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The article discusses the politicization of Muslim minorities in Europe and its impact on academic research. It highlights the need for more nuanced and intersectional approaches to studying Muslim communities, as the category of "Muslim" is diverse and heterogeneous. The article also challenges the assumption that religion is the primary factor influencing social behavior among Muslims, emphasizing the importance of non-religious cultural factors. Additionally, it critiques the focus on conflicts over "liberal democratic values" and calls for a more comprehensive examination of the attitudes and perspectives of both Muslim and non-Muslim populations. The author argues for a rethinking of research methodologies and a de-Muslimification of academic thinking. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Shouldn't we all be doing cultural economy?" by Philip Roscoe, the author reflects on the concept of cultural economy and its connection to finance. They share their personal experience as a stocks and shares reporter, highlighting how they incorporated cultural narratives into financial activities. The article explores the cultural aspects of mining finance and the role of narratives in shaping the economic domain. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding culture to comprehend and intervene in contemporary economic and organizational life. They discuss their research on retail investors and the irrationality of funding high-risk businesses, influenced by scholars like Michel Callon and Donald Mackenzie. The article also examines the limitations of critical deconstruction in cultural economy and the need for adaptable research methods. The author questions the role of cultural economy in an age of "magical capitalism" and stresses the importance of being pragmatic and useful in scholarly discourse. They conclude by suggesting that academics in cultural economy should promote distributive justice and engage in broader discussions beyond the seminar room. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractCOVID-19 resulted in disruptions that were both economic and social, significantly impacting the school education of tribal children. This study captures such experiences of the Konda Dora tribe in India by applying Mill’s Sociological Imagination to the interviews of 43 children (6–13 years) and their families. A narrative thematic analysis was applied. The findings suggest that COVID-19 aggravated the existing infrastructural and academic inequalities as well as patriarchal norms, negatively influencing school outcomes. As the gap in learning persists, the study proposes measures to minimize the impact of the pandemic and historical biases on the education of tribal children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Inspired by Aristotle and Goffman this article considers how the study of virtue acquisition may be pursued through an observational theorising about social interactions in institutions. Adapting Goffman’s and Harré’s notions of moral order and moral career, it proposes character education to be a dialogic process requiring negotiation between social actors over time. Taking part in educational institutions, learners learn to perform various roles in a manner by which virtues are to be attributed. But this is not all. Goffman’s and perhaps Aristotle’s accounts are arguably too ‘thin’ to allow for moral change, unless these processes themselves are mastered by learners and may be transcended by them. It is thus by applying the sociological imagination to the institutions we are in, the criticality necessary for true character is developed. The role of sociology in character education is therefore twofold: to inform educators in the creation of institutions and practices that transmit and manifest virtues; and, as an essential part of a virtue-ethics curriculum—giving moral agents the sensitising concepts necessary to understand, negotiate and mould the social frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document introduces a special issue on digital death, which explores the current state and future directions of research in this field. The special issue includes articles from various disciplinary backgrounds, such as history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, cultural studies, and media and communication studies. The articles cover topics like grief and mourning rituals, digital immortality, and the meaning of death in society. The document emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of studying digital death and the influence of disciplines like philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and media and communication studies. It concludes by discussing current trends and future challenges in the field. The text also introduces two significant research strands: digital and/or online mourning, and digital afterlife/immortality. The first strand focuses on personalized and heterogeneous digital rituals and mourning practices conducted online. The second strand examines post-mortal communication and the use of AI-driven technologies to maintain relationships with the deceased. The text highlights the need for culturally nuanced and context-sensitive research, as well as the consideration of the materiality and sustainability of digital technologies. It introduces several articles that delve deeper into these topics, including discussions on the afterlife of data, grief universalism, the sociological study of digital death, and the sociocultural implications of digital death in specific contexts. The afterword provides a reflection on the current state of research in digital death and suggests future avenues for exploration. [Extracted from the article]

A crucial part of theory-driven realist thinking is retroduction, the process of looking backwards for explanation of how and why things may be. Conducted early in the realist evaluation process, it provides a foundation for evidenced 'theory gleaning'. Despite retroduction being an inherent part of the realist process, it is often 'hidden' in realist reports. This paper explains the thinking behind, alongside an example of, a framework created by the authors to make transparent the retroductive process as used in a realist evaluation of two community End of Life Care services. The approach makes visible the application of the 'sociological imagination' and lends robustness to hypotheses by establishing how the authors utilised: wide-ranging potential generative causation; stakeholder and Patient and Public Involvement feedback; literature scoping; and substantive theories at the middle range, specifically Transitions Theory. These stages led to the development of Initial Programme Theories, with a clear history of genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Academy is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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.)

This document is an introduction to a special issue of the journal "Crime, Law & Social Change" titled "Traditions and innovations in qualitative research in criminology." The authors highlight the resurgence of qualitative research methods in criminology and the various scholarly works and initiatives that have contributed to this trend. They discuss the challenges faced by qualitative researchers, such as ethical considerations and difficulties in publishing. The special issue features papers that explore collaborative approaches to research, unconventional methods of data collection, the transformative power of qualitative methodologies, and innovative approaches to studying environmental victimization. The authors emphasize the importance of qualitative research in understanding and addressing pressing issues in the field of criminology. [Extracted from the article]

Michael Kimmel, in his book Angry White Men, argues a sense of aggrieved entitlement is central to the experiences of white American men drawn to the far-right. The concept captures both a sense of relative deprivation and rage at having something valuable snatched away. Rather than viewing wealth inequality, insecure work, or being locked out of the housing market as outcomes triggered by neoliberal capitalism, aggrieved entitlement misdirects rage to typical scapegoats – women and minority groups – perceived to be advancing at one’s expense. Some participants in our qualitative study of white Australian men’s political attitudes/experiences demonstrated aggrieved entitlement. Significantly, findings also revealed a counter to aggrieved entitlement, described here as a progressive sociological imagination. Despite significant experiences of relative deprivation, some participants cultivated an awareness of their privilege and blamed neoliberal capitalism for their hardships. Fostering a (progressive) sociological imagination, particularly among younger white men, may be important in undermining the appeal of far-right politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article is part of the teaching innovation project entitled 'The use of life history through ICTs for "conceptual teaching" in Social Sciences', carried out at the University Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) between September 2021 and March 2022, with a sample of students of Social Work (n = 110) and Double Degree in Sociology and Social Work (n = 52). This article consisted of the analysis of life history, taking as a reference Pierre Bourdieu's book, 'The "Misery" of the World', as well as the development of the biographical or semi-structured interview. The main objective was to examine the potential of the life history and the biographical interview through ICTs for conceptual teaching in Social Sciences in Social Work students. For this purpose, we applied a posttest of satisfaction after the teaching innovation project, with a double quantitative and qualitative approach, ad-hoc with open questions and a Likert scale. The main conclusions were the students' satisfaction with the use of the life history and interview as a didactic resource, as well as a satisfactory acquisition of sociological skills and knowledge, such as critical thinking, micro/macro connections and the interaction between structure and agency, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the significance of descriptive sociology in the modern era, highlighting its ability to shape public discourse and engage wider audiences. The author emphasizes the need to challenge dominant modes of thinking and reclaim the critical power of sociology through rich and powerful descriptive work. Descriptive methods, with their aesthetic appeal and visual communication, can effectively convey complex ideas and mobilize broader audiences. The article cites examples, such as Thomas Piketty's work on inequality, to illustrate the impact of descriptive sociology on public discourse and policy. While the World Inequality Laboratory's website provides accessible information on global inequality trends, its causal analysis has received mixed reception. Economists and sociologists have offered new perspectives on inequality, but their causal claims have been criticized for lacking consistency and empirical evidence. Nevertheless, descriptive sociology, when purposeful and theoretically grounded, can offer fresh insights into social phenomena, even without clear causal explanations. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the relationship between sociology and economics in analyzing and responding to globalization from below. It discusses the perspectives of sociology and economics on inequality, with sociology viewing it as a failing of society and economics seeing it as inevitable or virtuous. The article suggests that a normative partnership between sociology and economics could contribute to a more inclusive and democratic approach to the economy. It also discusses the importance of interdisciplinary work, the need for a new eco-social paradigm, and the contributions of scholars advocating for a more sustainable and inclusive future. The text emphasizes the importance of sociology in addressing challenges such as climate change and inequality, and highlights the history of sociology in Ireland. It also discusses the concept of globalization from below as a way to challenge the negative effects of globalization controlled by elites, and calls for a space of epistemological freedom in learning institutions. Overall, the article argues that sociology and economics have a role to play in creating progressive societies based on equality and sustainability. [Extracted from the article]

This document introduces a special section on therapeutic cultures in contemporary societies. It discusses the growing prevalence of psychologically and psychotherapeutically informed ideas and practices in everyday life, as well as the commercial success of the 'happiness industry' and the implications of therapeutic discourses in power and governance. The document also examines the assumption that therapeutic cultures are closely linked to neoliberal capitalism and individualization, questioning whether this is still the case in the 2020s. The special section includes four papers that explore therapeutic discourses and practices in various social contexts, emphasizing the need for further research in this area. The papers specifically examine the impact of neoliberal policies and economic crises on mental health and well-being in higher education in Finland and the United Kingdom, highlighting the pathologization of poor academic performance and the neglect of broader social and economic issues. The authors argue that the emphasis on individual responsibility and autonomy contradicts the actual experiences of students. Additionally, the papers investigate the role of self-help books in shaping modern subjectivity in the UK and the contradictions between the neoliberal therapeutic ethos and the construction of a measurable selfhood through digital therapeutic cultures. Overall, the papers demonstrate the pervasive influence of therapeutic discourses in contemporary society and the importance of sociological analysis in understanding this psychologization of society. [Extracted from the article]

A biographical study through the lens of Mills' sociological imagination and Erikson's identity crisis provides a unique understanding of Dr Fauzi AR, a dedicated Islamist. Fauzi grew up in a devout Muslim family in Kauman, Yogyakarta, the heartland of the modernist Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah. He was educated in Muhammadiyah schools and eventually became a qualified medical doctor. He was politically active in the Islamic United Development Party and joined Laskar Jihad, a Salafi-Wahabi paramilitary group, during the inter-religious conflict in Maluku in 2000. This article argues that the political turbulence during the democratic transition in 1998--1999 led Fauzi to have an identity crisis, which spurred his desire to participate in jihad (holy war). Afterwards, Fauzi became a reformed "maverick post-jihadist," in that he was unpredictable yet competent. He was unorthodox in his methods, remaining active in mainstream political Islam through the United Development Party while also engaging in physical jihad, which is contradictory because participation in partisan politics is forbidden by the Salafi doctrine. He also remained a heavy smoker although smoking is forbidden by Salafi religious decree. He further defied Salafism by supporting his wife in an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the national parliament as a member of the secular-nationalist party Gerindra in the 2009 election. This case study of Fauzi AR reflects the complex and multifaceted nature of political Islam and Islamic movements in the post-Soeharto era, including those who resorted to extremism and violence to achieve greater Islamisation of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text is a book review discussing two books that examine the social dynamics and transformations of urban spaces. The first book, "Les sauvages de la Civilisation: Regards sur la Zone, d'hier à aujourd'hui" by Jérôme Beauchez, focuses on the marginalized inhabitants of the "Zone" in Paris and their cultural and political power. The second book, "The People's Hotel: Working for Justice in Argentina" by Katherine Sobering, explores the transformation of a hotel in Buenos Aires into a cooperative space. Both books highlight the violence of capitalist urban governance and the need for alternative forms of urban living and governance. The texts emphasize the importance of social justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities in shaping urban spaces. [Extracted from the article]

The book review discusses "Harvey Sacks and the Mirandum of Human Interaction," edited by Robin James Smith, Richard Fitzgerald, and Willian Housley. The book aims to demonstrate the ways in which Sacks' work has inspired and influenced others in the field of conversation analysis (CA). Each chapter provides insights into different aspects of Sacks' thinking and methodology, with authors sharing their personal encounters with his work. While the book is generally well-received, there are some minor errors and omissions in certain chapters. Overall, the book serves as a valuable contribution to understanding Sacks' scholarly legacy and the impact of his ideas on the field of CA. [Extracted from the article]

"Bandage, Sort, and Hustle: Ambulance Crews on the Front Lines of Urban Suffering" by Joshua David Seim is an ethnographic study that provides insight into the experiences of ambulance crews in California. The book explores the challenges faced by these crews as they navigate a privatized healthcare system and mediate between the needs of the sick and injured and the demands of a profit-driven industry. The author highlights the distinction between "legit" and "bullshit" calls, emphasizing the crews' sense of duty and purpose in responding to genuine emergencies. This book offers a unique perspective on the inequalities and suffering present in urban America. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents some thoughts about the reasons for the current extreme concern of the Russian professional sociological community about the model of training proposed by the Federal State Educational Standard of the fourth generation. In the first part of the article, the author briefly summarizes general problems of higher education, which are typical not only for the Russian university system but also, to one degree or another, for most national approaches to professional training (massification, commercialization, bureaucratization, digitalization, loss of university autonomy and institutional independence for the sake of socialeconomic reproduction, a decrease in the quality of training of future specialists and in the authority of the university teacher, etc.). In the second, main part of the article, the author refers to the respected sociological works and expert assessments to identify main reasons for the professional sociological community’s concern about the proposed radical change in the model of sociological training. Certainly, there is a number of obvious risks with “qualitative” variability, such as the priority of the political-science orientation, reduction in the volume of disciplines fundamentally important for sociological training, difficulty in mastering special professional competencies in a shorter period, unclear prospects for the full-time teaching staff of sociological departments, etc. However, the main danger is that the proposed model of sociological training would be unable to develop the main professional skill of the competent researcher (and not the demoscopist/practitioner) - sociological imagination, which requires longterm “slow reading” and constant methodological reflection.

Design, as a practice of developing solutions beyond products, and increasingly services and policies, inevitably poses an impact on gender (in)equality which remains largely unrecognized by design practitioners. This paper advocates the urgent need for adopting gender lenses in design education for sustainable cultural transformation through proper recognition of the complexity of any societal and cultural issue, power relations and inequalities, and introduces an initial attempt through a graduate-level educational design project. Throughout the project, students critically reflected on existing orientations in designing to develop norm-critical gender lenses, contained the resultant disorientation emerging from the contrast between their critical approaches and local contexts, and explored novel directions as reorientation to address four different societal and cultural issues and develop 11 design outcomes aiming at gender equality, social justice-oriented empowerment, and cultural transformation. The authors analyzed the design processes and outcomes to reveal opportunities and challenges for developing and deploying norm-critical gender lenses in tackling complex, intersecting socio-cultural and political issues, under three themes: gender stereotypes, norms, expectations, and roles; intersectional power relations and inequalities embedded in the social structure; and social justiceoriented empowerment beyond the market-oriented individualistic neoliberal order. A shift in the perceptions of the role of designers, from creator/problemsolver to facilitator/participant, and design outcomes, from absolute solutions to intermediaries of sociological and political imaginations, is found crucial in this endeavor, which requires safe spaces for future designers to reflect on existing orientations, contain disorientation with negative capability, and explore novel ways through reorientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the question of the whatness of society, which sociology characterizes as a form of collective organization and moral order, and it draws on the main methodological approaches that constitute the tradition of sociological thought in doing so. The objective is to identify what is unique to human beings and society, to provide a theoretical framework for understanding our everyday experiences, to make sense of the social habitus that guides our relationships and behaviors, to show that cultural norms and practices are far from universal, to look at events and phenomena from a sociological perspective, but more importantly, to show that society imposes itself on the individual as something unquestionable, and therefore society appears before us as a concrete reality. In short, this text tries to answer the question of the nature of society, which sociology sees, defines and examines as a social reality, and in this quest for an answer, as the famous sociologist Durkheim points out with a very beautiful description, the society, which is in the background of our personal attitudes and behaviors and which permanently imposes itself on people and sometimes even imposes itself; what it is, what kind of nature and functioning it has, why there is a need for a society, but most importantly, how and with which discourses and actions society reproduces itself in daily life relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ilana Savdie's painting titled "Lagrimas y Mocos, Exploiting a Suitable Host" is a complex and visually captivating piece that invites viewers to explore different emotions and thoughts. The painting features bold colors and various body parts and creatures, creating a dreamy and surreal atmosphere. From a psychoanalytic perspective, the painting can be seen as a representation of transitional phenomena and the duality of emotions. Savdie's work is influenced by her multicultural background and explores themes of identity and the human body. The painting also reflects the social context of the COVID pandemic and raises questions about power dynamics and fixed identities. Overall, Savdie's painting offers a unique and thought-provoking artistic experience. [Extracted from the article]

This teaching note reviews a four-part discussion post assignment that asks Black-identified students enrolled in a class connected to a Black living-learning community to make sociological and personal connections to concepts related to race, anti-Blackness, and institutional racism in Yaa Gyasi's novel Homegoing. Reflecting on their posts, I share how using literary fiction in the classroom can support students' development of a sociological imagination grounded in history's missing voices and an intersectional and structural understanding of race and racism. Moreover, by making connections between the characters, their peers, and their own lives and sharing these connections via their discussion posts, students create a space of collective vulnerability where they can reflect simultaneously upon the dehumanizing aspects of anti-Blackness and assert their individual and collective humanity in the face of this oppressive force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

George Steinmetz's book, "The Colonial Origins of Modern Social Thought," provides a comprehensive analysis of the colonial origins of French social thought. The book focuses on the period between the 1930s and mid-1960s, covering the Third Republic, Vichy and Nazi-occupied France, and the Fifth Republic. Steinmetz's research includes examining the writings of sociologists, as well as the development of academic departments and the work of students in metropolitan French and colonial universities. The book highlights the diverse perspectives within French colonial sociology and emphasizes the importance of understanding the colonial legacies in the field of sociology. The author also raises questions about the nature of colonial racism, the politics of publishing and intellectual production in mid-century France, and the definition of colonial sociology. This work contributes to the understanding of the colonial origins of French social thought and encourages further research in this area. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a keynote address that honors the life and work of John Hagedorn, a prominent figure in critical criminology. The speaker discusses Hagedorn's contributions to critical gang studies and shares personal anecdotes about their relationship. Hagedorn's work focused on challenging stereotypes and examining the social, economic, and political contexts of gang subcultures. He emphasized the importance of understanding and addressing the prevailing conditions in marginalized communities, and advocated for collaborative research methodologies. The document also highlights Hagedorn's commitment to humanism and his critique of the criminalizing projections of the social control industry. The text discusses John's work as a criminologist, including his critique of welfare services and his role as an expert witness in court cases. John believes that the criminal justice system can be improved through solid social scientific evidence and empathetic interviews. His work also focuses on the global impact of capitalism and neoliberal policies on marginalized communities, particularly in relation to gangs and crime. The text emphasizes the importance of continuing John's work and advocating for social justice. [Extracted from the article]

"The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line" by José Itzigsohn and Karida L. Brown is a book that aims to present the lifework of W. E. B. Du Bois to a contemporary audience and expand the boundaries of sociology. The authors argue that Du Bois was a groundbreaking scholar activist whose analysis of "racialized modernity" was influenced by his experiences with the "color line," pragmatism, empiricism, and Marxism. The book explores Du Bois's contributions to the understanding of racial subjectivity, racial and colonial capitalism, community research, and the intersection of scholarship and activism. It concludes with a manifesto for a contemporary Du Boisian sociology that centers the analysis of racialized modernity and incorporates intersectional perspectives. [Extracted from the article]

The digital age has rekindled popular and academic interest in immortality. While the idea of immortality has long been recognized as fundamental to human societies, unlike death, within the field of sociology, immortality has not yet established itself as a distinct and autonomous field of study. This paper contributes to the recently emerging scholarship promoting a sociology of immortality. Drawing inspiration from C. Wright Mills's sociological imagination (1959) and building upon significant research in the field of immortality, we offer to use the concept of the immortological imagination as an analytical and conceptual tool for further developing a sociology of immortality. We refer to the immortological imagination as a complementary concept to Penfold-Mounce's thanatological imagination, seeing both concepts as stemming from two different lineages and academic traditions. After defining the immortological imagination and how it differs from and complements the thanatological imagination, the paper moves to discuss examples in popular culture establishing the potential impacts and influences of the immortological imagination, particularly within the digital context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a sociological perspective on the concept of a nonkilling society. It explores the theories of violence in human society and examines the potential for nonkilling relationships, communities, and societies. The article highlights the contributions of sociologists who advocated for peace and social change, such as Jane Addams, W.E.B. DuBois, and Pitirim Sorokin. It discusses the theoretical foundations and tools within sociology that can contribute to the development of a nonkilling society. The text also discusses the themes that emerged during a workshop in a men's prison in 1999, emphasizing the desire for peace, equality, and a peaceful environment for all. It suggests that sociologists can contribute to creating a nonkilling world by studying altruism and pro-social behavior and actively participating in activist organizations and movements. [Extracted from the article]

Two research projects undertaken ten years ago explored the experiences of mature students' access, progression and drop-out in higher education, relying on Habermas and Honneth for sensitizing concepts. This paper explores the implications of undertaking this research today adopting a different set of sensitizing concepts and in the process transforming the identity of the researcher. To this end, this paper moves beyond Habermas and Honneth to the critical theory of Negt and Kluge as a source of new sensitizing concepts informing a reimagined researcher and research project. Their work on experience, its dialectic nature, imploitation, obstinacy - as an alternative to resilience - and a sociological imagination are explored in order to identify possible new sensitizing concepts for researching adults returning to higher education. Implications for transformative adult education will be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines the interplay between human resource management theory and human resource management practice. It advocates that effective human resource management practice and theory are intrinsically intertwined, and this indispensable link ought to be central to the pedagogy of management research methods. Through greater embeddedness of the institutional and societal context in research method teaching, students can develop as scholars who understand their roles as facilitators of dialogue between researchers and a significant part of their audience (practitioners). The chapter conceptualizes this perspective as a collaborative model in human resource management research, which then must hold centrality in the teaching of research methods in our university and college classrooms.

Mills was very clear (some of Sigmund Freud's works had been translated and published in the United States thanks to the interest and activities of his nephew Edward Louis Bernays) that in each of us there are at least two different levels, one above the threshold of consciousness and awareness (which today we call slow, reflective thinking), which is therefore regulated by the logical 'mechanisms' of rationality, and the other below that threshold (which today we call fast, automatic thinking), which is therefore not regulated by the logical 'mechanisms' of rationality. Its purpose is to offer each man a theoretical tool and a practicable experimental method, the sociological imagination (the 'quality of mind'), to ensure that social conflicts, competition, biographies and local, national and world history are not consummated below this threshold, but above it, because below the threshold the risk of mental manipulation, both individual and collective, is very high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Darbai ir Dienos is the property of Vytautas Magnus 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.)

Copyright of Kepes is the property of Universidad de Caldas 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.)

Copyright of Wieś & Rolnictwo is the property of Instytut Rozwoju Wsi & Rolnictwa, Polska Akademia Nauk 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.)

This article discusses two books related to community organizing and race. The first book, "Saul Alinsky and the Dilemmas of Race: Community Organizing in the Postwar City" by Mark Santow, explores the work of Saul Alinsky, a community organizer known for his confrontational yet non-violent tactics. Alinsky believed in equal dignity regardless of race or ethnicity and focused on empowering local communities. The second book, "God and Community Organizing: A Covenantal Approach" by Hak Joon Lee, discusses the concept of covenantal organizing and its relevance to contemporary society. The article also mentions the need for a public theology among Christians and the limited penetration of Catholic social thought among lay people. [Extracted from the article]

The American parenting economy is built around the notion that raising children is a matter of private parental investment. This essay outlines briefly the features of what is best characterized as, not family‐friendly, but rather family‐hostile policy in the United States, before it proposes two reasons for why the ideal of parental investment holds its grip. The first is the historical political entanglement of neoliberalism with neoconservatism that continues to entrench the focus on traditional family values. The second is the more recent cultural backdrop of building knowledge infrastructure around "the economic way of looking at parents" to repurpose economist Gary Becker's Nobel Laureate lecture title, which has permeated public discourse and reframed "childrearing" as "parental investment." Therefore, the possibility of policy change is not simply a matter of political struggle. A potent obstacle to family‐friendly policy is cultural. Parents and nonparents will not demand, nor will politicians embrace, radical institutional transformation of the American family policy if we do not shift our thinking. We need less economic reasoning and more sociological imagination, recognizing that parenting, no matter how intimate and personal it seems, is inextricably and thoroughly bound up with social structures and culture. And that raising children—all children in the manner they deserve—is not a matter of private investment but a common responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'problems' and 'solutions' of modern education are overwhelmingly produced and tailored by the modern episteme, institutions, truths, and powers of the Global North. To find new ways of thinking and doing sociology, this paper will explore the outlines of a new Global Sociology of Education Imagination (GSEI) inspired by pre-modern epistemes selected precisely because of their distance from modern European standpoints: the ancient lost matriarchal societies and commons-based societies organised around shared goods in pre-modern Europe. Using Foucault's archaeological methodology, this paper finds inspiration in these epistemes to outline a new GSEI capable of questioning certain tenets of the modern sociological episteme regarding science, knowledge, truth and its order, roles, voices, commitments, and 'places'. It concludes with an invitation to experiment with a new GSEI inspired by these pre-modern epistemes, as a tool to openly challenge modern (education) domination and make it intolerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this Research Insights article is to emphasise why employment relations matter(s) for governance of problems for labour in the real world of work. This article presents two main points of novelty. One is the contemporary contribution of ER in relation to emergent research themes addressing real-world challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate emergency, intersectionality, technological change and good work. The conceptual boundaries of work and employment/industrial relations research have therefore expanded beyond a traditional focus on collective bargaining and trade unions (although these remain vital). These contemporary themes mainly concern problems for labour, rather than traditional perceived problems of labour. The second, related, contribution is that ER has developed its analytical apparatus so as to be sensitive to concrete real-world issues, like climate change, and new perspectives in social science, like intersectionality. So, overall, there is a new and evolving conversation between analytical perspectives and real-world challenges. [Re]asserting core ER perspectives and specifying a research agenda and road map around big picture themes and challenges, the article follows other critical scholars in suggesting that it is important that ER researchers continue to speak truth to power in pursuit of 'sociological imagination' relating to the world of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses the impact of the sociological imagination and ethnographic research methods on identifying the 'real' nature of conceptualized phenomena. The examination is done by comparing the researcher's experience of work-related precarity in ethnographic methods and in the researcher's personal circumstances immediately following the fieldwork. Such a juxtaposition shows what had been emphasized by ethnography and the effects of the researcher's social context on the concepts under study. In the case of fieldwork, many of the practical difficulties of precarious work were encountered. However, the context of being an ethnographer altered how work precarity was felt. In the personal circumstances that followed the fieldwork, precariousness was strongly felt in a more general manner. This occurred in a discrete event that involved multiple factors of employment, housing, institutions relied on, and personal relationships. Such differences between fieldwork and personal circumstances illuminate on the tendency to isolate phenomena in fieldwork, which poses the risk of making ethnographic reality out of ideal types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an ethnographic analysis of how young middle-class Muslims in Copenhagen create convivial narratives of their city. The article builds on Paul Gilroy's idea of conviviality by bridging it with Saba Mahmood's concept of agency. I argue that widening the conversation on urban conviviality to include a perspective on agency allows us to expand the sociological imagination to one that combines both phenomenological and critical theory in urban analysis. In the context of Denmark, middle-class Muslims' convivial narratives can be understood as an agency to navigate Islamophobic or racist experiences, enabled by their spatial mobility and class positioning. The article concludes that Muslims' conviviality is contingent on an intersectional understanding related to racialisation, gender and socio-economic position. This approach allows an appreciation of how socially mobile Danish Muslims can construct convivial narratives to evade racism and Islamophobia in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the personal commitment to 'boxe popolare' (people's boxing), focusing on my scholar-practitioner status as a tool to contribute to the boxe popolare agenda by means of what I term 'shared sociological imagination'. Through a reflexive tale on becoming a boxe popolare member, the article sheds light on the importance of overcoming the theory/practice divide. The first section of the paper draws on 'habitus as topic and tool'—namely, the methodology I have adopted in a four-year ethnography of boxe popolare—and illustrates sociological imagination as a capacity that can be cultivated even in extremely carnal worlds by social agents who do not belong to academia. The second section broadens the reasoning, arguing that one characterising trait of being a scholar-practitioner in sport and physical culture may consist in working out agency both on an individual and a collective level. Echoing Burawoy's perspective of 'public sociology', such an attempt can be seen as a potentially emancipatory strategy: it allows people with whom we research and practice to live with and through theory, embodying shared understandings in novel mundane activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two research projects undertaken ten years ago explored the experiences of mature students’ access, progression and drop-out in higher education, relying on Habermas and Honneth for sensitizing concepts. This paper explores the implications of undertaking this research today adopting a different set of sensitizing concepts and in the process transforming the identity of the researcher. To this end, this paper moves beyond Habermas and Honneth to the critical theory of Negt and Kluge as a source of new sensitizing concepts informing a reimagined researcher and research project. Their work on experience, its dialectic nature, imploitation, obstinacy – as an alternative to resilience – and a sociological imagination are explored in order to identify possible new sensitizing concepts for researching adults returning to higher education. Implications for transformative adult education will be identified.