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It is becoming increasingly common to hear life scientists say that high quality life science research relies upon high quality laboratory animal care. However, the idea that animal care is a crucial part of scientific knowledge production is at odds with previous social science and historical scholarship regarding laboratory animals. How are we to understand this discrepancy? To begin to address this question, this paper seeks to disentangle the values of scientists in identifying animal care as important to the production of high quality scientific research. To do this, we conducted a survey of scientists working in the United Kingdom who use animals in their research. The survey found that being British is associated with thinking that animal care is a crucial part of conducting high quality science. To understand this finding, we draw upon the concept of 'civic epistemologies' (Jasanoff 2005; Prainsack 2006) and argue that 'animals' and 'care' in Britain may converge in taken-for-granted assumptions about what constitutes good scientific knowledge. These ideas travel through things like state regulations or the editorial policies of science journals, but do not necessarily carry the embodied civic epistemology of 'animals' and 'science' from which such modes of regulating laboratory animal welfare comes.

Why are some policies protested more than others? New data on protest against eight categories of taxation in twenty rich democracies from 1980 to 2010 reveal that economically and socially concentrated taxes are protested most, whereas taxes that confer entitlement to benefits are protested least. Other features of policy design often thought to affect the salience or visibility of costs are unimportant for explaining the frequency of protest. These findings overturn a folk theory that political sociology has inherited from classical political economy; clarify the conditions under which policy threats provoke protest; and shed light on how welfare states persist.

Anthony Giddens: Critical Assessments provides a useful overview of critical scholar- ship on Giddens. It also stimulates reflections on the significance of Giddens's career and writings. The book illustrates the unifying effect Giddens's work has had within the notoriously multi-paradigmatic arena of the social sciences by providing a common reference point for both disciples and critics. For his part, Giddens has been very adept at incorporating criticisms into his intellectual structures in order to repair and strengthen them. Giddens's career should be seen in the context of broader developments within the British social sciences over the past thirty years. He has established himself as the latest representative of a liberal tradition. In this respect his predecessor was T H Marshall. There is a family resemblance between the central themes upon which Marshall and the [later] Giddens focus. Marshall is concerned with the potential conflict between a regime of social rights and a social order governed by the rules of the capitalist market. Giddens explores the difficulty within modern societies of maintaining efficient systems based upon bureaucracy, professional expertise and the globalized market while also constructing meaningful self-identities. Both Marshall and Giddens have a strong belief in the importance of the creatively active individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a very simple theme in sociology. It is so simple that it has tended either to be accepted or neglected but very rarely, it seems, critically reviewed. The sociology of crime and deviance concentrates on the problematics of ruling, rule-enforcement and rule-observance, and one of the neo-Durkheimian tenets held by many of its practitioners is that rules are reinforced and revealed in the boundary-defining work of institutions of social control, and in the work of the law courts above all. it is that tenet which is discussed here, principally by examining its empirical claims. It appears that little or no good empirical evidence is available to support the thesis, and that there are major methodological obstacles to its production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the application of Foucauldian perspectives within sociology. While Foucault's epistemology has generated novel historical and philosophical interpretations, when transposed to sociology, problems arise. The first of these concerns the association of knowledge and power, and the concept of 'discourse'. Foucault suggested that there are 'rules' of discursive formation which are extraneous to the 'non-discursive' realm of 'reality'. This formulation is consequently both deterministic and incapable of supplying explanations of why some practices become discursive which others do not. This determinism is reflected in some sociological analyses of embodiment, offering a model of the 'body' which is passive, and incapable of resisting power/knowledge. Secondly, Foucault's notion of the 'self' moves to the other extreme, inadequately addressing the constraints which affect the fabrication of subjectivity. Sociological accounts do not always recognize the ambiguities which consequently result from efforts to use Foucauldian positions. It is argued that post-structuralists other than Foucault may offer more to sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I outline some of the key ideas within Zygmunt Bauman's sociology; both in terms of his contribution to the creation of a postmodern sociology and his substantive texts. The critique that I develop, is that Bauman's work is assembled upon a modernist notion of `the social' which he not only accepts without question, but which undermines his attempts to devise a distinctly postmodern sociology. His substantive texts still contain many personal insights, but they need not make any use of postmodernist abstractions, which in the last analysis provide little more than a gloss over his own reflections on the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article exposes the developments of qualitative methodology in French sociology with respect to methods proposed by Pierre Bourdieu and Alain Touraine: `provoked and accompanied' self-analysis and the sociological intervention. In addition to the presentation of these two methods, the propose of this article is to describe and discuss the position of these two authors on certain problems such as representativeness, objectivity, status of data, epistemological rupture and lastly on the question of the writing by which sociological knowledge is formed from common sense knowledge contained In the data. This brings to a broader discussion on these questions. The strengths and weaknesses of these two methods are finally examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational action theory (RAT) is not a highly unified intellectual entity. In the first part of the paper, varieties of RAT are distinguished in terms of three criteria: i.e. according to whether they (i) have strong rather than weak rationality requirements; (ii) focus on situational rather than procedural rationality; (iii) claim to provide a general rather than a special theory of action. In the second part, these same criteria are applied in a consideration of which version of RAT holds out most promise for use in sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the sociology of moral panic, this paper argues that the media will shift from alarming to reassuring coverage when a `hot crisis' portends a possible grass root panic. To determine whether this moderation effect follows from dread-inspiring events that are developing in unpredictable and potentially threatening ways, the paper compares newspaper and magazine coverage of emerging diseases with their coverage of Ebola Zaire. The results reveal that the mutation-contagion package, with its frightful account of emerging diseases, was quickly abandoned and subverted during the Ebola epidemic. In its place, the media fashion a containment package that uses a strategy of 'othering' to allay the fear. The conclusion discusses the flexibility in the tool kits used by the media to frame events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional debates over the validity of operationalization in psychological experiments overlook the fact that they often simply dramatize, as opposed to discover, telling social phenomena. Many landmark experiments survive otherwise fatal questioning of their validity because of their moral, ontological or pedagogical relevance. This proposition is examined in the context of the leading social influence studies. Postmodernism suggests that the distinction between research as secular drama and research as rational insight is moot. As a result, the history of the discipline tends to comprise studies that are morally pertinent but scientifically ephemeral. The postmodern experiment is a crisis in operationalism brought about, not by abstraction, but by the pertinence of psychology to social life and by the confusion of the ontological and empirical aspirations of inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hebrew has unique sociological interest as the oldest, in some ways most successful minority literature. There are salient patterns in its development prior to 1948. Most of its major periods of artistic growth occurred under the rule of powerful empires with leading cultures. These include the empires of ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, medieval Islam and Tsarist Russia, whose cultures were highly attractive to substantial numbers of Jews. Imperial crisis in each empire appears to have arrested the process of assimilation. Social instability brought violence against the Jews and caused major upheavals in Jewish demography as well as a psychological turn inward, away from the dominant culture. The result in each case was a revolutionary body of Hebrew literature, influenced decisively by the dominant culture, but asserting Jewish separatism and, to varying degrees, nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A properly sociological definition of the concept of discourse does not exist because the notion has never been detached from the linguistic sphere. Not only linguists and semiologists, but also sociologists, use the word primarily as a linguistic category. The article attempts to define the concept of discourse sociologically. It is argued that a sociologically defined notion should he dissociated from the linguistic realm. As a linguistic category, 'discourse' is either used as a synonym for language or text, or is closely associated with one of these notions. 'Discourse' in a sociological sense should refer to a class of texts. This definition confers upon the concept of discourse an intertextual dimension. Defined in this way, the category can not only become an operative sociological concept, but it also becomes autonomous and is no longer reducible to linguistic or paralinguistic conceptual entities, such as text or language. No longer confined to the linguistic realm, the concept can designate a particular entity which possesses its own existence. Discourse can become a thing in itself The argument is presented in three parts. The first is a critique of the current definitions of the concept 'discourse'. The second proposes, as an alternative, a sociological definition of discourse. Finally the third part applies this new definition in a sociological analysis of journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The succession of governors and other prison managers is usually routine. They are moved as part of a career/promotion plan, but from time-to-time an appointment is unsuccessful. The appointment of a governor unable to meet the expectations of members of staff led to a breakdown in relations and a failure to ensure that the prison was staffed over a holiday. After prison officers withdrew their support and goodwill the governor was transferred. This was an example of what has been called 'forced removal'. From the point of view of the person most affected it is a form of status degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dorfman is eulogized as the creator and curator of the definitive account of Veblen's life and work. He argued that Veblen was the archetypal marginal man and that this explains his dissenting contribution. Dissemination of Dorfman's pathography of Veblen led to its hegemony - until now. Andrew Veblen was the first to challenge Dorfman's portrait of his younger brother's life in the mid 1920s. He asserted that his family were not linguistically, socially or economically deprived. However, it was not until Dorfman's private papers became publicly available in the 1990s, that his flawed view of Veblen became more widely and comprehensively contested. An alternative appreciation of Veblen is advanced with reference to his experiences in general and the works of Bellamy, Morris and Ibsen in particular. Data sources include Dorfman's original tome, Andrew Veblen's extensive correspondence with Dorfman, and Veblen's own writings. It is concluded that Veblen's radical views are entirely congruent with his life experiences during an era of capitalist transformation. The moral of this saga is that a dose of Veblenian scepticism is essential to intellectual health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an analytical framework for the sociological analysis of the clash of economic ideologies. The framework is then used to make sense of the economic debate in South Africa in the 1990s. The argument is that, following Karl Polanyi, we must treat economic life as 'embedded' in social life; that is, economic action is a form of social action. However, the notion of 'embeddedness' must not blind us to the tendency in all economies, especially contemporary market economies, for economic motivations to become differentiated from the rest of our lives. Accordingly, the framework developed through a critique of key assumptions of neoclassical economic theory attends to both the embeddedness and the differentiation of the economic element. Having established a framework of analysis, I apply it to the debate in South Africa about the most relevant frame- work for economic policy in the post-Apartheid economy. The article traces the gradual move of the African National Congress (ANC) away from statist economics to a much more market-oriented policy and shows how this reflects the ANC leaders need to balance the demands of their constituency's (embedded) conception of rationality against the potential investor's more mainstream conception of economic rationality, which is itself embedded in prosperous communities with property and skills. A similar analysis is applied to the development of the economic policy of the ANC's rival, the former ruling National Party (NP). The NP advocates an economic policy framework based on an individual self- reliance and 'free' markets, that is, on an individualistic calculative rationality similar to that of the neoclassical textbooks. However, the NP too has to pursue politics and they, although rather differently from the ANC, have sought to reconcile individual maximizing rationality with the collective rationalities of the oppressed black communities in order to win maximum support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to liberal evolutionary expectations, the world has witnessed a resurgence of ethnic conflicts and nationalist movements since the end of the Cold War. Though it calls into question theories of the demise of nations and nationalism, this revival should not be interpreted as a throwback to earlier nationalisms or a passing phenomenon. Rather, it is one of many resurgences since the French Revolution and it demonstrates once again the power of the resources and trends which reproduce a world of nations and nationalism. These resources include: the uneven distribution of ethno-history and memories of golden ages; the politicization of myths of ethnic election and covenant which inspire peoples with a sense of renewal and glorious destiny; and the power of territorial attachments to ancestral homelands and sacred sites. Even ethnic categories and communities that lack some of these 'deep resources' are stimulated to rediscover or acquire them by the example of influential neighbours. Though the timing of the current ethnic revival is a function of social and geopolitical changes, their contents and intensities are largely determined by pre-existing ethno-symbolic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postmodernism has now established itself as normal science. Sociologist Thomas Kuhn used normal science to refer to the state of affairs, which comes into being when a group of researchers come to accept certain ways of proceeding intellectually as the basis of their future inquiries. These inquiries take for granted some past theoretical innovation, and concentrate on what Kuhn calls puzzles solving. He observes that perhaps the most striking feature of the activities to which normal science is devoted is how little they aim to produce major novelties, conceptual or phenomenal. For many of those working in or studying the social sciences and subjects such as cultural studies postmodernism has now assumed this status. Postmodernism no longer offers the thrill of scandal and transgression it once had. In some parts of the academy at least, it is now assuming the solemn countenance of orthodoxy. Postgraduate theses are written and academic careers launched on the basis of an unquestioning acceptance of the truth of their principal claims. The books under review a mere title of the books devoted to some aspect or other of postmodernism churned out by the academic presses every year bear witness to this condition.

Despite the extensive legal, psychological, historical, and police studies literatures on a range of issues raised by police informants there is, as yet, no adequate sociological model. Proposing a particularly wide framework of inquiry, this article both suggests how such a model might be constructed and considers some of the related public policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than two decades of challenging mainstream sociology, feminist sociology has come of age. Recognizing that the strength of feminist sociology in the early 1990s is the product of considerable struggle and is an achievement to be celebrated, this paper explores the implications of the maturation of the feminist project within sociology. It examines issues concerning the practice of feminist sociology and addresses its current and future theoretical orientations. The relationship of feminist sociology to both the discipline as a whole and to the interdisciplinary area of women's studies is discussed, and the merits of the 'integrationist' versus the 'multiculturalist' strategies are evaluated. The paper then discusses recent concern about 'political correctness' as a form of backlash against the success of feminist work in the academy. The theoretical concerns of the paper focus on the implications of the poststructuralist turn in feminist sociology, and on the turn towards agency which, it is argued, is just beginning. It is concluded that the issues addressed in the paper are some of those which will concern the emerging generation of feminist sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and reception of scientific papers in the academic-industrial complex have been neglected in sociology. In this article the social processes which influence the nature of the scientific paper in that complex are explored in depth by taking a number of controversial medical papers as case studies. The empirical evidence is collected and discussed in the light of sociological theories of normative ethos, paradigm development, reward-induced conformity and social interests in science. It is concluded that within the medical-industrial complex conformity to industrial interests can be a major criterion in defining the kind of reception given to a scientific paper and the professional autonomy of the authors in the paper's production, rather than an ethos of scientific scepticism or commitment to paradigmatic conventions. This is seen to have implications for the production of scientific knowledge -- implications that might be in conflict with the public interest. Consequently, the desirability of current British Government proposals to intensify its policy of making science more responsive to the needs of industry may have significant drawbacks, hitherto unacknowledged in official circles, and in need of more extensive sociological investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the collapse of the Leninist project in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the fluid relations between market and state consequent upon the New Right project of the Reagan and Thatcher eras in the West, citizenship analysis has assumed a central place in the political sociology of democratic societies. However, such analysis is presently characterized by a variety of divergent and, on occasion, contradictory positions. This article proposes that the debates around citizenship can be clarified by recognizing the existence of two conceptions of citizenship. The first of these, state citizenship, involves the identification of citizenship with the elaboration of a formal legal status, co-terminous with the emergence of nation-states and their diverse lineages. The article discusses the two main forms in which this conception appears in the relevant literature: that of full formal membership of a nation-state and that of a distinctive welfare-rights version. Some limitations of the status conception of citizenship are considered and recent political developments in relation to its use in the British context are discussed. A second conception, that of democratic citizenship, is then proposed which involves the elaboration of citizenship around shared membership of a political community, in which conception citizens are political actors constituting political spaces. Some implications of this alternative conception are discussed and exemplified with reference to the possibilities for a European political community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key feature of recent debates within the sociology of organizations has been the tremendous wealth of criticism levelled at the concept and practice of 'bureaucracy'. Indeed, the critique or 'bureaucratic culture' has emerged as something of a 'nodal point' connecting a number of different strands of organizational analysis -- from the overtly populist 'bureaucracy-bashing' prescriptions of contemporary managerial discourse to contemporary feminist analyses of the gendered nature of 'bureaucratic rationality'. This article concentrates upon the critique of bureaucracy deployed within contemporary managerial discourse -- especially as this refers to the ethical conduct of management -- and suggests that it is in crucial respects misplaced. In particular, it emphasizes the 'constitutive relationship' between forms of bureaucratic administration and modern liberal democratic government. In so doing it indicates how the de-differentiation of departments of existence advocated by proponents of contemporary managerial discourse serves to undermine this relationship in certain important respects and with potentially deleterious results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hidden within Max Weber's Ancient Judaism, 'The Sociology of Religion' chapter in Economy and Society, and The Religion of China lies a causal explanation for the rise of monotheism in ancient Israel. Weber's powerful analysis becomes apparent only if reconstructed by reference to central tenets of the causal methodology that underlie his diverse substantive texts. If 'adequate causality' is to be achieved, (a) facilitating and necessary orientations of action, and (b) synchronic and diachronic interactions of action must be present. Yet Weber's causal methodology does not involve simply a 'weighing' of positive or favouring orientations of action against obstructing action; nor does it rely upon linear 'causal chain' procedures. Rather, the conjunctural interactions of patterned action that occur within a context of patterned action are pivotal. This three-stage methodology guides this reconstruction of Weber's analysis of the rise of monotheism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the ubiquitous remedial perspective evident in methodological discussions of the interview and we explicate the presuppositions of such discussions. We contrast this perspective with a view of interviews as interactional events, the organization of which is locally managed and practically accomplished. We then examine a transcript of an interview between a sociological researcher and an educational psychologist, in which psychological referrals and the 'work problems' associated with them are discussed. The analysis is divided into two main parts. In the first we consider the sequential ordering of the cases discussed in the interview. In the second we examine some formulating work through which recognizably sociological data is produced. We show how the 'logic' of educational psychological work is incarnate to the interview and the practices through which it is accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the works of Carl von Clausewitz on the sociology of war. Most of the literature in the war and society genre focuses on the processes of change in national societies, rather than on warfare as such. In Clausewitz's major work, On war, he studied widely in the military, and aspects of his thoughts and writings are continuously referred to by strategic theorists. Even those who disagree with Clausewitz frequently define themselves in opposition to his thought. With the advent of the French revolution, Napoleon and his armies swept the forces of the ancien régime before them. Clausewitz fought against Napoleon, and devoted his life to reflecting on the meaning of Napoleonic warfare. For Clausewitz, absolute war was the essence of war, its tendential inner nature. While real war might be the statistical norm, the true nature of war and had to sought in absolute war. Violence and decisive battle was one answer Clausewitz gave to his question concerning the nature of war. The purpose of the proposition that war is the extension of politics was to assert the rational direction of war as a whole. It is not simply the eruption of unreasoning passion, nor it is merely the result of error or mistakes.

Sociology suffers from a myopic focus on change as fashioned by tests of strength between interests that are settled in favour of the most powerful. A contrary view is that more of the variation in institutional form may be accounted for by configurations of modelling than configurations of power. Yet modelling is structured: the periphery models the core more than the core models the periphery in the world system; subordinates model superordinates more than the reverse. Even so, in the political realm 'model mongering' is a more useful technique for the powerless than the powerful. Model mongers float a variety of models until they find one that catches opponents off balance through striking a resonant appeal to the sense of identity of a people. Because the model frames the terms of the debate, clever model mongering can deliver the weak a decisive advantage over the strong. In this sense, the article supplies a concrete analysis of why we should reject what Hindess calls a capacity-outcome model of how struggles are decided - an analysis that enables one to read off the likely outcome of struggles from a knowledge of the resources backing competing interests. A dialectics of modelling is one key to understanding the major institutional changes that sweep the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mannheim's 1923 essay 'The Problem of Generations' has often been described as the seminal theoretical treatment of generations as a sociological phenomenon. Yet in practice scant attention has been paid to the sociology of generations by British sociologists. This is despite the notion of generation being widespread in everyday language as a way of understanding differences between age groups and as a means of locating individuals and groups within historical time. This paper aims to raise the profile of the sociology of generations within British sociology. It is shown that Mannheim's essay can be read as a text which contributes to our understanding of key sociological issues, in addition to 'the problem of generations'. These issues include the nature of time, the relationship between biology and the social, and socio-psychological connections of language and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the social structures of the 'old socialist' order still have an essential influence upon interest and opinion formation during the current period of political and economic transformation in Poland, the principle role in this regard is played by the position individuals or groups anticipate they will occupy in the future market system. With the lapse of time, the myth of the market is replaced by the privatization of the state sector, unemployment and recession. For many, today's losses are perceived as being greater and more tangible than tomorrow's eventual and hypothetical gains. Furthermore, since the shape of the future system remains obscure, it becomes increasingly difficult to predict the balance sheet of future gains and losses, and so too, the likelihood of obtaining the anticipated social positions. Under such circumstances interests become strongly influenced by stereotypes, prejudices, hopes and anxieties. Following the crystallization of the new social structure and the place occupied within it by various groups (in particular their place in the labour market) the role of anticipation in the shaping of interests dwindles. Interests are increasingly determined by the situation hic et nunc and by personal experience rather than by hopes and apprehensions. So too, the general acceptance of the market myth is transformed into various different opinions and interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of social mobility has been a study of male mobility experiences. That is, not only have females been excluded by intention from these investigations, but, more importantly, it is argued that this omission is justifiable and legitimate. This is particularly so in relation to the British Isles where the heated defence of the traditional position, presently labelled the conventionalist approach, continues to rationalize and justify the exclusion of over one half of the British and Irish population. Drawing together recent North American, British and Australian research, this paper challenges both the theoretical and empirical assumptions of this conventionalist position. Arguing that a woman is neither simply a summation of domestic identities nor is her status one of complete dependency, national and international evidence on the unique and important contribution of women to the occupational attainments of husbands and children, as well as the class reproduction of families in general, is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction to this paper provides a brief review of the literature on religious belief and practice suggesting that much of this remains to be fully assimilated within the sociology of religion. The paper examines the contention that contemporary British religious practice can be characterized as 'believing without belonging'. Drawing on a survey of rural residents in five areas of England, the paper suggests that a majority of people express high levels of religious belief and a sense of belonging to a particular denomination. Formal religious observance is, however, low. Through a detailed examination of attitudes to the Church of England, a picture emerges of a populace with a well developed sense of the role of the Church and its clergy which is, in the main, affirmative and positive. An important question remains as to why such sentiment is so unevenly transmitted into formal religious observance such as regular attendance at church services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses Durkheim's Latin thesis on Montesquieu, published 100 years ago, and concentrates on what it tells us about his own rather than Montesquieu's views. The thesis underlines Durkheim's commitment to a comparative social science, hence to the idea of the normal, but also to the need to get at a society's essential nature and dynamic. There are two routes to the normal -- observation of the general and explanation in terms of such a dynamic -- and Durkheim worries if they might diverge. Like Montesquieu, he looks for 'necessary connections which follow from the nature of things', but hits problems both over externalist versus internalist and final versus efficient explanation, while his justified reservations with functionalism miss the power and point of explanation in terms of a self-realizing dynamic. The thesis is evidence of continuing tensions in his work between emphases on tendencies towards system and on conflict and change, and between emphases on morphology and on ideas. His modern social dynamic consists of two interdependent elements, the division of labour and individualism-humanism, corresponding with the 'structures' and 'principles' of Montesquieu's theory. Finally, the complexities are examined of Durkheim's lifelong ambition to get from science to ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper poses the issue of distributive justice in terms of the relationship between social class, social mobility and educational attainment, in contemporary Britain. Having discussed various conceptions of justice which might vindicate class inequality, the authors investigate empirically the specifically meritocratic defence, and report survey data suggesting that the effect of class origins on class destinations is only partially mediated by educational achievement. Class privilege can compensate for educational failure. Gender is also significant since women tend to fare worse than men with similar class origins and credentials. This evidence undermines the claim that Britain is a meritocratic society and supports the suggestion that only by political intervention can equality of opportunity be rendered compatible with significant and structured inequality of outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that methodology and sociology of science need to be actively integrated for the benefit of both. The approach can overcome important difficulties which have arisen in the history of the sociology of science. It can be used to develop alternative views of science and its institutions which may be appraised both philosophically and empirically. It is quite trivial to claim that sociology alone is sufficient to give an adequate picture of the whole of science. But the view that methodology should be integrated with the sociology of science is quite controversial. Attempts to preclude methodologies as background knowledge for the sociology of science seem paradoxical. The encouragement various methodologies offer the discipline has been gladly accepted. But sociologists of science fear that the integration of specific philosophical background knowledge into the sociology of science would divide the sociology into schools, lead it to isolation or lead it into a discussion of philosophical instead of sociological questions. As a consequence, sociologists have no means of judging whether what they study is good or real science. They confuse the practice with the ideal.

Although capitalism in Britain has undergone numerous modifications since the First World War, it is questionable whether these can be claimed to amount to an evolution from one to another sub-type of the capitalist mode of production. In this article, it is argued that between 1915 and 1922 there evolved in Britain a sub-type of the capitalist mode of production which was indeed qualitatively different from the sub-type which had lasted from roughly 1880 until 1914, but that there is no such qualitative difference between the capitalism of the 1920s and that of the 1980s. Two general conclusions are suggested to follow in view of the persistent tendency of both contemporary and subsequent commentators to exaggerate the significance of such changes as have occurred: first, descriptions of what changes feel like to those involved in them are a misleading indicator of how much has actually changed and why; second, changes are too often interpreted as trends when they are in fact only phases of a cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are many interpretations of the central themes of Talcott Parsons's sociology, it is evident that the idea of citizenship played a major role in shaping the core of his mature social thought. In addition to specific discussions of citizenship in relation to black inequality and participation, of the historical roots of universal participation in the societal community, and of the political openness and pluralism of American society, the problems of universalistic participation were in fact analytically crucial to Parsonian sociology. In other words, the theme of universalistic values was not merely an empirical issue, and not merely an aspect of political questions in his occasional essays and papers, but it coloured the basic components of Parsons's work as a theorist. For example, the notion of universalism defined one possible mode of orientation to action in the pattern variables, being contrasted with particularism. The pattern variables were not merely a passing phase in Parsons's long theoretical maturation; they were fundamental to what he understood by 'modernity'. They were as a result constitutive of Parsons's understanding of social change theory and modernization processes. Indeed, this theme of universalistic participation, its dependence on the legacy of the Protestant idea of universal salvation and its peculiar role in the formation of western societies, was a co-ordinating theme in Parsons's complex theoretical legacy. In addition to its importance in his theoretical development, it was the foundation of the pressuppositional level of his general value position, because Parsons regarded American society as the culmination of the process of modernity which, as we will see, was a process of universalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is currently a very significant sector and force in the economic regeneration or micro-modernisation of old industrial cities in western society. This 'new urban tourism' has, along with tourism in general been little studied in sociology. This paper focuses on one aspect of this field, namely the staging of cultural or sporting mega-events. Social science interest in mega-events tends to be dominated by economic impact studies. This paper attempts to go beyond a narrow economistic approach and explores the wider socio-economic impacts of mega-events. It also suggests that we need to take account of a range of contexts (from macro-level post-industrial/post-national shifts to micro level urban politics and tourism strategy formation), if we are to develop a sociologically adequate understanding of touristic mega-events and their contemporary social significance. The paper throughout takes the opportunity presented by mega-event analysis to discuss some of the main issues involved in developing a structural sociological and political economic account of tourism events and policies. The focus of the paper on income, employment and economic modernisation impacts means that the cultural impacts of urban tourism are not dealt with in any detail. However the paper concludes by briefly considering (a) tourism as a cultural phenomenon (indeed as one of the archetypal forms of the 'post-modern' culture of modernity) and thus (b) the need for the sociology of tourism to attempt to comprehend tourism's various different dimensions (i.e. economic, political and cultural). It is suggested that dialectical forms of conceptualisation will be needed in addition to empirical studies if the sociology of tourism is to respond adequately to the challenge of its subject matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of a sequence of literary frames suggests that a heightened experience of interactional reality is also anomically constructive of the frame. In each of 16 frames, Durkheimian anomie neither destroys the frame's integrity nor renders its routine grounds unintelligible, as Goffman and Garfinkel would claim it must. Paradoxically, anomie ritually intensifies the frame. The selves in the paper's sequence of highly ritualized frames are not routine selves, however. They are 'strangers to themselves.' The analysis shows how Mead's 'I' can re-emerge from Goffman's ritual thinking -- where the T is collapsed into an interactionally-bound 'me' -- as an original manifestation of great importance to interactants, and therefore to society as well. (Parenthetically it is also argued that selves need an element of rituality in order to be selflike and that it is interactional rituality which guarantees the evolution of social life beyond given frames, corpora, cultural repertoires, and collective representations.) The idea that interactants can be strangers to themselves is an advance on Goffman's and Garfinkel's accounts of interactional selfhood, but one that problematizes the prosecution of the interaction sociology that Goffman and Garfinkel pioneer, since strangers to themselves disappear in normal sociological appearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation between class and delinquency often observed in areal studies and assumed in prominent sociological theories is elusive in studies of individuals commonly used to test these theories. A restricted conceptualization of class in terms of parental origins and the concentration of self-report survey designs on adolescents in school have removed from this area of research street youth who were once central to classic studies of delinquency. We argue that street youth experience current class conditions that cause serious delinquency, and that life on the street is an important intervening variable that transmits indirect effects of control and strain theory variables, including parental class origins. Data gathered from nearly 1000 Toronto school and street youth are analyzed with important implications for the conceptualization of class and delinquency, testing and integrating sociological theories of delinquency, the measurement of delinquency, and the use of cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs. Our findings especially encourage incorporation of street-based samples into research on class-based aspects of theories of delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marxian theory of social class has always been troubled by the fact that the coalitions that individuals form have not, by and large, been consistent with the pattern of asset ownership. The purpose of this paper is to add another dimension to some of the existing approaches to this 'goodness-of-fit' problem. This is done by using n-person game theory to examine the coalitions that individuals would be expected to form in a struggle over division of the surplus. This provides a partial analysis of fragmentation within the working class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two quite different approaches to the problem of class formation were examined. Implicit in the first, used primarily by social historians, is the notion that the presence or absence of a predisposition to radicalism is the main determinant of organized working-class behavior. Here, class formation involves the development of revolutionary class consciousness. The second, used primarily by political scientists, employs deductive models to analyze class formation as a routine problem in collective organization. By placing the insights provided by the social history perspective into a rational choice framework, the existence of contrasting modes of class formation is hypothesized. Differences in labor militancy serve as the key intervening variable between more particularistic and more universalistic labor movements. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century aggregate cross-sectional data from 14 capitalist democracies is used to examine the relationship between contemporary labor militancy and particular historical structural conditions. Distinct modes of class formation are the product of specific structural characteristics. Labor movement particularism, as represented by higher strike rates in recent years, is strongest where the lag between democratization and industrialization is minimal and industrialization commenced relatively early,, while greater time between democratization and industrialization and late industrialization are associated with low militancy and solidaristic labor movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to challenge selected aspects of Professor J. A. Banks' discussion of Morris Ginsberg's view of the place of historical research in sociological work as they are presented in 'From Universal History to Historical Sociology' (BJS, rot. LX, no. 4, 1989:521-43). Specifically, it challenges Professor Banks' argument that Ginsberg believed that sociologists need not -- perhaps even should not -- do their own empirical research; that they should rely instead on historians and other disciplinary specialists for their data. It is true that Ginsberg was dismissive of a narrow positivist conception of empiricism and of sociology as a science more generally. At the same time, however, he saw empirical research (historical research included) as a necessary part of the sociological enterprise. Indeed, while the formulation of an all-inclusive theory of social development was the first purpose of general sociology, this was not possible without empirical contributions from a variety of smaller-scale specialized sociologies. Thus, it was not a question of historians doing one thing and sociologists another, but a question of emphasis. The paper concludes by noting that part of the difficulty in determining Ginsberg's position on this issue and other related theoretical matters is that, following Hobhouse, he styled himself as a 'rational empiricist'. According to this perspective, which from the dominant contemporary perspective incorrectly conflates philosophy and science (and sociology), the rational analysis of values can be described as a 'scientific' endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional codes and guidelines and literature on ethical issues in social research generally subscribe to the view that open methods of research are virtuous whereas covert ones are unethical. In particular ethical conduct is assured in the acquisition of the informed consent of participants. This paper is concerned with unethical aspects of open methods. It is suggested that researchers perceive negotiations with participants as situations of conflict and normally prevail by virtue of superior and practised skills. While research subjects are told that participation is voluntary, their defences -- in particular of their privacy -- are systematically eroded. Invasion is inherent in the textbook paradigm of the interview. Consent becomes a licence and the self-esteem of the investigator is measured in terms which run counter to the interests of subjects. It is argued that consent is a procedure which protects not the participants of social research but the researchers themselves, from whom moral responsibility for adverse consequences immediately passes. One of the implications of the practices surveyed is that ethical principles for social research should be safeguarded less in prescriptions of acceptable procedures than in the recognition of moral obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant role of Soviet sociologists in initiating the dual processes of perestroika and glasnost' has provided an unusual example of sociologists actively participating in social change. This article locates this development within longer term changes in the position of sociology in the Soviet Union. Emerging from the post-Stalinist thaw, sociology struggled to emancipate itself from both ideological and political constraints. After phases of expansion and retrenchment, contradictory developments moved towards a possible resolution through active involvement in the processes of critique which led perestroika. The article concludes with a plea for a positive response to Soviet sociology's wish for assistance and co-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the notions of system and social integration in Habermas' theory of communicative action. It points out that Habermas links the above concepts both with the action/system distinction as developed by Lockwood and with a distinction between two modes of action co-ordination: one based on communicative rationality and the other on coercion. The conflation of the two distinctions and Habermas' attempt to link both of them to Parsons' AGIL scheme create serious problems which affect his overall theoretical project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]