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Sociologists very often have extra-curricular lives as musicians. This article explores the relationship between musical life and sociological identities. Through a range of examples from Howard Becker's grounding in field research as a pianist in the Chicago jazz clubs and his theories of deviance, to the connection between Emma Jackson's life as a bass player in Brit pop band Kenickie and her feminist punk sociology, an argument is developed about the things sociologists learn from music. Based on 28 life history interviews with contemporary sociologists this paper shows how sociologists learn – both directly and tacitly – to understand society through their engagement with music. Music offers them an interpretive device to read cultural history, a training in the unspoken and yet structured aspects of culture, and an attentiveness to improvised and interactive aspects of social interaction. For sociologists, involvement in music making is also an incitement to get off campus and encounter an alternative world of value and values. Music enables sociologists to sustain their research imaginations and inspires them to make sociology differently. However, the article concludes that in the contemporary neoliberal university it is harder for sociologists to sustain a creative hinterland in music. The tacit knowledges that often nourish sociological identities may run the risk of being depleted as a result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a conversation between sociologist Bridget Fowler and Les Back. Bridget discusses her life and career in sociology, including her working-class background and exposure to different social perspectives. She also talks about her interest in the sociology of literature and her admiration for scholars like Raymond Williams and Pierre Bourdieu. The conversation emphasizes the importance of social theory and the complexities of sociological research. The text also discusses various topics related to sociology, feminism, and the author's personal experiences, as well as the concept of collective memory and its relevance to obituaries. The author argues for a more democratic and inclusive approach to obituary writing. [Extracted from the article]

To an American audience, the demonstrations, strikes, and unrest resulting from the changes to higher education in Britain must seem perplexing. Compared with the $37,000 for annual tuition at a private university like Princeton, higher education in England still seems like a bargain. But the changes now under way in Britain threaten the very core of intellectual life there. The marketization of the university has turned campuses into places of commerce and competition. The increase of student fees is accelerating that process and dividing the higher education sector as rankings grow in importance. Faculty members fear that students will become increasingly demanding and insistent in exercising their rights as consumers. The government and Higher Education Funding Council for England plan to adduce student satisfaction through the National Student Survey, a mechanism widely viewed as inadequate for assessing educational value. One of the damaging effects of the audit culture within universities over the past decade has been the emphasis given to the performance of academics in the Research Assessment Exercise. The result is that academics have focused on research and writing at the expense of the wider mission of the university as a place of learning. A consequence of the auditing of research "excellence" in universities has been the devaluing of teaching. As students become customers, universities are going to have to work harder to attract and satisfy them. In this article, the author contends that a revaluation of teaching could help British universities cope with the government's destructive reforms.

The relationship between race, social cohesion and citizenship has become an important issue in recent political and policy debates. In this paper these questions are explored in the context of the changing forms of ethnic minority political engagement and participation that have evolved in the past two decades. We suggest that there are growing tensions in policy debates about the boundaries and limits of multicultural policies, particularly focused around the issue of social cohesion. (Contains 1 note.)

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2009.01850.x Byline: Les Back (*) Abstract: Abstract Through an examination of Bourdieu's Algerian fieldwork the article raises general questions regarding the place of photography in sociological research. In the midst of a colonial war Bourdieu used photography to make visual fieldnotes and record the mixed realities of Algeria under colonialism. Bourdieu also used photography to communicate to the Algerians an ethical and political commitment to their cause and plight. It is argued that his photographs do not simply portrayal or communicate the realities of Algeria. They are, paradoxically, at the same time full of information and mysterious and depthless. In order to read them it is necessary to ethnographically situate them in their social and historical context. It is suggested that the photographs can also be read as an inventory of Bourdieu's attentiveness as a researcher, his curiosity and ultimately his sociological imagination. They betray his concerns as a researcher but also can be used to raise ethical and political questions beyond Bourdieu's own attempts at reflexive self-analysis. The article concludes with a discussion of how Bourdieu's sociological life might contribute to the craft of sociology today. Author Affiliation: (*)Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London