Sociological Enterprise Research Articles

A Case Study of Secularism in Nepal

Secularization has constituted the centerpiece of the sociology of religion indecent years. It is argued that this controversy is a particularly important and illuminating site upon which the redirection of the sociological enterprise is being wrought. So far, secularism been seen as an opportunity for religious minorities to claim equal support. The state is given the active duty to enhance and reform religious traditions. The emerging form of Nepalesesecularism may not merely contribute to a rethinking of the Western categories of the secular; its continuing evolution may also be most instructive for western countries. The objectives of the research are to know the emergence of secularism in Nepal and to evaluate the consequences of secularism in Nepal. In this paper, I have focused on the debate of secularism in Nepal. Here, I have applied the qualitative methods with case studies. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling. The aim here is to offer a perspective from which to begin to analyze the formation of Nepalese secularism, and the forces which are presently shaping it.

On the use of definitions in sociology

Definitions may seem marginal to the sociological enterprise but can be very useful; however, they can also lead to serious errors. Examples of both are given in this article. Different types of definitions are presented, and their relevance for sociology is highlighted. A stipulative definition, for example, is very useful in sociology, as opposed to lexical and ostensive definitions. The definition of a concept that is used in a sociological analysis has to be sociological in nature, and the concept cannot have the same meaning as it has in everyday language. Additional items to bear in mind when a definition is put together are discussed, including some tips on how to proceed that come from political science (Sartori, Collier, Goertz). A definition can also be very helpful in the research process itself by indicating which are the important aspects of some phenomenon to focus on (Weber, Blumer). On the negative side, a term that is not properly defined may lead to misunderstandings as well as to a false sense of agreement with other uses of the term.

The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology. By Aldon D. Morris. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015. Pp. ix+282. $30.00 (paper).

<i>The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology</i>. By Aldon D. Morris. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015. Pp. ix+282. $30.00 (paper).

Revitalizing sociology: urban life and mental illness between history and the present.

This paper proposes a re-thinking of the relationship between sociology and the biological sciences. Tracing lines of connection between the history of sociology and the contemporary landscape of biology, the paper argues for a reconfiguration of this relationship beyond popular rhetorics of 'biologization' or 'medicalization'. At the heart of the paper is a claim that, today, there are some potent new frames for re-imagining the traffic between sociological and biological research - even for 'revitalizing' the sociological enterprise as such. The paper threads this argument through one empirical case: the relationship between urban life and mental illness. In its first section, it shows how this relationship enlivened both early psychiatric epidemiology, and some forms of the new discipline of sociology; it then traces the historical division of these sciences, as the sociological investment in psychiatric questions waned, and 'the social' become marginalized within an increasingly 'biological' psychiatry. In its third section, however, the paper shows how this relationship has lately been revivified, but now by a nuanced epigenetic and neurobiological attention to the links between mental health and urban life. What role can sociology play here? In its final section, the paper shows how this older sociology, with its lively interest in the psychiatric and neurobiological vicissitudes of urban social life, can be our guide in helping to identify intersections between sociological and biological attention. With a new century now underway, the paper concludes by suggesting that the relationship between urban life and mental illness may prove a core testing-ground for a 'revitalized' sociology.

Sociology and its publics: Fresh perspectives from the history of sociology

This review article assesses recent developments and perspectives in the history of sociology as evidenced in two recently published conference volumes emanating from the ISA Research Committee on History of Sociology. Both these volumes address questions arising from recent debates in the discipline about the nature and role of sociology in the public domain. The article argues that history of sociology is ‘coming of age’ in the richness of topics, and varieties of methodological approaches and perspectives used in attempts more firmly to ground the sociological enterprise in its changing cultural and geographic contexts. The article also raises critical questions about the role of the history of sociology in contributing to a sharpened understanding of the complex and contradictory role of sociology in relation to its publics, and to the meaning of globalization in social science, both in theory and practice.

North Central Sociological Association 2013 Ruth and John Useem Plenary Address Paradox: Sociological Theory Should Need No Defense, But Apparently It Does. Why?

It is an honor to present the NCSA [North Central Sociological Association] Useem plenary address, and I am pleased to be here in this role (as well as, I might add, at my age, I am just pleased to be here!). The honor is obvious; the pleasure is multiplied by the fact that Ruth Hill Useem and John Useem were friends of long-standing. Contributing to my pleasure in being here is that I once was President of the NCSA, then called the Ohio Valley Sociological Society. A final source of my interest in accepting the invitation from Steve [Carlton-Ford, then President of NCSA] was the feeling of deja vu I had when told of the of theme of the meeting. It put me at home for a reason I will explain shortly.The title of my talk is derived from the meeting theme, though I have used a somewhat different meaning of than I believe intended by that theme. Over the years, I have given thought to the import for the larger discipline of sociology of substantive areas of sociology locating their work in theoretical terms, and the importance to the substantive areas themselves of doing so. I have also given thought to why, if the import of doing this is great, it so often fails to be done.The bulk of this thinking and this talk has a highly pessimistic tone-it sounds of gloom and doom-since it focuses on obstacles to the production of compelling theory. I have no doubt about the reality of these obstacles and will call these as I see them. I do not do this as an old man looking back on the glory that was in his youth. I do it as one who believes that we can do things that can minimize the threats to the theoretical enterprise in sociology that my litany of obstacles represents. While I have thought of a few ways to do so and will tell you these, I do this in the firm belief that we can collectively think of more ways to minimize the threats. In short, I hope to enlist you in the defense of theory.If, as my title suggests, theory should need no defense, then why does it? Many sociologists assert that too little of what appears in our journals holds anything that interests them or from which they benefit; they find no reason to read anything outside of their own specialized comer of the field. Underlying that assessment, I believe, is the absence of a cogent conceptual and theoretical argument as setting for the work these articles contain. For me, conceptual setting or frame and theory together constitute the theoretical enterprise of sociology. It is in that context that the theoretical enterprise requires defense. That is, its very absence from much published sociological work suggests that many fail to see the utility of strong theory for the work itself or for the field outside that particular work, and its defense becomes a matter of understanding its utility.The question then becomes: why this failure? In my judgment, an important part of the answer lies in the confusion and conflation of frame and theory, in ways the sociology profession has chosen to organize itself, in features of the times we live in and their impact on higher education and academic sociology, and in features related to how sociological theory is presented to its audience.The roots of my thinking go back to my graduate student days in the late 1940s. Those days were at the University of Minnesota and I adopted the sociology as science view then dominating the ethos of that department. This view included the demand that a theoretically grounded claim required empirical verification. At the same time, I was a student of sociological theory a la Don Martindale, who at least many of the middle aged or older among you will remember as the author of the theory book (Martindale 1960) that got them through their theory prelims. When I add that to my sociology as science view, to me that meant doing a dissertation involving a testable explanatory claim based on strong theoretical reasoning. Initially, I considered a dissertation developing from Freud, but abandoned the idea when I realized that every Freudian-based claim came with escape clauses that allowed maintaining the claim in the face of negative evidence. …

Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China: A Case Study of the Influence of Christian Ethics on Business Life by Joy Kooi-Chin Tong (review)

Prajñ ap aramit a, the Dazhi du lun 大智度論, explaining the scholastic thinking of the Sarv astiv ada school pertinent at that time in Central Asia. In addition to the central part of the study in chapter 3, discussing the BWZL and thus giving the reader some insight into the intellectual debate on crucial aspects of early M adhyamika thinking in China, it must be regarded as a great achievement of this study that Streif also focuses on the political context, mainly in chapter 4. We learn about the interest of certain regional rulers, as well as of gentry families, in legitimating their position by means of Buddhist concepts, especially the bodhisattva ideal, as well as about the opportunities of exchange during times of peace between northern and southern China. Of utmost importance is the part (chapter 5) on the reflexive use of language and on the relation between language and reality, or words and things in general, and how the BWZL dealt with these problems in particular. In sum this study is a most insightful contribution to our knowledge of M adhyamika in China and on the intellectual situation in China in the first decades of the fifth century CE. HELWIG SCHMIDT-GLINTZER Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel JOY KOOI-CHIN TONG, Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China: A Case Study of the Influence of Christian Ethics on Business Life. London and New York: Anthem Press, 2013. x, 167 pp. US$40 (pb). ISBN 9781 -78308-056-4 This book is a sociological enterprise based on participant observation and indepth interviews aiming to examine mainly how Christianity affects Overseas Chinese Christian entrepreneurs in contemporary China, particularly their economic practices. Through a well-planned set of solid methodological procedures and clearly written, cautiously proposed arguments, Tong provides valid, reliable, valuable findings to support her arguments that may correct, refute, or challenge some presumptuous claims and widely shared yet little proven impressions about Chinese Christianity, Confucianism, and business, or broader issues on the relationship between religious value and economic action. Accordingly, this volume helps the reader to theoretically appreciate how faithbased values, moral convictions, economic practices, and religious life interact (particularly in the light of Max Weber and his widely cited works and the responses to it); it also highlights the spiritual and social aspects of the entrepreneurs who have played significant roles in contributing to economic transformations since the reform and opening era and their potential social consequences to Chinese economic life and religious landscapes. The main body of the book (chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7) is arranged in a very Weberian way, which starts social analysis from values that orient the conduct of individuals and then moves on to larger social assemblages and organizations linking individuals. These four chapters are respectively devoted to investigating Overseas Chinese Christian entrepreneurs’ religiously-motivated values, religiousvalue -driven economic practices and organizational arrangements in their companies, their social networks and religious life, and the female subgroup. Among the values pointed out, many (such as innovation, self-discipline, frugality, the sense of success) could be commonly found among entrepreneurs in many 252 BOOK REVIEWS places and historical periods; however, Tong shows how these Overseas Chinese Christians articulate them to fit their aspirations crafted in a globalizing competitive market of business. In chapter 5, she further demonstrates different strategies of linking religious faith to or realizing it in the economic practices and organizational designs of corporations. While some individuals enthusiastically run a company like a church, others tend to take an individualized and privatized version of Christian beliefs and manage secular corporation affairs on their own terms. Still, some entrepreneurs choose a middle path to selectively and creatively implement some Christian values within the business, but purposely avoid mentioning or downplaying the practices’ religious source. Chapter 6 shows how the aforementioned Christian values and conduct are inspired, guided, and supervised by religious networks and contextualized within the dynamics of Christian interrelationships. Unlike what Weber observed in American Protestant cases at the beginning of the twentieth century in his short work, The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism, these Overseas Chinese Christian businesspeople construct and charge their moral aspirations in economic practices through their continuous...

Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments

AbstractThe French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has been an extraordinarily influential figure in the sociology of music. For over three decades, his concepts have helped to generate both empirical and theoretical interventions in the field of study. His impact on the sociology of music taste, in particular, has been profound, his ideas directly informing our understandings of how musical preferences reflect and reproduce inequalities between social classes. But, recently his legacy has been under question and newer approaches to the music/society problematic have emerged. These have made important claims about the nature of the sociological enterprise when confronted with the specificity of cultural works, as well as how social change impacts on our relations with musical forms. This paper takes stock of the impact of Bourdieu’s ideas on the sociology of music, the debates sparked in their wake and the attempt at something like a “post‐Bourdieusian” sociology more faithful to music’s material properties. It will ask to what extent Bourdieu’s claims about social stratification and music consumption are still relevant and whether they are sophisticated enough to deal with the specific ways that we interact with musical forms.

What is analytical sociology? Towards sociology as 'normal science'

In this paper I analyze the basics of analytical sociology, relatively new and in our scientific community little known intellectual movement. In the introductory part I try to identify the general causes of its occurrence. In the second part I provide its preliminary definition. In the third part I reconstruct its prehistory. In the fourth and main part I discuss the basis of its scientific program. In the final part I try to establish implications of the adoption of this program as a guide for the sociological enterprise in the future.

North Central Sociological Association Presidential Address. Renewing Sociology: Integral Science, Solidarity, and Loving Kindness

The field of sociology is an ongoing creative process that always requires new energy and new insights. At the same time, in order to remain a collective project, sociology requires solidarity among its practitioners. This article offers reflections on how the discipline might be renewed and revitalized in the context of the still relatively young twenty-first century. Specifically, it calls for an Integral approach to science, for increased bonds among sociological colleagues, and for the development of an explicitly spiritual dimension in teaching, research and service. The discussion also touches on dangers to the sociological enterprise as here conceived, including excesses in both qualitative and quantitative work, segregationist and separatist tendencies, false and misleading dichotomies and an “enemies” mentality. Its overall vision is that of a field characterized by freshness, intellectual excellence, artistry, social relevance, comaraderie, compassion and joyfulness.

Selecting Cases for in-Depth Study from a Survey Dataset: An Application of Ragin's Configurational Methods

While ‘establishing the phenomena’, to use Merton’s phrase, is an important part of the sociological enterprise, in then accounting for such empirical regularities, theoretical models are required to understand causal processes. Both regression analysis and configurational methods applied to large datasets can establish patterns of relationships. Following a realist view, we assume that causal mechanisms have generated such patterns, and sound theoretical models are required to understand them. In-depth case studies can contribute to advancing such causal knowledge. We describe how, in the particular context of the configurational mode of analysis that characterises Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we have selected individuals for in-depth study with the eventual purpose of advancing causal or explanatory understanding of conjunctural empirical regularities concerning educational careers. While forms of regression analysis seek to establish the net effects of ‘independent’ variables, QCA, employing Boolean algebra, analyses the conjunctions of conditions sufficient and/or necessary for an outcome to occur. QCA aims to preserve, holistically, the features of cases and is therefore well-suited to case selection. We use QCA both to undertake an initial large scale cross-case analysis and to subsequently select cases to develop theoretical understanding via within-case analysis. Using QCA’s measures of consistency with relations of sufficiency and necessity, we can classify cases as typical and deviant, with these two types of cases playing different roles in testing and developing theory. Drawing on analyses of the German SOEP dataset undertaken as part of a larger study which is applying case-based configurational methods to English and German survey datasets while undertaking subsequent in-depth interviews with selected cases, we demonstrate how QCA can be used to select cases for interview in a systematic and theoretically informed manner.

Unfolding the Social: Quasi-Actants, Virtual Theory, and the New Empiricism of Bruno Latour

An important philosopher and anthropologist of science, Bruno Latour has recently outlined an ambitious programme for a new sociological empiricism, in continuation of his actor-network-theory (ANT). Interrogating issues of description, explanation and theoretical interpretation in this ‘sociology of associations’, we argue that certain internal tensions are manifest. While Latour's philosophy of social science demands an absolute abandonment of theory in all its forms, proposing instead to simply ‘go on describing’, he is in practice employing versions of common sense explanation and pragmatic-constructivist theory to make ends meet. The core of this tension, we claim, can be located in Latour's meta-theoretical commitments, in effect obscuring important ways in which human subjects employ things, effects and symbols beyond their simple, ‘empirical’ existence. To illustrate these claims, we deploy the example of how morality works in social life, and coin the term quasi-actant, in allusion to the Latourian actant, to better understand such processes. Our overall criticism of ANT is immanent, aiming at the re-introduction of what we dub ‘virtual theory’ into Latourian empiricism, thus further strengthening what remains one of the most promising contemporary attempts to reinvigorate the sociological enterprise.

Meanings and relations: An introduction to the study of language, discourse and networks

This special issue offers papers that together reach toward sociological understanding of “meaning.” We contextualize that effort in intersecting intellectual trends—the emerging relational sociology of networks and meanings, which has progressed steadily since the 1990s, and the diverse enterprise of sociology of language, which is much less established in the U.S. Given space limitations, we acknowledge others’ work but concentrate on Harrison White's turn to language and linguistics, which influenced all the papers herein. We highlight each paper's contribution to a new relational sociology and new understanding of language as mechanism and methodology, which might change the study of agentic actions, social processes, politics, networks and institutions.

My Life‐Long Involvement with Games

This essay draws on my own personal research and teaching experience with games to illustrate the many ways game simulations can further the sociological enterprise. Examples include the usefulness of games in research, teaching, negotiation, and conflict management, and as a resource for social change.

Globalization and the Future of Sociology in the Third World: A Critical Commentary

Beginning from the 1980s, the concept of globalisation began to permeate the sociological literature. This intellectual interest was stimulated by a concern to understand the nature of changes that were taking place in advanced capitalist societies and Third World countries. The seemingly homogenous atmosphere it created across the globe made certain sociologists, such as Archer, Heller and Sztompka, just to mention a few, opined that every major aspect of social reality is also simultaneously undergoing globalisation via the emergence of a world economy, a cosmopolitan culture and international social movements. Hence, they concluded that the globalisation of society means that societies were no longer the prime units of Sociology and that what is to replace this focus on societies is a ‘Sociology of one World’ in which global processes are now constitutive of social reality everywhere. They equally asserted that sociologists can no longer continue to think, theorise and carry out research as they once did. Thus, this paper highlights and critically comments on this position and how it is likely to impact on the sociological enterprise in the Third World. The paper concludes on the note that the Sociological enterprise in the Third World must be carried out to meet needs that are localised and indigenous.

Save the World on Your Own Time: Or, What’s the Matter with Sociology?

This essay explores the question of why sociology departments, compared to other university departments, are often viewed negatively by higher-level administrators (deans, provosts, chancellors and presidents). We are asked to consider, as sociologists, how departments are ranked and evaluated by administrators. The characteristics of any good university department are identified (e.g., grants, support from alumni, publications, quality of teaching, national rankings, student enrollments); and, the characteristics of dynamic and healthy departments are outlined (e.g., student learning is primary; there is a commitment to the goals of the larger organization; leadership is provided by the unit to solve all-university problems; there is a focus on learning; faculty are productive; there are strong communication links across the organization). The question is posed and then systemically answered as to how sociology departments compare in terms of these standards. It is suggested that a major factor in terms of how and why sociology departments are negatively evaluated is the fact that sociology uses narratives of power and explanations of organizational behavior that are inherently oppositional, i.e., there is an “us” and “them” mentally that sometimes develops. Other reasons for organizational marginalization are identified such as the “canon wars” and their lingering effects, and the fact that the sociological enterprise has been diluted by the teaching of “sociology” in many other campus units, such as composition programs. Finally, questions are raised about how sociology, as an intellectual enterprise, differs from other disciplines in terms of pedagogy, the sequencing of courses, “grand” theory, and forms of apprenticeship. It is recommended that sociologists act positively to help the organizations within which they work to identify common problems and solve them. It is argued that sociology can and should “own” the area of civic engagement as a means of making a positive and distinctive contribution. Sociological “stories” grounded in the reality of everyday life are compelling. It is suggested that sociologists need to deepen connections with their communities and to offer real solutions to real problems.

The Neoliberal Challenge

Neoliberalism is not only an attack on public policies that have softened the effects of capitalism. It is also an assault on the basic tenets of the sociological enterprise.

Medical sociology and the biological body: where are we now and where do we go from here?

In this article I pose the question, 'where is the biological body in medical sociology today?' The first part of the article provides a selective corporeal balance sheet of where we are now in medical sociology, with particular reference to social constructionist and phenomenological approaches and their respective stances or takes on the (biological) body. The subsequent section considers where we might profitably be going in the future in terms of bringing the biological body (back) in, and the broader issues this raises for the sociological enterprise as a whole. Various problems associated with this evolving project and merits of other recent approaches, such as the sociology of translation, are considered. The article concludes with some further thoughts and reflections on these matters, including a revisiting of relations between the sociology of the body and medical sociology in the light of these debates.

The Public and Private in C.Wright Mills’s Life and Work

Charles Wright Mills revitalized sociology’s focus on the public–private distinction and this article offers a biographical reading of these writings by locating them in the turmoil of his private life. The article thus looks at the public–private distinction as it manifested in the public writings and private life of one of the major theorists of this theme. Its central argument is that we need to reposition Mills’s intellectual biography by locating it spatially, for his sociological writings on this theme were heavily influenced by the ‘spaces of selfhood’ within which he lived and worked.This connects intellectual biography with the spatial turn in sociology. The purpose of such intellectual biography, however, is not merely to fill in the background of a sociologist’s life, but to provide materials that take us to the centre of the sociological enterprise itself. It is argued that Mills’s ‘spaces of selfhood’ are a medium into understanding his whole vision of sociology.

Comments on Michael Burawoy's ASA Presidential Address

Michael Burawoy’s Presidential Address to the ASA is an impressive example of the public sociology he advocates in action. Here, the public he is urging to involve itself in public sociology is the US sociological academy. As Burawoy notes in his Thesis IX, the international sociological enterprise is highly diverse and varies in its involvement with public, as well as the other three forms of professional, policy and critical, sociology. What then are the relevance and the implications of his speech for sociologists elsewhere? What implications follow from this for US sociology and sociologists? Any consideration of this issue involves addressing the issue of the power, whether intended or unintended, of American sociology to set the international sociological agenda. Two key dimensions relate to US professional sociology: its prominence in influencing international career structures and, intertwined with this, its role in setting the methodological and conceptual agendas of sociology internationally. The attractions of the USA as the land of opportunity for migrants is even more significant for sociologists seeking well remunerated career and research opportunities and the intellectual stimulus derived from working with senior colleagues with international reputations. The realization of such ambitions are assisted by the availability of scholarships and financial assistance for graduate students, often among the brightest talents in their own countries. This in itself is not bad. We are increasingly aware that ‘brain circulation’ is a more appropriate way than simple ‘brain drain’ of viewing the exchange of knowledge and skills which are occurring in this period of escalating globalization. More significant, however, is the way career success often involves the adoption of the methodological and conceptual frameworks and topics dominating US sociology. While for the insider US sociology may seem extremely diverse, from the perspective of the outside this is less evident, perhaps in part because international links are dominated