Search

This paper aims to discern, clarify, criticise, and advocate some uses of phenomenology in sociological research. Phenomenology is increasingly evoked or implicitly employed in sociological endeavours. Little attention, however, is paid to what is entailed in taking a phenomenological approach, and whether it is employed to advance empirical or theoretical knowledge. I build an analytic typology of different empirical and theoretical uses of phenomenology, criticise a range of these uses, and argue that other uses bear significant potential for the advancement of theoretical and empirical knowledge. The paper's main contribution lies in comparing and contrasting the many invocations of phenomenology in contemporary social scientific research to discern their benefits and shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for a reconsideration of the human exemptionalist paradigm in sociological research. Reviewing recent research on the racialized and gendered dimensions of environmental use and abuse in North America, this paper argues that the persistent belief that humans dominate over all other biota is a direct result of the white supremacist, patriarchal gender system. Traditional Anglo‐European performances of and expectations for masculinity not only mandate the subjugation of women, but of all biota. Consequently, the burdens for repair and regeneration are disproportionately placed upon feminized subjects. This racialized gender system is strengthened as long as human exemptionalism persists. Ultimately, sociologists should contend with 'human supremacy' as a system of inequality that strengthens all other systems of inequality that plague human society. Moving forward, theories of liberation must go beyond the species boundary to account for an end to unjust domination of all life on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper reviews four dimensions of the climate change (CC) debate concerning perception, framing, and political and economic dimensions of CC. It attempts to address the question posed by sociological research as to what can be done to reduce the social forces driving CC. In doing so, it attempts to uncover mechanisms that delay or prevent the social change required to combat CC. Such mechanisms call into question the Ecological Modernization Theory's assumption that modern societies embrace environmental sustainability with no radical intervention to change the social, political, and economic order. It specifically considers how the representation of CC as a distant phenomenon, in both temporal and physical terms, might contribute to social disengagement. A reflection on the interdependencies among science, political economy, media, and individual perceptions guides this paper. All these social forces also shape the CC discourse in diverse ways according to the evolution of the phenomenon over time (in scientific, but also in political and economic terms) and in relation to its spatial dimension (global/national/local). The variety of climate discourses contributes to increasing political uncertainty; however, this is not the only factor that generates confusion around the CC. Multiple and contrasting information might trigger a "blaming/empowering game" that works at various levels. This mechanism simultaneously promotes the necessity for sustainable development and perpetuates "business as usual‐oriented" practices. Implementing sustainable development is therefore constantly undermined by a difficulty in identifying "heroes" and "devils" in the context of CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution highlights that conventional social mobility research in the sociological sciences is faced with a severe limitation, as it neglects the importance of intercohort changes in the social origin structure. This is illustrated by the example of OED triangle research, in which compositional changes are only partially recognized as important factors for social fluidity. The paper shows that the implications of an intercohort compositional change of social origin in the process of educational expansion and occupational change have often been overlooked in this literature. The paper makes theoretical and methodological suggestions for a better integration of the compositional change of social origin into future empirical analyses of the OED triangle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in examining climate change adaptation has arisen in many disciplines in the past two decades; however to date, sociologists have given only sparse attention to the issue. This is both a missed opportunity for sociologists and a detriment to the study of adaptation. In this paper, we set out the following research agenda: bringing core concerns of sociology into the critically important conversation of how society will respond to climate change. We identify five broad themes in which sociologists can begin their work on adaptation: (1) structures and resource access, (2) social cohesion and future planning, (3) constraints of social stratifications, (4) power and agency in decision‐making, and (5) justice in process and outcomes. After summarizing existing sociological work on adaptation and detailing our research agenda, we draw examples from our own work in Bangladesh to illustrate how this agenda might be taken up. In doing so, we point to several places where sociological insights come into play in questions related to development, organizations, expertise, migration, gender, and labor. We believe a robust sociological analysis can produce a clarified, reparative, and just conceptualization of adaptation that will contribute to the growing global discourse on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists of sexuality often invoke the theme of pleasure, but it is not always clear what scholars believe the implications and importance of pleasure are. To this end, this paper reviews the existing literature on sexual pleasure, specifically within the field of sociology, to demonstrate what questions about sexual pleasure are (and are not) currently being asked. Through a systematic literature review, I demonstrate that scholars often lack a justification for why pleasure is important. I also connect themes between the kind of questions being asked about pleasure and the justifications attached to these studies, relating to risk mitigation, relationship satisfaction and well‐being, power structures, and moral oversight. Based on this review, I make recommendations for the future of sexual pleasure research with the goal of centering pleasure for pleasure's sake and embracing its liberatory possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana and China between 2016 and 2022, this paper provides a sociological analysis of how new Chinese migrants in Ghana, and more generally in Sub‐Saharan Africa, navigate their social and economic integration into the host society by dealing with petty corruption in everyday life. This article examines how similarities and discrepancies in corruption norms contribute to "cultural matching" and cultural conflicts in Sino‐African encounters, as well as the coping strategies and social‐cultural techniques the migrants develop to navigate their relationship with local bureaucracy. My findings demonstrate that for migrants within the Global South, corruption in the sending and receiving regions is likely to be rooted in different politico‐economic structures and cultural grounds. Conflicting understandings of corruption can pose challenges to migrants' initial adaptation in the host society. However, as the migrants develop a proper "cultural toolkit," engagement in corruption and rent‐seeking activities may provide a "cultural matching" interface that facilitates the rapid integration of new migrants into the local market and society. This study provides new insights into our understanding of bureaucracy in international migration, corruption, and migration settlement, as well as the sociocultural negotiation of corruption codes and norms in cross‐cultural encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]