Sociological Theory Research Articles

Mobilizing Religious Communities to Combat the Spread of HIV AIDS in Rural Uganda: Implications for Social Work and Sociological Theory

Mobilizing Religious Communities to Combat the Spread of HIV AIDS in Rural Uganda: Implications for Social Work and Sociological Theory

Dorothy Smith’s Sociology for People: Theory for Discovery

Dorothy E. Smith was a second-wave feminist scholar of the 1970s who brought forward an insistent critique of women’s exclusion from knowledge production and the resulting distortions of sociological theory. I offer here a reading of the theory Smith developed as she worked toward a sociology that could move the field beyond those distortions, toward a method of inquiry that could be useful for women and generally for people puzzled by the circumstances of their lives. I highlight Smith’s commitment to knowledge that is anchored in a shared, material world; the originality of her approach to the investigation of textually mediated social organization; and the goal of mapping social organization that underlies her approach.

Exploring bibliometric evidence of Airbnb’s influence on urban destinations: emotional solidarity, Airbnb supply, moral economy and digital future

PurposeThis study aims to provide a cutting-edge evaluation of the sharing economy's impact within the realm of tourism and hospitality. The primary objectives guiding this research are as follows: to uncover the prevalent discussions and debates within the tourism and hospitality sector concerning the implications and effects of the sharing economy on urban destinations; and to analyse how scholarly inquiries and empirical investigations have contributed to a comprehensive comprehension of the intricate theoretical foundations and practical intricacies inherent in the sharing economy. This exploration takes place within the extensive expanse of existing literature.MethodologyThe study used the non-conventional method for data mining. An artificial intelligence (AI) tool called www.dimensions.ai was used to mine data between the year 2002 and 2021. After which the data was analysed, using Citespace software that assisted in building themes for answering the research questions.FindingsThe sharing economy has multifaceted implications for rural and urban destinations. For instance, the findings demonstrated that emotional solidarity fosters community bonds between tourists and residents, enhancing authenticity. While, management firms optimise short-term rentals, boosting revenue and occupancy rates despite capped at 20%. It further demonstrated that the sharing economy disrupts traditional accommodations, especially hotels, impacting rural and urban destinations differently based on location and regulatory flexibility. Technological advancements would shape the digital future, transforming the resource in sharing and connectivity in urban settings.Practical implicationsManagement firms or agents significantly enhance property facilities, revenue and occupancy rates. Properties managed by professionals perform better in terms of revenue and occupancy; furthermore, traditional accommodations need innovative strategies to compete with sharing economy platforms. Policymakers must consider location-specific regulations to balance sharing economy impacts. Embracing technological advancements ensures urban destinations stay relevant and competitive.Social implicationsEmotional solidarity fosters bonds between residents and tourists, contributing to a sense of community. Management firms contribute to local economies and stability. However, Airbnb's impact on traditional accommodations raises concerns about the effect on residents and communities.Theoretical implicationsThe study incorporates classical sociology theory to understand emotional solidarity and extends the concept of moral economy to guide economic behaviour in the sharing economy. The analysis also underscores the influence of technological trends such as mobile technology, Internet of Things, AI and blockchain on sharing practices in reshaping existing theoretical frameworks in the sharing atmosphere. Furthermore, the co-creation of value theory highlights collaborative interactions between hosts and guests, shaping the sharing economy experience. Consumer segmentation and choice theories shed light on sharing economy dynamics. Institutional and location-based theories provide insights into regulatory and location-specific impacts.OriginalityThis research contributes by comprehensively exploring the multifaceted implications of the sharing economy on a tourist destination. It delves into emotional solidarity, management firm roles and location-specific impacts, enriching the understanding of the sharing economy's effects. The application of co-creation of value theory and examination of platform technologies offer fresh perspectives on value creation and user engagement. The study's focus on practical dimensions guides stakeholders in optimising the benefits and addressing challenges posed by the sharing economy in urban contexts. The exploration of moral economy and its relevance to the sharing economy provides a novel perspective, while the examination of technological influences on sharing practices contributes to understanding the digital future of the sharing economy.

Dorothy Smith’s Legacy of Social Theorizing: Introduction

In 1992, Barbara Laslett and Barrie Thorne organized a symposium in Sociological Theory with the aim of tearing down a “wall of silence” between feminist theory and the mainstream of sociological theorizing. For help, the editors turned to the work of Dorothy E. Smith, the renowned theoretician and methodologist. Smith’s theorizing today carries even greater appeal, having expanded from a sociology for women to a sociology for people. This wider scope never sacrifices her project’s theoretical versatility and nimbleness and disdain for abstraction. In offering a critical tribute to Smith, who passed away in June 2022 at the age of 95, the present symposium invited three scholars—Paige Sweet, Rebecca Lund, and Marjorie DeVault—to share new reflections on the legacy of Smith’s powerful mode of inquiry.

Schuld en schaamte sociologisch bezien

Is shame in late modernity more important than guilt? In this article I look for answers to this question by analysing the main contributions of sociological theorists to the late modernity debate. The most dominant vision is that shame is taking the place of guiltin the life of an individual, especially when he does not reach the goals set by himself. Sociologists who have a more structuralist vision on society, stress that feelings of shame are the result of the dominant discourse on gender, success and career in our neoliberal society. Hartmut Rosa links shame to social alienation, one of the newest contributions to the debate. He pleads for resonance as a better and a more receptive way to connect to the world. An interesting point of view and helpful to give way to a moretheological approach to shame, guilt and salvation.

Statistically Left Outs and Socio-Historically Legitimized Groups in Nepal

This article explores the realities underpinning the statistically left outs and socio-historically legitimized groups in Nepal by relating the Vedic and Western theoretical perspectives to perceive the reality at the grassroots level. It does so by summarizing the Vedic perspectives and various sociological theories and then looking at the local issues linking with the Western perspectives with my reflection. It reveals that experiential knowledge, globalization, and legitimization are the major sociological aspects influencing the Structure of Nepalese society. The article concludes that the ruling class prepares Statistical data for their purpose, which leaves out the actual/accurate data about the subaltern, ethnic, and minority groups. Voices of the poor students, girls, ethnic and minority group of the School can be addressed by making the policy in education and transforming the school structure with inclusive pedagogy into equity and equality social environment for the students is the major implication of this article.

Do We Have Any L-Vision? Multi-Level Comparison of Selected Global Library Visions

Abstract The subject of future of libraries recurs regularly, whenever the future of the librarians’ profession is discussed due to the decrease in readership rates, during the reorganization and liquidation of libraries or in the technological context. The article aims to analyze in detail the global visions of libraries formulated so far. Thanks to the categorization, it was possible to identify the main similarities and differences of the analyzed visions, to list the authors and main categories of visions, and to confront new expected social roles of libraries with the sociological and praxeological theory of Pierre Bourdieu, the creator of such concepts as cultural capital or social power. To present the results, the content analysis method and content-based categorization technique were used.

The translator as an observant reader in the Story of the Stone from the perspective of aesthetic illusion and habitus

ABSTRACT The classic Chinese novel Hong Lou Meng is renowned for portraying a verifiable world with various characters. Previous scholars of translation studies demonstrated a lopsided interest towards the translated Hong Lou Meng texts without highly considering the translator’s experience in perusing the original fiction. The current study endeavours to integrate narratology and sociological theory with translation studies by referring to The Story of the Stone: A Translator’s Notebooks, which aims to examine the translator David Hawkes’s mental state of aesthetic illusion as an observer before translating Hong Lou Meng. Specifically, Hawkes was postulated to be both the translator and reader immersed in the imaginary setting of Hong Lou Meng to observe the personas. Simultaneously, Hawkes remained a certain distance from the fictional world to enable pinpointing of the author’s inconsistencies through professional habitus, which is critical to resolving the source text inconsistencies while translating.

Reconsidering Translation From a Bourdieusian Sociological Perspective: A Case Study of the English Translation of Luotuo Xiangzi

Translation activities are not isolated, and an increasing number of researchers have applied sociological theories to translation studies, which contributions to interdisciplinary research in translation. Luotuo Xiangzi, written by Lao She, is one of the best modern Chinese novels. Its four English translation versions and translation activities that span decades have deeply interacting with various parts of society. Based on Bourdieu’s sociological theories of the “field”, “capital” and “habitus”, this case study of the English translations of Luotuo Xiangzi explored the relationship and interaction between the translator and other participants (participating groups) in the translation activity. It was discovered that the translation activity could reveal the translator’s habitus and be greatly influenced by interactions with various fields of society and by the capital engaged in the translation activity of Luotuo Xiangzi, providing proof of the explanatory and guiding power of Bourdieu’s sociological theory in translation studies. This paper tries to enrich the interdisciplinary research of sociology and translation and offers additional references for the translation and global dissemination of translated literature, particularly for Chinese literature.

“Do You Know How to Ask for an Incomplete?” Reconceptualizing Low-Income, First-Generation Student Success Through a Resource Acquisition Lens

In this ethnographic study, Becca Spindel Bassett investigates why low-income and first-generation students access fewer resources and gain fewer benefits from their university campuses than do their higher-income, continuing-generation peers. Building on sociological theories that emphasize the relational and political dynamics of resource acquisition, the article explores the disadvantages that these students face in making persuasive claims on university resources and the role that faculty and staff can play in mitigating these disadvantages. Drawing on a year-long ethnographic study of two universities that serve and graduate large numbers of low-income, first-generation students, Bassett finds that faculty and staff drew on three common, proactive strategies to empower students to make effective claims on university resources, which directed them toward valuable resources and elevated their local social status. These findings challenge foundational theories in higher education that attribute equity gaps to individual-level differences, as well as reveal the importance of claims-making processes in determining who succeeds and who struggles on campus and underscore the critical role that faculty and staff can play in fostering more structurally and culturally supportive campuses.

A Sociological Imagination at Work: An Appreciation of the Contribution of John Eldridge

The early experience of John Eldridge (17 May 1936 to 24 December 2022) in teaching adult classes and research in industry led him to appreciate the understandings and expertise of shop-floor informants, and to think critically about the unequal relations of authority and power that conditioned people’s working lives. His radical Weberian orientation to dispassionate research fused with his Methodist background to underpin a strong linkage between his scholarship and a commitment to social justice and peace. Fully conversant with sociological research and theory, John explored the complexity and the variety of forms of conflict and accommodation in a distinctive sociological contribution to the debate on the character of workplace industrial conflict in the 1960s and 1970s, and the centrality of analyses of contested cultures, power relations and control strategies in the organization and evolution of industrial enterprises. Later, this formed the basis for a systematic investigation of media bias in industrial relations reportage. He also explored the contested issue of ‘industrial democracy’. John’s essays for Historical Studies in Industrial Relations revisited key researchers and texts in the sociology of work and industrial relations, and highlighted their continuing relevance for understanding our world.

Sociological insights: Designing pedagogically sound blended learning programs in enabling contexts

Higher education is currently experiencing an increasing focus on the use of innovative teaching methods to engage student cohorts within an atmosphere of shrinking university budgets. In this milieu, blended learning (BL), or integrating audio-visual materials into current face-to-face course designs, has become an increasingly attractive option that increases flexibility for students whilst adhering to challenging budgetary demands. In this paper, implementing BL in two sociology courses of an Australian university???s pathways program will be subject to critical reflection. Enabling pathways are free open-access programs offered to people who do not have the qualifications required for direct entry into an undergraduate degree program. We disseminated a suite of BL modules during 2019. These modules included visual learning objects featuring experts within their disciplinary fields and have a focus on bringing sociological theory into a real-world context. This paper aims to critique this pedagogical practice within a widening participation framework. We will examine the challenges of teaching students from under-represented backgrounds, including flexibility, engagement and infrastructure, and suggest a new pedagogical framework to address these challenges in a supportive environment.

Association and Application: Examining the Three Major Sociological Theories Employed in Socio-translation Studies

Association and Application: Examining the Three Major Sociological Theories Employed in Socio-translation Studies

UNDERSTANDING COHABITATION AS A PHENOMENON

The exploratory and interpretative research carried out for this thesis is on understanding cohabitation among unmarried couples in place. The pieces of evidence gathered in Barangay Liwanay, Banga South Cotabato diverse backgrounds specifically unmarried couples. Evidence from the data indicated from reasons, benefits and challenges was relating and explain by different sociological theories. Philosophy of money intimacy theory, In differential-association theory; theory of deviance. The result of the study revealed that the main reasons of living together and not getting married is because of financial incapability, emotional attachment and unavoidable responsibility. Benefits that was distinguish in having a cohabiting partner are having someone to lean on, their hearts and mind become one and a change of perspective in life and in relationships. Challenges determine in their relationships are having an easy escape, money matters, outside the inner circle, half-hearted love and cat and mouse game. Lastly, this research, as an exploratory by nature. Additional application will help society understand their situation, the reasons, benefits, challenges of being in this relationship and the probability of why changing cohabiting couples status quo. In this way, the use of this research could benefit the participants for a broader understanding and decisions in their relationship.

Existential Feminism in Andrea Hirata’s Novel Padang Bulan and Cinta Di Dalam Gelas

Abstract. Gender issues have remained a hot issue owing to various influencing factors, including gender overlap and social inequality. Gender is a social sex reconstructed by society for both men and women. The gender difference stereotypes have given rise to gender injustice detrimental to women. The presence of the concept of existential feminism initiated by Simone De Beauvoir is a bright spot and hope for all women, especially those in patriarchal system communities. The purpose of this research is to uncover the traditional paradigm that women are cultural products and their independence is delimited. This is not in accordance with the concept of human rights which basically states that every human being has the same rights in carrying out life. So it is hoped that this paper can be used as a reference to eliminate the marginalization of women. The research is carried out using a qualitative descriptive design with phenomenological method to explore or photograph social situations thoroughly, broadly and deeply and also supported by the theory of sociology of literature, the description of social reality in literary works. The data collection procedures and the data analysis are done systematically based on the existing theories of qualitative research method. The results of the research show that the protagonist implements the existential feminist concept through the ability to work, being intellectual and responsible. Throughout the research it is proved that existential feminism still exists to explore the marginalization of woman, summed up with a text that women are independent beings. Keywords: Existential Feminism, Intellect, Profession, Responsibility

Masculinity, Citizenship, and Demography: the Rise of Populism

The article examines the rise of contemporary populist movements in Europe and North America. These movements are driven primarily by working-class men who feel marginalized by developments in employment, work conditions, family life, and, in particular, by gender politics and the modern status of women. The growth of the service sector has created new opportunities for women. Demography, especially the decline in the fertility rate, has been neglected in sociological theories of the modern development of radical populism. With a declining and ageing population, the labor market depends increasingly on immigrant workers. These circumstances—feminism and migration—fuel the frustration of marginalized men who form the basis of radical populism.

The prepared firm: serendipity, strategy and the unexpected

PurposeThis paper aims to outline the role that serendipity can play in providing a complementary and previously unrepresented vector in deliberate and emergent strategies within organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is conceptual in nature and draws upon the serendipity pattern in sociological theory and serendipitous relations in developmental sciences to provide a framework for executives to consider when examining the process of strategy formation. Two case vignettes are used to illustrate the difference between luck and serendipity and the paper also traces key micro foundations of serendipity by returning to the original serendipity fable and a famed science experiment producing “floppy-eared” rabbits.FindingsThe notion of chance favoring the “prepared firm” is espoused where the prepared organizational mind is positioned as an antecedent of serendipitous strategy formation. This is based on Louis Pasteur’s famous aphorism, “chance favors the prepared mind.” Components of the prepared firm include deep domain knowledge, anticipatory mindset, noticing, abductive reasoning, elaboration and relations development.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a conceptual articulation of a novel concept that now requires deeper empirical case development and ultimately statistical validation. The paper suggests linkages between serendipity and theories of absorptive capacity and the attention-based view of the firm.Practical implicationsSeveral mindsets, capabilities and relations for architecting organizational serendipity are suggested for executives using a stylized framework.Originality/valueFrom a strategy process perspective, the Mintzberg and Waters seminal article “Of strategies deliberate and emergent” is complemented by considering “floppy-eared” strategy characterized by unexpected, anomalous and strategic datum.

Between the law and itself: An examination of the best interests of the child standard in the New York city family court

AbstractThis article describes a pilot research study done by the author which focused on the judicial implementation of the “best interests of the child” standard, also known as Article 5, Section 70 of the New York State Domestic Relations Law. This is the statutory principle that guides determinations of child custody in the USA. The ambiguous nature of this law grants judges significant discretion when determining the custodial arrangements for children, as it does not explicitly define what constitutes the best interests of a child. The lack of consensus surrounding this law results in marked inconsistencies in its application. In the absence of external guidance, the author presumed that judges rely heavily on their individual knowledge and conceptualization of childhood when making custody decisions, especially those regarding facts relayed by or about children. Through in‐depth interviews conducted with seven judges from the City of New York, this study sheds light on this complex and essential issue. By incorporating insights from sociological theories of law and childhood, this study provides further insight into how judges arrive at their rulings and can be used to assist in improving the lives of families who must interact with the legal system.

Literature in the Dawn of Sociological Theory: Stories That Are Telling

Literature in the Dawn of Sociological Theory: Stories That Are Telling

Современные исследовательские проблемы социологии

The article deals with three research problems that the authors consider to be the key ones for modern sociology. This is due to the fact that the modern new world has given rise to new relationships between people and new techniques used by them – put forward new scientific problems for sociology. Once the classics of sociology of the 19th century showed the most important guidelines for the social sciences, which can be expressed by the idea - not only to study, but also to change, and before changing to understand. But these three – research problems, of course, are not the limit for sociology. First of all, and this is the first thing, the authors draw attention to the fact that the modern world, understood as a social system, needs a theoretical explanation based on modern facts and realities of the present time. And the modern sociological picture of the world is in need of revision and rethinking, relying on previous sociological theories. The another direction, or the second sphere of sociological problems, is the development of applied theoretical foundations, or “middle level theories” for empirical research methods. This is especially necessary for empirical research in modern institutions and enterprises aimed at improving the organization of intellectual work. And the third important direction is that is the empirical methods themselves need to be improved in connection with the changed conditions for collecting and processing information. This is due to the fact that Internet surveys have practically replaced personal surveys, new forms of observation are emerging, and digital methods of document analysis have appeared. In this regard, new requirements arise for the formation of a representative sample and the methods for creating valid instruments.