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Based upon research in the state of Bihar, India, this article argues that informal access to medicines in Northern India is a core element of the government of healthcare. Informal providers such as unlicensed village doctors and unlicensed drug sellers play a major role in access to medicines in Bihar, in the particular context of the dismantling of public procurement services. Building on recent works in the socio-anthropology of pharmaceuticals, the article shows the importance of taking into account the political economy of drugs in India, in order to understand local problems of access more fully. If informal providers occupy such an important position in the government of healthcare in India, this is partly due to the shaping of healthcare as access to drugs on health markets. Elaborating the argument from interviews with health professionals and patients, the article first shows the situation of public healthcare and public procurement in Bihar; then it presents the role of informal medicine providers; lastly, it shows how patients deal with the fact that they live in a ‘pharmaceutical world’ where access to health equates with access to medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the distinction between expressive and instrumental motives, six theoretical mechanisms for the formation of trust relationships are elaborated and empirically tested. When expressive motives drive tie formation, individuals primarily attach emotional value to social relationships. Three mechanisms have been tested: the homophily, the balancing, and the gossiping effect. When instrumental, control-related, motives drive tie formation, actors strategically establish relationships because of their potential use for the realization of material benefits or the avoidance of material losses. Again, three mechanisms have been tested: the signalling, the sharing group and the structural hole effect. Longitudinal data come from a sociometric panel study of 17 members of the management team of a German paper factory. Actor-oriented statistical modelling shows that all effects significantly affect trust formation separately. In a simultaneous test incorporating all six mechanisms, the pattern of structural holes turns out to be the major predictor of network evolution. The implications of structural hole theory for modelling the evolution of intra-organizational networks are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comprehensive uptake of geographical indication (GI) worldwide suggests that global trade is at the threshold of mainstreaming protections for heritage agri-food specialties. The European GI model is in ascendance thanks to a campaign of institutional entrepreneurship that engendered a powerful macro-organization leading the rapid diffusion of sui generis GI. Through its success in recruiting the intellectual property regimes of most East Asian countries into the European orbit of trade and cultural production, it has become hegemonic, with the potential for 'crowding out' useful pre-existing mechanisms of heritage food protection or displacing exchange in agri-food specialties still embedded in the moral economy. Although this new global standard is shaped by the process of integration into new milieux, this paper finds that latent post-colonial tendencies in the European GI model and its poor capacity at self-reflection in the face of inefficiency compromises its potentially unifying role in the heritage food world order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section introduces several articles related to Chinese sociology, published in the December 1989 issue of the Journal International Sociology.

To explore how people attribute meanings to climate change in Taiwan, this study applied social representations theory (SRT) to develop a self-report semi-structured questionnaire that was used to collect data. To fill a research gap, structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to examine the determinants of social representation factors that may affect the public's intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). Exploratory factor analysis results obtained from 180 valid online responses indicated four factors for social representations of climate change, namely Emerging Climate Change Risk, Media Coverage and Influence, Psychological Distance, and Pro-environmental Behavior Intentions. The results of SEM analysis obtained from the total of 245 valid online and paper-and-pencil responses revealed that Emerging Climate Change Risk and Media Coverage and Influence helped explain the public's PEBs intentions, but Psychological Distance did not. This exploratory study provides preliminary knowledge of public understanding of and response toward climate change in the Taiwanese society and demonstrates a novel application of SEM analysis to test the direct effects of social representations of climate change on PEB intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with 2010 International Sociologists Association (ISA) Worldwide Competition for Junior Sociologists winners Rachel Busbridge and Sunne Billingsley is presented. When asked about the winning paper submitted, Rachel tells that her research focuses on the politics of recognition for Arab-Australians while Sunnee made a paper on the social effects of market reform in post-Communist nations. Both Busbridge and Billingsley were recognized as competition winners at the ISA Gottenburg Congress in July 2010.

The paper analyses and explains the appeal of the concepts of profession and professionalism and the increased use of these concepts in different occupational groups, work contexts and social systems. The paper begins with a brief preliminary section on defining the field where it is suggested that a shift of focus is required from a preoccupation with defining 'profession' to analysis of the appeal to 'professionalism' as a motivator for and facilitator of occupational change. Then the paper examines two past, alternative and contrasting, sociological interpretations of professionalism (as normative value system and as ideology of occupational powers). In the third section the paper argues that, in the 1990s, a third interpretation has developed which includes both normative and ideological elements. Sociologists have returned to the concept of professionalism in attempts to understand occupational and organizational change and the prominence of knowledge work in different social systems and global economies. The fourth section returns to the question of the appeal of the concept of professionalism in promoting and facilitating occupational change, and considers how the balance between the normative and ideological elements of professionalism is played out differently in occupational groups in very different employment situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive post-war migrations have posed a fundamental challenge to the nation-states of North-Western Europe. Constructing an ideal-typical model of nation-state membership, this paper begins by specifying the multiply anomalous character of the membership status of immigrants. Next, it seeks to explain the striking and persisting difference in the citizenship status and chances of immigrants in France and Germany. While birth and residence in France automatically transform second-generation immigrants into citizens, birth and residence in Germany have no bearing on citizenship. Vis-à-vis immigrants, the French citizenry is defined expansively, as a territorial community, the German citizenry restrictively, as a community of descent. These diverging definitions of the citizenry embody and express distinctive understandings of nationhood, state-centred and assimilationist in France, ethnocultural and `differentialist' in Germany. Focusing on pivotal moments in the shaping and reshaping of citizenship law -- the 1880s in France, the Wilhelmine era in Germany -- this paper argues that the politics of citizenship vis-à-vis immigrants has been informed by distinctive national self-under-standings, deeply rooted in political and cultural geography and powerfully reinforced at particular historical conjunctures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comment is stimulated by Max Haller's contribution The Challenge for Comparative Sociology in the Transformation of Europe which appeared in the 1990 issue of International Sociology, and takes it as a starting point and as a challenge for some basic reflections on how to approach the emerging European society. This article gives a short abstract of Haller's argument and appreciates its merits and examines some of his propositions. This will allow the author to formulate a significantly different position. The last paragraph draws some conclusions. Although he does not make this point extremely explicit, the intention behind Haller's paper is, in the author's perception, to demonstrate that Europe is an optimal constellation for making international and intercultural comparisons. Thus, the problems he has to solve are what to compare with what, why, and how. But it is clear that in his view Europe forms an entity, with nations as sub-units. The paper's argument starts with crisis phenomena in Europe and continues to describe Europe's striking internal differentiation. The unity and diversity of Europe are seen as optimal preconditions for comparative research, where unity means external delimitation and internal interlinkage, and diversity means internal differentiation.

The four articles that appeared in the 1990 issue of the journal "International Sociology," by William Rogers Brubaker; Dongno Kim, Solomon Mombeshora and Nao Oyama, have won the first Worldwide Competition for Young Sociologists that the International Sociological Association (ISA) launched in 1988. The fifth winning paper, by Lu Jianhua, will be published in the March 1991 issue of the journal "International Sociology." All authors are under 35 years of age. Being the top winners of an international competition for young intellectuals, these papers could be read as indicators of the topics and ways of thinking characteristic of the rising generation. However, that they deserve first to be read for what they are: to put it simply, first-grade articles. Started three years ago in very hazardous conditions, this first Worldwide Competition ended up landing in its net a rich catch of 335 papers written in ten different languages and coming from all parts of the world. As such it was not only a competition; it was also an experiment, yielding unexpected and at times very surprising results. This is why it may be of interest to retrace, however briefly, its short history and salient features. The idea of such a competition was first put forward in March 1987 by Margaret Archer, who had in summer 1986 been elected President of the International Sociological Association for four years. Chairing the first meeting of the new Executive Committee, making people understand that ISA finances were quite low, she nevertheless expressed her wish to reach out towards the immense regions of the so-called Third Worlds where the ISA was little known.

Theoretically, this paper deals with two problems: firstly, how we can understand the relationship between the macro social structure and micro individual social action, and secondly, if the modernisation theorists failed to explain the process of modernisation, how we can grasp the radical social change which has occurred in Third World countries in recent decades. With this general theoretical orientation, this paper investigates the transformation of a social norm, familism, in Korea during her transition from peasant society to industrial society. This paper argues that, although there are some ideological elements, such as Confucianism and nationalism, social actions of Korean people in both traditional and contemporary society have been strongly motivated by their economic and political interests. This tendency is especially prominent among urban middle- and upper-class people in modern Korean society, who were beneficiaries of economic growth since the 1960s. Under the distorted structural conditions of industrialisation, these people actively transformed traditional familism into modern, amoral familism. In the end, the pursuit of individual interests and rationality in the process of industrialisation has brought about collective irrationality, destroying the traditional cooperative mechanisms of human interaction in peasant society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe today seems to be undergoing a serious crisis. Its several sub-regions and nations, however, are affected very differently by it. Does Europe constitute a meaningful unit from a social scientific point of view at all? The paper argues that this is the case because of its common historical-cultural heritage and because of the increasing density of direct interrelationships between its nations and peoples. Nevertheless, internal differentiations continue to make of this `continent' one of the most complex and variegated culture areas in the world. Three dimensions are of particular relevance in this regard: (a) the level of socio-economic development; (b) linguistic-cultural and religious traditions; (c) the type of political system. If we allocate 25 of the larger European nation-states to this 3-dimensional typology, we can demonstrate a limited number of relatively internally homogeneous clusters of nations. These are distinguished from each other not only in terms of political system, but also in terms of socio-economic development, language and religion. The paper concludes with the thesis that the macro-context Europe' constitutes an ideal base for carrying out international comparisons and pleads for making full use of this potential by including all European nations in such comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decivilising processes are what happens when civilising processes go into reverse; both terms are used here in a specific technical sense derived from the work of Norbert Elias (The Civilising Process, 2 vols., 1978/1982, orig. 1939). The first part of the paper briefly sketches aspects of the theory of civilising processes necessary for identifying symptoms of their reversal. It is inferred that true decivilising processes would be marked by breaking links and shorter chains of social interdependence, associated with higher levels of danger and incalculability in everyday life, the re-emergence of violence into the public sphere and a decline in mutual identification, reduced pressures on individuals to restrain the expression of impulses (including the freer expression of aggressiveness), changes in socialisation and personality formation, and increasing fantasy-content of modes of knowledge. The second part of the paper examines evidence relating to four candidates for the label `decivilising process'. The debate about the `permissive society' suggests that this was `decivilising' in a very limited sense: it involved a `highly controlled decontrolling of emotional controls'. Evidence of an upturn in violence in contemporary United States and British society is examined next; the data of Gurr, Stone and Dunning suggest the long- term trend was until recently downwards. The Holocaust and other instances of mass murder are discussed next. Finally, it is proposed that the clearest cases of decivilising processes would be those where trends could be observed over at least three generations; evidence should be sought in the collapse of complex societies (such as the Roman Empire) and episodes such as the Thirty Years War and its aftermath, and the so-called `Wild West'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese migration to the province of British Columbia, Canada, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries occurred in the context of a shortage of labour. Two classes of Chinese migrated to Canada: unfree wage labourers and petit bourgeois traders, merchants and commodity producers. Both classes were the subjects of a process of racialisation to the extent that social significance was attached to patterns of phenotypical variation. But 'white' people of different class backgrounds articulated different racialised representations of the Chinese in Canada. This paper roots these differential processes of radalisation, some of which also entailed an ideology of racism, in the lived experiences and contradictions which different classes of 'white' people in British Columbia faced. It suggests that racism is not a homogeneous ideology which is imposed on the working class by a ruling class, but rather an ideology which comes 'from below' and which is an attempt on the part of class actors to make sense of and interpret the world. The paper calls for an examination of the various racisms which have accompanied the process of capitalist development both historically and cross-culturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that the analysis of racism in Japan can be advanced by taking note of theoretical arguments produced in the context of studies of European racisms. Specifically, the paper discusses the relationship between racism and nationalism, and argues that this relationship can be understood only if the ideological character of the notion of 'race' is recognised. The significance of racist ideology in the discourses of the state during the period of the Japanese colonial empire is analysed and some implications of this analysis for the situation of minority populations in contemporary Japan are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper, which follows Max Weber's 'The Economic Ethics of World Religions' in form and spirit, tries to depict the motivations of economic activity in prerevolutionary Russia. This first part of the paper analyses, on the one hand, the patrimonial-bureaucratic Muscovite state with its system of liturgies and, on the other hand, the Russian-Orthodox Church which, in contrast to the Western development, became integrated in the patrimonial state, and finally the Russian-Orthodox religion which can be characterised by its three aspects as magical-traditional, ritual and mystical. It led to an attitude of world indifference rather than world domination and did not produce independent powers W break open the patrimonial state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can one explain the striking discrepancy between the globalisation -- during the eighties on a planetary scale -- of practices formerly identified with new social movements in the West and the `pessimism' of the theories which usually do not even include in their field these new movements? This discrepancy is due to the application to the movements of the eighties of a conceptual framework worked out for the movements of the seventies. Hence the necessity of a new conceptual framework, which is developed here through the analysis of the contemporary peace movement and applied to the various other movements which have emerged recently around international issues. The paper proposes, first, to analyse the peace movement as a problem-centred, three-dimensional movement which is aimed at the conflictualisation of the security issue and engenders a double process of citizen empowerment and alternative problem-solving. Through this analysis it brings to light, secondly, the new pattern of social movement and the new mechanisms of social change, in order to develop, finally, a new definition of contemporary society as self-creative society, characterised by its auto-creativity: by its new capacity to invent and realise, and therefore to choose, its own futures in an autonomous manner. The central argument concerns this new paradigm and the question `what is at stake' in self-creative society. Through this new definition, the paper seeks to offer a genuinely new manner in which to address the problem concerning the centrality of new social conflicts and the unity of social movements in our self-creative global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the new role of time in social theory, beyond the dissatisfaction with theories of change. This is done by identifying four developments: the clarification of historically independent processes, the new critique of positivism. the re-evaluation of 'micro sociology' and the emphasis on self-reference. These are specified on the basis of the work of Giddens and Luhmann, and related to the concept of time used by these authors. I argue that their predominantly naturalistic sui generis concept of time cannot do justice to the theoretical programmes they are implementing, and propose to focus instead on temporality and its conceptualisation. Temporality is defined on the basis of an invariant core that can be abstracted from the variety of operational culture-specific concepts of time. The paper closes with a discussion of some of the consequences of this shift from (naturalistic) time to social temporality [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper in the sociology of knowledge explores the influence of common sense on the theories produced by the human sciences. These theories very often include principles drawn from what can be called commonsensical linguistics, epistemology and logics. Because of their familiarity, these principles go often unnoticed, or are perceived as 'going without saying', however. So, a theory can easily be perceived as true while it is false, or as more valid than it deserves to be, if it includes beside its explicit statements implicit unnoticed commonsensical statements, which, although valid in everyday life, are not of universal validity. The theory developed in the paper identifies a typical process by which theories or ideas can easily gain much more credibility than they deserve. It is illustrated by several famous examples drawn from economics, sociology and the philosophy of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis of the identity patterns of Muslims and Christians. the two largest minority communities in India, based on a field study in Lucknow. The focus of the paper is on ethnicity' as a social construction of reality by the individual as a member of the minority ethnic group. The self-society axis in the ethnic sphere of existence manifested in private and public identities has been studied from the perspective of the phenomenological sociology of knowledge. Theoretical partnership with structural Marxism permits the construction of a mapping of 14 identity categories of minoritiness-minoritisation for 230 case histories which cast doubt on mechanistic and monolithic notions of minority communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes up the question of historical subjects, social agency and working-class consciousness by examining a recent case, that of the role of industrial workers in the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution and in the political and social struggles of the Islamic Republic. Combining structural analysis and an interview with a founding member of a radical factory council in Tabriz, the paper examines the linkages between economic development, social structure and class politics, suggesting that cultural and economic arrangements are critical factors in understanding working-class consciousness and politics, and workers' capacity for both independent action (i.e. as part of the industrial proletariat) and collective action (i.e. as part of a mass, revolutionary movement). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the theoretical framework developed in the first paper ('Unfulfilled Systemic Functions of Social Mobility: A Theoretical Scheme'), we analyse the Polish case. We argue that the contribution of collective mobility to politico-revolutionary legitimation processes has been minimal and the contribution of individual mobility to the economic development and to economico-reformist legitimation processes has also been negligible. Our research strategy has been to demonstrate that many aspects of mobility processes taking place in Poland are incompatible with conditions that we have listed in the first paper as conducive to the formation of legitimation beliefs and the sustenance of economic efficiency. Specifically we demonstrate that (1) because collective mobility of the working class and the peasantry encompassed several changes in their economic and cultural positions but did not include major changes in their political position, it could not contribute to the politico-revolutionary legitimation and (2), because individual mobility did not occur according to the qualificational/occupational principle of allocation, promotion and remuneration, it could not contribute to the economico-reformist legitimation nor could it sustain effective utilisation of human resources in economic development. We conclude that the chance to use mobility for the systems's benefit has been wasted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the views of some Marxists, we are firmly convinced that social mobility is not a 'bourgeois problematic'. We believe that, given certain preconditions, mobility processes may contribute significantly to the effective functioning of a socialist socio-economic system. In this respect they have great potential but the effective utilization of that potential is problematic. So far the sociology of socialist countries has paid little attention to the systemic meaning of social mobility. In an attempt to change this state of affairs, we are endeavouring here to pave the way for research into two possible functions of mobility for the social system.' By such functions, we understand: (a) the legitimation of the social and political system; (b) an incentive to processes of economic development and to efficiency. Two types of mobility are distinguished in this text and linked to their potential contribution to the functioning of the socio-political system. The collective-class type mobility is considered relevant to 'politico-revolutionary' legitimation, and individual occupational-qualificational type mobility is considered relevant for both 'economico-reformist' legitimation and incentive for economic growth and efficiency. In this paper the authors try to develop a theoretical scheme for sociological and historical analysis, and in a following paper they spell out some tentative substantive hypotheses related to the Polish case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China now has the world's most rapidly growing economy. Since 1949, China's historic developments make it unique among East Asia's flourishing economies. The regimentation of knowledge through a focus on classical studies and narrow specialization has been a traditional means of social control in China. In 1978, China began a series of economic reforms which included an openness to the world outside. These reforms have made a free market an integral part of the Chinese economy, transforming higher education in China. This paper describes the various ways in which the free market has altered higher education and provides current evidence to support the analysis. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these changes for higher education and future developments in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the meaning of war as it is articulated in war veterans' life stories and with the intespretive-phenomenological mechanisms through which the war experience is integrated into the course of their lives. The research is based on 63 life stories of Jewish Israeli men (all names are pseudonyms) who fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as part of their regular military service, in a variety of roles half of them held combat positions and half were support staff The stories were chosen from a clearly defined social group: middle-class, educated and secular men. The analysis of their life stories was derived from a phenomenological conceptual framework. The claim of this paper is that Just as war is institutionalised and normalised into the Israeli macrosocial order, so too the individual integrates and co-opts it into his personal biography. Israeli soldiers do not represent the experience of war as a traumatic experience but rather as a `normalised experience' in their lives, contrary to the findings reported in the general literature about war veterans. The life stories reveal two interpretive-phenomenological mechanisms used by interviewees in normalising the war experience the contiguous (the experience is integrated in the course of life by means of previous social knowledge) interpretation of war and the dual interpretation (the war is simultaneously part of and outside life) of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within modernity, social identity and solidarity are deemed to be conflicting terms. What has been called the 'culture of difference' triggers a weak solidarity anywhere. If this is really so, how can we explain the rise of new 'social solidarities' -- a phenomenon which is occurring throughout Europe along with concomitant processes of fragmentation and differentiation? The general argument of this paper is that conflicts between social identities and solidarities cannot be understood in terms of a clash between individual and holistic perspectives. We need a relational perspective. From this angle, the paper tries to explain why and how a post-modern (societal) balance between social solidarity and social identities (i.e., a new citizenship) is emerging today, firm the society rather than from the state, in such a way as to build new forms of interdependences and links between identities and solidarities. Sociologically speaking, it may be that a new 'societal semantics' is emerging, according to which citizenship is a complex of rights and duties not only of individuals but also of social groups, arranging civic life into several 'universalistic autonomies' capable of reconciling collective goals and self-management practices, solidarity and identity issues. This is the new challenge for post-modern societies; the name of this new game is 'societal citizenship' or citizenship of social autonomies, including regional ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the relationship between mass politics, elections and African social structure, and draws examples from Botswana, Somalia, Algeria and other African countries, Mass politics and elections were introduced in Africa immediately after political independence. The paper argues that the African social structure was a stabilising factor in African countries if incorporated within modern political institutions as a separate entity with a certain extent of autonomy. The major problems that African countries are facing are political instability and economic dependency. Political and economic factors played an important role during the transition to democracy. Elections were not independent variables. Countries that maintained a certain amount of traditional structure were more likely to experience political stability than countries which failed to recognise traditional structures. Botswana since independence has experienced more political stability than countries such as Somalia and Algeria where traditional structures disappeared overnight. Countries with better economic management are also more likely to sustain political stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenology enjoys striking popularity in Eastern Europe. For those concerned with phenomenology before the collapse of communism it was an antidote to Marxism in its Soviet version. Its popularity was due to the perhaps naive striving for a true philosophy not manipulated by politics, in that its idealism was interpreted as a protest against the materialistic degradation of the human being. What would Husserl say if he was told about this role of phenomenology? Perhaps he would it consider it as self-evident. His allegedly completely apolitical philosophy had political ambitions, since the struggle for phenomenology was for him not merely a philosophical discussion, but a political struggle with pragmatists, advocates of Realpolitik, nationalists and traditionalists. This paper analyses phenomenology as a radical social philosophy which aimed at the revolutionary renewal of European culture. Well-known for his inclination to work on details and for an arduous theoretical analysis, Husserl was not an advocate of small steps in politics. His political philosophy is then contrasted with that of Helmuth Plessner. From Plessner's point of view Husserl's programme can be seen as a manifestation of the striving for the abolition of society and its replacement by community. In his defence of society, Plessner developed a philosophy of the public sphere as a sphere of social roles, prestige ceremonial, tact and diplomacy, in which the absolute character of the Ego is negated in contact with others. The paper poses questions such as which of these philosophies is more adequate for our time and whether the way shown by Husserl in his programmatic writings is still open to us today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a conflict interpretation of environmentalism, seeing it as a vehicle through which the cultural politics of Irish development are reproduced and enacted. Contrasting two environmental movements in Ireland, one based around established conservation organisations and a developing environmental 'knowledge elite', the other located within populist movements for rural community development, the author argues that these articulate opposed understandings of recent Irish history: as a process of cultural modernisation or as one of peripheral (under)development. The two movements are also characterised by very different attitudes to the part played in environmental matters by the Irish state. The paper ends by discussing how recent intervention into environmental management by the state itself may ironically be providing the ground on which some dialogue between the two movements is becoming possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to tackle some basic problems regarding sociological theory construction, especially for modern societies. The proposed approach is methodological, although it touches on some basic philosophical problems. On the basis of two assumptions (difference from the natural sciences and narrow coverage), five methodological theses are proposed: I. observation through linguistic signs; 2. explanation by macro-elements; 3. qualitativity; 4. dynamical explanations; 5. partial explanations. The paper deals with combinations of these theses with their implications. A case is briefly described to illustrate the application of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic processes are usually considered responsible for creating and maintaining inequality This paper posits that socio political ideology and societal norms interact with the existing economic processes to shape sex segregation and inequality. The paper focuses on the economic development of Israel together with concurrent normative and ideological shifts, and analyses their impact upon women's participation in the labour force, the structure of sex segregation and the failure of Israeli women to attain equality. The analysts shows that although socialisms main premise is equality for all and capitalism offers equality for similarly endowed persons, the latter provides better opportunities to reduce gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses South Korean development, which has been hailed as a `miracle' by many scholars. It identifies four factors as necessary to South Korea's economic growth: cheap labour, land reform, the developmentalist state, and the international political economy. The paper questions the facile celebration of the `miracle', and stresses some of the costs of South Korean development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we outline a general evolutionary theory, which we suggest can provide a useful point of departure for the description and analysis of cultural and institutional dynamics. The paper defines culture and institutions as systems of social rules, produced and reproduced by human groups, and formulates the evolutionary dynamics of such rule systems. In the context of the resurgence of evolutionary thinking in the social sciences in the last decade, we distinguish between contemporary evolutionary approaches and earlier developmental approaches. By evolutionary we mean models of the generation of variety, transmission of information and the operation of selection and other processes (migration, distorted or incorrect knowledge transmission etc.) on the distribution of information within and between populations over time. The key units of information consists of social rules, the production, reproduction and transformation of which is the focus of the theory. In this scheme macro or population-level phenomena and structures are shaped by micro-level processes and in turn are the selective environment for the micro-level processes. Historical developments are seen as the result of complex contingencies rather than representing a tendency for key variables to move towards a static or dynamic Aristotelean `natural state'. In historical developments, human agents play a major role but often not in the ways they intend or anticipate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This overview of the publication market for sociologists in Austria also examines a few recent publications by Austrian sociologists. Writing in German, Austrian sociologists are highly dependent on the market in neighbouring Germany, where approximately one-third of the books written by Austrians are published. Particular deficiencies of books by Austrians published in Austria are careless editing, indexing and copy editing. Among types of publication, most common are volumes of collected papers and monographs. A small number of publications attempt 'diagnoses of the era', addressing a larger audience. Core areas are the history of sociology and the humanities, immigration and the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research films are a rarity in sociology. Enthralled by the potential of research films and having made three films so far, the author believes that this medium offers great opportunities for sociologists. As a powerful means of communication with its tremendous appeal to sociologists and the public alike, research films have a future as an effective tool of data collection like surveys and interviews. But this largely depends upon the readiness of sociologists to make use of the medium of film in their research, by sparing some of their time to learn the necessary skills of filming and editing. Making research films is as rigorous as writing a research paper or a book, and it offers a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure to the sociologist-filmmaker. Against a backdrop of the production of the author's own research films, this article looks at the relevance of the medium to present sociological concepts and theses, the work associated with the production of a research film, the skills that can be learned to produce a movie without relying on film professionals, and the impact that it can have on the career of sociologists in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a commentary to a paper by Burns and Dietz which argued that macro-level structures and population phenomena are shaped by micro-level processes and in turn are the selective environment for micro-level processes. The novelty of this paper lies neither in their discussion of the issue nor in their particular approach to it, but how they link their approach to contemporary conceptions of evolution. In connection with their social rule system's approach, this linkage with evolution has the advantage of systematically raising a number of specific questions about evolutionary processes. As the authors make clear, their approach is indebted or at least related to the writings of linguists and linguistic philosophers like Chomsky and (the early) Wittgeinstein. Given the prominence of the linguistic tradition in Great Britain, sociologists there are perhaps more likely to be impressed with the presumed centrality of rules, even when the influence of rules is viewed as much modified by human agency. The authors' advocacy of agency and their anti-structural determinism is admirable, but only the specifics of their linkage between agency and structure are original.

One of the most influential diagnoses and therapies of the crisis of modernity was formulated by Husserl. He spoke about the crisis of modern European culture as a situation of dramatic choice between the heroism of reason or barbarism. The crisis results from scepticism and irrationalism as products of scientific rationality itself. Husserl was convinced that the only remedy against it is a universal science, based on an absolutely firm foundation and proceeding according to the rigorous method -- i.e. transcendental phenomenology. In The Cans he turned to historical reflection in order to realise the goals of philosophising and of humanity. He also discovered the life-world -- the therapy for rationalism must consist in returning to the Lebenswel:. The paper shows tensions between two motives in Husserl's late philosophy and two different practical philosophies which emerge from it. Contrary to Husserl's programmatic declarations, the phenomenological analysis of the life-world does not portray the human being as an autonomous being, but as being rooted in tradition and history, bodily present in the world, and always among opaque facts and limited in sovereignty. In addition, the alternative of the heroism of reason and barbarism has proved false. We have no scientific ethic, our morals and mores are provisional and non-absolute. For Husserl such a situation would mean the demise of humanity. Be he did not draw this conclusion from his own discoveries. The lesson we have to learn from our experience of the twentieth century and from Husserl's inconsistent attempt differs from the one he wanted to teach us. The paradoxical implication of his philosophy is that the only thing of which we can be absolutely certain in our ethical and political life is the fact that we can never be absolutely certain. But the fact that we are conscious of this does not turn us into barbarians, but, on the contrary, protects us from that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a reply to Bernd Hamm's critique of the transformation of Europe as a challenge to comparative sociology. The main thrust of Bernd Hamm's critique is that the article on the transformation of Europe is pursuing a comparative approach resulting only in the empirical description of similarities and differences between nations. Such an approach, accepting nations as the most important and meaningful entities for comparison, tends to confine research to a static and correlational logic. He asserts that it is characterized by a retrospective and conservative bias, not allowing for a true consideration of patterns of interlinkages between the units of observation nor the dynamics of change. While such an approach, according to Hamm, might have some merits, a truly fruitful comparative research within the context of Europe necessitates a significant different position, an evolutionary approach focusing on the changes going on in Europe. Here, the processes of building European institutions are particularly at issue; only by focusing on them can we contribute to the understanding of Europe as it becomes one society, and to learn lessons from such understanding. There are some specific arguments in Hamm's critique on which the author would like to comment briefly. The first concerns arguments about crisis phenomena in Europe in the first part of the paper. A second, quite important, issue raised by Hamm concerns the question whether nation-states are still the most meaningful units of observation in comparative research.

In recent times there has been a boom in the use of `networks' both as a set of techniques and as a body of theory. This paper suggests that its popularity will soon extend to cross-cultural studies from where it came. The potential problems considered are mostly at the level of technique and include those of sampling, measurement error, field problems and data analysis. We argue that many of these problems are unique to network methodology and many have no ready answers. We conclude that before we embrace the network approach, there is a need to clarify the issues raised in discussions among sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical review of existing studies about bow migration alters women's position in the course of social change. Two major goals are accomplished. First, the conceptual and methodological issues that bear on the assessment of changing gender relations are distilled from the existing literature. Second, for heuristic purposes we delineate three alternative outcomes for migrant women using the distribution-redistribution analytical framework, although we acknowledge the difficulty of distinguishing among them empirically. Finally, we provide a selective review of case studies illustrating alternative outcomes for migrant women in Africa and Latin America. The concluding discussion summarises the major findings in an attempt to distinguish issues that cross-cut social settings from those which are country-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative studies of post-1945 migration into Western Europe, and of the political and ideological responses to migration, have become increasingly common. While these studies demonstrate a number of common processes, their particular mode of expression can differ substantially from one country to another. This requires the development of a theoretical framework which is formulated at a level of generality which can encompass the historical specificity of, and variation between, particular instances, yet which permits a general explanation which is sensitive to that specificity and variation. The framework offered in this paper proposes a comparative analysis of the migration of four analytically distinct categories of person which highlights the role of the state in the reproduction of the imagined community of nation. That role is carried out in the context of a more general process of the regulation of scarcity, in the course of with people are simultaneously included in and excluded from the hierarchy of economic, political and ideological positions in the nation-state. Of special interest is the content of the processes of signification and categorisation that are generated in the inclusionary and exclusionary processes. The countries selected for analysis are France, the Netherlands and Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the completion, by 1993, of a single European market and of the resulting liberalisation of internal borders, labour migration in Europe is attracting increased attention from policy-makers and social actors in the twelve member states. The present paper is an attempt to analyse and forecast the following major issues relating to migration in Europe after 1992: (i) the evolution and structure of intra-European flows in the forthcoming single European market; (ii) the integration, after 1992, of established immigrant communities, including ethnic minorities and second generation groups; (iii) future immigration from non-EC member states, in relation, inter alia, to the recent coming into play of the Eastern European periphery. The article explains that, in addition to policy-related mutations inherent in the completion of the internal market, other factors (demographic changes and insufficient enrolment of national graduate students in key disciplines) and issues (emergence of atypical groups such as second generation and Eastern European migrants), are due to generate new patterns and modified interests in European labour migration after 1992. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although various dimensions of values have been advanced, this paper proposes a three-fold value typology, using individual, collective and universal value orientations. In post-war Japan, a profound change in values from the collective orientation to individual orientation has occurred. It is suggested that the causes of this change are: 1) democracy imported from Western countries; 2) the development of an affluent society as a result of economic growth; and 3) social changes, like urbanisation and the nuclearisation of the family. On the other hand, in the 1980s there was a growth in the awareness of the universal orientation, involving the relative priority that a person gives to general human happiness over the individual's own happiness if there is a competitive relation between the two. Although people who hold a universal orientation and behave accordingly are still in a minority, the universal orientation will become more widespread in future society and it is therefore important to pay particular attention to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the limits of the present technological policy of state socialism. Problems of guided social and technological change in a highly centralised society are critically discussed. The lines of argument developed in this paper touch on highly sociological substantive areas: on state policy on new technologies, on welfare provisions, on education and occupations, on industrial relations and on the environment. It also identifies several dilemmas of statist technological policy which, in a socialist society, must follow social imperatives. It arrives at the conclusion that the crucial condition for keeping the social promises given by the state and party authorities is at present participatory democracy on a micro as well as macro-level of society that is shaped by the technological revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational and normative man models have predominated in the social sciences. This paper proposes an emotional 'man' model as an alternative point of departure for analyses of individual, but also of collective and corporate, action. The overall argument is developed in two steps. First, the concepts of 'pure' and 'constrained' emotional 'man' are introduced and developed. Then an emotional interaction model addressing the theme of cooperation is presented. After engaging the cooperative interaction model of 'love' to highlight certain aspects of collective action, the author engages the concepts of 'pure' and 'constrained' emotional action to provide a new perspective on corporate actors. The conclusion proposes bow the construction of a 3- dimensional -- normative, emotional and rational -- action model could be approached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate actors are usually analysed from either the rationalistic or normative perspective. This paper proposes a third -- emotional -- perspective as a complementary point of departure. It also shows, with the help of sundry examples, the many different ways in which corporate actors are in fact emotion-motivated emotion managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to project the problem of policy formulation in relation to the urban-type refugee camps. An analysis of refugee camps, demographic features and their relatedness to urban policies is made in the context of the 40-year old problem of Palestinian Arab refugees and the position of states which host nearly one million expatriates. The refugee camps -- as temporary cities -- are viewed as communities, where the population, institutions, services, the network of social relations and economic-political structures have a transitory status until more a permanent order and normal living patterns are established. In spite of the problems encountered by camp dwellers -- such as attacks and Israeli military bombardment and restrictions imposed by host states -- nonetheless a high degree of solidarity, team-work and collective spirit is readily demonstrated. Urban policy formulation is treated in the light of future prospects for a settlement of the Palestinian issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dichotomous constructions of human societies or their specific dimensions are deeply entrenched in the tradition of social science. There are two sources of this vigorous and persisting tendency: Western epistemological dualism and the displacement syndrome it entails, and the inadequate apprehension of the processual dimension of social reality. This paper suggests that: (a) Western thought itself blocks an adequate appreciation of the nature of Western social reality; and (b) the indiscriminate application of Western concepts to non-Western societies distorts the very nature of social reality in these societies. The argument is pursued by explicating the processual linkages between movements and institutions and by applying these concepts to the Indian situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Akiwowo (1986b) and Makinde (1988) raise several issues on the possibility of an African sociological tradition. They argue that sociology can be done in African idioms and they supply us with some concepts, principally those of 'asuwada', 'ajobi', 'ajogbe' and 'ifogbontayese', with which we can begin to work out indigenous sociological theories. In this paper, we accept that it is possible to do sociology in African idioms. But we must specify the concepts to be used, clarify their meaning, suggest their interrelationships in thought and practice and show their applicability to social phenomena. Neither Akiwowo nor Makinde have sufficiently clarified their concepts for doing sociology in Yoruba (their African idiom of choice). We direct attention to some neglected possibilities inhering in the conceptual discoveries made by Akiwowo, especially those regarding the importance of language, philosophy and sociological theory to the development of indigenous explanatory paradigms. We conclude with some general comments on Akiwowo's affirmation of an African sociology of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]