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Re-interpreting Simmel's work on money as an attempt to develop a critical sociology of consumption from a relativist theory of value, this paper illustrates the extent to which it may be seen as something more, and different than, sociological impressionism. The modern social space of valuation is chiefly defined by the development of money economy within metropolitan settings. This allows for the public commensurability of values and pushes for their private incompatibility. Subjectivism is heightened in so far as individuals' capacity to sustain difference is vital to social, objective exchange. Contrary to neo-classical economics, the appreciation of individual choice entails for Simmel a critical appraisal of the social conditions of its existence which results in a discussion of the risks associated with the pressure to perform as autonomous choosers. The paper concludes with a view on what may be a Simmelian sociology of consumption, one which enriches the classical focus on social distinction with a critical concern for the modern conditions of valuation and self-constitution. Fashion and style may be conceived of as techniques of consumption that, embodying particular combinations of difference and indifference, help govern the modern world of goods. In this view, these mundane practices have the potential to function as a balancing practice of self-constitution, taking place between the indifference of the market which allows individualization, and the risk that the individuality thus constituted remains empty, a reproducer of commensurability unable to bestow value on things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides information on the journal Acta Sociologica and its role in the formative years of Scandinavian sociology. Since its foundation in 1955, Acta Sociologica has been open for papers from different orientations and schools. Important paradigmatic changes have been clearly reflected in its pages. In Acta Sociologica's first five volumes, the theoretical papers strongly emphasized the importance of social factors in perceptions and behavior. The description of Acta Sociologica's relation to the studies of the welfare state is revealing in the way it has functioned during the years. A very basic characteristics of Acta has been a kind of pluralism. It was never an organ for just one kind of theoretical and ideological orientation. Positivism, Marxism, structuralism, post-modernism have all been reflected in its pages, but Acta was never a protagonist of just one kind of learning. One of the consequences of such pluralism is that there never has been anything truly dramatic associated with the contents of and in Acta Sociologica. For Scandinavian sociology and sociologists, Acta Sociologica has some special functions. Like all scientists, Scandinavian sociologists should of course aspire to be the best in the world. Acta Sociologica has been one of the important mechanisms for Scandinavian inter-comparisons.

This paper discusses one of the paradoxes of the sociology of health in Finland. On the one hand sociological health research has expanded considerably over the past few decades, during which time there have been a number of changes in the field of health care: the growth of a nation-wide network of health centres, the development and increasing application of medical technology, tendencies towards privatization and concentration, increasing costs of health care, changes in morbidity, and so on. These developments have given rise to a host of new problems which necessitate a social-scientific approach in research and also sociological training for health personnel. On the other hand, within medical faculties there has been growing opposition to sociological health research and education. The paper describes the main features of the sociology of health, the development of the discipline's institutional status, and its relationship to medicine both in countries where the discipline has a strong footing (the United States and Great Britain) and in Finland. In spite of the different circumstances and historical backgrounds, the difficulties encountered by the sociology of health tend to be rather similar in different countries. The development of the sociology of health in Finland is discussed from the point of view of both research and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introductory chapter by Rokkan and Lipset in Party Systems and Voter Alignments (1967) and the further development of Rokkan's work in Citizens, Elections, Parties (1970) provide points of departure for a discussion of the impact of Parsonian AGIL theory on Rokkan's political sociology. The AGIL theory would seem to have provided initial inspiration for Rokkan's own thinking rather than premises for strict hypothetico-deductive reasoning closely related to the Parsonian theoretical framework. The present paper, however, attempts to deductively explore certain hidden implications of the AGIL dynamic, thus arriving at notions of structural contradictions similar to those found among some structural Marxists. These notions are then related back to Rokkan's theory of sequential historical junctures and conflicts, the conclusion being that his theory can and must be further developed to take account of the internal contradictions emerging in mature capitalism not only according to Marxists but also according to the hidden implications of AGIL theory explicated in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the emergence of Cultural Studies is traced and its current place in British intellectual life assessed. Throughout a comparison is drawn between Cultural Studies and British Sociology. In the first part of the paper the 'original curriculum' of Cultural Studies is analysed in its making of a sharp break from previous disciplinary practices. The foundation of Cultural Studies on theoretically defined grounds is then described. In the second part of the paper the changes in Cultural Studies since its inception are described and the current critical potential of the practice assessed, On a pessimistic note the paper ends by noting the threat to the survival of Cultural Studies from the current round of rationalizations of British Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is based on the idea that the problem of unity or integration of modern society has not yet been solved in sociological theory. The paper attempts a new solution based on a creative synthesis of elements from Talcott Parsons' functionalism, rational choice theory, and Niklas Luhmann's new systems theory. The core idea is that the state and the political sphere work together as an integrating centre of modern societies. Present approaches understand the political allocation of resources either as an exchange process or as solidarity caused by internalized social norms. None of them embodies a concept of collective rationality; therefore they cannot give a dynamic account of the public allocation of collective goods. This dichotomy of individual rationality and norm-guided behaviour will be produced and reproduced on the level of general theory in the discussion on the problem of order or collective action as long as sociology is founded on the assumption that society is made up of individual human beings and their actions. However, by replacing action with Luhmann's concept of communication and rethinking collective action within this new framework, it becomes possible to develop a concept of collective rationality. This new conceptualization is used to clear up problems and overcome shortcomings in Luhmann's own theory of modern society as functionally differentiated. Observed as a consequence of action, function is collective action. A solution to the problem of collective action or social order is found with the emergence of rational solidarity as a medium that symbolizes the difference between individual and collective rationality as a unity: one should sacrifice individual opportunities to achieve collective goals and solve problems for the society to which one belongs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-welfarist approaches to well-being are often criticized for ignoring personal preferences and suffering from a dictatorial logic. This paper argues that welfarist approaches do not have a special quality of preference neutrality and that non-welfarist/non-dictatorial approaches to well-being and interpersonal comparison are possible. Utility is a function not of goods and preferences, but of goods and tastes, and the latter are decomposed into expectations and preferences. A theory of well-being based on choice is recommended. Choice is defined as a function of personal resources and arena options. A typology of measurement approaches is developed. Indirect measurement is recommended above direct measurement. Implications are discussed for income, social indicators, and capabilities in the measurement of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, recent research on the economics of institutions is summarized and assessed. The economics of institutions is an attempt to integrate recent research in various sub-fields of economics and the other social sciences in order to present a coherent research program for exploring the link between institutions and wealth. Although the core of the framework is a modified version of neo-classical economics, it is argued that the optimal deviation from the neo-classical model varies with the level of analysis and the types of variables that we seek to endogenize. The unifying theme of the analysis is the introduction of transaction costs and the related concept of property rights, which give organizations and institutions a central role in economic life. The paper provides a summary view of the economics of institutions, and discusses in some detail two common lines of criticism: that the approach ignores power relationships in economic affairs, and that its use of the rational choice model is inappropriate. The need for augmenting the economics of institution with an operational theory of mental models and learning is recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of promotion prospects in explaining class differences in political preferences at different points in the life-cycle. The argument contains four main propositions. First, that present resources are often discounted in favor of future rewards when making political choices. Second, that the extent of future rewards is a key distinguishing characteristic of social classes, Third, that differential perceptions of future opportunities for rewards will lead to individuals in different classes preferring parties that are at different points along a left-right continuum. Fourth, that with age there is a diminishing utility of future rewards and increasing importance is therefore attached to present resources, which reduces the discounting of present for future rewards when making political choices. These hypotheses are tested using British national survey data. The evidence, although of a limited nature, supports all four propositions. It is concluded, tentatively, that class differences in left-right partisanship among young people are primarily a result of class differences in expectations concerning future occupational rewards. Among older respondents, however, present resources are of considerably greater importance in explaining political divisions between classes. Empirical support is therefore obtained for the role of prospective rewards in providing individuals in different classes with divergent interests, but this role diminishes in importance as the future foreshortens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The awarding of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Economics to Gary Becker draws attention to Becker's outstanding work in economics. At the same time, it draws attention to a new phenomenon, for which Becker himself is more responsible than anyone else: the use of basic principles of economics to address problems in sociology. Much of the work for which Becker is best known treats problems that are quite outside the field of economics proper and fully within the field of sociology. What is striking about this is that Becker remains committed to the explanatory logic of neo-classical economics; he applies that logic uncompromisingly, using the same tools in examining marriage markets as in examining financial markets. In this paper, some of Becker's work on sociological problems are discussed and assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important consequence of the increasing convergence between sociology and economics is that sociologists make increasingly more use of rational choice theories for the explanation of social action. This shift opens up the possibility that sociologists make use of what must be considered to be the most powerful regularity in the social sciences: the relative price effect, which states that behavior depends directly on relative prices (or relative scarcities). This effect is also known as the law of demand: as one good becomes more costly in comparison to others, a person will purchase less of that good. It turns out that crucial sociological questions (for instance the relation of gain-oriented behavior to moral behavior) make it necessary that we know something about the size of the relative price effect. Surprisingly, there is virtually no theory in economics on this point and thus rational choice theory is badly in need of being extended in this direction. In this paper, two such extensions are suggested. First, a theory of alternatives consisting of (a) a theory of social production functions, (b) a theory of non-given alternatives and (c) a theory of 'ipsative' sets of alternatives. Second, a theory of framing is presented which links the relative price effect to the definition of the situation which in turn is theoretically linked to the theory of alternatives. It is argued that these extensions make rational choice theory much more relevant for sociological applications than the neoclassical model in which alternatives are exogenously given and the definition of the situation is implicitly locked to a standard trading situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the problem of aggregating individual choices between three discrete alternatives, and discusses how the likelihood of cyclical aggregate preferences under majority rule depends on social integration in large populations. It is argued that the so-called impartial culture condition gives rather limited information as to the likelihood of the paradox occurring, and an alternative model is outlined. Social structure is introduced, by imposing correlation between the first and second choices. The resulting structure may significantly reduce the likelihood of a cyclical outcome. A measure of similarity between rankings is introduced, and this measure serves as a vehicle for discussing the effects of social integration on the distribution of the population across the six possible rankings of alternatives. It is concluded that integration significantly reduces the likelihood of a cyclical outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional economics has moved from a position, earlier in the twentieth century, of drawing eclectically on several other disciplines, to a stance of building its arguments almost entirely out of neoclassical materials. This paper argues that such a stance cannot provide a persuasive account of economic institutions, and suggests a broader foundation based on classical sociological arguments about the embeddedness of economic goals and activities in socially oriented goals and structures. Emphasis is placed on how economic activity comes to be coordinated by groups of people rather than carried out by isolated individuals. Firms in developing countries, business groups, and the origins of the electrical utility industry in the United States are posed as cases of the 'social construction of economic institutions'. It is argued that, although proper analysis of such cases involves a high level of contingency, these contingencies can be taken into account in a systematic theoretical argument, and that historicist pitfalls can be avoided. Such an argument is posed as the distinctive agenda for a new economic sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of sociology can be described as a triangle, the apexes of which are represented by the structure of social organisation (Spencer's theory of the division of labour), the structure of cultural codes (Saussure's theory of language and semiology) and social action (Weber's methodological individualism). This becomes a three-dimensional discursive space when underneath it we place, as the fourth apex, nature. Consequently we have a triangular pyramid standing on its head (nature): its four plans are represented by the field of sociology (the structure of social organisation, the structure of cultural codes, action), structuralist social anthropology (the structure of social organisation, the structure of cultural codes, nature), cultural anthropology (the structure of cultural codes, action, nature) and historical materialism (the structure of social organisation, action, nature). This turned-over tetrahedron is described in the paper as the discursive space of sociology, a space that has taken shape with the attempts at a theoretical synthesis of sociology during the 1980s (Alexander, Bourdieu, Collins, Giddens, Habermas). As in the case of the discursive conditions for all forms of knowledge, the discursive space of sociology is a rhetorical closure which determines who are classical writers and how these classical writers are to be read and understood. At the same time it serves as the basis for the positivity of sociological knowledge. It is suggested that this space will emerge to reorganise the uncertainty produced by the collapse of the Parsonian orthodoxy which was primarily concerned to examine society from the perspective of the structure of social organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper starts with an analysis of the three main principles of the social order of 'real socialism': etatistic homogenization, basic dichotomy between the ruling group and all the direct producers as a whole, and politically-defined-from-above income differences among different sectors of employees. The structural crisis of this order is described as gradual undermining of these principles brought about especially by the growth of the second economy. In the last section the dilemmas of the recently started system transformation are described in terms of symbolic support but lack of short-term interests of the most numerous social groups in the market reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although best known for his notion of 'conspicuous consumption' in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Thorstein Veblen also offered sociology another unit-idea: 'the instinct of workmanship'. The present paper explores Veblen's 'instinct' both in current scientific theory and, more significantly, in Veblen's own ethnic identity. The primordial sources of the instinct of workmanship were brought to light in the archeology of Stone Age Scandinavia. From his vantage point as a Norwegian-American maverick, Veblen discovered in ancient Baltic wasteheaps clear signs of a peaceable, hard-working society and culture. Juxtaposed with German and English 'predatory' societies, the Nordic spirit seemed benign and idyllic. The Golden Age was indeed made of flintstone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economics, political science, and sociology are, in this paper, understood to be not only scientific but also moral languages. An economic approach to moral obligation emphasizes that obligations to the self automatically cover obligations to others. A political approach, by contrast, argues that some kind of centralized coercive authority is necessary so that people will carry out their obligations to each other satisfactorily. Sociology has always understood itself in opposition to both the market and the state, but it has never been clear about its alternative. Many of the classical thinkers in the sociological tradition wished to preserve both modernity (in the form of markets and states) and morality (in the form of strongly inscribed norms and community obligations). This balance is best resolved by emphasizing morality as a learning process requiring 'civil society' — not as an end in itself, but as a place in which the learning of moral obligation can be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of children is either totally absent in sociology or is treated within very limited contexts which are considered marginal for sociological theory and research. The paper aims at examining why there is no sociology of childhood and what kind of sociological rethinking is needed to bring children into sociology. First, the conventional approach in child-related themes — recognized as 'socialization' — is discussed. Secondly, sociological notions of 'the family' are taken up and criticized on the basis of the feminist project of deconstructing the family. Finally, childhood is considered as a social construct and some demands for research on children and childhood are developed that may help to avoid the long-held and unnecessarily limiting views on these topics and make way for the emergence of a sociology of childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is another pragmatic attempt to include women in the comparative study of intergenerational class mobility in France and Sweden, two societies that differ in their political history and in the prevalence of women's activity outside the home. In the main, it addresses two questions: How do the mobility patterns of women via marriage compare with those of men via occupational career? How do the mobility patterns of women via marriage compare with those of women via occupational career? These questions are treated in terms of actually observed life chances as well as in relative terms, which shows the impact of the division of labour by sex on differences in life chances by alternative channels of mobility. An attempt is also made to assess the relative importance of interactions between women's social origin, own occupation, and class position by marriage. The association between the latter two proves to be the strongest by far. Rather unexpectedly, social origin does not appear to affect the association between husband's class and wife's occupational category either in France or in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses middle managers and administrators--a sizeable and developing stratum in the contemporary capitalist society. Their contradictory class situation leads one to regard them as belonging to the middle strata. Changes in their material conditions in the last decades are briefly considered, and shifts in their moods and attitudes in greater detail. Four main types of their social orientations are suggested. The author concludes that the growing identification of middle managers with their own social group--and the corresponding weakening of identification with the employer's interests--is an advance in their historical development. Winning over middle managers and administrators is rather important for the success of the struggle of the working class for deep-going democratic exchanges in society, for socialism. In practice, however, this involves great difficulties. Middle management has strong social ties with the capitalist establishment. The confrontation between managers and managed, rank-and-file workers, cannot disappear under capitalism, though it may attenuate considerably and is already attenuating. At the same time, changes occurring in the attitudes of managerial cadres create opportunities for an alliance with them or, at least, for a drift of a significant part of them from pro-capitalist to neutral positions.

The purpose of this paper is to problematize earlier class analyses of public employees, and to argue for a new methodological approach, involving new concepts, in such analysis. As a result of the discussion, a typology has been produced which is claimed to be usable in further analyses of the social and political behavior of public employees in the modern welfare states. The contribution therefore has a somewhat theoretical and a priori character, which seems justified, however, because of the considerable clarification needed in especially this area. The general assumption underlying this departure, which the whole analysis can be seen as an attempt to sustain, is that public employees constitute a special group or category and also a special problem, for class analysis, which therefore warrants special analysis. It will thus be argued, that the social division of labor within the state/public sector can be understood neither by assigning, in an ahistorical manner, different functions to the state, nor by analogies with conditions in the private sector. Rather it must be understood through a dynamic historic-institutional analysis of the areas of public regulation and intervention and the growth of these. public employees

The article discusses the scope and mission of the journal. The journal embraces theoretical and empirical work, micro and macro levels of analysis, quantitative and qualitative methods, and all substantive areas of sociology. The criteria for evaluating papers submitted for publishing are explained. The topics that the editors are in need of further research and clarification are mentioned, including sociology of economic and social change.