Sociological Components Research Articles

The films of Joanna Hogg: new British realism and class

This article explores the work the British director Joanna Hogg. It uses Hogg’s first two films, Unrelated (2007) and Archipelago (2010) to argue that, despite her focus on exclusively middle-class characters and locations, Hogg should be understood within an increasingly diverse realist tradition that no longer relies on social class as its default thematic emphasis. As such, both films are read and analysed closely around their approach to aspects of everyday routines and practices, with Hogg’s interest in the bourgeois quotidian identified as the central mechanism for her subtly potent narratives of isolation and emotional claustrophobia. This focus on the mundane is therefore used as a means of broadening and complicating existing critical definitions of realism, moving beyond those which emphasis predominantly sociological components of the mode. The article finds in Mike Leigh a middle-class realist antecedent for Hogg, and develops a comparative analysis of both directors use of the everyday as a narrative device.

University Transitions and Gender: From Choice of Studies to Academic Career Development

Based on the results of the authors' research using a case study of a Spanish university, the sociological component of gender is an important factor in building transitions at university. When the authors refer to university transitions they are talking about two periods. Firstly, they refer to the transition of undergraduate students from upper secondary education. The authors detect differences in the choices of studies, in the identification of professional models and in the university admission process. Secondly, they refer to the transition from research grant-holders to teaching and research staff. They explore the construction of social expectations and representations that research grant-holders make during their transitions to teaching and research staff. These two transition points are connected through the gender component, because in both, the authors have found gender differences that shape the transitions to a type of discourse and of behaviour. Therefore, university transitions are a broad field of study from a gender perspective.

Sociological components of art and society interaction

Sociological components of art and society interaction

Tribalism, Identity and Citizenship in Contemporary Qatar

Th is article examines the resurgence of tribalism as a sociological component of contemporary Qatari society. Utilising an ethnographic, mixed-methods design, the article begins with a survey of the substantial scholarship concerning tribes in Arabia. Th at scholarship provides ideas and understandings that only partially explain the vitality of contemporary tribalism. Th e article then demonstrates tribalism’s ongoing social importance by analysing data from a quantitative survey of 800 Qatari citizens. Th e article concludes with the ethnographically situated contention that tribalism functions as a mechanism for asserting social power in the contemporary Qatari state, and is therefore an emblematic component of Qatari citizenship.

Multi-agent modelling in sociology: introduction

The purpose of this article is to introduce multi-agent modelling as an area of research that has developed rapidly in sociology over the last fifteen years. This article starts by outlining some characteristics of multi-agent modelling and then covers the history of sociological component of complexity science. In the following part, the fundamental concepts used in multi-agent modelling such as model, agent, environment and emergence are defined. Thereafter, the article focuses on the application of multi-agent modelling in sociology and identifies specific areas where it might be used productively. An illustrative example of a multi-agent model called ‘Slumulation’ that explores how slums emerge in the city is described. Finally, the advantages and limits of this approach are summarized.

The Sociological Role of Collective Singing during Intense Moments of Protest: The Disengagement from the Gaza Strip

Collective singing has been viewed as an important sociological component in the literature written about social movements. However, it has seldom been the explicit focus of examination. This study analyses the use of collective singing during the intense moments of the Yesha movement protest against Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Content analysis of interviews with 14 protesters and 14 security force members (SFMs) shows that protesters used collective singing to evoke emotions that would help them raise morale, vent negative emotions, strengthen solidarity, experience spiritual transcendence, foster hope, empower themselves, mourn and achieve closeness to the SFMs. The results are discussed in the light of sociological theories.

The Sociological Pull of Soft Law

One underexplored reason why regulators might turn to soft law in financial regulation is the sociological pull of soft law venues. The more traditional reasons why financial regulators turn to soft law have been thoughtfully explored by others: (1) soft law is quicker, cheaper, and more flexible; its non-binding nature appeals to fast-moving regulators who need to try things out; it is what the bureaucrats have the professional capacity to do; and soft law imposes low sovereignty costs. Some have compared these attributes with those that draw lawmakers to hard law. For example, one argument is that trade regime relies on hard law because states need credible and transparent commitments in that regime because the ever present threat of cheating. (2) While some political scientists have focused on the sociological pull of soft law venues, the legal literature has understandably paid less attention to the sociological aspects of soft law networks. Many legal scholars interested in the network phenomenon tend to investigate this phenomenon by studying the most salient networks--such as financial networks. (3) These networks have been pretty prolific in terms of generating standards and principles, and thus most attention is paid to these outputs, i.e., the standards or principles. These outputs are compared to what would have been possible under a treaty regime. For example, we can look at best practices emanating from a trans-governmental network and compare those to what might have been available in a hard law regime. In comparing these outputs, one might rightly focus on the advantage of precise language in the best practices. Observing the technical and complex nature of the soft law product, one might hypothesize that one would need mid-level bureaucrats in a forum where they could act quickly. The uncertainty of the subject matter might suggest that only a non-binding output would be acceptable. So looking just at outputs, one would understandably focus on the traditional explanations of why financial regulators turn to soft law. But soft law networks do more than produce outputs. They allow for a process, an exchange of ideas, a path to consensus that is ongoing and that is itself transformative. Sungjoon Cho and I have looked at the more theoretical aspects of networks by focusing on this sociological process. (4) We look at the relationship between the members of epistemic communities. We theorized about how they interact, persuade, co-opt, negotiate, marginalize, sympathize, and engage with each other. This sociological component is present in financial networks and is one of the reasons why finance regulators gravitate toward networks. In these networks the institutional distance between regulators and regulatees is rather narrow, in part because there is an epistemic community. Everyone speaks the same language. It is a complex, professional, and technical language that can be indecipherable to outsiders. The network actors engage in a dynamic with each other using this language. They persuade each other of their view of a problem (sometimes supplying technical assistance if it is needed). They might co-opt each other using their working relationships on various projects. They negotiate with each other and have many opportunities to persuade each other. I would argue that this network dynamic occurs in other regimes as well. For example, there are networks that operate within the trade regime. Trade networks, like financial networks, form where there are complex, technical, near indecipherable challenges. Epistemic communities coalesce around these challenges. Thus, for example, the problem of related party transfer pricing and customs valuation has created a band of network actors. The OECD, along with the World Customs Organization, has gathered private business groups and public officials together to work out solutions to transfer pricing problems. (5) There is an emerging network within the WTO and the OECD confronting the complex challenges of amassing trade statistics. …

Fiscal Impact Models For Local Economies

Fiscal impact analysis refers to the rather broad range of economics studies which consider the public sector effects of various economically related aberrations. Such analyses are typically conducted within broader impact analyses including economic, demographic, environmental, and sociological components. This reflects not only the fact that sound decision-making requires information on all of these dimensions, but also the fact that these dimensions are frequently interrelated and must be projected simultaneously.This paper develops a conceptual framework within which local fiscal impact models may be compared and contrasted. The purpose is to shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the models and their appropriate range of applications. This information should be useful to all those who have a stake in and who influence the viability of their local economy.

Changing landscapes for white‐tailed deer management in the 21st century: Parcelization of land ownership and evolving stakeholder values in Michigan

AbstractWhite‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) create positive and negative effects incurred by stakeholders throughout the midwestern United States. Knowledge of deer ecology and stakeholder values for deer are needed to match the level of acceptable impacts with the capabilities of management. To address this challenge, we 1) quantified how landscape characteristics in southwestern and south‐central Michigan, USA affect the distribution and population characteristics of deer throughout agro‐forested landscapes, 2) quantified factors affecting stakeholder acceptance capacity for deer, and 3) present a deer management framework based on desired levels of impacts in relation to existing conditions. We investigated ecological components by radiocollaring deer during 2001–2006 and analyzed their movements, survival, and mortality factors in landscapes with diverse land‐ownerships. Sociological components were investigated through interviews and questionnaires sent to 3,520 households. Southern Michigan residents identified a visible deer herd (a perceptual cue to the naturalness of the area) as a positive impact. Concerns about deer, especially deer–vehicle collisions, were weighed against positive impacts in determining acceptable levels of deer–human interactions. Nonhunting, nonfarming rural residents, a stakeholder of increasing size and influence, perceived impacts distinct from those perceived by hunters and farmers. Small annual home ranges of yearlings–adults (77–202 ha) and fawns (60–116 ha) and high survival rates (yearling–adult = 0.40–0.94, fawns = 0.51–0.76) may be attributed to the parcelization of land, habitat quality, and positive values stakeholders hold for deer. Knowledge of the impacts perceived and the effect of impacts on acceptance capacity for deer may enable managers to develop management actions that complement existing programs and address stakeholder values. Knowledge of deer ecology, landscape characteristics, and responses of stakeholders to deer are critical for managing the impacts of white‐tailed deer. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

S18 * LESCH TYPOLOGY (LAT): FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO TREATMENT * S18.1 * LESCH ALCOHOLISM TYPOLOGY AND TEMPERAMENTS: THEIR ROLE IN ETIOLOGY, COURSE AND TREATMENT

S18 * LESCH TYPOLOGY (LAT): FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO TREATMENT * S18.1 * LESCH ALCOHOLISM TYPOLOGY AND TEMPERAMENTS: THEIR ROLE IN ETIOLOGY, COURSE AND TREATMENT

Evaluating the Severity of Hate-motivated Violence: Intersectional Differences among LGBT Hate Crime Victims

This article employs an intersectional approach to examine the ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people evaluate the severity of hate-motivated violence. Previous studies of LGBT hate crime victims have typically focused on the psychological effects of violence. In contrast, this article explores the sociological components of hate crime by comparing the perceptions of poor and working-class LGBT people of colour with the perceptions of white, middle-class LGBT people. Data were collected from semi-structured, in-depth interviews, conducted in New York City, with 44 people who experienced anti-LGBT violence. Results indicate that middle-class white respondents were more likely than low-income people of colour to perceive their violent experiences as severe, even though the latter experienced more physical violence than the former. This finding suggests that the social position of LGBT people plays an instrumental role in structuring how they evaluate the severity of hate-motivated violence.

Gramsci's unorthodox Marxism: political ambiguity and sociological relevance

Gramsci's work continues to enjoy popularity amongst academics and activists. There is nonetheless a real question about the relevance of his central political ideas for the twenty-first century. This paper defends the thesis that Gramsci's humanism is part of a long tradition of political thought which dates back to Machiavelli, and that although this national-popular humanism is now outdated for reasons which are suggested in the writings and films of Pier Paolo Pasolini, there is also a sociological component to Gramsci's theorising that retains resonance today.

Securing Prosperity or Making Securitization Prosper?

Increasing continental integration since n September 2001 raises questions about the emergence of a link between governmentality security and economic practices in American. Of particular concern is the security and prosperity partnership of America (SPP) between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Whether the result of US security pressures, a willingness to please American leaders and business communities, or for the purpose of ensuring Canada's prosperity in a post- September 11 world, the SPP creates a form of rule founded on certain political rationalities and technologies in a new regionalized geopolitical space. The SPP was spearheaded by a coalition of Canadian businessmen, government officials, and think tanks who were actively seeking to perform a American community through continental economie integration, cloaked in the rhetoric of security. In this context, the SPP can be seen as corresponding to what Janine Brodie has described as the performance of a North American security cornmunity, the idea that the community only exists insofar as it is constantly being reproduced through language and practices.'What may result from the SPP initiative is a strong attempt to create a form of rule based on certain political rationalities and technologies, with a new regionalized geopolitical space as their target. Indeed, the SPP is more than an empty statement of principle. We contend, in line with similar work done by political geographers, that insofar as the SPP is marketed as neither a treaty nor an international agreement but rather, [as] an ongoing dialogue among Canada, the US and Mexico to address common challenges across America, it is all the more interesting and relevant to examine the SPP through the lens of governmentality.2 Governmentality represents how governments manage and regulate populations and the practices they use to do so. By examining mentalities and practices with regard to borders, mobility, and migration, we aim to analyze the governmentality practices that flow from the SPP.Our article seeks to understand governmentality practices that are designed to ensure both the health and safety of the population and the economic success of the American community. The article is divided into two broad sections. The first lays out the theoretical foundations of our argument, which are informed by international political sociology. The second addresses the performance of the American community in relation to border security, as well as the management of mobility and migration, to reveal how American biopolitical governance governance ofthe health and welfare of populations - is enacted through the SPP.GLOBAL GOVERNMENTALITY AND CRITICAL SECURITY STUDIES AFTER II SEPTEMBER 2001International poliucal sociology as theoryThe events of 11 September 2001 created a space for critical security studies to take their rightful place in academia and helped to lay the groundwork for a more in-depth analysis of the sociological and political practices of (in) security. One of most important developments in the field of security studies was the creation ofthe international political sociology section within the International Studies Association in 2002. This section has produced research and policy recommendations on issues such as civil liberty, rights, and the intensification ofthe security discourse in everyday life. The most important contribution of this scholarship is an improved understanding of the political dimension ofthe process of securitization and its sociological component. The focal point of these analyses are the social networks of police and security agencies who, in working with both the state and the private sector, are involved in the production, management, and governing of security.This approach provides a novel perspective to policymaking, one that not only broadens its ambit to include a host of other actors and networks, but that provides an understanding of how it is a performative creation of these networks and ofthe populations that are the objects ofthe policies they create. …

Bridging education and training in ageing and disabilities: towards translational education

Introduction: Translational education takes up the notion of integrating basic research and practice out of a cross-disciplinary perspective given that disciplinary knowledge will no longer be sufficient to account for the complexity of the encountered problem fields. Persons trained in translational education will thus be able to integrate several disciplinary knowledge domains and translate new developments in basic research to their application. Description of care or policy practice: The concept of translational education has become prominent in medical training and it clearly has implications for the training of care givers given the complexity of the diverse problems associated with care. Care and care giving always imply theory and research from different scientific disciplines; there are medical, legal, sociological, and psychological components of care giving, and care giving also increasingly relies on new developments in the domains of technology. In order to keep an integrative view of all these developments and to finally obtain an integrative approach in care, translational education represents an imperative task for training carers in the domains of ageing and disabilities. Conclusion and discussion: Caring for a person—be it formal or informal—always has to rely on a sound basis of knowledge in order to prevent failures as well as feelings of stress and strain. Given that the knowledge base for carers becomes increasingly complex as it is fed by several disciplines as well as societal developments, training and education programmes should realise both a translational approach as well as a lifelong learning perspective. Although much is in favour of such an approach, limits of translational education do exist as well and these comprise mainly the production of a common knowledge across multiple domains for the cost of neglecting in-depth understanding of specific knowledge domains.

From Five to Ten Dimensions of Religion

Charles Y. Glock made a fundamental contribution to the sociological study of religion when, in order to ‘operationalize’ the concept of religion, he distinguished five major dimensions of religiosity: belief, experience, practice, theology (i.e., knowledge), and ethics (i.e., consequences). Going beyond these five important dimensions of religiosity, we can redefine the concept of religion by adding five more dimensions in order to take into account some of the structural and sociological components of religion. This expanded ‘dimensionalization’ of the concept of religion, grounded in the writings of classical and contemporary scholars, offers an updated and more complete instrument for the understanding and analysis of contemporary religious phenomena. With this new comprehensive view of the concept of religion, identity becomes a central and fundamental dimension, together with statuses, affiliation, community, and the relation to the divine (or the sacred).

RECONOCIMIENTO DE LA OPORTUNIDAD Y EMPRENDEDURÍA DE BASE TECNOLÓGICA: UN MODELO DINÁMICO

Tomando como punto de partida la teoría cognitiva se analiza de una forma holística los componentes psicológicos y sociológicos, y las interacciones que se producen entre ellos, que afectan al proceso de reconocimiento de la oportunidad de negocio tecnológico. La investigación realizada, de carácter comprensiva, se sostiene en el estudio del caso como método de investigación. Como resultado, se aporta un nuevo modelo de carácter dinámico en el que la interacción y complementariedad de los emprendedores, la gestión proactiva de la involucración en redes tecnológicas, la evaluación continua y el aprendizaje constituyen los factores de naturaleza evolutiva que explican el reconocimiento de la oportunidad tecnológica. This work uses the cognitive theory and presents a holistic analysis of the psychological and sociological components, and the interactions that occur between them, that affect the recognition of technological business opportunities. The research is comprehensive and employs a method based on the case study. As a result, the work provides a new dynamic model in which the interaction and complementarities of entrepreneurs, the proactive management of embeddedness in technological networks, learning and continuous evaluation constitute the evolutionary factors that explain the recognition of technological opportunity.

Astrology as Religion

Astrology can be understood as religious in both its principles and practices. A standard definition of religion is used to track astrology’s theoretical, practical, and sociological components. Theoretically, astrology’s Western foundations come from Plato and his story of creation, Timaeus. In establishing a relationship between the larger world of God (macrocosm) and the smaller world of humankind (microcosm), astrology illustrates the Greek concept of an interconnected cosmos. The practice of astrology as a nature religion arises from astrology’s literal, metaphorical, symbolic, and perceptual links to nature. The intersection of time and place at each person’s birth establishes an ‘axis of placement’ connecting each person to the natural world. Astrological practices include tracking the movement of the sun, moon, and planets; ritual participation in the cycles of nature; and honoring nature as sacred. Sociologically, astrology has an amorphous organizational structure, lack of a clear doctrine, and few identifiable institutional partnerships.

Some Lived Experiences of the 60s Generation of Social Theorists

Alan Sica and Stephen Turner have assembled a lively collection of autobiographies of leaders of the '60s intellectual generation in sociology who currently form a large component of sociology's intellectual leadership. They provide an orientation by means of a preface and an introduction and then allow 18 social theorists (all of whom are sociologists) to tell their stories.1 Also they provide a few "before" and "after" photographs of some of the authors. As Sica points out these theorists "now work in Britain (3), Canada (1), France (2), Germany (2), Italy (1) and the US"; four are women and at least one self identifies as black (pp. 2, 10). The Introduction is especially interesting by virtue of evoking the spirit of the age through citing contemporary magazine accounts. This collection is an interesting addition, in several ways, to the small body of biographical and autobiographical material on sociologists. The insouciant style departs from and complements the more sedate style of those precursors. This gives the authors an opportunity to analyse a variety of social phenomena that might not fit in more formal contexts, and makes the collection eminently readable for many who might have difficulty with more traditional academic writing. By showing how the content of sociology writing relates to career experiences and trajectories, and to wider dimensions of scholars' social lives, social theory is made to come alive and the tacit knowledge circulating amongst producers is made explicit.

Socio-Psychological Roots of Discontent: Paradoxes of 1956

In the paper we seek to trace and better understand the surprising sociological components of the ’56 revolution. The paradox lying in the heart of the revolutionary events concerns the fact that the social groups most closely involved in the political mobilization included the formerly faithful communist, later “revisionist” intellectuals, the university students and the industrial working class. They had previously been considered as the primary social basis and legitimation force of the communist political regime. Still, they were to become the main motor of initiating the disobedience almost before 23 rd of October and, in addition, “did the revolution” thereafter. What could be the reason of their discontent causing the first “revolutionary” schock to a political regime which regularly defined and declared itself to embody the social(ist) revolution? The explanation is based on a sociological consideration (the mobility trap) combined with a psychological reasoning (the sense of guilt, the bitter feeling of being deceived, and the unfulfilled expectations) and the whole argument will be placed into the specific historical context specified either by Hungary’s road from ’53 to ’56, and the global developments of the communist world in the course of 1956.

Het medisch ventiel voor maatschappelijk falen: Over functieverschuivingen in de gezondheidszorg

An examination of 3 studies of medicine (in PhD dissertations) as a safety valve for social failures. (1) F. B. M. G. van Ditzhuysen, in his Sociale wetgeving in verband met het karakter van een Twentse bevolkingsgroep (Social Legislation with Reference to the Character of a Population of the Region of Twente, Leiden, 1955), reports on his experiences as an MD in a Dutch Rural area and notes that the old social problems of sickness, poverty and'crime are being more and more overshadowed by new problems arising from the bur'tic means combatting them. (2) A. J. Van Meeurs, in Over de gevechtsuitputting (On Battle Fatigue, Utrecht, 1955), offers a Medical and psychological study of battle fatigue based on his experience as a Medical officer with the Dutch UN contingent in the Korean War. (3) G. J. Planting, in Onderzoek naar de betekenis van het schoolverzuim voor de schoolgeneeskunde (Study of the Meaning of Absence from School for Educational Medicine, Amsterdam, 1955), studies 2,000 absences of 700 children in 4 primary Schools in Waterland and examines their Medical and social components. The 3 case studies have this in common: in each case there exists a sociological component and absence through sickness cannot be explained by the Medical factors of sickness alone. After examining these works, the following hypothesis is suggested: 'the gradual growth of social expectations, which have lately become legal obligations, make the individuals who fail to live up to them seek sickness, neurosis and breakdown as a last 'way out' so that they can use Medical channels to escape from the pressure of social obligations.' I. Langnas