23 results
Search Results
2. What makes for a successful sociology? A response to "Against a descriptive turn".
- Author
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Savage, Mike
- Subjects
- *
SOCIOLOGY , *DEBATE , *SOCIOLOGISTS , *EDUCATION research , *SOCIAL sciences - Abstract
This paper responds to Nick Gane's "Against a descriptive turn". I argue that descriptive research strategies are more open and inclusive than those which purport to be causal where explanatory adequacy is assessed by expert insiders. I also show how open descriptive strategies can assist a wider explanatory purpose when these are conceived in non‐positivist ways. I argue that epochalist sociology lacks an adequate temporal ontology because it collapses descriptive specificity back into overarching epoch descriptions. Finally, I argue that if the entire range of publications associated with the Great British Class Survey are considered, that it has demonstrated a productive way of recognising the significance of class which has facilitated major research advances in its wake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Income Stratification among Occupational Classes in the United States.
- Author
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Zhou, Xiang and Wodtke, Geoffrey T
- Subjects
- *
INCOME inequality , *OCCUPATIONS , *SOCIAL stratification , *SOCIAL classes , *EQUALITY , *HIERARCHIES , *SOCIOLOGY ,SOCIAL conditions in the United States, 1980- - Abstract
Stratification and inequality are among the most central concepts in sociology, and although related, they are fundamentally distinct: inequality refers to the extent to which resources are distributed unevenly across individuals or between population subgroups, whereas stratification refers to the extent to which population subgroups occupy distinct hierarchical layers within an overall resource distribution. Despite the centrality of stratification in theories of class structure, prior empirical studies have focused exclusively on measures of inequality, which do not accurately capture the degree of class stratification and suffer from a variety of methodological limitations. In this paper, we employ a novel rank-based index of stratification to measure the degree to which occupational classes inhabit distinct, non-overlapping, and hierarchically arranged layers in the distribution of personal market income. The stratification index is nonparametric, both scale and translation invariant, and independent of the level of inequality. Based on this index, our results show that the US income distribution is highly stratified by occupational class and that the degree of class stratification increased substantially from 1980 to 2016. Moreover, we find that this trend is almost entirely due to growing stratification among aggregate occupational classes rather than among the disaggregate occupations nested within them. Finally, a set of counterfactual analyses indicate that the rise of occupational class stratification is driven by increases in the income returns to education, deunionization, and deindustrialization, although the relative importance of these factors varies by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Class and comparison: subjective social location and lay experiences of constraint and mobility.
- Author
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Irwin, Sarah
- Subjects
- *
SOCIAL classes , *SOCIAL mobility , *EQUALITY , *REFERENCE groups , *SOCIOLOGY , *CLASS identity , *SOCIOECONOMICS , *IDENTITY (Psychology) - Abstract
Lay perceptions and experiences of social location have been commonly framed with reference to social class. However, complex responses to, and ambivalence over, class categories have raised interesting analytic questions relating to how sociological concepts are operationalized in empirical research. For example, prior researchers have argued that processes of class dis-identification signify moral unease with the nature of classed inequalities, yet dis-identification may also in part reflect a poor fit between 'social class' as a category and the ways in which people accord meaning to, and evaluate, their related experiences of socio-economic inequality. Differently framed questions about social comparison, aligned more closely with people's own terms of reference, offer an interesting alternative avenue for exploring subjective experiences of inequality. This paper explores some of these questions through an analysis of new empirical data, generated in the context of recession. In the analysis reported here, class identification was common. Nevertheless, whether or not people self identified in class terms, class relevant issues were perceived and described in highly diverse ways, and lay views on class revealed it to be a very aggregated as well as multifaceted construct. It is argued that it enables a particular, not general, perspective on social comparison. The paper therefore goes on to examine how study participants compared themselves with familiar others, identified by themselves. The evidence illuminates social positioning in terms of constraint, agency and (for some) movement, and offers insight into very diverse experiences of inequality, through the comparisons that people made. Their comparisons are situated, and pragmatic, accounts of the material contexts in which people live their lives. Linked evaluations are circumscribed and strongly tied to these proximate material contexts.The paper draws out implications for theorizing lay perspectives on class, and subjective experiences of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Educational markets in space: gamekeeping professionals across Australian communities.
- Author
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Doherty, Catherine, Rissman, Barbara, and Browning, Bronwyn
- Subjects
- *
NEOLIBERALISM , *LIBERALISM , *SOCIOLOGY , *COMMUNITIES , *HUMAN settlements - Abstract
This paper argues that the logic of neoliberal choice policy is typically blind to considerations of space and place, but inevitably impacts on rural and remote locations in the way that middle-class professionals view the opportunities available in their local educational markets. The paper considers the value of middle-class professionals’ educational capitals in regional communities and their problematic distribution, given that class fraction’s particular investment in choice strategies to ensure their children’s future. It then profiles the educational market in six communities along a transect between a major regional centre and a remote ‘outback’ town, using publicly available data from the Australian Government’s My School website. Comparison of the local markets shows how educational outcomes are distributed across the local markets and how dimensions of ‘choice’ thin out over the transect. Interview data offer insights into how professional families in these localities engage selectively with these local educational markets or plan to transcend them. The discussion reflects on the growing importance of educational choices as a marker of place in the competition between localities to attract and retain professionals to staff vital human services in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
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6. Social inequality and the diagnosis of paranoia.
- Author
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Harper, David J.
- Subjects
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PARANOIA , *DIAGNOSIS methods , *CONCEPTS , *INTERPERSONAL relations , *PATIENT-professional relations , *PSYCHOLOGY of Minorities , *CULTURAL pluralism , *PUBLIC spaces , *RACE , *SEX distribution , *SOCIAL classes , *SOCIAL justice , *PSYCHOLOGICAL stress , *SOCIOECONOMIC factors , *DIAGNOSIS - Abstract
One of the obstacles to understanding the links between social inequality and mental health distress is the reliance on heterogeneous diagnostic categories. In this paper, it is argued that a solution to this problem is to explore more homogenous experiences of distress. This paper investigates one particular form of distress: paranoia. The relationship between social inequality and paranoia is then examined, focusing on two aspects. Firstly, it is argued that social inequality might affect the experience of paranoia itself since the experience of the surveillance encountered in the everyday use of public space may vary depending on one's location in social categories like gender, 'race' and culture and class (these social categories are, of course, themselves stratified by social inequality). Secondly, mental health service users' locations in these categories may influence the way that the plausibility of ostensibly paranoid claims are evaluated by mental health professionals. Within the discussion of each category, links are drawn between community and clinical samples to understand how the experience of paranoia may be influenced by these social categories. The paper concludes with implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Should I pitch my tent in the middle ground? On 'middling tendency', Beck and inequality in youth sociology.
- Author
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Threadgold, Steven
- Subjects
- *
EQUALITY , *SOCIOLOGY , *REFLEXIVITY , *SOCIAL sciences , *BEHAVIORAL scientists , *YOUTH , *SOCIOLOGISTS - Abstract
In 2009 Woodman has recently challenged youth sociologists concerned with inequality to evolve from what he describes as a middling orthodoxy that misrepresents the work of Ulrich Beck in an effort to emphasise the continuing relevance of class. In 2010 Roberts forcefully responds to Woodman, arguing that Beck's own words and empirical evidence contradict his argument. Woodman responds to Roberts, reasserting his position and asks for the debate to move beyond mere 'quote wars'. This paper engages with this debate, taking Woodman's challenge seriously while maintaining that Beck's jettison of class is problematic, and that the concept of class itself is still vital. The paper concludes with suggestions as to what youth sociologists concerned with socio-economic inequality might want to focus upon in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. On being credibly ill: Class and gender in illness stories among welfare officers and clients with medically unexplained symptoms.
- Author
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Mik-Meyer, Nanna
- Subjects
- *
ATTITUDE (Psychology) , *DIAGNOSTIC errors , *FACTITIOUS disorders , *FATIGUE (Physiology) , *GROUP identity , *HEALTH status indicators , *INTERVIEWING , *RESEARCH methodology , *MENTAL status examination , *NEGOTIATION , *PUBLIC welfare , *GENDER role , *SOCIAL classes , *PSYCHOLOGICAL stress , *QUALITATIVE research , *ELIGIBILITY (Social aspects) , *CLIENT relations , *EDUCATIONAL attainment - Abstract
This paper explores the intersection of gender and class concerning welfare clients with medically unexplained symptoms. The study is conducted in Denmark using qualitative interviews with welfare officers and clients. The paper's focus is on how issues of gender and class intersect in the negotiation of illness among welfare officers and clients. The particular client group in question consists of individuals that are defined by their lack of a bio-medical diagnosis. Their 'lack' of identity accentuates how gender and class become central in the categorisation practices, constructing the ill person as either bio-medically sick or as a person who may be suffering but only from diffuse psychological problems. The paper shows that it is predominantly poorly educated women without a bio-medical diagnosis that welfare officers describe as suffering from psychological problems despite the fact that the women themselves focus on physical ailments in their illness stories. Men and better-educated women are described by the welfare officers as tired and exhausted or truly stressed after a long working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. What are Academies the answer to?
- Author
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Gorard, Stephen
- Subjects
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EDUCATION policy , *ENDOWED public schools (Great Britain) , *PRIVATE schools , *BRITISH education system , *PUBLIC schools -- Government policy - Abstract
This paper builds upon an earlier analysis presented in this journal. Using official figures for school compositions and for outcomes at KS4 from 1997 to 2007, this paper considers each of the annual cohorts of new Academies in England, from 2002 to 2006. It shows that their level of success in comparison to their predecessors, national averages, their changing compositions and their changing exam entry practices are insubstantial. Of course some schools are gaining higher scores since Academisation, but others are gaining lower scores. Using the most recent results available there is no clear evidence that Academies produce better results than local authority schools with equivalent intakes. The Academies programme therefore presents an opportunity cost for no apparent gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Why Teach Social Work Students Psychosocial Studies?
- Author
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Frost, Liz
- Subjects
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PSYCHOSOCIAL factors , *SOCIAL work theory , *SOCIAL work research , *SOCIAL work education , *CONCEPTUALISM , *PSYCHODYNAMICS - Abstract
This paper is primarily concerned with examining how the current re-emergence of psychosocial theory, mainly emanating from sociology, is useful for informing social work theory. Firstly it considers two extended examples of the limitations and/or contradictions in current theory for social work (that of linguistic determinism and postmodern versions of identity), and suggests how psychosocial theory offers ways forward for understanding and practice. The paper then considers two particular strengths in psychosocial theory: the ability to offer a 'rich' conceptualisation of the subject, and the equalising of worker and service user implicit in the theory. A further section looks briefly at the recent application of psychodynamic principles in social work practice, as 'relationship-based practice'. It then briefly considers some further implications for research and 'evidence' for social work. The paper's final section offers a discussion of two potential limitations in applying psychosocial theory in practice, before concluding that overall psychosocial theory is both productive, useful and appropriate for social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. The interaction of gender and class in nursing: appropriating Bourdieu and adding Butler.
- Author
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Huppatz, Kate
- Subjects
- *
NURSING , *SOCIAL classes , *GENDER , *OCCUPATIONS , *INTERPERSONAL relations - Abstract
The aim of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for exploring the ways in which class and gender interact in occupational fields. In recent years, very little research has been specifically concerned with the relationship between gender and class. Much of the literature which grapples with the question of how gender and class interact contains theoretical limitations which appear to stem from a reliance on categorical theories of both class and gender. In this paper it is proposed that, when used in conjunction, the approaches of Bourdieu and Butler provide a framework for exploring class and gender in terms of embodied practice. In order to illustrate the possibilities enabled by 'appropriating Bourdieu and adding Butler', the paper suggests ways in which this conceptual framework makes possible the examination of the complex relations between gender and class within one particular area of 'women's work': the field of nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
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12. Class after Communism: Introduction to the Special Issue.
- Author
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Ost, David
- Subjects
- *
HISTORY of sociology , *SOCIAL stratification , *COMMUNISM - Abstract
After 1989, class appeared to be everywhere and nowhere. The messy consequences of the emergence of new classes and new types of economic inequalities were plain for all to see, but no one uttered the term "class." The concept appeared illegitimate because of associations with the old regime, even though it always had more success explaining developments in the capitalist world east Europe was entering than the state socialist world it was leaving. The media and academy adopted a discourse of "normality" instead: New rules resulted not from policy choices empowering certain groups at the expense of others but from necessity, and people just had to adapt. Because the economic collapse nevertheless elicited much anger and frustration, the absence of class talk contributed to a proliferation of nationalist talk, and thus had political consequences. The paper rehearses reasons for the decline of class analysis in the region, and notes the post-1989 fascination with the "middle class." It explores the evolution of class analysis during the communist period, culminating in the embrace of a stratification theory that resisted discussion of power, which made sense at the time but became a burden after 1989. Several critical class analyses of state socialism, from the 1930s to today, are then introduced, demonstrating both their relevance and their unfortunate absence from debates. New types of class analyses promoted by younger scholars and activists are emerging, however, and are discussed in the summaries of the other essays in this collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Towards a new political economy of youth.
- Author
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Côté, James E.
- Subjects
- *
ECONOMICS , *YOUTH movements , *SOCIOLOGY , *CULTURAL studies , *PROLETARIANIZATION , *MARXIST analysis , *YOUTH ,SOCIAL aspects - Abstract
The roots of the political-economy-of-youth perspective can be traced to the neo-Marxist attempts to account for the youth movements and countercultures of the 1960s and to argue that youth constitute a potentially revolutionary ‘class’. Although this perspective influenced subcultural views of youth, since the 1980s sociological and cultural studies approaches to youth studies have tended to focus on the disadvantaged and working class rather than the entire youth segment of the population, while becoming increasingly preoccupied with subjectivities rather than the material conditions. Although these approaches to class divisions within the youth segment are useful, there is recent evidence of a systemic proletarianisation of the entire youth population in many countries, raising again materialist concerns and the issue of youth-as-class. Evidence for class-relations between youth and adults with respect to reduced earning power and education-to-work prospects is presented, followed by a critique of current youth-studies approaches that do not provide explanations of the root causes of youth proletarianisation. The paper ends with a call for a revival of the political-economy-of-youth perspective that is capable of generating ideas about solutions to this proletarianisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. CLASS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN EUROPE.
- Author
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Carmo, RenatoMiguel and Nunes, Nuno
- Subjects
- *
SOCIAL capital , *SOCIAL classes , *SOCIOLOGY , *MULTIVARIATE analysis - Abstract
This paper seeks to understand the way in which social capital resources are incorporated, appropriated and distributed by different social classes in Europe. Its main goal is to produce a conceptual framework by linking the concepts of social capital with the different theoretical assessments made by the sociology of social classes. We use multivariate analysis to work a set of quantitative indicators from the European Social Survey 2008 in order to assess the relationship between these concepts. Our methodological approach combines transnational levels, i.e., it is not an international comparison between European countries but an analysis of individual people and their belonging to social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
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15. THE RESEARCH OF CLASS/STRATA STRUCTURE AS A PART OF MAINSTREAM OF SOCIOLOGY.
- Author
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Šljukić, Srđan
- Subjects
- *
SOCIOLOGICAL research , *EQUALITY , *SOCIAL sciences - Abstract
In this paper the author briefly reviews the sociological research of social inequalities; more precisely, he deals with the research of class/strata structure of society. It is not disputable neither that this research is part of the sociological mainstream, nor that is the area with numerous disputes. It is also worth noticing that the notion of class itself experienced serious challenges. All of this influenced the Yugoslav and Serbian sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
16. MARX AND WEBER ON PEASANTRY AS A SOCIAL CLASS.
- Author
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Šljukić, Srdan
- Subjects
- *
RURAL sociology , *PEASANTS , *SOCIAL classes - Abstract
Sociological knowledge about peasantry do not come exclusively from the rural sociology as a sociological discipline, but also from sociological reasearch done within other sociological disciplines (sociology of family, sociology of work, etc), including research of the vertical dimension of social structure. Since Marx and Weber have been the most influential thinkers inside class theory, in this paper the autor focuses on the analysis of the Marx's and Weber's texts in which they wrote about peasantry as a social class. Analysed views were of a great importance for conceptualisation of peasantry within the studies of class structure of Yugoslav and Serbian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
17. Hazardous good intentions? Unintended consequences of the project of prevention.
- Author
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Broom, Dorothy
- Subjects
- *
PREVENTIVE medicine , *PREVENTION , *SAFETY , *PREVENTIVE health services , *RESEARCH - Abstract
Preventing disease is by definition a valuable objective, and most debates have revolved around improving the effectiveness of prevention. In this discussion, I explore the latent functions - the unintended consequences - of what I call the 'project of prevention'. Although many latent functions are welcome, some have undesirable effects, and it is therefore important to instigate a rich exchange between innovative theory and rigorous research to minimise such effects. I argue that the hazards are particularly acute in the absence of a reflexive and critical awareness of the political environment and the cultural economy within which prevention occurs. In the paper, I sketch the challenges to mobilising that awareness, show some of the limitations of the conventional theoretical approaches to prevention, and point to directions for developing more fruitful perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. Re-conceiving ability in physical education: a social analysis.
- Author
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Wright, Jan and Burrows, Lisette
- Subjects
- *
ATHLETIC ability , *ATHLETES , *PHYSICAL education , *EDUCATIONAL anthropology , *SOCIOLOGY , *EXERCISE - Abstract
In this paper we explore how ‘ability’ is currently conceptualised in physical education and with what effects for different groups of young people. We interrogate approaches to theorising ability in physical education that draw on sociological and phenomenological ‘foundations’ together with notions of ability as ‘physical’ and ‘cultural capital’ drawn from the work of Bourdieu. We also look to data we and others have collected across a number of empirical projects to ask: where do we find talk about what we might identify as ‘ability’ in the context of physical education and sport; how is it talked about? And in what ways might this further our thinking of the meaning of ‘ability’ in physical education and school based sport? Our findings suggest that physical ability is far from a neutral concept and that how it is understood has important consequences for young people in relation to gender, race and social class. We argue that ongoing discussions around what we mean by ability, how we use it, and in relation to whom, are crucial in physical education where organised sport, recreation and exercise remain privileged over other constituents of physical culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. CLASS AND CONFORMISM: A COMPARISON OF FOUR WESTERN COUNTRIES.
- Author
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Svallfors, Stefan
- Subjects
- *
CIVIL rights , *SOCIAL classes , *SOCIAL surveys , *SOCIAL sciences , *SOCIOLOGY - Abstract
This paper compares class patterns of ‘conformism’ in four Western countries, taking as its point of departure arguments, which suggest that conformism/authoritarianism is more prevalent in the working class than other classes. Data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) are used in order to compare class attitudes towards sexual behaviour and civil rights/liberties, in Britain, Germany, Sweden and the United States. This study finds that class patterns in attitudes differ little between the countries in question, although aggregated levels vary quite substantially. It is also concluded that class differences in attitudes towards civil rights/liberties are almost exclusively a result from different levels of education, while significant class differences in attitudes towards sexual activities remain also after taking education levels into account. The implications of the results for social stratification and political articulation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. What is Social Class?
- Author
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Craib, Ian
- Subjects
- *
SOCIAL classes , *SOCIOLOGY , *COMMUNISM & society , *PSYCHOTHERAPY - Abstract
The paper begins with a brief account of the theoretical traditions that have framed the discussion of class in British sociology. It goes on to discuss the changes in class structure in the last 50 years and summarizes the most recent work on how social class affects people's lives. Finally it makes some suggestions about the relevance of this for clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2002
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Croatians in Western Australia: migration, language and class.
- Author
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Colic-Peisker, Val
- Subjects
- *
CROATS , *EMIGRATION & immigration , *IMMIGRANTS , *SOCIOLOGY , *WORKING class , *PROFESSIONAL employees , *LIFE chances , *SOCIAL sciences , *EMPLOYMENT - Abstract
This paper explores the migration experience of two cohorts of Croatian migrants in Australia focusing on the fact that they are non-English speaking background (NESB) migrants. Central attention is given to the intersection of class and 'living in another language' (being NESB in Australia). The first cohort migrated in the 1960s and is predominantly working class; the second migrated in the late 1980s and is predominantly professional. It is argued that living in an English speaking environment affects Croatian migrants in practical, cultural, identity and status terms. It determines their life chances, employment prospects and the feeling of belonging to the Australian community. However, the two groups of migrants, being from different socioeconomic backgrounds, are affected in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2002
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. The Mind of the Social Individual: A Comment on Sherman and Hodgson.
- Author
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Fuller, Chris
- Subjects
- *
SOCIOECONOMICS , *SOCIOLOGY , *SOCIAL sciences - Abstract
In the Spring 1998 (56(1): 47-57) and Fall 1998 (56(3): 295-306, 307-310) issues of this review, Howard Sherman and Geoffrey Hodgson debated, inter alia, the extent to which Veblen-Ayres institutionalism is compatible with Marx and recent Marxist work. This paper argues that the differences between Hodgson and Sherman"s positions do not rely on assumptions of "illogical" behavior, individualist arguments or structural conceptions of the individual. Instead, the debate turns on the authors' respective conceptions of the formation and role of the human mind in what it is to be a social individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2001
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Bringing the margins into the middle: reflections on racism, class and the racialized outsider.
- Author
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Meer, Nasar
- Subjects
- *
RACE & society , *SOCIAL classes , *NONFICTION , *HISTORY - Abstract
This paper explores Virdee’s account of how racialized minorities in socialist movements ‘played an instrumental role in trying to align struggles against racism with those against class exploitation’ (p. 164). In so doing, Virdee makes an important intervention at a time when popular historians and other ideologues are colluding in the elevation of myths and – no doubt in their view – noble lies that preclude these stories. Moving through theoretical debates concerning the relationships between race and class, the nature and form of sociologies of ‘outsiders’, to political issues of mobilization, Virdee’s book successfully brings in from the margins an account the multi-ethnic character of the working class in England from the very moment of its inception. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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