Political Sociology Research Articles

Community Typology and Voting Behavior in Elections: A Political Sociology Perspective

Regional head elections (Pilkada) are a democratic process that reflects the social dynamics of society in choosing leaders in regional elections, using a sociological approach to understand the social facts of society. This research aims to analyze typologies that influence voter preferences. This research uses qualitative methods with a case study approach in several regions that hold regional elections. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews, observation and documentation studies. The research results show that society can be classified into several typologies, such as pragmatic voters, ideological voters, and traditional voters. Pragmatic voters tend to vote based on personal interests or direct benefits, while ideological voters place more emphasis on the candidate's vision, mission and work program. Meanwhile, traditional voters are influenced by cultural factors, kinship, or personal relationships with candidates. Social factors such as campaign intensity, influence of public figures, and access to information also play an important role in shaping voter preferences. These findings show that voting behavior patterns are not only determined by rational aspects, but also by social and cultural values ​​inherent in society. This research makes an important contribution in understanding voter behavior from a sociological perspective, which can be a reference for stakeholders in designing political strategies that are more inclusive and responsive to community needs. Apart from that, the results of this research can also enrich the study of political sociology, especially in the context of local democracy in Indonesia.

(Post-)pandemic Somatechnics, Neoliberalism, and the Return to (Academic) Normalcy: Digital Conversations

This essay consists of a set of digital (post-)pandemic email correspondence held between a political sociologist and an interdisciplinary philosopher working at western European universities while the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly unfolded itself. Starting from an unsettling point in time in 2021, during which vaccination strategies and numerous eugenic pandemic containment measures were being discussed, the authors touch upon issues as diverse as the importance of embodied feminist theorising in pandemic crisis times; neoliberal extractive capitalism’s influence on society, pandemic (mis)management, and higher education; the problematic (post-)pandemic business-as-usual-narrative; grief, mourning, and trauma; the power of anger and protesting; and the forced return to normal(cy). These conversations are held together by an irruptions-based methodology based on Deleuze and Guattari (2000) . This methodology tries to make sense of the (post-)pandemic as a disruptive event while forming the backdrop for conversational and critical theoretical snippets, self-designed memes, and critical race, queer, disability, and feminist theoretical perspectives that all conceptualise (post-)pandemic somatechnics as a ‘form of ethico-political critical practice’ ( Sullivan and Murray 2011 : vii).

Political sociology in Armenia: stages of institutionalization and priorities

The rise of sociology as a science, reflecting modernization processes in society and exerting significant influence on them, developed during the post-Soviet period of Armenian reality. This development was facilitated by ‘discovery’ of sociology by the post-Soviet society and the close (though not always equal) interaction of domestic sociologists with Western sociological schools. Additionally, the participation of Western sociologists of Armenian nationality contributed to the formation of Armenian statehood as well as to growth of sociology as an academic discipline in Armenia. Under the influence of democratization processes, political sociology focused primarily on the transitional Armenian society, addressing the formation of power institutions and the utilization of political technologies. Regional dynamics, traditional and new foreign policy processes in Armenia, threats, and risks influenced the study of foreign policy guidelines within Armenian society. This also led to the formation and development of sociology of conflict and military sociology, closely linked to political sociology and sometimes inseparable. The effective managing of the Armenian state and society directly correlates with the integration of political sociology into political practices, and with demand for sociological knowledge, especially sociological forecasts, among decision-makers.

Political legitimacy after the pits: Corruption narratives and labour power in a former coalmining town in England.

This article examines the erosion of political legitimacy in ex-mining towns in England. Political sociologists and political scientists have long taken an interest in the politics of coalmining areas, which were characterised by high strike rates and militant left values. More recently, the question of legitimacy in these areas has resurfaced, as now-deindustrialised pit towns register unusually high levels of political discontent and disengagement compared to areas with similar economic and demographic profiles. In interviews and group discussions with 93 residents of the former mining town of Mansfield, England, I find that many express ideas that profoundly challenge the system of representative democracy in its current form, with almost one in three participants understanding politics primarily through the frame of corruption. Drawing on an emergent literature which casts corruption talk as a moralised discourse of political in/exclusion, I argue that the corruption frame is best understood as the inversion of a now-defunct symbolic economy. As workers in pit towns no longer received the same tokens of care from their representatives, reflecting their reduced power, many came to understand the political system as corrupt and illegitimate.

Enhancing South–South Ties: Some Effects of Educational Collaboration between Brazil and PALOP

ABSTRACT This article discusses the dialogue and circulation of scientific knowledge in the South-South context between Brazil and the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (PALOP), focusing on the Political Science and Political Sociology fields. The main questions are: What strategies have been implemented to foster educational cooperation between Brazil and African countries? How much and for whom do these policies provide educational opportunities? Methodologically, the analysis covers historical, political, and diplomatic aspects that have driven collaboration between Brazil and PALOP in education. We based our analysis on a qualitative literature review, triangulated with quantitative data from Brazilian educational policies. The main conclusion is that Brazil has played a relevant role in training PALOP professionals in recent decades through its foreign policy in the educational field, enabling an epistemic dialogue between Africa and Latin America. Therefore, educational cooperation establishes bridges connecting the Brazilian way of thinking and building Social Sciences and the scientific approaches developed in the PALOP, which can serve as an example for other countries that want to strengthen South-South knowledge production.

Decarbonization and the Capitalist State

ABSTRACTDecarbonization is the most important challenge of our time. Though quite modest, states are taking more climate action. How should we approach these efforts? Sociologists have paid less attention to decarbonization overall but frameworks in political sociology can make sense of state power and climate politics. In this review, I first discuss two sets of literature. The first extends “state‐capacity” and institutionalist frameworks. The second is based on radical and Marxist state theories. Following this, I draw from Mann's concept of “infrastructural power” which combines elements of both and can situate state power in a transnational context. Using this concept and recent literature in political economy, I discuss three infrastructures—finance, trade, and energy—and consequential ways states have altered them in recent years. These actions reveal profound geoeconomic contradictions which will undermine decarbonization. Together, this review provides a wide survey of state theories and macroscopic climate politics with the hope of spurring further discussion and debate.

Cleavage theory meets Bourdieu: studying the role of group identities in cleavage formation

Abstract In this paper, we develop a framework for studying the role of group identities in contemporary cleavage formation. Identities, we suggest, hold the key to a central conundrum of current political sociology: the fact that today’s electoral realignments appear to be rooted in the social structure of post-industrial societies, while the decline of mass organizations has dissolved traditional links between politics and social structure. Bringing cleavage theory into dialog with the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, we theorize how group identities may play an important role in stabilizing a new universalism-particularism cleavage emerging in Western Europe today. We identify two key processes of cleavage identity formation: bottom-up processes of “social closure” and top-down “classification struggles” waged by political entrepreneurs. For both processes, we review empirical findings and formulate an agenda for further research.

Conservative turn and political identity: challenges to democracy in Indonesia after presidential election 2019

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to examine the conservative shift and identity politics: challenges to democracy in Indonesia after the 2019 presidential election. In this research, the author uses a political sociology approach as a perspective in conducting the analysis. The research method in this study uses a qualitative approach by emphasizing literature review data or literature studies related to the theme in the article. The available data is used as the basis for exploration by using sentences that are connected to form phrases and qualitative analysis. It is known that in political life, ethnic identity is used as a vote banker. Meanwhile, Islamic conservatism and populism are religious forces that disrupt electoral democracy. Issues of identity politics, conservatism, and Islamic populism will continue to grow if moderate Islamic forces such as Muhammadiyah and NU do not emerge in political and religious life.

A contextual approach to decolonising IR: Interrogating knowledge production hierarchies

Abstract Although calls to decolonise International Relations (IR) have become more prominent, the endeavour becomes infinitely more complex when searching for concrete approaches to decolonise IR knowledge production. We posit that decolonising IR, a global counter-hegemonic political project to dismantle and transform dominant knowledge production practices, must be enacted according to context-specific particularities. Contexts shape practices of epistemological decolonisation, since knowledge hierarchies are enacted and experienced – and must be challenged and dismantled – differently in different sites. Yet although acknowledged as important, contexts are understudied and under-theorised. This raises several questions: how do contexts matter to IR knowledge production, in what ways, and with what effects? This article disaggregates six contexts in IR knowledge production – material, spatial, disciplinary, political, embodied, and temporal – and explores how they impact academic practices. We bring together hitherto-disparate insights into the role of contexts in knowledge production from Global IR, Political Sociology, Feminist Studies, Higher Education Studies, and Critical Geopolitics, illustrating them with empirical evidence from 30 interviews with IR scholars across a variety of countries and academic institutions. We argue that an interrogation of the inequalities produced through these contexts brings us closer towards developing concrete tools to dismantle entrenched hierarchies in IR knowledge production.

Thinking through 1492: IR's Historiographic Operation(s) and the Politics of Benchmark Dates

Abstract This Collective Discussion aims to open up space for an international political sociology of the production of historical knowledge that interrogates the politics around benchmark dates and what becomes knowable and unknowable through them. Specifically, it examines 1492 as a historiographical device through which to unpack how the discipline of IR knows history. 1492 presents a relevant case for this interrogation, for it is central for the historical narratives of a variety of approaches. In this sense, the different contributions do not seek to recover an alternative, ‘better’ history of 1492, but rather to explore its politics of knowledge production: what types of histories it makes visible, what types it precludes, and in what way it partakes in the reproduction of specific hierarchies of knowledge and the power structures that operate through them. In doing so, the Collective Discussion makes visible – and thus opens up for discussion – the historiographical operations performed by periodization and benchmark dating in IR, pointing to a way forward for an international political sociology of knowledge production in the discipline.

Still Engaging, Not Avoiding, Contradictions: Conceptualizing Cooperative Research in Practical, Structural and Epistemic Terms

Abstract Critical methodologies in International Political Sociology (IPS) and its intersecting fields and research traditions have increasingly coalesced around the idea that research should be done in dialogue, and possibly cooperation, with people rather than only about them. Drawing together research under this theme and wider debates on participatory, activist, and action research, alongside our own research experience, this article proposes the notion of cooperative research to capture and further develop this research agenda. In the context of neoliberal academia and its narrow insurance-based conception of research ethics and safety, we argue that cooperative and ethical research can be done and developed further both in the cracks and margins of the system, and in a gradual reform process within it. Starting with a survey of existing traditions and recent advances towards cooperative research, we proceed to unpack what cooperative research looks like in practice and how it benefits the involved parties. The article then explores structural and epistemic obstacles that cooperative research faces within the current institutional, body, and geo-politics of knowledge production. It also reflects on future avenues to productively deal with the inherent contradictions of cooperative research, not only by embracing the “ethos of critique”, but also by trying to make (even small) changes within the Western knowledge production system by promoting, and rendering more legitimate, alternative forms of knowledge and storytelling.

Формирование полицейско-правовой теории: анализ и оценка полицеиста В. В. Ивановского

Introduction. The article is devoted to the work of Viktor Viktorovich Ivanovsky (1854-1926), a prominent jurisprudent of the Russian Empire, specialist in police law, sociologist, whose scientific activity was closely connected with the Kazan Imperial University. The contribution of V. V. Ivanovsky to the development of police and administrative law, political sociology, the theory of local self-government, and the methodology of legal research significantly influenced the development of police law theory in Russia. However, his ideological heritage has not yet received a comprehensive analysis. Methods. Methodological principles of research – the principles of unity of theory and practice, objectivity, complexity, comprehensiveness of the study of social processes and phenomena, the unity of historical and logical – are based on dialectics, acting as a general methodology of scientific cognition. The main methodological approaches of the study were systemic and value approaches. General scientific (historical, functional) and special (formal-legal, historical-legal, comparative-legal) methods of legal research were used. The method of problem-theoretical reconstruction and interpretation of legal ideas was very important. Results. V. V. Ivanovsky has showed himself as a jurist, scientist and historiographer. He characterised the formation of police-legal theory and identified the features of ideas about the means of public administration, models of relations between state bodies and the population of Western European and domestic thinkers.He revealed the interdependence of the sciences of police and administrative law; identified the features of the origin of the dogmatics of administrative law; substantiated the need to change the principle of regulation of public relations and the transition from the rule of law to the principle of administrative law.

How practical is tactical? Political sociology, militarization, and police tactical teams in Canada

Emergency Response Teams (ERT), commonly referred to as Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams, are the specialized police unit responsible for mitigating violent and dangerous conflict beyond the capacity of general duty to handle effectively. Debates surrounding the application and effectiveness of ERTs in policing highlight a need to keep ERT members safe due to adequacy and occupational health and safety standards while concurrently managing the expectations of community groups. These groups include those calling for defunding or de-militarization. Explored in the current article, is a thematic analysis of popularized media to unpack the arguments that police, government officials and community activist groups make to help shift opinions on police militarization. However, we frame these media account within Bourdieusian concepts of symbolic power, habitus or field struggle to provide insight into, arguably conflicting, interpretations of police militarization.

Max Weber and Carl Schmitt on Legitimate Domination: Belief in Legitimacy or Acknowledgement of Legitimacy?

This article discusses Weber’s and Schmitt’s diverging interpretations of the legitimate bases of domination. While Weber regards the belief in legitimacy as the source of legitimate domination, Schmitt employs an existentialist interpretation by deriving legitimacy from the acknowledgement of the people. These two distinct sources are preponderant in their understandings of plebiscitary leadership. Weber derives the legitimacy of the plebiscitary leader from charismatic grounds. In contrast, Schmitt maintains that the acknowledgement of the people of the already existing order constitutes the democratic legitimacy of the plebiscitary leader. Weber’s ideal-type of charismatic domination seems to be more appositely applicable to left-wing populism, while Schmitt provides a more adequate framework to analyse right-wing populism in contemporary societies. As a result, this article argues that comparative-historical and political sociologists should take into account these distinct conceptions of legitimate domination in order to comprehend the peculiar features of legitimate government in contemporary societies.

What future for EU foresight? A critical perspective on the institutionalisation of foresight

AbstractWhat are the potential strengths and weaknesses in the current reconstruction of foresight at the EU level? In questioning foresight's institutionalisation processes from both a historical and a political sociology perspective, the article claims that charting the future is an issue of political power and that, hence, foresight's institutionalisation can never be taken for granted. More precisely, we identify two factors that determine how such process plays out. First, it depends on the definition and importance of the future according to specific contexts (war, economic or health crisis, periods of growth, etc.). Second, this changing definition intertwines with socio‐institutional structures and agents that are crucial for this institutionalisation to be sustainable. The analysis is twofold. First, we provide an overview of past international experiences of projections into the future (both foresight and forecast). Second, we illustrate how these issues may resurface and rebound within the EU’s unique power context.

Political Demography: The Political Consequences of Structural Population Change

This article surveys the growing field of political demography, which explores the political consequences of structural population change. It underscores the importance of integrating demography and political sociology research to better understand the complex and nuanced relationship between demography and political dynamics. The existing research demonstrates profound and multifaceted impacts of demographic shifts on the political landscape, with different demographic factors having distinct political consequences. Notably, population composition and distribution tend to hold greater political significance than sheer population size and growth. Furthermore, while more research is needed, the existing work suggests that the effect of structural demographic factors is neither inevitable nor without limit; rather, the political consequences of demographic change often exhibit nonlinear patterns and interact with prevailing socioeconomic and institutional contexts. As demographic shifts continue to unfold globally, political demography stands as a promising and enlightening area of research that merits further inquiry.

L’analisi scientifica del potere: il contributo della sociologia politica

The article examines the evolving field of political sociology and highlights the need for a modern reassessment in the context of rapid global changes. The aim is to distinguish the framework of political sociology from that of other social sciences such as history, law and economics. The article emphasises the importance of understanding political power and its transformations in the context of crises such as economic downturns, pandemics and geopolitical conflicts. Reflecting on the seminal theories of Max Weber and Talcott Parsons, the discussion highlights how political power, legitimacy and the interplay with other forms of power (economic, technological, etc.) shape contemporary governance. Finally, the article suggests a focus on the dynamics of political power and its legitimacy in the globalised era, noting the growing influence of technological power and the complex challenges posed by modernity.

Values: can science study them? On the history, theory and methodology of the issue

The place and role of values in scientific knowledge in general and in sociology in particular are discussed in the above paper. Values in the light of political sociology (political-ideological values) are compared with values themselves, which in the light of the sociology of knowledge appear as phenomenologically revealed initial givens. They form a core of the worldviews and worldview of each person as an individual. In the interpretation of values themselves, the author relies on his interpretation of the religious and philosophical axiology of M. Scheler. The author proves that, although all kinds of evaluativeness are subject to exclusion, “value neutrality” in social cognition is impossible in principle, therefore it is necessary to strive for its explication and articulation. The author questions the possibility of scientific-discursive knowledge of values, as well as respective attempts to study value consciousness empirically.

The genesis of the development of the category of trust and mistrust in science

The Relevance. The initial manifestations of trust were recorded in the political philosophy of Ancient Greece and Ancient China, on the basis of which thinkers determined the interconnection and interdependence of relations between government and society. Further developing in line with political sociology, trust as the principle of “fides” (“faith”) from the Roman law was conceptualized by M. Weber as an “emotional product” of a social contract, violation of the terms of which does not carry sanctions, with the exception of the loss of business reputation. The category of trust was significantly enriched during the development of sociology of the 20th – early 21st centuries, and thanks to the works of P. Sztompka and F. Fukuyama, it gained understanding of the conditions for sustainable development of society in conditions of uncertainty, in which the individual proceeds from the “credit” of confidence in the respectable behavior of another and absolute confidence in one's own actions. In recent years, a “crisis of confidence” in science as a social institution in modern society has been recorded.The problem of the research is to identify the peculiarities of understanding the category of “trust” by the classics of sociological science and their applicability in modern science.The goal of the research is to study the relationship between the dynamics of trust in Sociology in the scientific community and in science as a social institution as a whole.The methodological basis of the reseearch is a systematic approach and general methods of scientific knowledge, such as analysis, synthesis, generalization.The Research results. The classics of sociological science have enriched the motivational, value and political meanings of the concept of «trust» in modern science.

Stuart Hall's Relational Political Sociology: A Heuristic for Right-Wing Studies

Since 2016, there has been a flood of research on the US right spanning disciplines and methodologies. This article theorizes a conceptual heuristic drawn from the writing of Stuart Hall to integrate this scholarship. To make the case for what I term Hall’s political sociology, I stage a dialogue with Arlie Hochschild, whose 2016 ethnography Strangers in Their Own Land has become a classic in the literature. While both Hall and Hochschild stress the importance of documenting the affective nature of political subjectivities, Hochschild’s investment in a politics of reconciliation prevents her from scaling analysis up to political elites, a move that would enable her to better contextualize her findings. Hall offers a model for such an approach, as he connects political subjectivities to acts of articulation; these acts to hegemonic projects; and the impact of such projects to the conjuncture. I stylize Hall’s four-step conceptual frame as a relational cycle because it reconnects the historicizing work of conjunctural analysis to the felt experience of individual subjectivities. Beyond outlining Hall’s political sociology, I illustrate how its use as a heuristic can integrate recent research on the US right. This scheme corrects for an analytic shortcoming driven by Hochschild’s politics of reconciliation, namely a view that political progress will emerge from small-scale, cross-partisan dialogue. Though Hall offers no easy answers to the political questions of our time, his relational political sociology provides a tool for interlacing the research we have, thus rendering the massive challenges of the moment visible in all their detail.