European Sociology Research Articles

European Sociological Review Volume 32 | Number 1 | February 2016 - Front Cover

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 32 | Number 1 | February 2016 - Front Cover Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 32, Issue 1, February 2016, Page i1, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv099 Published: 04 February 2016

What counts as theory, today? A post-philosophical framework for socio-legal empirical research

While legal researchers’ skepticism about much of what is on offer under the name of theory is well grounded, there are nevertheless theoretical resources that can very much benefit empirical researchers. Neither legal philosophy nor grand European sociology of law are particularly helpful, and in many respects these traditions constitute obstacles to concrete analyses of legal processes. But fortunately, today, there are other sources of theoretical and methodological inspiration. Here I present a small part of my own recent contribution to the project of revising ‘theory’ in a way that is more helpful to legal and empirical researchers than traditional philosophy and sociology.

Nodes and Springs of Memory

The edited volume Collective Memories in War (2016), published by the European Sociological Association, is released in the Studies in European Sociology series, and introduces English-speaking readers with memory research in Russia and Poland (the majority of authors is represented by these countries), as well as the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The focus of the foreign authors is the policy of history and memory of various aspects of the Second World War, while the Russian sociologists primarily analyze the collective memory of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The theoretical and methodological bases of the research are classics of Memory Studies (M. Halbwachs, P. Nora, J. Assman), the critical theory ideas of A. Gramsci, M. Foucault, and others, some articles using the conceptions of social movements and identity, trauma, the theory of language games, habitual memory, and so on. The empirical research is made using the following qualitative and quantitative methodologies: surveys with national samples in Poland and the Czech Republic, focus groups, observation, and biographical interviews. The five sections of the book contain articles on the politics of history and historical consciousness research with an emphasis on changes since 1989, the narrating of memories, studying urban war memorials, and museums’ and veterans’ websites. Separate sections are devoted to the analysis of modern history textbooks in different countries, and to gender issues.

Предварительные итоги 12 конференции Европейской социологической ассоциации, или о пользе и вреде научных конференций

25–28 August 2015 the ESA 12th Conference “Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination” took place in Prague. The largest professional sociological association in Europe holds on the significant — pretending on being the most representative — meeting of sociologists. The article deals with Preliminary Results of the conference, designs its main themes and subjects. The concepts, mentioned in conference’s title, were discussed and differently interpreted during the conference, but a general direction of reflexion can be distinguished through the following concepts: diversity and sociological imagination. In general, European sociologists characterize the contemporary society as post-crisis one, but at the same time the uncertainty rests one of the main concepts, and precariat is considered as a constantly growing social group, which takes a very important place in social structure. Theoretical frames, which are determined by this researching focus, form on the ideas of appropriate thinkers, such as A. Giddens, P. Bourdieu, B. Latour, U. Beck, Z. Bauman.

Vectors of the Sociology of Religion in the European Sociological Association

Vectors of the Sociology of Religion in the European Sociological Association

Love Will Keep Us Apart? Understanding Living Apart Together Partnerships in the Post-state-socialist Czech Republic

Living apart together (LAT) relationships are under-researched in European sociology and overlooked in Czech sociology. Based on data from 16 biographical interviews with partners living in separate households, this analysis focuses on how LAT is experienced, understood, and explained in the context of the post-state-socialist Czech Republic. Do LAT partners actively choose LAT to avoid or subvert the norm of co-residence? Or do they frame their situation as a result of external constraints and pressures? What is the role of gender norms and of the gendering of a life course in the LAT experience? Our results show the high value that current Czech society continues to place on co-residential partnerships. The study also shows that persistent gender and social inequalities, specific for the post state-socialist Czech Republic, make individual choices more difficult or impossible in both private life arrangements and when combining private life with work. A LAT partnership is not always the result of individual choices, but the relationship often is shaped by external structural and institutional pressures and gendered norms.

European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 5 October 2015 - TOC:

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 5 October 2015 - TOC Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 5, October 2015, Page i8, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv052 Published: 05 September 2015

Reply to Mark Gould and Csaba Szaló

This is a reply to Mark Gould and Csaba Szalo's review of Daniel Chernilo's book entitled The Natural Law Foundations of Modern Social Theory: A Quest for Universalism Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013,(ISBN: 9781107009806). It was was prepared in response to the Author Meets Critic Session at the 11th Conference of the European Sociological Association, 28–31 August 2013.

European Sociological Review Volume 31 | Number 4 | August 2015 - Front Cover

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 31 | Number 4 | August 2015 - Front Cover Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 4, August 2015, Page i1, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv021 Published: 07 August 2015

European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 4 August 2015 - TOC:

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 4 August 2015 - TOC Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 4, August 2015, Page i8, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv051 Published: 07 August 2015

European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 3 June 2015 - TOC:

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 31, Number 3 June 2015 - TOC Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 3, June 2015, Page i8, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv050 Published: 03 June 2015

Report on National Sociological Associations in Europe

ABSTRACTAs the official journal of the ESA, European Societies was asked to publish this report because of its special interest for the readers. This is a slightly shortened version of the first report on National Sociological Associations which was submitted to the European Sociological Association in November 2014. A series of relevant tables can be found on the ESA site: http://www.europeansociology.org/national-associations.html.ABSTRACT: This report presents the results of a survey on the National Associations of Sociology in Europe conducted in the years 2012–2013 by the European Sociological Association (ESA) under the auspices of its Committee for National Associations. The National Associations of Sociology were progressively established and institutionalized throughout the twentieth century, each one reflecting the political circumstances of the European Continent at the time. Of the 40 associations surveyed, 10% were in existence in 1950, which shows that the consolidation of the associative movement of sociologists in Europe is generally quite recent and gradually built up over the course of a century or more. The size of each association in terms of numbers of members is a key dimension in understanding how sociology is organized throughout Europe. The same may be said of the difficulties encountered when establishing the ESA as recently as 1992. The results of the survey show that the European sociological community is the aggregate of several parallel currents going back well over a hundred years. Each current has generated as many tributaries as there are individual academic and professional corporations operating in the dozens of countries where sociology has been able to take root and develop, whilst favoured – or sometimes opposed – by university and social policies, governments and public or private bodies. Moreover, each country has its own story to tell about the particular claims and losses, its ups and downs, advances and set-backs that sociology as a discipline has experienced.

European Sociological Review Volume 31 Number 2 April 2015 - Front Cover

Journal Article European Sociological Review Volume 31 | Number 2 | April 2015 - Front Cover Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2015, Page i1, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv019 Published: 02 April 2015

Understanding Societies from Inside the Organisms. Leo Pardi's Work on Social Dominance in Polistes Wasps (1937-1952).

Leo Pardi (1915-1990) was the initiator of ethological research in Italy. During more than 50 years of active scientific career, he gave groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of social life in insects, especially in Polistes wasps, an important model organism in sociobiology. In the 1940s, Pardi showed that Polistes societies are organized in a linear social hierarchy that relies on reproductive dominance and on the physiological and developmental mechanisms that regulate it, i.e. on the status of ovarian development of single wasps. Pardi's work set the stage for further research on the regulatory mechanisms governing social life in primitively eusocial organisms both in wasps and in other insect species. This article reconstructs Pardi's investigative pathway between 1937 and 1952 in the context of European ethology and American animal sociology. This reconstruction focuses on the development of Pardi's physiological approach and presents a new perspective on the interacting development of these two fields at the origins of our current understanding of animal social behavior.

The profile of European sociologists. Report on the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Associations (25-28 August 2015, Prague)

The title of the conference that was organized in the modern building complex of the Czech Technical University suggested that, besides addressing the usual, practically ‘mandatory’ subjects, the conference would this time include the unusual and fresh topics Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination. Several factors contributed to creating the optimistic, dynamic atmosphere necessary for this. First of all, the conference was attended by the greatest number of participants ever recorded: 3,500 registrants (at the previous conference in Turin there were 2,600 participants), and the number of papers and posters that were presented also set a new record (2,900), along with the number of sessions (700). The obvious presence of a significant number of young participants was conspicuous to anyone who walked through the corridors of the university or in the university parks. According to the official report of the Program Committee, 28% of the participants were students (and according to one non-official estimate, 40%, if PhD students are also included). So, the fruits of the sociology PhD programs have ripened. Many doctoral candidates wish to test themselves in a professional European working environment, and the PhD graduation process also compels them to engage in as much intense publication activity as possible. Perhaps we don’t need to worry so much about the future of sociology science after all.

European Sociological Review - Editorial

Journal Article European Sociological Review - Editorial Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 31, Issue 1, February 2015, Page i2, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv024 Published: 02 February 2015

Market Mechanism and Consumer Choice: An Interview with Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier

The following conversation with Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier took place during the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association (Prague, Czech Republic, August 25−28, 2015), where Sophie chaired a session called “Food: Meals and Eating Patterns.” With her colleague Gojard Severine (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), she presented research on food waste called “Food Waste: from Household Coordination to Cooking Competencies”. In her interview, Sophie shared her research interests and described her recent papers which deal with many aspects of consumer behavior. Sophie illustrates the way social movement organizations interfere in market mechanisms, reshaping the relations between producers and consumers and putting pressure on companies. She also outlined the most common social norms concerning food consumption and discussed possible sanctions for not adhering to them. Sophie describes how patterns of food consumption vary with regard to an individual’s income level, socio-economic class and particular stage in the life course. Further, she clarifies the agenda of modern fair-trade organizations and their role in distribution across markets. Finally Sophie shares her views on urgent topics in modern economic sociology, as well as recommends several readings on the sociology of consumption which may be helpful for those interested in this sphere.

Research of the Nutrition Problem: Methodological Approaches and Daily Practices

The article analyzes some scientific approaches to nutrition research and current nutrition practices for students of two Moscow Universities. The author notes that the necessity for scientific studying of food has been understood at the end of the XIX - the beginning of the XX centuries. In the article the social context of three directions of researches of a nutrition problem is analyzed: natural-scientific, ethnographic and sociological. The answer to a question why the healthy nutrition for modern society is an actual problem is given. It is shown that modern social transformations have changed sociocultural regulation of nutrition consumption. The variety of scientific approaches to food is revealed: a food as a factor of physical health, a food as an ethnocultural tradition, a food as a social habit and marker of the social status of the individual. The special emphasis is made on the European sociology of food. In the last thirty years in this area, some special sociological theories were formed: sociology of nutrition, sociology of food, sociology of menu, etc. Consumer abundance in modern western society changed a view of sociologists on essence and functions of food. New social factors give now more pressure on the nutrition practices. Based on food diaries and essays of 60 Moscow students, the author's project shows and analyzes the current nutrition practices of youth. The analysis of some peculiarities in the youth choice of food is made. The influence of social/dietary/religious norms on food behavior of students is shown. Value of "healthy food" in youth interpretation is shown. In the end of the article, the author notes the dialectics of freedom / social pressure for nutrition practices of modern youth.

An overview of Durkheim and Merton’s social anomie

The goal of this study is to explain Emile Durkheim’s and Robert King Merton’s social anomie. Durkheim and Merton are the two prominent sociologists of functionalist tradition. American sociologist Merton is accepted as the successor of European Sociologist Durkheim in this tradition. Merton examines the works of Durkheim by accepting, criticizing, finding the gaps, and/or offering new thoughts/notions. Social anomie is one of the most well-known notions among them. Their introduction of social anomie into sociological knowledge has also become stepping stones for many contemporary researchers in literature. Social anomie was first mentioned and discussed in “Suicide” by Durkheim and in “Social Structure and Anomie” by Merton. In this regard, this study aims at tracing the influence of Durkheim on Merton in the explanation of social anomie. Finally, this paper sheds light on the social anomie from the perspective of these two philosophers and provides a thorough analysis of the concept.

European Sociological Review - Editorial

Journal Article European Sociological Review - Editorial Get access European Sociological Review, Volume 30, Issue 6, December 2014, Page i2, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcu012 Published: 29 November 2014