics of the researchers and the researched is likely to benefit the project and participants alike.

Genetic risk and reproduction.

Abstract: Research was conducted with women who had experience of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (Duchenne) in the family. Intensive, qualitative interviews were conducted with a two-generational sample of women. This paper concentrates on the reported experiences of women who became pregnant while being aware of medically defined genetic carrier risk. Three types of reproductive decision-making are identified: risk-taking, risk-refusing and risk modifying. It is argued that there is no simple relationship between women's genetic risk and their subsequent reproductive actions. Of more significance is the women's prior biographical experience, their interpretation of the information available to them, their definition of the situation, and their reproductive expectations. Genetic risk information, transmitted in the genetic counselling discourse, does not determine women's actions, which are accounted for in terms of an interpretative perspective.

Review article: Action as a combination of ‘common worlds'*

Abstract: De la justification: Les economies de la grandeur, Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot L'Amour et la justice comme competence: trois essais de sociologie de l'action, Luc Boltanski

Gender and the labour market in Europe: Britain, Germany and France compared

Abstract: This paper has two objectives: to contrast patterns of female labour market participation in three West European societies and to develop a theoretical approach which can encompass both universal features of gender divisions in the labour market and nationally specific ones. Empirically, the focus is on the different levels and forms of labour force participation over the female life cycle, particularly on any resul-tant employment casualization. Consideration is also given to patterns of horizontal and vertical segregation and to pay. The differences between the three countries are explained by positing the existence of nationally specific gender profiles with a differential impact on labour market patterning along gender lines. These profiles are constructed by gender regimes at the level of the state which, in turn, are the result of political struggles and compromises of a variety of political actors. The paper utilizes European statistical data and secondary sources.

The press and public access to the environment and development debate

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of some aspects of newspaper coverage of environment and development issues. In particular, Global Warming and the Sudan famine are used as case studies of the featu...

Caste, Democracy and the Politics of Community Formation in India:

Abstract: This chapter examines debates about the survival of caste in India today. It argues that caste is an institution which has both ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ aspects, both ‘primordial’ and instrumental dimensions as, indeed, it probably always had. Mitra rejects the view of modernisation theorists, and of secular Indian intellectuals, who consider that caste is just a hangover from a discredited past. Arguing in favour of an instrumentalist, rather than essentialist, view of caste, he suggests that castes may have a useful role in the formation of identity and, as such, may help in the formation of the nation and state. Castes are resources that actors use to promote their own interests. Caste consciousness destroys those very aspects of the caste system which the essentialist view presented as immutable. The continuation of an essentialist perception of caste serves only to drive a wedge between the state and society. It gives rise to the stigma which prevents the law, bureaucracy and media from doing those things that would help transform castes into social organisations available for the creation of a plural and multi-cultural nation. Mitra develops his argument by focusing on three empirical areas: competitive politics, positive discrimination and the market economy.

Is a theory of caste still possible

Abstract: A theory of caste must offer a way of ordering the facts in such a way that it does not diminish the significance of some or ignore others. It must also be comparative. Caste organization is found in some parts of South Asia but not all. Equally, structural parallels may be found in many other parts of the world and one should not therefore assume that the defining characteristics of caste are unique to Hindu communities or to the ideology of Brahmanism. What is needed is a theory which explains why all of the traits associated with caste are found together where and when they are, whether in South Asia or elsewhere. Various theories of caste are reviewed in this chapter before coming to the conclusion that one of these makes much more sense of the historical and ethnographic evidence than the others. Most theories depict castes as arranged in a ladder-like vertical order. Sociologists have tended to emphasise this ‘stratification’, regarding the ideological and ritual manifestations of caste, such as the pervasive concern with purity and impurity, as epiphenomenal. Anthropologists have generally avoided this error but have faced other intractable problems. Some see caste as a recent colonial ar

Typification in a neuro-rehabilitation centre: Scheff revisited?

Abstract: This paper presents data on the admissions process in a Regional neuro-rehabilitation centre, using the framework proposed in Thomas Scheff's classic paper on typification in the diagnostic process as a starting point for analysis. We argue that typification is a more complex and diffuse process than Scheff's ‘diagnostic stereotype’ concept suggests, and that this may be linked to the particular work imperatives and relevancies that are important in this setting.

Caste, religion and other identities

Abstract: Religion is one of the many principles of social identification in India. It is becoming increasingly important — although, very often, what appears to be mobilisation on a religious basis can just as adequately, indeed more satisfactorily, be described in terms of caste, class or regional affiliations. Vested interests may encourage the reification of religions, and academics overseas, especially in Religious Studies departments, may, unwittingly, provide them support. This chapter examines the link between caste and religion, particularly in the case of the very lowest status groups. It suggests that both caste and religion mean very different things at different levels of the hierarchy. It then proceeds to look at the distinctive characteristics of religious identities in India. The discussion is related to wider debates about ethnic and racial identities and issues. Should class or interest group membership and allegiances be prioritised over other cultural identities, whether ascribed or acquired? It is argued that it is mistaken to reduce any one of these to another. Searle-Chatterjee draws on a range of historical and sociological/anthropological literature and also makes use of her own research in Varanasi (Banaras).

‘Under the wife's feet’: renegotiating gender divisions in early retirement

Abstract: There has rightly been much recent sociological concern with the effects of recession and the restructuring of the economy on family relationships One important aspect of recent economic changes has been the pressure on older people to leave the workforce before the age of conventional retirement Male early retirement has been a significant factor in accounting for the dramatic fall in the economic participation rates of older male workers over the last decade Yet early retirement has been a relatively neglected topic in social scientific literature Studies of unemployed and redundant males have tended to suggest that there is little renegotiating of the domestic division of labour within the home due to the ways in which traditional notions of masculine identity are called upon to protect the position of the unemployed male This paper reports findings relating to these issues from a study of men from West Yorkshire who had taken early retirement from the local chemical industry These findings sugge

Alternative Organizational Formations: A Neoweberian Typology of Polycratic Administrative Systems:

Abstract: Much of the critical attention given to Weber's tripartite scheme of legitimate domination has focused on the issue of its supposed incapacity to accommodate forms of organization not based on instrumental rationality. In fact substantive rationality is a continuous point of reference in Weber's analysis and surfaces in his brief and fragmentary outlines of three polycratic organizational forms: collegiality, mass democracy, and direct democracy. This article locates polycratic organizations in relation to the three monocratic structures indicated by the typology of legitimate domination. Extant examples of polycratic organizations are compared substantively. The three forms are then typologized in terms first of characteristics of participation by personnel, and second of the processes by which decisions are made.

Household Finance Management and the Labour Market: A Case Study in Hartlepool:

Abstract: This paper reports on the results of a survey carried out in Hartlepool towards the end of 1989. It considers the problems posed by data collection through survey methods to enquire into the management of household finances, and adopts a procedure which first examines treatment of the man's wage, and follows with additional questions about use of the woman's wage, access to personal spending money, and the location of final authority over spending.The data are based on a comparison between four different groupings with reference to the man's employment status: Group A: couples in which the man has been unemployed for at least the last 12 months.Group B: couples in which the man is currently employed and has held the same job for at least the last twelve months. Group C: couples in which the man has been recently recruited to employment.Group D: a residual group covering any other status, notably early retirement, sickness, disability or student status. An age range of 20–55 was imposed.Marked contrasts we...

Girasias and the politics of difference in Rajasthan: ‘caste’, kinship and gender in a marginalised society

Abstract: Anthropologists have often contrasted ‘caste’ and ‘tribe’ as forms of social organisation based on opposite principles (eg ‘castes' are based on hierarchy, ‘tribal’ society is undifferentiated and egalitarian). The concept of ‘caste’ is both an imposed one, a product of colonial governmental and academic exercises, and one which has political realities. However, whilst such national and regional formulations of caste are important, they do not always reflect the social categories which are central to the organisation of people's lives at the local level. The Girasias (generally held to be a ‘tribe’ by others) live in Rajasthan in proximity to the Rajputs (generally held to be a ‘caste’; Girasias themselves claim to be a branch of the Rajput caste). On many points the way in which a group categorises itself does not correspond with the way in which it is categorised by members of other groups. In practice the Girasias share many social, economic and religious institutions with the other ‘caste’ communities in the region as also with the ‘tribal Bhils. This does not mean that these groups are indistinguishable, but ‘Rajput’ and ‘Bhil’ stereotypes were used within the Girasia group to express differences, identifications and evaluations. However the tribe/caste distinction and the corresponding division of labour between anthropologists and sociologists in India is thereby called into question. To the Girasias, patrilineal kinship and territory play a central role in their sense of ‘caste’ identity, unlike other communities (the Rajputs and Bhils are exceptions) for whom caste is a more dispersed, agnatic and affinal group. Descent is crucial. Although their kinship ideology emphasises a sense of separation rather than hierarchy, Girasia kin divisions present members with equal opportunities to be unequal. Lineal kinship provides the paradigm for talking about all relationships whether or not based on actual biological ties. Equally, gender provides an idiom for the construction of difference. Descent groups are differentiated according to the evaluation of groups from which they have been able to obtain wives. Both Girasias and outsiders use the attire and the behaviour of women and perceived gender roles to distinguish between themselves. Despite the local complexity of Girasia kinship and gender relations which cannot be expressed in the language of caste and tribe, outsiders (other castes, classes, government officials, academics) continue to regard the Girasias as tribal as a result of the politics of caste and gender at the local, regional and national levels.

Research Note: Strategies in Eliciting Sensitive Sexual Information: The Case of Gay Men:

Abstract: Project SIGMA's research on gay men's sexual behaviour and Aids and HIV infection has posed complex ethnographic and methodological problems which have required unorthodox and innovative strategies for their solution. Three main problem areas included: value-conflict between interviewer/HIV tester roles; Issues concerning data confidentiality and legal interference, and the elicitation of detailed sexual behaviour. The procedures developed have clear applicability to other research concerned with covert, stigmatised and legally-sensitive behaviour or data.

Privatisation and economism: an investigation amongst producers' in two privatised public utilities in Britain

Abstract: Both academic and political debate about the effects of privatisation upon employees in privatised companies has taken place in something of an empirical vacuum. In particular, there is a lack of systematic enquiries into the major privatised utilities. Despite the lack of evidence, a number of claims have been advanced, both about the impact of privatisation upon the political attitudes of employees, and about its effects on working conditions, worker motivation and behaviour. This paper presents the results of a survey of 442 employees in two privatised public utilities. It is divided into two parts, looking first at the more general social and political attitudes of these employees, then presenting their views on the impact of privatisation on the company they work for, and on their working lives. The findings reported here lend little support either to new right claims about privatisation's transformative powers or to the view that ‘for most people … privatisation will make very little difference at a...

Berreman Revisited; Caste and the Comparative Method:

Abstract: In a series of articles and books published in the ‘60s and 70s, Gerald Berreman argued that the institution of caste is not confined to Hindu India. In particular he drew attention to the similari...

Research note: Women's experience of the mother role

Abstract: Despite the feminist critique of the assumptions implicit in the ideology of motherhood, relatively little empirical work has been done on women's own experience of this role. This research note uses data from a small scale intensive study of 51 married or cohabiting mothers aged 20-42 years old, whose oldest child was 15 years old, and who were randomly selected from medical records in a lower middle class area of North London. Building on Boulton's (1983) conceptualization, it differentiates between three aspects of this role (namely their commitment to it; its perceived identity enhancing/ destructive character and the positive/negative quality of their interaction with their children). These women's experience of the mother role was then assessed on these dimensions - using rating scales and anchoring examples (which are illustrated here). This research note suggests that even within this relatively homogenous lower middle/upper working class sample, the experience of motherhood was extremely varied: with less than half of the sample experiencing it positively at all three levels. An attempt is made to explain this variation.

Union Membership and Perceived Powerlessness in Southern US Textiles

Abstract: Using Marxist, mass society, organizational, and social movements literatures, we distinguish alternative accounts of the relationship between union membership and perceived powerlessness. Then, we illustrate the distinctions with survey data on southern US textile workers. Logistic and ordinary least squares regression analyses suggest two interpretations for this group of workers: union membership influences perceived powerlessness by providing members a responsive organization that contrasts with their lack of control in the workplace; and perceived powerlessness, when combined with endorsement of collective strategies for change, encourages union membership. In the southern textile case, we find that race is associated with specific ideological leanings regarding collective strategies. The location of our sample, its particular position in the political economy of the US, and the relative immaturity of its union allow for instructive comparisons with other sociological treatments of work attitudes and collective action.

Caste — a personal perspective

Abstract: The author, a member of the Dalit caste of Chamars, describes and analyses his own experience of caste. He recalls that a sense of his own low caste identity was impressed upon him at a very early ...

Popular attitudes to the transition to a market economy in the Soviet Union on the eve of reform

Abstract: This paper surveys a wide range of Soviet opinion poll data, mostly collected between the middle of 1990 and the middle of 1991, to investigate attitudes to the transition to the market economy. The majority of the population welcomed the transition to a market economy as the only means of freeing themselves from an oppressive system, and were willing to pay a high price for their liberation, but they were not willing to exchange one form of exploitation for another.

Caste without a system. A study of South Indian Harijans

Abstract: According to Dumont, caste can be understood as the institutionalisation of hierarchy, and the principle of hierarchy permeates all relations within Indian society. So understood, caste ideology is...

Careers and partnerships: the strategies of secondary headteachers

Abstract: This paper considers the importance of the personal dimension in individuals' experiences of careers in teaching. The career and partnership strategies of a group of twenty comprehensive headteachers, ten women and ten men, are classified into three main types: single career, dual career and marital breakdown. The concept of ‘strategy’ is discussed and the main alternative strategies within the three types are described. Finally, gender differences in respect of career/partnership strategies are suggested.

Review article: Comparing the Durkheimian and Marxist traditions

Abstract: Solidarity and Schism: ‘The Problem of Disorder’ in Durkheimian and Marxist Sociology, David Lockwood

«All those in favour»: computerised trade union membership lists as sampling frames for postal surveys

Abstract: The computerisation of membership lists offers considerable scope for postal surveys of trade unionists. However, faith in the new technology can give rise to the illusion of increased accuracy. Yet, the computerised data bases, while undoubtedly quicker and easier to use, may be no more accurate than their manual predecessors and samples drawn from them can result in misleading response rates. Therefore, with reference to a specific case study of a major trade union, we argue that researchers should seek to establish empirically the probable error in their lists with a view to constructing realistic ‘benchmarks’. Then, these substantial new resources can provide a solid basis for worthwhile research.