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In this paper I examine and critique Donald Levine's treatment of the "French Tradition" in sociological thought. After summarizing Levine's account of the development of the French tradition, I discuss the identification of the French tradition with the work of Durkheim, and discuss the reasons for the predominance of Durkheim's work over and above other plausible candidates for exemplars of the French tradition of sociology. I then use this discussion to problematize the identification of sociological theories with national traditions, and the idealist framework that Levine uses to discuss the development of sociological thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the concept of terroir-a French word that captures the correspondence between the physical and human features of a place and the character of its agricultural products. Tied to the protection of economic rents threatened by competition and fraud, the practice of classifying certain lands, grapes, and properties both substantively and qualitatively has become the organizing principle of the entire French wine industry. Often derided as snobbish monopolistic practices by New World producers, the notion terroir in France and its rejection in America both exemplify how the 'principles of vision and division' of the natural world are always intertwined with the 'principles of vision and division' of the social world. The present article discusses these affinities through an analysis of wine classifications in the French regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, and some of the critiques they have given rise to, in the United States especially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many countries in East Asia have achieved high growth rates since the middle of the 20th century, former French colonies in the region have struggled to attain comparable levels of economic development. This article is an attempt to explain this variation in development through a cross-national analysis of economic growth in East Asia for the period from 1970 to 2007. Results suggest that the underperformance of former French colonies is attributable to their inheritance of colonial institutions that have been unfavorable for domestic investment, international trade, and educational attainment. Overall, conclusions lend support for the idea that long-term economic development should be understood in terms of path dependence, and that sustained economic growth requires a concerted effort to restructure growth-adverse institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable evidence to support the proposition that spatial distances between occupational groups are closely related to their social distances. Several studies show that patterns of residential distribution by occupational stratification in a number of American cities in 1950 and 1960 are quite similar to the pattern which was initially observed for Chicago in 1950. There is some reason to believe that the generalization can be extended to include cities in other modern, urban, industrialized nations. There are those persons, on the other hand, who disagree. Theodore Caplow studied Aix-en-Provence (population approximately 27,000) about 1950 and concluded: "The familiar ecological principles which explain urban structure in the United States do not adequately account for urban structure in France…. Indeed, without the influence of uncontrolled land values, spatial distributions in France are often singularly inexpressive of social structure…. Neither the distribution of the population by social class, nor the distribution of institutions by class affiliation conforms to the fundamental spatial division of the community or to any other precise demarcation." It seems possible that this divergence of observations may be a consequence of difference in city size and classification, since studies in the United States have been limited to larger cities. Therefore, it seems worthwhile to make comparisons of residential segregation by occupation between cities which are more nearly alike in both size and function. Paris is the only city in France which approaches Chicago in size. It is true that Paris, a national capital, has more administrative activity, but it is also a raft center with extensive manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]