82 results
Search Results
2. Reflection on methodologies and prioritizing children's perspectives on protection needs within informal urban settings.
- Author
-
Muhati-Nyakundi, Linet Imbosa
- Subjects
URBAN life ,CHILD protection services ,CHILD welfare ,CHILDHOOD attitudes ,RISK assessment ,COMPARATIVE sociology - Abstract
Younger children in urban settings are predisposed to numerous risks, yet their 'voices' remain underrepresented in research making them unheard and invisible. The paucity of methods that encourage children's direct participation in studies from such settings, in effect, limits exploration of their ability to engage meaningfully in voicing their lived experiences and potentially informing protection interventions that target them. This paper draws from a study carried out in Kenya and South Africa, which in part sought children's perspectives on their lived experiences within their urban environment. Qualitative methods utilized in data collection included drawing, telling and conversations. The findings highlight risk exposures children contend with, which have an implication on child protection, safe spaces, mobility of children in urban areas, creating child-friendly neighbourhoods, policies and methodological approaches that intensify younger children's 'voices', in highlighting lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Why durability matters? Towards a Comparative Economic Sociology of Market Organization.
- Author
-
Dobeson, Alexander and Kohl, Sebastian
- Abstract
What can a good's durability tell us about its market organization? This paper argues that the socially expected durability of goods is one of their most important features. It illuminates temporal and material aspects of market organization and social change across different markets. While recent literature in the sociology of markets tends to emphasize financial goods, intangible assets, and the service economy, markets for material durable and nondurable consumer goods are still surprisingly pervasive in everyday life and in the household economy, as well as in modern economies' basic infrastructure. Based on a comparison of the extreme cases of durable housing and fresh fish markets, we come to the general finding that the higher a good's expected durability, the smaller the share of its new production will be and the larger its aftermarkets. Furthermore, it will be more tightly linked to credit and insurance markets, and its market will be more volatile in the short-term, but more inert in the long-term. Beyond this static distinction, we show how socio-technical mechanisms can "durabilize" or "dedurabilize" goods and hence change their market form. By comparing markets along the durability dimension, this paper contributes to a comparative sociology of market organization that goes beyond single-market studies, while at the same time opening up space for a more dynamic understanding of social change and market segmentation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Comparative moral economies of crisis.
- Author
-
Manning, Benjamin and Browne, Craig
- Subjects
CORONAVIRUS diseases ,CRISIS management ,ECONOMICS & ethics ,COMPARATIVE sociology - Abstract
At times of crisis, existing institutional arrangements of societies are thrown into question. Crises that occur in multiple societies simultaneously present rare opportunities for comparative empirical analysis. Social theory can reveal the framing conditions of the responses to crises and the sources of variations between them. This paper compares the immediate responses of the Australian, UK and US governments to the global COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to financing lockdowns, and points out significant differences between the three approaches. Drawing on Polanyi's method of institutional analysis, we compare the responses of these same national groups to an earlier crisis, the Japanese prisoner of war camps during the Second World War, to show similar patterns of integration recurring eight decades apart. This analysis shows that aspects of moral economies that are not usually apparent can become pronounced during crises, and points to the importance of enduring social imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. A 'Southern' Perspective: Historical Sociology and Sociology in India.
- Author
-
Krishnan, Rakesh M.
- Subjects
HISTORY of sociology ,ETHNOLOGY ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,SOCIOLOGY ,SELF-consciousness (Awareness) - Abstract
This paper traces the history of sociology in India to colonial anthropology and Indology. I argue that the compulsions of post-colonial society have also made specific demands on the discursive terrain of sociology. Fundamental to the pursuit of sociological knowledge in India, I believe, was a core debate about its mode of discursive practice – specifically, a debate between particularistic and universalistic orientations. From this point of view, I re-read the history of sociology in India. In doing so, I argue that close attention to the history of sociology helps us see the extent to which foundational western approaches to historical and comparative sociology have affected the historical development of sociology in India. Ironically, this has meant that the degree of historical self-awareness in Indian sociology has been limited. Hence, I discuss the grounds for the weak historical self-awareness in terms of historical sociology in India. I conclude by discussing how a strengthened tradition of historical sociology can be a tool to revitalize the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Comparative Sociology as an Inquiry and as a Teaching Discipline: An Attempt of Comparative Analysis.
- Author
-
Rezaev, Andrey V., Starikov, Valentin S., and Tregubova, Natalia D.
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,COMPARATIVE method ,SOCIOLOGY ,SOCIAL reality ,PHILOSOPHICAL analysis ,EMPIRICAL research - Abstract
What can variously be understood as "comparative sociology" take different contours and raise further issues and questions in different sociological traditions which in turn are shaped by different theoretical paradigms. The paper outlines conceptual and theoretical framework for a discussion about the current status of comparative sociology. Comparative sociology is perceived as an organization of research through constant comparisons at the different levels and stages of research. The paper presents outcomes of the field research that is developed on the basis of distinction between two modalities of comparative sociology: comparative sociology as an inquiry and comparative sociology as a teaching discipline. One basic and two subordinate alternative hypotheses are tested in the course of comparative analysis of the seven cases. Discussion of these cases results in formulation of specific questions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Countries versus Disciplines: Comparative Analysis of Post-Soviet Transformations in Academic Publications from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
- Author
-
Tregubova, Natalia D., Fabrykant, Marharyta, and Marchenko, Alla
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE studies ,SCHOLARLY periodicals ,FIELDWORK (Educational method) ,TRANSFORMATIVE learning ,COLLEGE curriculum - Abstract
The objective of this paper is to outline and compare frameworks for studying post- Soviet transformations developed by social scientists from various disciplines in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The objective is realized by means of quantitative content analysis of scholarly articles' abstracts in ninety-four journals in eight (inter)disciplinary fields that covers the period of 2001-2015. This paper seeks to answer the question whether differences in the studies of the post-Soviet transformations are defined by country discourse or by the field of study. The research results suggest that there is a two-level mechanism, by which the societal context affects academia, in this case, social sciences and humanities. While general directions of scholarly attention are determined by societal differences, representations of post-Soviet transformations are framed through specific disciplinary lenses that combine both international and post- Soviet features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. 25 Years after the USSR: Comparative Sociological Accounts.
- Author
-
Rezaev, Andrey V.
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,SOCIALIZATION - Abstract
An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses comparative sociology and social and economic developments in Soviet Union.
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ON THE PROCESS OF MANAGER'S PROFESSION IMAGE FORMING IN KAZAKHSTAN AND RUSSIA.
- Author
-
Didkovskaya, Yana and Abdygapparova, Saule
- Subjects
CROSS-cultural studies ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,COLLEGE students ,FACE-to-face communication ,EXECUTIVES ,MANAGEMENT education - Abstract
In this paper we examine how cross-cultural aspects influence Kazakh and Russian students when they form the image of the manager's profession. Our research based on the data of comparative sociological survey of Kazakh and Russian university students studying management from the first to the fourth year of study. We have found that the share of Kazakh students, who plan to work as a manager in business, or in public administration sphere, and who has an experience of such work is bigger than that of Russian students. This difference based on the students' self-esteem and the awareness of their future profession. Kazakh students estimate their awareness of future profession higher, than Russian students. The role of mass-media in in the professional image formation process evaluated much higher by a Kazakh students, than Russian. For Russian students it turned out to be more important the immediate face-to-face communication, like communication with teachers during classes and communication with parents at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. A SHORT HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN ROMANIA AND JAPAN.
- Author
-
YAMAMOTO, Ravenor R.
- Subjects
HIGHER education ,UNIVERSITIES & colleges ,SOCIAL history - Abstract
This paper facilitates the comparative analysis between two histories of higher education. Those interested in the 160 years-old ideas of university in Romania and Japan will find in this study details on the historical, social and political conditions from which they grew, the first locations, purposes and organizational structures, legal frameworks, commonalities and peculiarities. The nature of higher education is grasped through many contrasts: public and private, free and not, masses and elites etc. By revisiting the beginnings and major developments of higher education in these two very distinct countries, this study promises to identify points that are central to a mature understanding of its origins. It mainly addresses the question: What are the main grassroots differences and similarities between Romanian and Japanese higher education? The answer unfolds in the light of events and characteristics, intertwined with explanation and reasoning. A tangential intention is to counterbalance scholarly efforts invested in comparative higher education research, excessively fashioned on present and recent times, or on biases built on the developed/developing notion of a country. This work is marginally international in scope, as it defends in-depth study and rigorous research against algorithms used by university rankings in attempts to compare institutions of higher education around the world, taking no account of the distant but relevant past, and promoting the idea that such a comparison can be made possible with several clicks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
11. Nishida Kitarō on Social Contradiction: A Critical Lens for Analyzing Community-Supported Agriculture.
- Author
-
Baronov, David
- Subjects
COMMUNITY-supported agriculture ,SOCIAL change ,FOOD production ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,CRITICAL theory - Abstract
The central concern of this paper is the linkages between contradiction and social change, as developed in the work of Nishida Kitarō, a critical social philosopher who explored the nature of social contradiction vis-à-vis local agency, global structures, and social change. Building on Nishida’s conceptual framework, I trace social change to the ontological nature of social contradiction as manifest in myriad social phenomena. This then provides a critical lens for analyzing the contemporary development of community-supported agriculture (CSA). Indeed, the growing popularity of CSAs across the USA makes visible a host of social contradictions, including those between local and global food production and between local consumption and global distribution. Invoking Nishida to peel back the layers of contradiction and assess the potential social impact of CSAs, we address two broad questions. First, what is the nature of contradiction as a fundamental aspect of social life? Second, how can the notion of contradiction help us frame the role of CSAs as a force for social change? In this manner, Nishida’s interpretation of social contradiction shapes our understanding of CSAs, while our understanding of CSAs further refines our assessment of Nishida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. NICOLAE PETRESCU AND COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY.
- Author
-
NETEDU, Adrian
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,PRIMITIVE societies ,HISTORY of sociology ,SOCIOLOGISTS ,TWENTIETH century ,INTELLECTUAL life - Abstract
Copyright of Scientific Annals of the 'Al. I. Cuza' University, Iasi. Sociology & Social Work / Analele Stiintifice ale Universitatii 'Al. I. Cuza' Iasi Sociologie si Asistenta Sociala is the property of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2016
13. The Marxian Materialist Interpretation of History and Comparative Sociology.
- Author
-
Rezaev, Andrey V., Zhikharevich, Dmitrii M., and Lisitsyn, Pavel P.
- Subjects
MARXIST philosophy ,MATERIALISM -- Social aspects ,HISTORY -- Social aspects ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,SOCIOLOGY methodology - Abstract
The paper argues that a materialistic understanding of history as Marx's sociological research program has effectively been implemented in the comparative analysis of bourgeois societies. Both qualitative/case-oriented and quantitative/variable-oriented strategies of comparison were employed by Marx in his scholarship. The authors see the crucial dimension of the classical status of Marx in his engagement with historical comparisons - an analytical tendency he shares with Weber and, to some extent, Durkheim. A short historical exposition tracing the early reception of Marx in sociology continues with the most important contemporary criticisms of Marx's comparative-historical analysis, focusing on the issues of Asiatic mode of production, the nature of European feudalism and the problem of capitalist rationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. Comparative Study of Different Atmospheres for a PtPd/Y Catalyst Regeneration for Plastics/VGO Hydrocracking.
- Author
-
Trueba, David, Palos, Roberto, Rodríguez, Suní, Crespo, Iratxe, Gutiérrez, Alazne, and Arandes, José M.
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,HYDROCRACKING ,PLASTICS ,OXYGEN ,POLYSTYRENE - Abstract
The valorisation of post-consumer plastics by co-feeding them to hydrocracking units has been gaining attention due to their feasibility to produce automotive-like fuels with a composition suitable for commercial use. For this purpose, the use of noble metal-based catalysts is advised due to their high selectivity towards these fractions and high hydrocracking activity. In this context, the reuse of such catalysts should be explored to avoid expensive operating costs. This work explores different regeneration atmospheres of a PtPd/Y zeolite catalyst used in the hydrocracking of polystyrene (PS)/vacuum gasoil (VGO) blends (10 wt%) under the following conditions: 400 °C, 80 bar, 180 min, catalyst/feed ratio: 10 wt%. Regeneration has been carried out under oxidizing, reducing and gasifying conditions using oxygen, hydrogen and CO
2 as regenerating agents. The results reveal that only controlled combustion provides efficient catalyst regeneration, yielding almost the same yield distribution and chemical composition of the liquids, with less than a 5 wt% difference in both cases. The activity decay is attributed to irreversible causes of deactivation that are minimal in the actual process, thus encouraging the adoption of this valorisation pathway for the exploitation of crude resources in terms of maximizing refinery conversion while promoting the Waste Refinery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Johann Arnason's unanswered question: To what end does one combine historical-comparative sociology with social and political philosophy?
- Author
-
Wagner, Peter
- Subjects
POLITICAL philosophy ,SOCIAL theory ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,HERMENEUTICS - Abstract
Johann Arnason's work combines the most erudite historical-comparative sociology, discussing highly knowledgeably enormous stretches of world-history, with the most subtle social and political philosophy, drawing creatively on the traditions of hermeneutics and phenomenology. Invariably, his works introduce more nuance and sophistication into the analysis of even very well studied socio-historical phenomena. At the same time, he addresses such major phenomena in terms of modernity, democracy and capitalism, agreeing that there often – maybe always – is a combination of empirical, conceptual and normative issues at work when analysing human history. Nevertheless, readers of his work may at the same time be impressed by the nuance and sophistication and at a loss with regard to what such further refinement of our socio-historical knowledge entails in terms of understanding our own time in its historical context. Searching through Johann Arnason's work, this article identifies unexplored questions in the conceptual and historical relation between civilization, modernity, and equality and tries to understand why they have been left open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Youth's Family and Non‐Family Roles as Predictors of Subjective Adulthood in Three Low‐Income Agricultural Settings.
- Author
-
Axxe, Erick, Hayford, Sarah R., and Eggum, Natalie D.
- Subjects
FAMILY roles ,ADULTS ,TRANSITION to adulthood ,IDENTITY (Psychology) ,DEVELOPED countries - Abstract
Subjective adulthood, or feeling like an adult, captures identity development relative to the local context that shapes life course processes. Most research on this topic is conducted in wealthy developed countries. Instead, we draw on household‐based survey data from the Family Migration and Early Life Outcomes project (FAMELO) to estimate ordinal logistic regression models predicting how often adolescents aged 11–17 in Jalisco, Mexico (n = 1,567); Gaza Province, Mozambique (n = 1,368); and the Chitwan Valley, Nepal (n = 1,898), identify as adults. The relationships between adult roles, family capital, youth characteristics, and youth's adult identities vary substantially across the sites. The findings highlight how the transition to adulthood reflects the cultural and structural conditions of adult identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. THE EUROPEANISATION OF SOCIOLOGY? A BIBLIOMETRIC COMPARISON OF DRUŽBOSLOVNE RAZPRAVE AND ÖSTERREICHISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR SOZIOLOGIE.
- Author
-
Hoenig, Barbara
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,EUROPEANIZATION ,EUROPEAN integration - Abstract
Copyright of Družboslovne Razprave is the property of Druzboslovne Razprave and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2016
18. quantitative approaches to comparative analyses: data properties and their implications for theory, measurement and modelling.
- Author
-
neumann, robert and graeff, peter
- Subjects
SOCIAL science research ,COMPARATIVE government ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,ELECTRONIC data processing ,SOCIAL scientists ,STATISTICS - Abstract
While there is an abundant use of macro data in the social sciences, little attention is given to the sources or the construction of these data. Owing to the restricted amount of indices or items, researchers most often apply the 'available data at hand'. Since the opportunities to analyse data are constantly increasing and the availability of macro indicators is improving as well, one may be enticed to incorporate even qualitatively inferior indicators for the sake of statistically significant results. The pitfalls of applying biased indicators or using instruments with unknown methodological characteristics are biased estimates, false statistical inferences and, as one potential consequence, the derivation of misleading policy recommendations. This Special Issue assembles contributions that attempt to stimulate the missing debate about the criteria of assessing aggregate data and their measurement properties for comparative analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. Sociological Methodology - BMS & RC33 - News from Historical and Comparative Sociology in Japan.
- Author
-
Onaka, Fumiya
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology - Abstract
The International Sociological Association’s Research Committee “Logic and Methodology” (RC33), under the direction of President Nina Baur, has begun to concentrate on sociological methodology developments in world regions other than Europe and North America. This is the first “Regional Report” to be jointly published by the BMS and this issue’s RC33 Newsletter. This paper attempts to briefly outline the status of historical and comparative sociology in Japan by a retrospective study focusing on methodological aspects. It reveals that methodology has been and will be the philosopher’s stone in a series of disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. A Maximal Understanding of Sacrifice: Bataille, Richard Wagner, Pilgrimage and the Bayreuth Festival
- Author
-
Philip Smith and Florian Stoll
- Subjects
Durkheim ,lcsh:BL1-2790 ,sacrifice ,media_common.quotation_subject ,050109 social psychology ,Passion ,0603 philosophy, ethics and religion ,lcsh:Religions. Mythology. Rationalism ,Bayreuth ,Comparative sociology ,Wagner ,opera ,Ethnography ,Sacrifice ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Sociology ,media_common ,060303 religions & theology ,Transcendence (philosophy) ,Sociology of culture ,05 social sciences ,Religious studies ,06 humanities and the arts ,Pilgrimage ,pilgrimage ,sacred ,festivals ,Aesthetics ,Comparative historical research ,ddc:200 - Abstract
This paper calls for a broad conception of sacrifice to be developed as a resource for cultural sociology. It argues the term was framed too narrowly in the classical work of Hubert and Mauss. The later approach of Bataille permits a maximal understanding of sacrifice as non-utilitarian expenditures of money, energy, passion and effort directed towards the experience of transcendence. From this perspective, pilgrimage can be understood as a specific modality of sacrificial activity. This paper applies this understanding of sacrifice and pilgrimage to the annual Bayreuth &ldquo, Wagner&rdquo, Festival in Germany. Drawing on a multi-year mixed-methods study involving ethnography, semi-structured interviews and historical research, the article traces sacrificial expenditures at the level of individual festival attendees. These include financial costs, arduous travel, dedicated research of the artworks, and disciplines of the body. Some are lucky enough to experience transcendence in the form of deep emotional experience, and a sense of contact with sacred spaces and forces. Our study is intended as an exemplary paradigm case that can be drawn upon analogically by scholars. We suggest that other aspects of social experience, including many that are more &lsquo, everyday&rsquo, can be understood through a maximal model of sacrifice and that a rigorous, wider comparative sociology could be developed using this tool.
- Published
- 2021
21. Max Weber and Comparison.
- Author
-
Fumiya Onaka
- Subjects
- *
COMPARATIVE studies , *HISTORICAL sociology , *HISTORY , *COMPARATIVE sociology , *SOCIOLOGY methodology , *POLITICAL attitudes ,SOCIAL aspects - Abstract
This paper reconsiders Max Weber's method of comparison focusing on the changes between 1904 and 1920. The method employed in this study involves the comparison of two texts of his main works: the old and new manuscripts of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, and the old and new versions of Die Protestantische Ethik und der "Geist" des Kapitalismus. The results reveal that the "comparison" of Max Weber gradually moved from "thick comparisons" based on descriptions of causal attribution in psychological or legal sense and elective affinity in Goethe's sense to "broad comparisons" related to causal explanation through interpretive understanding and that only the latter has been adopted by various works in comparative and historical sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Global Bourdieu.
- Author
-
Kauppi, Niilo and Swartz, David
- Subjects
HISTORICAL sociology ,HISTORY -- Social aspects ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,NEOLIBERALISM -- Social aspects ,POLITICAL attitudes - Abstract
Pierre Bourdieu was a prolific scholar whose multifaceted work inspired research in a wide variety of areas. Beyond sociology we find his influence in anthropology, history, cultural studies, political science, and international relations. Particularly after 1995, when he engaged in a fight against neo-liberalism, he became the pre-eminent public intellectual. Bourdieu clearly stands in the pantheon of the greatest contemporary social scientists. This article explores the social mechanisms that enabled the global circulation of Bourdieu's oeuvre. Multiple factors in multiple intellectual fields contributed to this process. There are "global Bourdieus." Throughout his career Bourdieu was a defender of the dominated, and a sharp critic of established powers; his work provides individuals in a variety of central and peripheral fields weapons against social domination whatever its form. This narrative weds together his biography and oeuvre, and forms the web that unites him with the social carriers of his work globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. For better, for worse? Public support for the capitalist model of the economy.
- Author
-
Kotzian, Peter
- Subjects
CAPITALISM ,PUBLIC support ,PROPERTY rights ,ECONOMIC competition ,ECONOMIC models - Abstract
A capitalist market economy is based on several institutional elements, such as private ownership and competition. Does public support for this economic model rise if the economy prospers, and fall during a downturn? Or is public support largely independent of the ups and downs of economic cycles? We hypothesize that positive economic performance increases support and that persons profiting personally are more supportive of the economic system's constitutive institutional elements. Using multilevel regression we study the determinants of individual-level support for the economic system. We also test for differences in the perception of economic performance due to political attitudes and personal properties. The findings partly support the hypotheses, indicating that macro-economic factors matter for individual-level attitudes towards the economy. Attitudes towards different institutional elements of the economic system also differ in the degree to which they are political or economic, and influenced by economic performance. Individual features – education and personal economic stakes – affect attitudes towards the economy, but a substantial share of the individual-level variation in economic attitudes remains unexplained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Religious Exclusivism and Mass Beliefs about the Religion v. Science Debate: A Cross-National Study.
- Author
-
Lee, John J.
- Subjects
RELIGIOUSNESS ,RELIGIOUS groups ,SOCIAL institutions ,SOCIAL impact ,RELIGIONS - Abstract
When religion and science are in conflict, who supports religion? Using data from 71 diverse societies in the World Values Survey (n = 120,728), this study assesses the relative predictive strength of science optimism, moral concerns about science, religiosity, and religious exclusivism. Perhaps counterintuitively, science beliefs (science optimism, in particular) are weak predictors of the outcome, even in wealthy societies with high levels of scientific productivity. In contrast, believing that only one's religion is acceptable is the strongest predictor of choosing religion over science; this is generally consistent across religious groups, regions, and specific countries/territories. These findings suggest that making the public more aware of major scientific advances will not, by itself, increase the cultural authority of science—especially if it is explicitly contested by another influential social institution. The implications for social scientific theories of modernization and secularization are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. Why Durability Matters? Towards a Comparative Economic Sociology of Market Organization
- Author
-
Sebastian Kohl and Alexander Dobeson
- Subjects
Durable goods ,050402 sociology ,Sociology and Political Science ,Sociologi ,Service economy ,Comparative sociology ,Housing markets ,05 social sciences ,Social change ,Space (commercial competition) ,0506 political science ,Fish markets ,Market economy ,0504 sociology ,Economic sociology ,Market segmentation ,Sociology ,Market organization ,050602 political science & public administration ,Dimension (data warehouse) ,Everyday life - Abstract
What can a good’s durability tell us about its market organization? This paper argues that the socially expected durability of goods is one of their most important features. It illuminates temporal and material aspects of market organization and social change across different markets. While recent literature in the sociology of markets tends to emphasize financial goods, intangible assets, and the service economy, markets for material durable and nondurable consumer goods are still surprisingly pervasive in everyday life and in the household economy, as well as in modern economies’ basic infrastructure. Based on a comparison of the extreme cases of durable housing and fresh fish markets, we come to the general finding that the higher a good’s expected durability, the smaller the share of its new production will be and the larger its aftermarkets. Furthermore, it will be more tightly linked to credit and insurance markets, and its market will be more volatile in the short-term, but more inert in the long-term. Beyond this static distinction, we show how socio-technical mechanisms can “durabilize” or “dedurabilize” goods and hence change their market form. By comparing markets along the durability dimension, this paper contributes to a comparative sociology of market organization that goes beyond single-market studies, while at the same time opening up space for a more dynamic understanding of social change and market segmentation over time. Vers une sociologie économique comparée de l’organisation des marchés : l’importance de la durabilité socialement attendue des biens économiques Que nous apprend la durabilité d’un bien quant à l’organisation de son marché ? Cet article montre que la durabilité socialement attendue des biens est l’une de leurs caractéristiques les plus importantes. Il met en lumière les aspects temporels et matériels de l’organisation des marchés et du changement social sur différents marchés. Alors que la littérature récente de la sociologie des marchés tend à mettre l’accent sur les biens financiers, les actifs intangibles et l’économie de service, les marchés des biens de consommation durables et non durables sont encore étonnamment omniprésents dans la vie quotidienne et dans l’économie des ménages, ainsi que dans les infrastructures de base des économies modernes. En comparant les cas extrêmes des logements conventionnels et des marchés du poisson frais, nous arrivons à la conclusion générale que plus la durabilité attendue d’une marchandise est élevée, plus sa part de production nouvelle est faible et plus ses marchés secondaires sont importants. En outre, il sera plus étroitement lié aux marchés du crédit et de l’assurance, et son marché sera plus volatil à court terme, mais plus inerte à long terme. Par delà cette distinction statique, nous montrons comment les mécanismes socio-techniques peuvent « durabiliser » ou « dé-durabiliser » les biens et donc modifier leur forme marchande. En comparant les marchés selon la dimension de durabilité, cet article contribue à une sociologie comparative de l’organisation des marchés qui va au-delà des études de marché unique, tout en ouvrant un espace pour une compréhension plus dynamique du changement social et de la segmentation des marchés dans le temps. Skizze einer Wirtschaftssoziologie von Wichtigkeit der social Durabilität von Gütern Was sagt die Haltbarkeit eines Gutes über seine Marktorganisation aus? Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf, dass die gesellschaftlich erwartete Haltbarkeit von Gütern eines ihrer wichtigsten Merkmale ist. Er untersucht zeitliche und materielle Aspekte der Marktorganisation und des sozialen Wandels auf verschiedenen Märkten. Während die neuere Literatur der Marktsoziologie dazu tendiert, den Schwerpunkt auf Finanzgüter, immaterielle Güter und Dienstleistungen zu legen, sind Märkte kurz- und langlebiger materieller Konsumgüter im Alltag und in der häuslichen Wirtschaft sowie in der Basisinfrastruktur moderner Volkswirtschaften immer noch überraschend weit verbreitet. Basierend auf einem Vergleich der Extremfälle – konventioneller Wohnungs- versus Frischfischmärkten – kommen wir zu der allgemeinen Feststellung, dass die erwartete Haltbarkeit eines Gutes proportional steigt, je geringer der Herstellungsanteil und je größer der Sekundärmarkt ausfällt. Darüber hinaus wird ein Gut enger mit den Kredit- und Versicherungsmärkten verbunden, sein Absatzmarkt kurzfristig volatiler, langfristig aber träger sein. Über diese statische Differenzierung hinaus wird aufgezeigt, wie sozio-technische Mechanismen dazu führen, dass Güter langlebiger oder kurzlebiger werden und somit ihre Marktform verändern. Marktvergleichend, die Durabilitätsdimension integrierend, leistet dieser Aufsatz einen Beitrag zu einer vergleichenden Soziologie der Marktorganisation, die über Einzelmarktstudien hinausgeht und gleichzeitig Raum für ein dynamischeres Verständnis des sozialen Wandels und der Marktsegmentierung im Laufe der Zeit eröffnet. Introduction Different worlds of goods and markets Durability and market organization Nondurable and durable goods - a comparison General features of markets for durables and nondurables Reorganizing markets: the mechanisms of durabilization and de-dedurabilization Making good durable Making goods less durable Conclusion references
- Published
- 2020
26. 25 Years After the USSR: Prospects of the Comparative Studies of Capitalism A Review Essay on: Comparative Sociology. 2017, vol. 16, iss. 1: 25 Years after the USSR: The Burden of the Past, the Bitterness of Reality, and Dreaming for the Future, Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishing. 181 p
- Author
-
Dmitry Zhikharevich
- Subjects
Economics and Econometrics ,Sociology and Political Science ,business.industry ,Victory ,Capitalism ,Comparative sociology ,Economic sociology ,Dominance (economics) ,Publishing ,Political science ,Positive economics ,business ,Discipline ,Social structure - Abstract
This paper is an extended review essay dedicated to the special issue of Comparative Sociology “25 Years After the USSR” (2017, vol. 16, issue 1). The issue consists of 6 original research papers that are of interest for scholars working in the field of economic sociology. The paper shows how the topic of post-Soviet transformations still remains relevant for economic sociologists, and highlights the advantages and the shortcomings of the articles presented in the issue of Comparative Sociology. The paper also demonstrates how the fall of the USSR and the disciplinary rearrangement of the social sciences, economic sociology in particular, are related to the dominance of sociology of market as a research program. In short, the historical victory of the market capitalism allowed market exchange to be treated as a paradigm of social action. The consequence of this has been twofold: on the one hand, economic sociology has increasingly concerned itself with the study of markets, however, with a particular focus on the social structures that allow, make possible, and enhance market exchanges. On the other hand, this focus on the “scaffolding” structures of the markets made economic sociology an addition, instead of a competitor, to the neoclassical economic theory. The paper briefly reviews the arguments that support such a conclusion. In the final section, the paper analyses the limits of the strategy of comparative analysis of capitalisms in different countries that is being pursued by the articles presented in the issue under review.
- Published
- 2018
27. Countries versus Disciplines: Comparative Analysis of Post-Soviet Transformations in Academic Publications from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
- Author
-
Marharyta Fabrykant, Natalia D. Tregubova, and Alla Marchenko
- Subjects
Sociology of scientific knowledge ,050402 sociology ,Sociology and Political Science ,Field (Bourdieu) ,05 social sciences ,New institutionalism ,0506 political science ,Comparative sociology ,0504 sociology ,Content analysis ,050602 political science & public administration ,Sociology ,Social science ,Discipline ,Period (music) ,Mechanism (sociology) - Abstract
The objective of this paper is to outline and compare frameworks for studying post-Soviet transformations developed by social scientists from various disciplines in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The objective is realized by means of quantitative content analysis of scholarly articles’ abstracts in ninety-four journals in eight (inter)disciplinary fields that covers the period of 2001-2015. This paper seeks to answer the question whether differences in the studies of the post-Soviet transformations are defined by country discourse or by the field of study. The research results suggest that there is a two-level mechanism, by which the societal context affects academia, in this case, social sciences and humanities. While general directions of scholarly attention are determined by societal differences, representations of post-Soviet transformations are framed through specific disciplinary lenses that combine both international and post-Soviet features.
- Published
- 2017
28. Alexander the Great in Macedonian folk traditions
- Author
-
Taietti, Guendalina Daniela Maria
- Subjects
Ethnography ,Comparative Sociology ,Alexander the Great ,Classical Reception ,Reception Studies ,Hellenic Folklore ,Macedonian Folklore - Abstract
This paper focuses on the figure of Alexander the Great in a set of Macedonian folk traditions circulating in Northern Greece in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Macedonian Alexander-folk traditions represent a peculiar set among the other Hellenic folk accounts, because they convey chiefly the idea of familiarity with the hero, who seems to be still living and influencing the people’s everyday life. This bond – almost a mutual ownership between Alexander and the Macedonians – is in fact constantly highlighted by the choice of the themes treated, such as the attribution of monuments to the great conqueror and the use of his historical and mythical persona to explain local customs, features of the landscape, or toponyms. Moreover, (pseudo-)aetiologies, etymologies, and / or descriptions of facts of local interest populate these narratives which, according to their content and purpose, are here grouped into two main categories, geographical and aetiological, and into two subcategories, geographico-aetiological and aetiologico-mythological. The aim here is confined to the discussion, the categorisation, and the translation into English of the Macedonian Alexander-traditions; I hope that this paper will make this notable and lively material accessible to a wider public and help the preservation of its memory.
- Published
- 2019
29. A Comparative Sociology of Gypsy Traveller Health in the UK
- Author
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Miranda Millan and David M. Smith
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,accommodation ,Roma ,Adolescent ,Health Status ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Psychological intervention ,lcsh:Medicine ,Qualitative property ,Romany Gypsy ,Article ,Comparative sociology ,Social group ,Irish Traveller ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Social determinants of health ,Sociology ,Socioeconomic status ,Disadvantage ,Aged ,media_common ,Aged, 80 and over ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,comparative sociology ,Middle Aged ,Public relations ,England ,Socioeconomic Factors ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,social determinants of health ,Female ,business ,Ireland ,Diversity (politics) - Abstract
This paper presents findings from a series of health-related studies undertaken between 2012 and 2017 with Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers living in different locations and in various forms of accommodation in southern England. These set out to develop a sociological understanding of the factors impacting on the health and wellbeing of members of those communities and to consider the extent health status is shaped by ethno-cultural and/or socioeconomic factors, and the interplay and direction of causal processes between them. The relative influences of cultural and structural factors in generating health inequalities have important implications for engaging marginalised populations in health services and preventative programmes. This paper will present survey and qualitative data on Gypsies&rsquo, and Travellers&rsquo, health beliefs and practices to understand how those beliefs and practices have developed in different social contexts as responses to deeper social mechanisms, and share commonalities with other marginalised and excluded social groups. In policy terms this indicates the need for health interventions that are applied proportionate to the level of disadvantage experienced thus ensuring equality and fairness while accounting for diversity and difference.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. The Citizenship Debates, Lysias, and the Metics in Athens after the Restoration of Democracy
- Author
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Vagios, Vassilis
- Subjects
Classics ,Immigration Studies ,Comparative Sociology ,Athens ,Democracy ,Metics ,Lysias - Abstract
After the restoration of democracy in Athens in 403 B.C. the question of who should be included in the citizen-body was fervently contested. Two of the speeches composed by Lysias for delivery at this period have been interpreted by Bakewell (1999) as constituting a covert proposal of adding an alternative to citizenship by birth: legal naturalization. This paper argues that Bakewell’s interpretation misunderstands the argument of the speech Against Philon which is only concerned with eligibility to serve in the Council, and not with citizenship. Furthermore, the paper questions the validity of what Bakewell (1999) considers as Athenian stereotypes of metics (resident aliens), and concludes that these are more stereotypes held by modern scholars, generated by misunderstandings of the actual composition of the metic community, rather than ancient Athenian views. As the paper is addressed not only to Classicists, but also to scholars of other disciplines who might be interested in the opinions held by host communities towards diasporic communities among them, care is taken to provide enough information to make the paper easily accessed by them too.
- Published
- 2018
31. Charismatic authority and fractured polities: A cross‐national analysis.
- Author
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Davis, Andrew P. and Vila‐Henninger, Luis
- Subjects
CHARISMATIC authority ,CHARISMA ,POLARIZATION (Social sciences) ,POLITICAL leadership ,SOCIOLOGICAL research ,POLITICAL systems - Abstract
Sociological research has overlooked the political consequences of charismatic leadership that arises in existing democratic political bureaucracies. In this article, we theorize the consequences of charismatic leadership in democratic nations by revisiting Max Weber's theory of charismatic authority. Our extension of Weber's theory of charismatic authority helps to address a gap in the political polarization literature concerning the role of charismatic leadership. This article provides a foundational link in the research on charismatic authority–bridging the literatures on charisma and cross‐national comparative sociology. This bridging is enabled by advances in data collection that include information on charismatic authority in cross‐national context. This article makes use of a Driscoll and Kraay fixed‐effects analysis across 76 democracies from 1960 to 2009 to explore the relationship between charismatic leadership and political polarization. Our findings suggest that nations with higher levels of charismatic leadership tend to have higher levels of political polarization. These results contribute to both the literature on political polarization and charisma—as well as support our extension of Weber's theory of charismatic authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. Europe in world regional perspective: formations of modernity and major historical transformations
- Author
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Gerard Delanty
- Subjects
Generality ,Sociology and Political Science ,Modernity ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Social change ,Capitalism ,Democracy ,Comparative sociology ,Epistemology ,Economic geography ,Democratization ,Sociology ,media_common ,Social theory - Abstract
The paper seeks to present a world regional approach to the analysis of modernity and in doing so it also aims to make a contribution to comparative sociology and social theory. It is argued that world regions are the most suitable entry-point for comparing different socio-political constellations of our time, preferable to continents, civilizations and nation-states. However, a world regional foundation on its own is insufficient, due to the internal plurality and historically changing forms of world regions, and therefore needs to be accompanied by a concept that provides some degree of coherence within world regions and a tool for comparison with other world regions. The notion of modernity offers this level of generality while at the same time allowing for variety in its historical forms. Six main formations of modernity are identified, of which the European model was the first one and often a cultural reference for many other parts of the world. The thesis is that in the present day the most important developments are in the Asian and Latin American varieties, which unlike Europe are witnessing major historical transformation. Decisive in all of this is the question of democratization in the shaping of social imaginaries. Beginning with the problem of how to define the specificity of Europe, the paper provides an exploratory analysis of some of the salient considerations around a number of world regions, their formations of modernity, and the extent of major historical transformations in their present constitution.
- Published
- 2015
33. Comparative Sociology as an Inquiry and as a Teaching Discipline: An Attempt of Comparative Analysis
- Author
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Andrey Rezaev, Valentin Starikov, and Natalia Tregubova
- Subjects
Modalities ,Sociology and Political Science ,Comparative method ,Alternative hypothesis ,Comparative research ,Field research ,Sociology ,Sociological imagination ,Social science ,Epistemology ,Comparative sociology - Abstract
What can variously be understood as “comparative sociology” take different contours and raise further issues and questions in different sociological traditions which in turn are shaped by different theoretical paradigms. The paper outlines conceptual and theoretical framework for a discussion about the current status of comparative sociology. Comparative sociology is perceived as an organization of research through constant comparisons at the different levels and stages of research. The paper presents outcomes of the field research that is developed on the basis of distinction between two modalities of comparative sociology: comparative sociology as an inquiry and comparative sociology as a teaching discipline. One basic and two subordinate alternative hypotheses are tested in the course of comparative analysis of the seven cases. Discussion of these cases results in formulation of specific questions for further research.
- Published
- 2015
34. Reading Wacquant: social work and advanced marginality
- Author
-
Ian Cummins
- Subjects
Government ,Sociology and Political Science ,Poverty ,Social work ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,Neoliberalism ,Gender studies ,0506 political science ,Comparative sociology ,Ethnography ,050602 political science & public administration ,050501 criminology ,Sociology ,Soul ,Welfare ,Social Sciences (miscellaneous) ,0505 law ,media_common - Abstract
Professor Loic Wacquant was born in Montpelier in 1960. He was educated in France before completing a Ph.D. in Chicago in 1994. He is currently Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley. His work is concerned with the impact of neoliberalism in the area of welfare and penal policy. Wacquant has published a number of highly influential books the most notable of which are Les Prisons de la misere (1999, translated in 20 languages; new and expanded English edition, Prisons of Poverty, 2009), Body and Soul: Ethnographic Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer (2000), Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality (2008) and Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity (2009). These works, along with the major papers listed in the bibliography, form the core of Wacquant's analysis of the impact of neoliberal welfare and penal policy. These papers consider three key areas: advanced marginality, race (ethno-racial domination) and the rise of the penal stat...
- Published
- 2015
35. Capitalist development through the eyes of Oliver C. Cox with some insights for Caribbean development
- Author
-
Dave Ramsaran
- Subjects
Anthropology ,Interpretation (philosophy) ,Field (Bourdieu) ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Caste ,Development ,Capitalism ,Comparative sociology ,Capitalist development ,Race (biology) ,Economic sociology ,Political Science and International Relations ,Economic history ,Sociology - Abstract
This paper examines the contribution of Oliver Cromwell Cox’s interpretation of capitalism, in his book The Foundations of Capitalism (1959. New York: Philisophical Library Inc), to the field of political economy and comparative sociology. Most sociologists who look at capitalism from a historical perspective tend to highlight Max Weber’s work; almost no attention is given to Cox’s contribution in this area. Further, most scholars who do focus on Cox tend to highlight his work Caste Class and Race (1948. New York: Doubleday & Company), and very little is written about his later works on capitalism. This paper focuses on the text The Foundations of Capitalism, though at times it will also highlight some of his other works, particularly Capitalism and American Leadership (1962. New York: Philisophical Library Inc) and Capitalism as a System (1964. New York: Monthly Review Press). The paper first sets forth the major arguments about the foundation of capitalism, its workings, and his contribution to historic...
- Published
- 2014
36. Theorizing Region: Links to Ethnicity, Nation, and Race.
- Author
-
Skrentny, John D.
- Subjects
SOCIAL scientists ,ETHNICITY ,RACE ,SOCIAL change - Abstract
The concept of "region" is widespread in the social sciences but rarely theorized. I argue here that region is a multivalent concept similar to ethnicity, nation, and race. Building on the work of Bourdieu, Brubaker, and Griswold, I show that all four concepts can be understood as both "categories of analysis" and "categories of practice." Moreover, all four have fundamental similarities regarding (1) ontology and relation to space; (2) historical sequences and relation to time; and (3) protean boundaries that may change with social scientists' research questions. Among the payoffs to this approach are improved precision and appropriateness of regional boundaries when social scientists use regions as independent or control variables and greater appreciation for how regions, as categories of practice, are made over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. The Europeanisation of Sociology? A Bibliometric Comparison of Družboslovne Razprave and Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie
- Author
-
Barbara Hoeing
- Subjects
comparative sociology ,bibliometrics ,Slovenia ,Austria ,Europeanisation ,Sociology (General) ,HM401-1281 - Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of Europeanisation dynamics on the formation and development of sociology in Slovenia and Austria. Compared are problem choice in research areas, topics, and the language of citations of sociological knowledge published in two sociology journals, Družboslovne razprave and Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie over a 30-year period (1986–2015). Methodologically, the bibliometric analysis of journals was undertaken as a study entailing two distinct phases and methods of comparison. The empirical findings indicate that society’s structural change, political transformation and European integration have been subject to much more research among Slovenian sociologists than among their Austrian colleagues.
- Published
- 2016
38. States of emergence, states of knowledge: A comparative sociology of international relations in China and India.
- Author
-
Kristensen, Peter Marcus
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE sociology ,INTERNATIONAL relations ,POWER (Social sciences) ,POLITICAL knowledge ,CHINA-India relations - Abstract
This article examines the relationship between the geopolitical rise of new powers in international relations and knowledge production in International Relations. It draws on the science studies literature on the 'co-production' of science and politics to conceptualise and analyse this relationship between the 'state of emergence' and 'state of knowledge'. I argue that the 'state of emergence' should be conceptualised not only as a real-world condition external to science that imposes itself on an otherwise pure internal 'state of knowledge', but also as a scholarly sensibility, ethos and motivation that operates 'within' it. The article illustrates the argument ethnomethodologically by interviewing International Relations scholars in China and India on how they themselves make sense of the emerging condition and justify their own positions and actions within it. Based on the interviews, I identify four co-productive registers connecting the state of emergence to the state of knowledge (the constitutive, civic, infrastructural and psychological) but also find that scholars in China and India differ in their enactment of these registers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. The social networks and structural variation of Mississippian sociopolitics in the southeastern United States.
- Author
-
Lulewicz, Jacob
- Subjects
SOCIAL network analysis ,GEOPOLITICS ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,IDENTITY politics ,CHIEFDOMS - Abstract
Network approaches in archaeology offer a promising avenue for facilitating bottom-up, comparative approaches to sociopolitical organization. While recent applications have focused primarily on migration and demographic trends, identity and identity politics, and the dynamics of geopolitical and regional interaction, little in the way of comparative sociopolitical organization has been attempted. In this study, I present an alternative approach to the use of sociotypological models across southern Appalachia. In particular, I demonstrate the value in employing network analyses as a mode of formally and quantitatively comparing the relational structures and organizations of sociopolitical landscapes; in this case, those traditionally characterized as constellations of chiefdoms. By approaching southern Appalachian histories through the relationships upon which social, political, and economic institutions were actually built, I move the study of southeastern political systems beyond the use of models that emphasize the behaviors of elites and the ruling class as inspired by the ethnographic and ethnohistoric records. To these ends, using a robust regional ceramic dataset, I compare network histories and political landscapes for the southern Appalachian region between ca. AD 800 and 1650. The results of these analyses contribute insights to the study of small-scale political organizations by demonstrating that (i) as chiefdoms developed, leaders drew on preexisting social and political conditions; (ii) while networks of chiefly interaction were defined by instability, wider networks of interaction were much more durable; and (iii) quantitative network analyses and qualitative ethnohistoric accounts can articulate with one another to shed light on indigenous political organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Social Mobility and Life Satisfaction across European Countries: A Compositional Perspective on Dissociative Consequences of Social Mobility
- Author
-
Dhoore, Jasper, Daenekindt, Stijn, and Roose, Henk
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. A ‘Southern’ Perspective: Historical Sociology and Sociology in India
- Author
-
Rakesh M. Krishnan
- Subjects
Mode (music) ,Discursive practice ,Sociology and Political Science ,Historical sociology ,Perspective (graphical) ,Indology ,Sociology ,Colonialism ,History of sociology ,Social Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Comparative sociology ,Epistemology - Abstract
This paper traces the history of sociology in India to colonial anthropology and Indology. I argue that the compulsions of post-colonial society have also made specific demands on the discursive terrain of sociology. Fundamental to the pursuit of sociological knowledge in India, I believe, was a core debate about its mode of discursive practice – specifically, a debate between particularistic and universalistic orientations. From this point of view, I re-read the history of sociology in India. In doing so, I argue that close attention to the history of sociology helps us see the extent to which foundational western approaches to historical and comparative sociology have affected the historical development of sociology in India. Ironically, this has meant that the degree of historical self-awareness in Indian sociology has been limited. Hence, I discuss the grounds for the weak historical self-awareness in terms of historical sociology in India. I conclude by discussing how a strengthened tradition of historical sociology can be a tool to revitalize the discipline.
- Published
- 2021
42. How Necessary Are Unions? Insights from John R. Commons.
- Author
-
Chasse, J. Dennis
- Subjects
LABOR unions ,FREE enterprise ,SOCIAL choice ,DEMOCRACY ,COMPARATIVE sociology - Abstract
In this article, I assess Commons’s warning that union suppression endangers democracy. I do so by considering evidence from four viewpoints: (i) Commons’s view, (ii) the free market view, (iii) the power resource view, and (iv) the comparative sociology view. I expand on Commons’s insights with the question: What is democracy? My conclusion points to the reasonableness of his warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. A Systematic Assessment of "Axial Age" Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence.
- Author
-
Mullins, Daniel Austin, Hoyer, Daniel, Collins, Christina, Currie, Thomas, Feeney, Kevin, François, Pieter, Savage, Patrick E., Whitehouse, Harvey, and Turching, Peter
- Subjects
HISTORICAL sociology ,CULTURE ,SOCIAL change ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,MODERNITY ,HISTORY - Abstract
Proponents of the Axial Age contend that parallel cultural developments between 800 and 200 BCE in what is today China, Greece, India, Iran, and Israel-Palestine constitute the global historical turning point toward modernity. The Axial Age concept is well-known and influential, but deficiencies in the historical evidence and sociological analysis available have thwarted efforts to evaluate the concept's major global contentions. As a result, the Axial Age concept remains controversial. Seshat: Global History Databank provides new tools for examining this topic in social formations across Afro-Eurasia during the first two millennia BCE and first millennium CE, allowing scholars to empirically evaluate the varied and contrasting claims researchers have put forward. Results undercut the notion of a specific "age" of axiality limited to a specific geo-temporal localization. Critical traits offered as evidence of an axial transformation by proponents of the Axial Age concept appeared across Afro-Eurasia hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of years prior to the proposed Axial Age. Our analysis raises important questions for future evaluations of this period and points the way toward empirically-led, historical-sociological investigations of the ideological and institutional foundations of complex societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Introduction to a visual sociology of smaller nations in Europe.
- Author
-
Boucher, Gerard and Watson, Iarfhlaith
- Subjects
VISUAL sociology ,VISUAL communication ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,SOCIOLOGY ,SOCIAL conditions in Europe ,CROSS-cultural studies - Abstract
In the introduction to this special issue there is an exploration of how a visual sociological perspective can be used both to visually represent and to better understand some of the salient features of smaller nations in contemporary Europe. In the first section there is a focus on the increasing theoretical and empirical emphasis on the visual in everyday life and the renewed social scientific interest in the nation. Following that there is an examination of the concept of ‘smallness’ with respect to the literature on smaller states and nations, and the use of visual research methods to represent and help to explain the particular characteristics of smaller nations in Europe. In the second section there is a summary of the six comparative case-study articles that constitute this special issue: dealing with Serbia and Croatia, Belgium, Hungary, Greenland, the Basque Country in Spain, and with Ireland and the European Union. In the articles a range of visual sociological approaches, from conceptual to ethnographic, are applied, drawing on photographs, paintings and cognitive schemas to visually represent and examine specific features of smaller European nations. While political and economic characteristics of smallness are significant in the articles, most of the focus is on socio-cultural issues relating to themes like nationalism, national identity, migration and diversity, as well as emotions such as national pride and shame, and perceptions related to threats and vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Studying Incremental Institutional Change: A Systematic and Critical Meta-Review of the Literature from 2005 to 2015.
- Author
-
van der Heijden, Jeroen and Kuhlmann, Johanna
- Subjects
SOCIAL change ,COMPARATIVE historiography ,HISTORICAL institutionalism (Sociology) ,SOCIOLOGY methodology ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,STATISTICAL methods in sociology - Abstract
Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Nencki Affective Picture System: Cross-Cultural Study in Europe and Iran.
- Author
-
Riegel, Monika, Moslehi, Abnoos, Michałowski, Jarosław M., Żurawski, Łukasz, Horvat, Marko, Wypych, Marek, Jednoróg, Katarzyna, and Marchewka, Artur
- Subjects
AVOIDANCE (Psychology) ,AVERSIVE stimuli ,CROSS-cultural studies ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,DEFENSE mechanisms (Psychology) - Abstract
Although emotions have been assumed conventionally to be universal, recent studies have suggested that various aspects of emotions may be mediated by cultural background. The purpose of our research was to test these contradictory views, in the case of the subjective evaluation of visual affective stimuli. We also sought to validate the recently introduced Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS) database on a different cultural group. Since there has been, to date, no attempt to compare the emotions of a culturally distinct sample of Iranians with those of Europeans, subjective ratings were collected from 40 Iranians and 39 Europeans. Each cultural group was asked separately to provide normative affective ratings and classify pictures according to discrete emotions. The results were analyzed to identify cultural differences in the ratings of individual images. One hundred and seventy NAPS pictures were rated with regard to the intensity of the basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust) they elicited, as well as in terms of affective dimensions (valence and arousal). Contrary to previous studies using the International Affective Picture System, our results for Europeans and Iranians show that neither the ratings for affective dimensions nor for basic emotions differed across cultural groups. In both cultural groups, the relationship between valence and arousal ratings could be best described by a classical boomerangshaped function. However, the content of the pictures (animals, faces, landscapes, objects, or people) had a significant effect on the ratings for valence and arousal. These findings indicate that further studies in cross-cultural affective research should control for the content of stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. Reformulating ‘Holism' in hydropower decision-making
- Author
-
Kenneth Kang
- Subjects
Information Systems and Management ,Essentialism ,business.industry ,Strategy and Management ,05 social sciences ,General Social Sciences ,Temporality ,050905 science studies ,Epistemology ,Comparative sociology ,Social system ,0502 economics and business ,Relational model ,Selection (linguistics) ,Holism ,Sociology ,0509 other social sciences ,business ,050203 business & management ,Hydropower - Abstract
This paper investigates the necessary‐impossible paradox facing hydropower decision‐makers of the Mekong River Commission: that aspiring towards a holistic risk assessment is both socially useful and necessary, but also meaningless and impossible (because the future remains unknown). The thesis here is that to come to terms with this paradox, a Luhmannian inspired relational model offers superior analytical tools compared with an Aristotelian essentialist approach. This is because where the latter typically employs integrative approaches which attempt to show why through rational reasoning risk assessments are holistic, the former takes into account that holistic risk assessments are contingent on the observer, on an organisation's position within a network, and on the ‘temporal atoms’ that mark the ‘time’ of social systems. By employing a relational framework comprised of variation, selection and retention to capture this comparative sociology of the observer, the contribution here offers a radical reformulation of holism in hydropower decision‐making.
- Published
- 2019
48. World Polity Matters.
- Author
-
Li, Xue and Hicks, Alexander
- Subjects
PRACTICAL politics -- History ,INTERNATIONAL agencies ,STATISTICAL hypothesis testing ,STATISTICS ,DATA analysis ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
Did the nation-state spread due to global diffusion? Wimmer and Feinstein’s 2010 ASR article concludes that there are no “world polity” influences on the rise of the nation-state; rather, the spread of the nation-state was driven by proximate and contextual political factors situated at the local and regional levels, in line with historical institutionalist arguments. Here, after arguing that Wimmer and Feinstein misspecify the historical domain of the world polity theory, we reanalyze their data and find that world polity has played a consistent role in the global rise of the nation-state since WWII. Specifically, global diffusion processes complement the more local and regional varieties of causal processes stressed by historical institutionalist theorists. We measure the institutionalization of world polity with inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), and processes through which potential nation-states mimic existing nation-states. IGO membership and existing nation-states show positive significance in the post-1945 period, and all three measures significantly facilitate nation-state creation for 1953 to 2001, the period for which INGO data are available. Results affirm the importance of state legitimacy secured by adapting the global model of the nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. Revisiting territories of relegation: Class, ethnicity and state in the making of advanced marginality.
- Author
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Wacquant, Loïc
- Subjects
URBAN poor ,URBAN studies ,CITIES & politics ,POSTINDUSTRIAL societies ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,SOCIAL marginality - Abstract
In the postindustrial city, relegation takes the form of real or imaginary consignment to distinctive sociospatial formations variously and vaguely referred to as ‘inner cities,’ ‘ghettos,’ ‘enclaves,’ ‘no-go areas,’ ‘problem districts’ or simply ‘rough neighborhoods’. How are we to characterise and differentiate these spaces; what determines their trajectory (birth, growth, decay and death); whence comes the intense stigma attached to them; and what constellations of class, ethnicity and state do they both materialise and signify? These are the questions I pursued in my book Urban Outcasts (Wacquant, 2008a) through a methodical comparison of the trajectories of the black American ghetto and the European working-class peripheries in the era of neoliberal ascendancy. In this article, I revisit this cross-continental sociology of ‘advanced marginality’ to tease out its broader lessons for our understanding of the tangled nexus of symbolic, social and physical space in the polarising metropolis at century’s threshold in particular, and for bringing the core principles of Bourdieu’s sociology to bear on comparative urban studies in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Homeland engagement and host-society integration: A comparative study of new Chinese immigrants in the United States and Singapore.
- Author
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Zhou, Min and Liu, Hong
- Subjects
IMMIGRANTS ,COUNTRY of origin (Immigrants) ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,COMPARATIVE sociology ,CROSS-cultural studies - Abstract
This article addresses three main questions through a comparative study of new Chinese immigrants in the United States and Singapore: (1) How do contexts of emigration and reception affect the ways in which new immigrants are tied to their homeland? (2) How do diasporic communities help members engage with the homeland? (3) What effects does transnationalism have on host-society integration? We develop an institutional approach to analyze how the state is involved in the transnational fields and how diasporic organizations serve as a bridge between individual migrants and state actors in transnational practices and integration processes. We find that new Chinese immigrants maintain emotional and tangible ties with China even as they are oriented toward resettlement in the hostland and that their transnational practices are similar in form but vary in magnitude, depending not only on diasporic positionality in the host society but also on bi-national relations. We also find that those who actively engage themselves in the transnational fields tend to do so through diasporic organizations. Finally, we find that homeland engagement generally benefits integration into host societies. These findings suggest that social forces at the macro-level – the nation-state – and at the meso-level – diasporic communities – are intertwined to affect processes and outcomes of immigrant transnationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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