Perspective Of Historical Sociology Research Articles

Is Managerial Homeworking New? Assessing strategic, technological and political influences before, during and after coronavirus

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is often assumed that working at home represents a fundamental transformation in the way managers work. But is managerial homeworking that new? To answer this question, we draw on labour process theory and three empirical studies to place post-pandemic homeworking in historical sociological perspective. Overall, we find that homeworking is not a novel phenomenon, but has been driven by various logics. Explaining these, we contend initially that recent studies of managers working at home have focused on the mandated temporal present of the practice under Covid-19, which has resulted in homeworking being portrayed idiosyncratically. In contrast, and to attain a more comprehensive understanding of what homeworking means for managers, we argue that it is necessary also to understand both the underappreciated past of the phenomenon as well as options for its projected future. A comparative – past, present, future – inquiry therefore portrays how a range of explicit (e.g. corporate restructuring, digital technology, government legislation) and implicit (e.g. responsible autonomy, cultural resistance, work–life balance) factors have influenced and affected the practice of managers working at home in recent times. Through content analysis, these factors are related to broader forces of strategic change, technological innovation and political regulation in describing the ‘contested terrain’ of modern managerial work. Amid a context of economic neoliberalism, work extensification and shifting spatio-temporal (home/work) boundaries, the paradoxical nature of homeworking – symptomatic of managers’ contemporary ‘struggle for a normal working day’ – is documented through a series of interview-based narrative investigations (conducted in 2002–2006, 2015–2019 and 2020–2021). Ultimately, the paper makes a case not only for greater historical retrospection, but also for deeper critical reflection, in studies of managerial homeworking, and notably when considering whether the practice will likely be extended, ended or otherwise in the coming decades.

The Political Economy of Class Formation and Class Structure in the Southern Kurdistan: 1991-2021

This article examines the dynamics of class formation from a historical sociology perspective after the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), roughly from 1991 to 2021. It then reviews the KRG period (1991-2021) to trace the process of class formation in the newly-born government. After that, the researchers explore the pattern and nature of class structure and the state in the Southern Kurdistan from 1991 to 2021. This article presents the role of the world economy and the Southern Kurdistan political parties in class formation. For example, the government relied on the selling of natural resources such as crude oil, and a small proportion of people received a tremendous amount of wealth from the government by utilizing political power, and their class position changed to a new one, which is a bourgeois class. As this is a historical sociology study, the following theories will be used: Dependency theory and the world-systems theory are essential in this article because they will evaluate the relationship between classes and compare the Southern Kurdistan with other countries in the capitalist world system. The qualitative methods which have been used in this article include critical analysis of written sources and secondary data, including official statistics of the KRG.

Socioenvironmental conflicts under COVID-19 pandemic and the need of historical-sociological perspectives in conservation science

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global epidemiological, economic and social crisis of unprecedented scope and scale, with significant corollaries for biodiversity conservation. In response to this challenge for humanity, the scientific interest in COVID-19 in a short period occupied the attention of several researchers in different disciplines. However, understand the causes and impact of the pandemic is a complex task. In part, because even though it is a global crisis, the impact of the pandemic is not the same for everyone. The historical asymmetric power relations in the World-System are crucial for understanding environmental impacts and thinking about solutions in the post-pandemic world. In this article, we review some synergistic effects of the pandemic on socioeconomic and environmental conflicts. For this, we conducted a critical review of several primary studies, from July 2020 to March 2021. We observed that socioeconomic inequalities and our strong footprint in terrestrial and marine environments are putting humanity in a position of increasing fragility. We also note that systematic exploitation processes, power conflicts and the complex situation of abandoned local populations interact and reinforce each other, playing a dominant role in driving the dynamics of the pandemic. Likewise, we emphasize the need for a historical-sociological perspective in conservation sciences, and the development of an interdisciplinary scientific perspective, aiming to attack the bases of production and reproduction of inequalities that compromise the success of the objectives of biodiversity conservation and human well-being.

A Conceptual History: Historical Sociological Analysis of Unipolarity in Structural Realist Literature

Unipolarity has been taken for granted and remains unquestioned in the International Relations literature. This article provides the conceptual history of unipolarity by bringing an immanent critique. It shows the evolution of unipolarity literature in the absence of counterbalancing in four stages. It focuses on the use of history in structural realism and brings a historical sociological perspective to the literature to show how tempocentric theorizing impaired the understanding of unipolarity as a distinct structure. The article concludes by underlying the importance of noticing the cost of reification of concepts for theorizing and by highlighting that unipolarity is still understudied both theoretically and methodologically.

Investigation of Three Migration Periods of Roman Elites in the Formation and Survival of the Jundishapur Scientific Center Applying the Theory of migration by Everett S. Lee

Jundishapur has been one of the oldest scientific and educational centers in Iran. A civil and intellectual field that emerged from the time of Sassanid Shapur (I), and gradually a scientific center emerged, especially in the medicine field. The splendor of the scientific center and the city of Jundishapur has been deeply correlated with the phenomenon of migration of Roman (Syriac-Nestorian) elites. Therefore, the causation and explanation of these migrations on the formation, life, and continuity of scientific center are significant to study. The present article attempted to investigate the dimensions of this issue from the perspective of historical sociology, relying on the theory of attraction and repulsion of Everett Lee. Thus, the present study tries to analyze three periods of elite migration from Rome to Jundishapur by using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on library resources and answer question of whether these migrations can be explained using the theory of attraction and repulsion? Findings indicate that in all three periods of the main migration of Roman elites to Jundishapur, Roman repulsions against Sassanid attractions have been very effective in the issue of residence and migration of elites. Religion has also been a crucial factor in the convergence and divergence of elites to migrate from Rome to Iran. The city of Jundishapur developed certain Syrian-Christian scientific and cultural features since its establishment. According to Everett Lee's migration theory, these characteristics had eliminated or downplayed the negative interventionist barriers and distance dilemma of elite migration from Rome to Jundishapur. Furthermore, the migration of elites from Rome to Jundishapur has been very effective in the survival of the city and the scientific center of Jundishapur.

Mathematics education as a systems of society


 Este ensaio explora a filosofia da educação matemática a partir de uma perspectiva sociológica histórica. Este examina a natureza da construção de significado à medida que os sistemas sociais de matemática e educação matemática emergem como parte da sociedade. Para fazer isso, baseio-me na teoria dos sistemas sociais que postula uma teoria geral dos sistemas autopoiéticos a partir da qual consciência e comunicação, como sistemas baseados no significado, são acoplados através da linguagem. A teoria dos sistemas tem recebido pouca atenção na educação matemática e meu objetivo aqui é delinear a abordagem apresentando uma análise funcional superficial da educação matemática. Isso permite a possibilidade de teorizar a educação matemática como um sistema social de comunicação e tem a capacidade de mostrar como as partes constituintes da educação matemática, por exemplo, pesquisa e prática se relacionam e como a educação matemática se relaciona com outros sistemas sociais na sociedade contemporânea.

Historical Sociology and Secularisation: The Political Use of ‘Culturalised Religion’ by the Radical Right in Spain

AbstractThe critique of the theory of secularisation has favoured the emergence of a series of concepts for the analysis of contemporary socio‐religious transformations, such as ‘culturalised religion’. These categories constitute, in turn, an opportunity to rethink the process of secularisation from the perspective of historical sociology. Against this background, this article carries out a theoretical analysis of the ambiguities of secularisation in Spain from which a cultural approach to religion (‘culturalised religion’) emerges and its potential connection to the expansion of the radical right‐wing party Vox, which became the third‐largest party in Spain's parliament in the 2019 national election. After analyzing this interrelation between ‘culturalised religion’ and the radical right on the basis of statistical sources, discourse analysis and bibliographical sources, the article concludes by stressing the importance of historical sociology for understanding phenomena like ‘culturalised religion’, which take us out of the binomial logic that has marked part of the interpretation of secularisation (revival of religions vs decline of the religious) and introduce us into the multiple interactions between the historical past and sociological reality.

The emergence of university rankings: a historical‑sociological account

Nowadays, university rankings are a familiar phenomenon in higher education all over the world. But how did rankings achieve this status? To address this question, we bring in a historical-sociological perspective and conceptualize rankings as a phenomenon in history. We focus on the United States and identify the emergence of a specific understanding of organizational performance in the postwar decades. We argue that the advent of this understanding constituted a discursive shift, which was made possible—most notably but not solely—by the rise of functionalism to the status of a dominant intellectual paradigm. The shift crystallized in the rankings of graduate departments, which were commissioned by the National Science Foundation and produced by the American Council on Education (ACE) in 1966 and 1970. Throughout the 1970s, social scientists became increasingly more interested in the methods and merits of ranking higher education institutions, in which they would explicitly refer to the ACE rankings. This was accompanied by a growing recognition, already in the 1970s, that rankings had a place and purpose in the higher education system—a trend that has continued into the present day.

Legal Mobilization and the Internationalization of Anticorruption Enforcement

This article contributes a critical study of efforts to internationalize the investigation and prosecution of corruption. The efforts to internationalize anticorruption enforcement are visible, for instance, in calls for an International Anticorruption Court (IACC) or an Anticorruption Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (APUNCAC). Inspired by a historical sociological perspective, this article investigates mobilizations around these initiatives, how mobilizers frame their engagement, and the ideological context in which they operate. In particular, the article zooms in on elites and how they push for states to internationalize the investigation and prosecution of corruption. This article situates the efforts of these elites in a larger historical context and compares the push to internationalize anticorruption enforcement to earlier legal mobilizations in the field of international criminal justice focused on atrocity crimes.

Jejak Pesantren di Madura; Dari Islamisasi hingga Dinamika Lembaga

Many researchers need to work hard to build the history of the Islamization of Madura so that it is fully structured. This is because facts have mingled with legend. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the Islamization of Madura with historical facts obtained from library and field data. The approach used in this research is qualitative with historical sociology perspective. The results of this study reveal that there are two paths to Islamization of Madura, namely the royal path and the path of the da'i or better known as Walisongo. The royal line necessitated that the Islamization of Madura was through the royal leaders and nobles. Because the kings are Muslim, their descendants follow Islam and are followed by the residents under them who also embrace Islam. Meanwhile, from the da'i line, the process of Islamization of Madura is a continuation of the mega project of Islamization of the Nusantara which was very massive between the 7th century to the 15th century. Both paths are strengthened by pesantren - as typical Islamic educational institutions of the Nusantara - which are spread throughout Madura.

Capitalism Penetration and Ecological Degradation in South Kalimantan: A Historical Sociology Perspective

This article analyses the relationship between capitalism penetration and growing ecological degradation in South Kalimantan. Capitalism is manifested through excessive logging and the conversion of tropical rainforests into oil palm plantations, a practice that has been rampant since the New Order era. During the President Soeharto in office, natural resources were exploited extensively under the pretext of national development by granting forest concessions to private and state-owned companies. Continuing land clearing and concession burdens of up to 50 percent are the causes of the ecological disaster that occurred in South Kalimantan. The heavy flood phenomenon that happened in January 2021 reflects a long history of capitalism penetration on estate business rooted since the 1980s, when Forest Concession Rights holders began to intensively deforest. This fact is authoritatively opposed by some businessmen who claim that the issue of deforestation is deliberately raised as a trade policy strategy for developed countries. By using a sociological historical approach, it traces the roots of capitalism penetration and looks at to what extent of its influence to the ecological balance in South Kalimantan. Ironically, local communities also take part to strengthen the capitalism chain.

Continuity through change: State social research and sociology in Portugal

This article examines the development of empirical social research in Portugal over about a century and its relation to the early institutionalization of sociology at the tail end of that period. Relying on new empirical data, coupled with a critical reading of the main sources on the topic, it brings to light some epistemic invariants in a disparate body of research, acknowledging the initial persistence of Le Play-inspired as well as properly Le Playsian research methods. Furthermore, it identifies the general continuation of a substantial concern with the (physical and then moral) condition of rural and industrial workers, leading to a disclosure of the political-economic and governmental roots of the social research in question. From a historical sociology perspective, the article explores the relation between state governmentalization and authoritarian rule, on the one hand, and the development of the social sciences, on the other. From a history of science perspective, it acknowledges the continuous use of the same research methods to carry out seemingly incommensurable social research programmes and the later pursuit of a properly sociological research programme that fell back on conflicting methodological and theoretical approaches. In broader terms, the article aims to put forward a historical sociology of theoretical approaches, research methods, and scientific concepts that will hopefully contribute to a clearer understanding of their respective fields of application.

A Historical Sociology Perspective on the Legacy of State Formation and Dynamics of the Arab Spring in Libya: From Elusive Authority of Qadhafi to Masses Craving for Democracy

This study aims to question the appropriateness of ‘transition to democracy’ paradigm in the Arab Spring context with a specific focus on Libya. Arguing that the real problematique lies at the meta-theoretical level, the assumptions and the empirical incongruities of democratisation and post-democratisation perspectives will be elaborated on. With a historical and social minded analysis, the political developments in Libya will be approached with a historical sociology perspective complemented with political economy of regime security. The interaction within the state-society complex in the framework of complex relationship with regional/international level dynamics will be given a specific focus and unlike deterministic-teleological and reductionist democratization/post-democratization perspectives, the answer for the question ‘what happened politically in Libya during the Arab Spring’ will be searched.

O Papel do Medo na História: A heterofobia e a paranoia coletiva na produção da violência racista

In this article, based on the perspective of Historical Sociology, we present some considerations about the role of fear in historical experience. Emotions and feelings, such as fear, heterophobia and mass paranoia have been and are responsible for the production and reproduction of innumerable historical cases of racist violence. For the development of the analysis, we proceed initially to a conceptualization of racism, incorporating the key of fear in the theoretical definition of the phenomenon. Next, a set of historical examples in which fear and mass paranoia played an active role in the production of racisms and violence are discussed. Finally, some recent examples that demonstrate the persistence of racism, violence and fear in contemporary times are presented. The discussion makes explicit the importance of taking the role of fear seriously in the analysis of historical experience, demonstrating the need for a conceptual definition of racism that takes into account the key of fear, besides questioning the possibilities of suppression and elimination of racism in human societies.

Democracy and Populism. The Constitution of the Political Community in Early Post-War Hungary


 
 
 This article proposes to reconsider the relation between populism and democracy. Instead of taking democracy as a given, it will study populism in the context of democratization in a case study from a historical sociological perspective. The post-war and pre-Cold War historical context is analyzed here on the example of Hungary. First, I analyze the public debate on democracy in order to map out the discursive field in which the different political positions were taken. I show that the debate was about the legitimate definition of the political community, the demos. Second, I situate the political wing of the Hungarian populist movement in this discursive field. I establish that the position of the populists’ party did not differ considerably from the standpoint of the other participants: the basic populist claims and references were articulated as part of the problem of democracy. Third, I analyze the continuity of the populist tradition in the context of the post-war redefinition of the ethnoscape, that is, in relation to the “Jewish question” and the “German question”.
 
 

O ensino de robótica em centros de recondicionamento de computadores: construções discursivas de desobediência tecnológica

Resumo 2

3․1운동에서 나타난 지식인들의 역할과 한계에 대한 역사사회학적 일고찰: 대구·경북 지역의 기독교 지도자들을 중심으로

3․1운동에서 나타난 지식인들의 역할과 한계에 대한 역사사회학적 일고찰: 대구·경북 지역의 기독교 지도자들을 중심으로

Max Weber and the Great War: Personal Opinions and Essays as Historical Sociology

The influence of the Great War on the personality, sociology, political activity, and views of Max Weber has not yet been sufficiently researched. The second complete edition of works by Max Weber presents us with new opportunities to conduct a historical and sociological analysis of these issues. His personal letters and essays written during the Great War provide us with highly informative materials for such research. These materials, some of which are not widely known, are studied in the article from the perspective of historical sociology, whose co-founder was Weber himself. At the very beginning of the Great War, Max Weber underwent an emotional experience. He gave up lecturing for two years of army service in the hospital commission. After his service, he would make the shift to political speeches, dec-larations, and opinion essays. His previous understanding of the essence of war had been critically re-evaluated from the national and patriotic to the insight that Germany during and after the war would face a difficult choice between the trajectory of individual historical development and the Western path to political freedom. The article analyzes and sums up Weber’s criticism of the politics of the German High Command which had obtained virtual governmental power in Germany. In particular, the article studies Weber’s criticism of the total submarine warfare started by the German mili-tary in 1917-1918 and its political consequences. This political prevarication used by the commanders at the end of the Great War resulted in the tight connection between democracy and military defeat in German public opinion. Some of Weber’s political forecasts are summed up and critically evaluated.

State–society complexes in ontological security-seeking in IR

This article provides a framework for theorising ontological security-seeking in IR in an analytically complex yet non-reductionist manner. Drawing on an historical-sociological perspective, it relocates the referent object of ontological security from the state to the state–society complex, thus enabling us to elucidate the links between individual, society and the state in ontological security-seeking, and to explicate the synergism between internal and external referentiality in the constitution of self-identity. I argue that ontological security is the result of mutual reflexivity in state–society relations. Where such reflexivity is low, ontological security-seeking lapses into the securitisation of identity. This theoretical framework is illustrated in the context of Russia’s ontological security-seeking.

Border, Space and Memory from Comparative Historical Sociological Perspective: The Case of Sarp Village

Bu çalışma, sınır olgusunu karşılaştırmalı tarihsel sosyoloji perspektifinden irdelemeyi ve sınırları toplumsal belleğin mekânsal izdüşümü olarak analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaçla, çalışmada, Türkiye-Gürcistan sınır bölgesinde yer alan Sarp köyünde yaşayan 60 yaş üzeri 7 kişi (5 erkek ve 2 kadın) ile sözlü tarih yöntemi aracılığıyla görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu görüşmelerden hareketle, sınırın tarihi üç farklı dönem (sınırın çizildiği 1921 yılından sınırın açıldığı 1988 yılına kadar olan dönem, 1988’de sınırın açıldığı dönem ve sınır açılmasından günümüze kadar olan dönem) üzerinden karşılaştırılmıştır. Yapılan karşılaştırma sonucunda, birinci döneminde sınırın güç, otorite ve ideoloji aracılığıyla toplumsalı sıfırladığı, ikinci döneminde eşiği aşmak, duvarı yıkmak ve sınırı geçmek şeklinde toplumsalın yükselişini sembolize ettiği ve üçüncü döneminde göç, aile, çalışma hayatı ve toplumsal cinsiyet imgelemleri temelinde toplumsalın yeniden yapılanmasını içerdiği anlaşılmıştır. Ortaya çıkan bu sonuçlar, sınırda yaşayanların belleklerinden hareketle, sınırın her tarihsel dönemde farklı toplumsallıkları oluşturduğu, değişik mekânsallıkları ürettiği ve yeni kimlik örüntülerini meydana getirdiğini göstermiştir.