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So far there have usually been only two answers to the question of what to do with dichotomies in sociology, either embrace them or attempt to synthesize them. However, this has produced merely an endless vacillation between the two positions, and a paradoxical constant reproduction of dichotomous thinking, rather than its transformation. This paper works towards a 'third answer' to the question, first, by outlining how the concept of the 'Hobbesian problem of order', as proposed by Talcott Parsons, underpins all sociological dichotomies, and why it is important to re-read Hobbes and revisit the so-called 'problem of order'. Second, it explains how Bruno Latour's model of the 'Constitution' of modern thought helps us to understand the dynamics of oppositions like nature/society or agency/structure, and how the problems with dichotomies derive from only perceiving part of the Constitution, rather than all of it. The paper concludes with a discussion of one example of a type of sociology that does operate across all of Latour's Constitution because it is based on a different conception of what is problematic about social order, Norbert Elias' 'figurational sociology', as well as some observations about what we might do with sociology's Constitution from this point onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the migration experience of two cohorts of Croatian migrants in Australia focusing on the fact that they are non-English speaking background (NESB) migrants. Central attention is given to the intersection of class and 'living in another language' (being NESB in Australia). The first cohort migrated in the 1960s and is predominantly working class; the second migrated in the late 1980s and is predominantly professional. It is argued that living in an English speaking environment affects Croatian migrants in practical, cultural, identity and status terms. It determines their life chances, employment prospects and the feeling of belonging to the Australian community. However, the two groups of migrants, being from different socioeconomic backgrounds, are affected in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the arguments used by members of two convict-descendant societies in embracing their convict ancestry. The data are taken from interviews that I conducted in 1999. In the main, respondents were involved in genealogy prior to discovering their or their spouses' convict ancestry. Respondents effectively countered ancestral stigma by making two kinds of argument. In the first, they recast ancestral convicts as: objects of quasi-professional interest; nation-builders; a minority within a multicultural society; collectibles; and embodying 'interesting stories'. The second type of argument forwarded more particularized treatments of convict ancestors by: minimizing the gravity of their offences; temporally distancing descendants from them; empathizing with them; and claiming their redemption. I offer some concluding thoughts on the sociology of memory and the place of genealogical memory workers within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the proposition that the sociology of deviance and criminology have entered into a state of crisis. This has important implications as these are important fields of applied social science where most forms of sociological inquiry have been utilised. The implication that these approaches are not illuminating relevant problems nor suggesting effective policy responses has obvious consequences for other areas of sociology. This paper reviews the general condition of these fields, the argument that they are in a critical condition, and also explores some innovative responses. It finds that the crisis involves three components: a perceived failure of previous theoretical traditions and intimations of a new paradigm; the deconstruction and purported collapse of foundational concepts; and the discrediting of traditional forms of state interventionism as the central strategy in managing crime and social deviance. It proposes that while these do constitute a crisis, there is also an emerging paradigm, central to which is the proposition that 'the social' is no longer a viable foundational concept. This is exemplified by an emerging 'post-social' Foucaultian neo-liberalism, which is both a response to and a symptom of the crisis, but which is not yet fully convincing as the basis of a new paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the symposium that was held during the annual conference of the Australian Sociological Association on December 2001. The primary objective of the symposium, which was held three months after the September 11, 2001 attack was only to explore the implications of emerging conflicts around globalization for the field of sociology, but the scope was expanded to include the implications of the September 11 attack for the sociological discipline. The symposium centered on the ability of sociology to grapple with implications of globalization and the place of non-western experiences, particularly Islamic experiences within the field of sociology.

The Australian government has expressed a continuing interest in the assessment of research productivity as a basic element of a 'rationalised' research funding process. Bibliometric analyses are among the techniques that the government uses to evaluate the quality of research performance. Like many other disciplines, sociology is a target of these assessments. This paper presents data to demonstrate how Australian sociology might measure up if subjected to an inquiry using these methods. Data are provided on the standing of Australian sociology internationally and on the research contributions of major Australian universities. Several important methodological issues are reviewed and discussed. It is concluded that Australian sociologists would be well served by becoming active participants in the ongoing national debate over the assessment of research performance and the allocation of funding for tertiary education and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the COVID-19 epidemic is a social disaster as much as a medical one, and though some sociological ideas circulate in public discussions, disciplinary sociology has had little influence. Internal discussions have mostly been conventional, and familiar sociological theory and methodology seem inadequate to this situation. Taking the viewpoint of the virus helps to shift perspective on a historical moment where a deadly threat is enabled by megacities, mass air travel, callous and corrupt regimes, and the undermining of public services. In this conjuncture sociology, with other social sciences, is under threat. But we can contribute to responses that mobilize community resources to deal with a social/biological crisis, and prepare for the others that will certainly come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the application of the psy-sciences to the conduct of juvenile justice in Victoria in the period 1940-80, in order to reassess assumptions in contemporary sociology of law concerning psy-knowledge and judicial administration, welfare and justice, and their relations to liberal or conservative political mandates. It seeks to understand the implications of shifts in the production of knowledge of the child in the justice system, by reporting on analysis of both clinical and administrative files of the Children's Court Clinic in this period. The article documents how particular kinds of offenders became known in order to be properly managed, and questions the extent of separation between science and juvenile justice administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article commences with a personal reflection on reflexive sociology's methodological emergence from the critique of scientific positivism that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These 'paradigm wars' reached some- thing of a zenith around the time of the final opus of a key proponent, Alvin Gouldner, in 1979. An uneasy truce was then reached under new conditions of growing economic rationalism. While mainstream academic sociology plunged into the 'coming crisis' foretold by Gouldner, a number of its graduates continued to develop reflexive sociology, particularly in non-academic workplaces. Initially called - after Kuhn - the 'new paradigm' or `critical interpretivism', it is now known by many names. Most common descriptors would be participatory or action research, action learning or socio systems-thinking. The approach has gradually achieved surprising critical mass in enormously diverse organizational, workplace and community settings worldwide. The article concludes by noting that many `new paradigm' assumptions have begun to enter mainstream social research, which may be beginning to reengage with the action research field - originally the offspring of sociological thinking three decades earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No longer hidden in the home as a private problem, care and the human services are increasingly important public concerns in advanced societies. Care is also emerging as a significant field of social theory and enquiry with considerable importance for the field of sociology. However, it remains a specialist topic rather than a central concern of the discipline. This article considers these developments and discusses the significance that recognizing the central place of care in social life might have for sociology. To understand what contemporary sociology might offer the study of care, in turn, I draw on the work of a number of leading contemporary theorists to identify four themes that have particular significance for the study of care: the body; individualization; risk; and the new organizational logics. The potential application of these four themes to the study of care is identified and a number of contemporary developments and future options considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of bibliometric data is a means of comparing research productivity and scholarly impact for individuals, work groups, ipstitytions and nations within and between disciplines. Central to this debate is the notion that disciplines differ in the ways in which they exchange ideas and disseminate information and therefore have diverse publishing and citation patterns. In this article we use two different approaches to compiling bibliometric data to compare publishing patterns of five different disciplines that encompass Molecular Biology, Administration/Political Science, Psychology, Philosophy and Sociology/Anthropology. We find that the social sciences differ from each other as well as from the physical sciences in their publication and citation: pat- terns. Further, while the different ways of organizing the data produce sorties what different results, the substantive findings for the general patterning of publications and citations of disciplines are consistent for both data sets Sociology/Anthropology, when compared with the other disciplines, shows substantial differences across universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the difference between secular and militant religious opposition to globalization. It focuses on Islamism and its roots on Muslim experience in the contemporary world. Islamism is different from Islam, in the sense that, Islamism is an ideology to mobilize Muslims in militant activity against western societies and their interests as well as against Muslim government that are perceived as pro-western traitors to Islam. The author also uncovers the challenges affecting sociology as the discipline attempts to develop eurocentric theoretical paradigms which are required if the present condition in global power are to be fully understand.