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When it comes to understanding the relationship between organised labour and the racialised worker in England, the conclusions reached by black radical theorists like Sivanandan and Gilroy have gone unchallenged for many years. In this paper, it is contended that these accounts of trade-union racism are constructed on the mistaken assumption that a trade union represents the interests of all the working class. Instead, an alternative conceptual framework is advanced underpinned by the recognition that the response of trade unions towards racialised labour is contingent on a wider set of economic, political and ideological circumstances and the type of strategy trade unions employ to protect the economic interests of their members. Through an assessment of events between 1945 and 1979 (the period black radical theorists use to advance their arguments), this paper challenges the conclusions drawn by black radical theorists regarding the basis of trade-union racism, the significance of 'black' self-organisation and the likelihood of 'inter-racial' class action developing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently witnessed the emergence of a range of naturalistic studies concerned with work, interaction and technology in complex organisational environments. In this paper we examine a seemingly individual and isolated activity, which involves the use of relatively basic technology to guide a vehicle in accord with a highly regulated signalling system. The paper considers the ways in which operating a vehicle is systematically co-ordinated with the actions of others. These actions, whether by passengers or colleagues, are only 'visible' by virtue of various technologies; technologies that offer restricted and even distorted access to people and their conduct. In one sense, therefore, the essay is concerned with explicating the socially organised and interactionally sensitive 'intelligence' which features in the day-to-day work of drivers on London Underground; a rapid urban transport system which carries more than a million passengers a day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seen as a corrective to the continuing preoccupations of the sociology of social movements with progressive organisations and movements, this paper offers an analysis of the defensive crime prevention initiatives emerging in the suburbs of South Manchester (and, undoubtedly, elsewhere) as a vital contemporary social movement, taking a very specific organisational form. The paper also attempts to show how the movements taking place around crime ought to be linked, analytically, to other local suburban initiatives on Quality of Life issues and, in particular, following Molotch and Logan's pioneering work on the political economy of post-industrial cities, to interest-governed campaigns around the positioning of the larger city in national and international competition. The angry commitment informing all such connected social movements in the suburbs is ignored by progressive social movement analysis at its own peril. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research carried out in Hartlepool, based on data from three groups of male respondents: (I) those employed for at least the last twelve months; (2) those recently recruited to employment, (i.e. within the last twelve months); (3) those currently employed and having held the same job for the last twelve months. By comparing the work histories and characterising features of these three groupings the paper sets out to explore the theoretical and empirical validity of the notion of the underclass, focusing specifically on two competing definitions: non- participation in the labour market, and systematic disadvantage in the labour market. The data reveal a distinctive pattern of broken employment for the second of the three groups identified above. Those affected are thus located between the two contrasting positions of long-term unemployment, and relatively secure employment. The existence of such a grouping is argued to undermine a definition of an underclass purely in terms of unemployment. However, the characteristics of the `under- employed', despite indicating a clear pattern of disadvantage, are too heterogeneous to constitute a distinctive class position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a little known project, 'Adjustment of Young Workers to Work Situations and Adult Roles', carried out in Leicester between 1962 and 1964, this article aims to re-examine the extent to which transitions during this time were complex, lengthy, non-linear and single-step and explores the assumed linearity and uncomplicated nature of school to work transitions in the 1960s. It is argued that earlier research on youth transitions has tended to understate the level of complexity that characterized youth transitions in the early 1960s and 1970s. Instead, authors exploring transition during this period concentrated on 'macro' or more structural issues such as class and gender. It is suggested that transitions in the 1960s were characterized by individual level complexity that has largely been ignored by others expioring school to work transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines employment patterns in the British textile industry over the last twenty years. In particular it focuses on a dramatic structural shift in the balance of male and female employees within textiles. From the onset of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century until the 1960s, around two-thirds of textile employees were female. Over the last twenty years textile manufacture has become increasingly the domain of male employees. The research reported was located in Rochdale, one of the six localities which were researched as part of the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative. Rochdale has long been a major centre for textile production. The data are based upon a survey of textile plants undertaken in 1986 and 1987. The analysis revealed that employment in these textile plants had become increasingly male during the period between 1980 and 1986. These changes were more pronounced in larger establishments and within the minority of plants that had introduced advanced machinery. A further analysis of 987 work histories collected in 1986 revealed that women were far less likely to enter textiles in the 1980s than at any time since the advent of industrialization. A major reason for this lies in the increasing adoption of full-time shift work by plants in the town. Most part-time employment has been eliminated from textile mills as they seek to run advanced equipment continuously. The growth of flexible patterns of employment in the burgeoning service sector has interacted with these developments in textiles. Women still seek paid employment in Rochdale but no longer in the textile industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports some of the findings from a study of social and religious change with random samples of both Catholic and non-Catholic electors in four Roman Catholic parishes in England in the mid-1970s. The hypothesis that, as a result of the post-war expansion of educational provision in Britain, Catholics, with their largely urban, immigrant, working class origins, would have experienced a 'mobility momentum' relative to the rest of the population, was not supported. Social mobility experiences were shown to be less important than parish effects on sexual morality and the stable middle class were less likely than other groups to defer to authority. The analysis of attitudes to contraception and to recent liturgical changes indicated that attitudes to religious authority were being transformed. There was little evidence that the shifts of religious ideology legitimated by the Second Vatican Council had any salience for Catholics generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis of functionary skills and prerogatives deployed in process of framing, negotiating and establishing conditions for action in pentecostal assemblies. It is based upon overt non-participant observation and interviewing in 66 pentecostal institutions in England and Wales, Canada and the United States. Its focus is upon the crises that arise either when the prerogative of definition is contested by two or more 'special definers' or when there is a compelling resemblance of phenomena in the sacred domain to realities familiar in the profane. The skills which enable the professional functionary to sustain sacred definitions during such conflicts include competence in the sacred language, the management of laughter and the sacred gift of `discernment'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews a number of recent conceptual statements and empirical studies concerning British workers attitudes to class and class relationships. It then presents some evidence from a survey in Barking, London, in 1972-73, a feature of which is a comparison of the responses of the same people to the same questions at dates some months apart. On the basis of this evidence some points are made concerning the nature and prevalence of consciousness of class amongst the British lower class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the proposition advanced by some commentators that divorce petitioning in England and Wales fluctuates in accordance with the changing real value of legal aid. Direct evidence, from divorce figures and details of legal aid provision, is examined and shown not to fit the hypothesis. Indirect evidence drawn from Magistrates' Court proceedings and income provision by the National Assistance Board also fails to support the proposition. It is concluded that the proposition is false, and that increased divorce petitioning reflects more fundamental social changes than amendments to legal aid provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first section of the paper criticizes the concept of inconsistency between status ranks as an explanation of variations in attitudes and behaviour between different groups. The second section argues that the concept of relative deprivation may, if appropriately qualified, prove more useful and suggests a possible application of it to the topic of attitudes towards immigrants. The third section presents some findings from a sample survey carried out in England and Wales in 1962 which furnish a limited test of two proposed hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a disconnection between the top-down, elite, nature of sports mega-events and the ostensible redistributive and participatory sustainable development agendas staked out by BINGOs (Business-based International Non-Governmental Organizations) such as the contemporary International Olympic Committee (IOC). Focusing specifically on the London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, we argue that, for all the environmental technology advances offered by sports mega-events, their dominant model remains one of a hollowed-out form of sustainable development. Despite significant technical and methodological innovations in environmental stewardship, the development model of the London Olympics remains predicated on the satisfaction of transnational investment flows. We discuss what this means for claims about the staging of a ‘green’ Olympic Games. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the sociology of education, there is a growing interest in the middle classes and their educational practices, yet research to date has predominantly been framed within the context of the white middle classes. The article comes from a small, exploratory qualitative study exploring the identities and educational practices of the minority ethnic middle classes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in England with 36 minority ethnic, ‘middle-class’ parents (13), pupils (13) and young professionals (10) from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds. This article explores the views of participants as located at the intersection between class privilege and racial subordination. The ambiguity within participants’ classed or racialized identifications is examined and the article argues that participants constructed ‘middle-classness’ in a range of ways but commonly regarded it as unattainable due to its association or conflation with ‘whiteness’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the interactions produced by the use of the digital camera in a mass observation into everyday fashions in Nottingham.The research project includes a team of researchers, and so there is no single research relationship. Therefore this article uses the mass observation, which includes photographs and interviews with in excess of 800 participants, to highlight the complexities of the research relationship.The definition of this relationship is widened out to include the interactions between researcher and participant, the relationship participants have to each other, and the relationship they have to themselves.The digital camera is seen as a site of negotiation between researchers and participants; in turn, the research relationship is redefined as a web of interactions which are mediated by the camera and the photographic images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in the role of migrants' social networks as sources of social capital. Networks are, however, often conceptualized rather loosely and insufficient attention has been paid to how migrants access existing networks or establish new ties in the 'host' society. The assumption that migrants are able to access dense networks within close-knit local communities simplifies the experiences of newly arrived migrants, underestimating difficulties they may face in accessing support. Exploring the work of Putnam, as well as Coleman and Bourdieu, we critically engage with the conceptualization of bonding and bridging social capital, and the relationship between them, through an exploration of Polish migrants' networking skills and strategies. In examining the different types and levels of support derived through social ties, this article contributes to understandings of social networking by arguing for a greater differentiation and specification of networks both vertically and horizontally, but also spatially and temporally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how structures of community feeling and ways of belonging are produced, maintained and recreated in local rural environments. It argues that rural social organizations, which operate through, and are embedded in, notions of conviviality and community, have taken up a particular role in this process. While using the concept of community with all the usual sociological caveats in place, the article seeks to emphasize a) the importance of the sociality of community and b) the need to understand the ways in which this sociality is continually shaped by the potent imaginary of what community' and, more specifically, what rural community' mean and represent. Drawing on a qualitative data set the article details the emotional connectivity participants made between the local and the social and the everyday routine practices involved in constructing a community sensibility. It concludes by examining how ambiguity and governance are part of these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort), we take a life course approach with a sociology offenen- tal health framework to examine the relationship between adolescent affect and adult social integration.The results suggest that being observed as anxious or sad in adolescence has a long-term effect on adult social integration.These associations are not explained by adult mental health or socioeconomic status, for the most part The results demonstrate support for social selection processes between adolescent mental health and adult social outcomes and suggest a disparate effect of type of adolescent affect on adult social outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article seeks to explore the significance of class membership among young people in the so-called internet age. Internet access and use in Britain has remained by and large concentrated in wealthier households, underlining^ at an aggregate level, a clear link between individuals' socio-economic background and their use of the internet. A somewhat contradictory statement emerges, however; from recent claims made by techno-enthusiasts, and apparently young people themselves, about the existence of a digital generation.This generational label suggests that young people today are, irrespective of their background, growjng up with a sense of digital expertise, where class boundaries have become obscured. The article discusses this apparent contradiction, based on a study of young internet users.The findings suggest that, while class boundaries can be affected by internet use, the impact of this use remains nonetheless short lived and unlfely to significantly impinge on young people's social mobility in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses qualitative data from a study of young adults aged 20-34 in Bristol to explore the labour market transitions considered typical of contemporary advanced economies.The main objective of the article is to develop a typology of labour market pathways that illuminates the complexity and variability of lengthened youth transitions. In addition to this typology we explore the economic: consequences of these pathways for young adults, showing that they are vulnerable to job change, unemployment and low pay. Finally, we explore the attitudes of young adults to their situation. We found that they were surprisingly undismayed by these labour market vicissitudes: many of them displayed a 'structure of feeling' we refer to as 'internalized flexibility', which helps them to maintain optimism and anticipate change in a challenging economic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on data from interviews with 63 London-based families, this article argues that there are difficult and uncomfortable issues around whiteness in multi-ethnic contexts. Even those parents, such as the ones in our sample, who actively choose ethnically diverse comprehensive schools appear to remain trapped in white privilege despite their political and moral sentiments. This is a complicated question of value; of having value, finding value in, getting value from, and adding value. Even those white middle classes committed to multi-ethnic schooling face the perils of middle-class acquisitiveness, extracting value from, as they find value in, their multi-ethnic 'other'. In such processes of generating use and exchange value a majority of both the white working classes and the black working classes, those who are perceived not to share white middle-class values, are residualized and positioned as excessive. Symbolically, they come to represent the abject 'other' of no value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall scope of this article is to examine how young British Asians experience and articulate recent transformations in popular notions of 'race', nation and culture The context for the analysis is sport, which acts as a prominent arena in which these variables are contested and, indeed, embodies the complexities of national affiliations and identities. The article argues that despite continuing ethnically exclusive manifestations of 'Englishness' - both in football and in the wider society - increasing numbers of young British Asians are expressing their support for the England football team. This is in direct contrast to cricket, where large numbers choose to follow a team from the Indian subcontinent. The article argues that these trends reflect the multifaceted, fragmented nature of diasporic identities, in that the diverse sporting affiliations of young British Asians enable them to emphasize both their cultural traditions and the permanency of South Asian settlement in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores social class, social identity and the urban regeneration in NewcastleGateshead, England. British cities are looking to cultural investment to provide an alternative to the de-industrialized past that has apparently destroyed the identities upon which those cities were built. However, the social impact of culture-led regeneration remains uncertain. The concern that is raised in academic and policy debates is the degree to which such investment deepens existing patterns of social exclusion, ironically, as cities seek a post-industrial future, the social divisions that characterize that future may be intensified along traditional industrial lines. It is suggested that, in order to understand the social, economic and cultural impact of culture-led regeneration, a preoccupation with headline figures proving the cultural case needs to be put to one side in favour of a robust longitudinal understanding of the meanings with which such developments are endowed by policy-makers and local residents alike. This article will focus on a 10-year longitudinal project currently being undertaken to study the social, cultural and economic impact of culture-led regeneration on NewcastleGateshead Quayside.

This article describes rhetorical and sequential resources used by audiences as they participate in political discourse. The data are recordings of Area Assemblies held in North London between 2001 and 2003. The research contributes to studies of political discourse, by describing the fine interactional organization of the seemingly `unruly' scenes that arise when councillors and officers confront large numbers of angry residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every weekend in the UK millions of young people attend nightclubs and many of them will use 'dance' drugs such as ecstasy. Drawing from ethnographic data generated from working as a club security guard and in-depth interview material with other security guards and a club manager; this article describes and analyses the use and supply of ecstasy within a large London nightclub. The analyses are centred on the normalized character of ecstasy within this club, the efforts of several security guards to control the supply of ecstasy and how this setting was home to a lively drug culture complete with a prosperous and somewhat protected drug economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]