Program In Sociology Research Articles

Aproximación a la institucionalización de la sociología en Bolivia. Un estudio sobre el Instituto de Sociología Boliviana (Isbo)

A principios del siglo xxi, en Bolivia se intentó hacer de la universidad un “objeto de conocimiento”, aunque no fue posible, esos esfuerzos quedaron plasmados en algunas publicaciones. Sucede lo propio desde una perspectiva histórica, pues los escasos estudios realizados abarcan solo hasta 1930. En este contexto, el artículo aborda los vaivenes de institucionalización de la sociología como disciplina, en sus dimensiones de investigación y formación, tensionada entre proyectos intelectuales, políticos, competencias entre áreas y dificultades financieras. Actualmente, Bolivia cuenta con cinco carreras de sociología, la primera fue creada en 1967 en la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (umsa), de La Paz, y la última en 2006 en la Universidad de San Francisco Xavier (USFX), de Chuquisaca. En este caso se toma por objeto el Instituto de Sociología Boliviana (Isbo) de la usfx, creado en 1940, para describir y analizar los principales factores que intervinieron en la emergencia y el desarrollo de la sociología. La problematización del tema se basa en la discusión sobre la institución e institucionalización en el campo educativo-universitario que remonta hasta los autores clásicos como Durkheim, pero recoge sobre todo los aportes de Foucault, Bourdieu, Kuhn o Laudan, en la medida que la institucionalización de la investigación y los modelos de formación es un proceso social, político y mental o simbólico de los grupos sociales; lo que permite conectar con la idea de tradiciones —en lugar de paradigmas— que suponen la instalación de una temporalidad lógica, práctica y mental. Por eso, para evitar los riesgos de un cierto funcionalismo-sistémico que asedia al conocimiento de las instituciones, introducimos la idea de conflicto y tensión en el análisis. La metodología se basa en datos primarios y secundarios, entre los primarios —lo esencial del trabajo— se hizo una revisión documental en los archivos universitarios referidos al Isbo, correspondencias, informes, etc. La intención fue combinar un análisis genealógico e institucional basado en datos en torno al caso del Isbo como una herramienta teórica-metodológica en el proceso de argumentación discursiva sobre la institucionalización, similar a otros casos en América Latina.

Presentation of Niels Albertsen’s paper, “Urban Atmospheres”

Prologue: In the early 1990s, we had to read an article about the transformation from Fordism to Post-Fordism as an underlying societal transformation for urbanism in our curriculum, in the sociology program where I was a student. The text was ‘Postmodernism, post-Fordism, and critical social theory’ by Niels Albertsen (1988a). This was the first time I came across Niels Albertsen’s academic work. Later, when I embarked on a PhD, I learned that Niels Albertsen had a big influence in the Danis...

Com a palavra os pesquisadores indígenas

No dia 18 de outubro de 2018, convidamos os estudantes indígenas do Programa de Pós-graduação em Sociologia e Antropologia (PPGSA) e do Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia Social do Museu Nacional (PPGAS/MN), ambos da UFRJ, para uma roda de conversa sobre a importância da documentação de narrativas e os sentidos das práticas narrativas em seus povos. Estiveram presentes os entrevistados Chicoepab Suruí, da etnia Paiter Suruí, Enoc Merino Santi, da etnia Kichua Canelos, Jósimo da Costa Constant, da etnia Poyanawa, Márcio de Oliveira Pires, da etnia Bakairi de Santana, Maria Isabel de Oliveira da Silva, da etnia Desana, Nelly Duarte, da etnia Marubo e Sandra Benites, da etnia Guarani Nhandeva. A conversa foi coordenada por Bruna Franchetto. Contamos também com uma entrevista, realizada em São Gabriel da Cachoeira, AM, protagonizada por Kristine Stenzel e pelo Professor Miguel Cabral, da etnia Kotiria (Wanano). Augusto de Alencar, mestrando do PPGAS/Museu Nacional, trabalhou na gravação da entrevista, sua transcrição – na qual contou com o auxílio de Gabriela Montoni – e na edição fi nal do texto aqui apresentado.

ROGER BASTIDE, ANTONIO CANDIDO E A TESE INTERROMPIDA SOBRE O CURURU

Resumo Abordaremos neste texto as relações entre o programa de pesquisa em sociologia da arte liderado por Roger Bastide na Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Universidade de São Paulo (FFCL-USP), nas décadas de 1940 e 1950, e a tese incompleta de Antonio Candido sobre o cururu. A análise desse material e de seu contexto permite avaliar conexões teóricas e metodológicas entre os autores e flagrar as possíveis disputas em jogo nesse momento em torno da sucessão do sociólogo francês na USP por seus discípulos e discípulas paulistas.

BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER: DURKHEIMIAN THEORY IN THE CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY OF JEFFREY ALEXANDER

Abstract Émile Durkheim`s work forms the cornerstone of Alexander’s cultural sociology, to the point where it becomes virtually impossible to discern precisely where the process of reinterpretation stops and the construction of a new theory begins. In this article I aim to show the cardinal points of Alexander`s reading of Durkheim’s work, discussing how certain concepts and arguments are carefully selected in order to establish the bases of the strong program in cultural sociology, including in its ‘performative turn.’ In so doing, I highlight both strong and weak points in his reading of Durkheim’s texts, showing that there is an important expression of its ‘spirit’ even when he is not faithful to its ‘letter.’ In short, Alexander’s approach to Durkheim, a translation capable of actualizing its potentialities, purges his work of positivistic premises and adapts his theory to a comprehension of the social world, understood as a mesh of socially created and shared meanings.

WHAT SOCIAL SCIENCE MUST LEARN FROM THE HUMANITIES

Abstract Identifying a shift away from a more humanistic approach in the sociology and political science practiced in the United States since the 1950s, Jeffrey Alexander seeks to recuperate an intellectual tradition of the social sciences that places the cultural meanings and subjective dimensions of social actions at the very centre of analysis, while simultaneously considering the structure nature of social life. Opposing the ‘great divide’ between social sciences and humanities, therefore, Alexander proposes, via his strong program of cultural sociology, a conception of sociology that considers social facts not as ‘things’ but as ‘texts,’ analysing how cultural meanings are socially rooted and structure social life.

JEFFREY C. ALEXANDER ON THE THEATRICALITY OF SOCIAL LIFE: DEEPENING THE HERMENEUTICS OF CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY

Abstract This article provides a critical examination of the cultural sociology developed by Jeffrey C. Alexander, focusing on his view of the theatricality of social life. The argument is that, while Alexander’s perspective do engage in a highly significant valuation of the performative dimension of social and political life that matches his strong program in cultural sociology to add a reflexive turn to cultural production in general, his views on theatre and politics remain somehow limited in their efforts at reaching the symbolic structures that are constitutive of these domains. In using a structural hermeneutics to define the analytical core of his methodology, Alexander loses sight of a more dialectical hermeneutics able to tackle the significant transformations affecting those symbolic structures, and exhibited by both avant-garde theatre and media infused mass democratic politics.

THE PERFORMATIVE POWER OF IDEAS: JEFFREY ALEXANDER AS AN ICONIC INTELLECTUAL

Abstract This paper considers Jeffrey Alexander's role in the past, present and future of the strong program in cultural sociology. The central argument is that Alexander is becoming an iconic intellectual, but that the process is not yet complete. Drawing on first-hand observations gathered through my long-term affiliation with the "Alexander group", I trace the development of Alexander's social authority and intellectual influence through the establishment, institutionalization and globalization of the strong program. Descriptions of his charismatic intellectual performances provide further insight into iconization. The conclusion identifies some of the challenges that must be overcome for further theoretical development of the strong program, and the conditions that must be met for Alexander's iconization to reach completion.

THE RELATIVE AUTONOMY OF JEFFREY ALEXANDER

Abstract The strong program in cultural sociology is distinctive in contemporary U.S. sociology. At a time when middle-range theory dominates, the strong program in some respects follow an older model of theorizing through the development of a self-consciously programmatic theoretical endeavor. The article traces this quality of the strong program to its relationship to older theoretical traditions that inspire its ambitions (though it differs from these in important ways). Another aspect of the strong program that exerts an important influence is its institutional identification with the Yale Center for Cultural Sociology. The article focuses on the Center's weekly culture workshop as a nexus that allows for it to both pursue a distinctive theoretical program that nonetheless remains closely connected to developments in U.S. cultural sociology more generally.

Learning Styles and Study Habits of New University Students at a Public University in Mexico.

The objective of this research is to identify the learning styles and study habits of new students of the Education, Psychology, Communication, Sociology, and History undergraduate programs of the School of Humanities at the Mexicali Campus of Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC), in Mexico. The method is quantitative, with a sample of 650 students. The inventories used are the survey applied upon admission to the School of Humanities, and adaptations of the Learning Styles and Study Habits Inventories. The questionnaires were answered online by students who were already enrolled in the 2016-2017 school year. A socio-demographic profile of the students was established based on the results: 73 % of enrolled students are female, and only 27 % are male. The majority (70 %) live with their families (father, mother, siblings); 75 % of students do not work; 90 % said they were single and 10 % were married. The predominant learning styles out of the 13 dimensions are the factors associated with effort and frustration tolerance (.99), followed by a single and structured focus of attention (.98) and intrinsic motivation (.94). The primary study habits in the aspect of optimization are reading 32.8 % and motivation to study 28.7 %. Conclusion: Comprehensive profiles that consider the sociodemographic background, learning styles and study habits are essential when dealing with new students.

Moving beyond production: Ron Eyerman and the cultural sociology of the arts

This paper celebrates Ron Eyerman’s contribution to the sociology of the arts. Through a discussion of selected publications, I highlight the key arguments and the themes running through this strand of his work to show how he both pointed beyond production perspectives and secured a central place for art and music in the strong program of cultural sociology. I also revisit his call for a meaningful sociology of the arts, not only to reflect on how this has influenced my own research agenda, but also to take stock of the current state of the field and gauge how much progress has been made in responding to his challenge to take meaning seriously.

From Economization to Tokenization: New Forms of Economic Life On-Chain

The emerging field of token engineering aims to open “economy itself as design space,” using blockchains and other distributed ledger and smart contract tech- nologies in combination with game theory and behavioral economics. This paper describes the emergence of the Ethereum network as the principle site for the development of a cryptographically tokenized mode of economic life, and the re- construction of human economic agency along game-theoretic lines in the figure of Homo cryptoeconomicus. The paper draws together questions from the econo- mization and marketization, materiality and human/non-human agency programs in economic sociology: token engineering represents both a new field of practice for a self-consciously performative economics, and a potential point of intervention for a practice-oriented mode of social studies of finance.

Notes Toward a Minor Sociology

Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of minor literature, minor sociology refers to an epistemological and political program for sociology (and social/cultural analysis more generally) that challenges well-worn paradigms. As new forms of domination and control, worsening class inequalities, environmental degradation, and increasing xenophobia all characterize the current moment, minor sociology aims to offer new ways of thinking about and researching the social. In examination of marginalized or neglected figures and texts from the field, this essay sketches out why minor sociology is relevant and necessary for the 21st century.

Marx, financial capitalism and the fractured society: Using Bhaskar’s dialectical critical realism to frame a transformatory sociological programme of action for resistance and change

This article begins by considering the relevance and limitations of Marx’s writings for understanding post-1970s financial capitalism. Two specific propositions are outlined and developed. The first is that twenty-first-century financial capitalism is conspicuously vulnerable to implosion or collapse, notably via a Habermasian ‘legitimation crisis’. The second traces its progressive ‘fracturing’, with references to neoliberal austerity and post-welfarism and their deepening impact on the disadvantaged and vulnerable and the sick and disabled. The article then turns to Bhaskar’s dialectical critical realism, suggesting, and attempting to show, that it lends additional philosophical and theoretical weight (‘deepens’ in Bhaskar’s terms) the reach and range of Marxian analyses. The third part of the article focuses on Bhaskar’s evolving theory of transformative – or emancipatory – action. It is contended that his account grounds and allows for rational and compelling resistance to financial capitalism’s neoliberal status quo. In the concluding section, the affinity between Bhaskar’s (neo-Marxian) theory of transformative action and the present authors’ concept of ‘action sociology’ is outlined. The article concludes with a manifesto for an action sociology oriented to ‘absence’, challenging ‘constraining ills’ and imagining and researching ‘alternate futures’.

Sociology Graduate School Requirements and Competitive Advantage

This study examines the admission requirements of Canadian Master of Arts in Sociology programs. A content analysis was performed on a sample of 58 programs based on information provided on department and university websites. Admission requirements centred on high grade point averages, strong letters of support and prior academic and research experience as indicated in a Curriculum Vitae, samples of work or a statement of intent. Results revealed admission preferences for applicants with minimum entrance grades of 80%, an honours degree, prior courses in research methods, statistics and social theory, and a demonstrated research focus. In addition to maintaining high grades, our findings suggest that undergraduates planning to pursue a Master’s degree in sociology should aim to incorporate substantive courses early on in their programs of study and take advantage of other opportunities to develop research skills, networks and training.

Curriculum and labor market: Comparative analysis of the curricular outcomes of the study program in sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade and the required competences in the labor market

During last several decades, sociological profession has faced serious challenges, both globally and locally. Within the context of labor market in Serbia these challenges, along with inadequate response of professional community; have resulted in the loss of professional monopoly for some job positions and roles. Once respected experts, sociologists, have lost professional monopoly on jobs recognized and affirmed by: (a) state, governmental and independent institutions; (b) business organizations; (c) civil society organizations; and (d) international organizations, all of which employ sociologists with diplomas received from universities in the Republic of Serbia. Although examples for this are numerous, we will limit the analysis to three case studies regarding professional positions of: (1) sociology teacher; (2) researcher in market research industry; and (3) employees of various international organizations. Analysis will use several different sources of empirical data: (a) various legislation and by-laws, especially rules on employment requirements (in state, public, and individual organizations); (b) job advertisements, where we will analyze required competencies for particular positions; and (c) current curriculums for BA and MA studies of sociology on the Department of Sociology Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade, where we will analyze provided professional competencies. Analysis will attempt to answer the question if there is a gap between professional competencies provided by study programs and those required of sociologists in the labor market. If the gap exists, we will provide potential solutions on the way in which it can be bridged and position of sociologists on labor market in Serbia improved.

Ten years of historical sociology in Prague: A new perspective branch of Czech sociology

About ten years ago, a new theoretical branch appeared in Czech sociology - historical sociology. The first step and prerequisite for its development was publication of the impressive collective monograph Historical Sociology: Theory of Long-Term Development (edited by J. Subrt) including works of famous Czech social scientists (P. Machonin, M. Petrusek, J. Musil, M. Hroch and others). The concept of historical sociology curriculum appeared in 2007, its form gradually developed in the discussions of J. Subrt, J.P. Arnason (La Trobe University), M. Havelka (Charles University) and W. Spohn (University of Wroclaw). In 2008, its accreditation documents were prepared under the guidance of J. Subrt, and it was included in the academic year 2009/2010 schedule. At the same time, at the Faculty of Humanities of the Charles University the Department of Historical Sociology was founded. Until now, there are Master’s and PhD programs in Historical Sociology in Czech in the form of regular daily and combined (distance) studies. In the academic year 2012/2013, a doctoral studies program was also opened, and both programs - Master’s and PhD’s - started in English. The article considers the decade-long development of historical sociology in the Czech Republic focusing on the research and study programs at the Faculty of Humanities of the Charles University. The author explains how historical sociology is defined and developing in the Czech Republic, emphasizing its research traditions and current interests. The article pays particular attention to the topics and representatives of historical sociology mentioning the importance of its publications - both monographs and the journal established in 2009. To conclude, the author summarizes the results of the current stage of the development of Czech historical sociology, its challenges and risks, hopes and perspectives. Ten years is usually a very short period for any science but for Czech historical sociology they became a period of significant results.

Enemies of freedom and defenders of democracy: The metaphorical response to terrorism

This article examines the public speeches presented by George W. Bush and Jens Stoltenberg in the aftermath of, respectively, the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and 22 July 2011. By using a novel combination of cognitive linguistics and the strong programme in cultural sociology, I demonstrate how one metaphor system fundamentally shaped the speeches of both national leaders, a system I term The Fight for Freedom and Democracy. The article shows how this system can be seen as the source of both the similarities and differences in the speeches of Bush and Stoltenberg. Both leaders describe a metaphorical struggle between the national community and the terrorist(s), but Bush escalates this struggle to a War on Terror, while Stoltenberg’s only ‘weapons’ in this battle are democratic ideals. Building on these findings, the article discusses how the different discourses of good and evil might be an integral part of the responses to terrorism.

A Theory of Affective Communication: On the Phenomenological Foundations of Perspective Taking

Although some scholars acknowledge the decisive role of the felt body in the process of perspective taking, the precise role of the felt body remains unclear. In this paper, a theory of affective communication is developed in order to explain and understand the process of perspective taking in human interaction on a corporeal, pre-reflective and thus affective level. The key assumption of the outlined theory is that any process of perspective taking is essentially based on the two dimensions of the felt body, namely (1) attraction and repulsion, (2) dominance and subdominance. The dimension of attraction and repulsion determines whether individuals (or groups) attractively converge or repulsively diverge in their perspectives. Regarding the dimension of dominance and subdominance, it is assumed that there is always a dominant and a subdominant side in human interaction. In the case of attraction as a necessary condition for finding common ground, the dominant side serves as the perspective giver and the subdominant side serves as the perspective taker. The outlined theory is phenomenologically based on the works of Schmitz and Rappe and marks a contribution to the research program of neophenomenological sociology.

Les parcours post-carcéraux des femmes condamnées en Russie : le rôle des Centres d’adaptation sociale dans le processus d’insertion

The prison population in Russia has decreased by a quarter over the last decade. Nevertheless, it is still one of the largest in the world. This is also the case for women inmates, whose proportion in Russia is higher than the European average. The rate of penal recidivism is 62.5 percent, however, there is still no special rehabilitation program for ex-offenders. Social adaptation centers organized in every Russian region and managed by the Ministry of Social Development have become the main public institution offering basic assistance to former prisoners. What role do adaptation centers play in the lives of women released from correctional colonies? What kind of difficulties do female offenders face in freedom, and how do they find their way to reintegrate into society? This research note seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the careers and strategies of female ex-prisoners and exploring the contribution of adaptation center in Perm in the process of their resocialization. The text is based on the results of in-depth interviews and observations conducted during the EHESS two-years master's program in sociology.