A central question for many theories relating economic development and politics is the nature of the political effects of improvements in working-class standards of living. A survey of textile workers in Barcelona indicates that the growing proportion of more affluent workers in Spain in a source of greater class consciousness in the sense of class militancy and politicization. These dimensions of consciousness, however, are inversely associated with working-class identification among higher-income workers. The findings are interpreted within a comparative theoretical framework which emphasizes the relevance of both the pattern of economic growth and the political structure as structural variables conditioning the relationship between affluence and class consciousness.

A rejoinder to Abell and Reyniers' 'Failure of Social Theory' [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Manuel Castells British Journal of Sociology. 2001. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 541-546.

Manuel Castells responds to an essay by Abell and Reyniers criticizing his work. Castells describes the essay as an angry refusal of the entire intellectual effort that he has submitted to collegial consideration, proceeding on the basis of selected paragraphs quoted out of context, and a series of unfounded statements. In Castells' view, Abell and Reyniers's is a marginal attitude in today's diverse and tolerant intellectual world.

BSE as an organizational construction: A case study on the globalization of risk [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Veronika Tacke British Journal of Sociology. 2001. Vol. 52. No. 2. P. 293-312.

The BSE problem as an example of the globalization of risk is examined. In order to determine whether the globalization of risk is a social construction depending on the context, the particular role of organizations is emphasized. An empirical comparison is made of the BSE-related risk-constructions of 5 business associations in the German meat industry sector. Results show that the associations construct the risk in close relation to their horizons of globalization, thereby reflecting provision problems, which the companies they are representing face. While the main organizational domains in the sector tried to cope with the risk problem by different means of local market closure, one association, founded in reaction to the BSE problem, took over a reflexive role with regard to the emerging risk communication on BSE in Germany.

Can Class Analysis Be Salvaged? [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 22-11-2005

David B. Grusky, Jesper B. Sorensen British Journal of Sociology. 2002. Vol. 103. No. 5. P. 1187-1234.

The ongoing retreat from class analysis can be attributed to the declining appeal of aggregated representations of class coupled with the virtual absence of any disaggregate alternatives. When local solidarities are ignored, the weakness of conventional aggregate models is easily misinterpreted as evidence of generic destructuration, and standard postmodernist formulations are accordingly difficult to resist. Although local structuration is often regarded as sociologically trivial, the available evidence suggests that such class analytic processes as closure, exploitation, and collective action emerge more clearly at the level of disaggregate occupations than conventional aggregate classes.

Capitalism, money and banking: A critique of recent historical sociology [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Geoffrey Ingham British Journal of Sociology. 1999. Vol. 50. No. 1. P. 76-96.

A conception of money as a neutral veil masking a real economy was adopted by economic theory after the Methodenstreit, and is also to be found, in a different form, in Marxian political economy. Both derive from an erroneous functionalist and anachronistic commodity theory of money which, as Post-Keynesian economists argue, cannot explain the distinctive form of capitalist credit-money. Orthodox economic theory and classic Marxism have tacitly informed and flawed historical sociology's understanding of money's role in capitalist development. Mann (1986) and Runciman (1989), for example, consider the economy exclusively in terms of the social relations of production and imply that money is epiphenomenal and is to be explained as a response to the needs of the real economy. They do not recognize the structural specificity of capitalist money and banking nor its importance. An alternative account of the autonomous historical conditions of existence of the specifically capitalist form of bank and state credit-money and its role in capitalist development is outlined.

Civic integration and class formation [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

David Lockwood British Journal of Sociology. 1996. Vol. 47. No. 3. P. 531-550.

The aim is to explore the usefulness of inverting the class analysis problematic, which starts from class structure and then asks under what conditions sociopolitical class formation occurs, and then how this in turn bears upon social cohesion. By contrast, the route followed here starts from the assumption that the institutional unity of citizenship, market and bureaucratic relations is central to social cohesion, and then concentrates on the questions of how inequalities of class and status affect the institutionalization of citizenship and thereby its integrative function. While its practice is heavily influenced by the structure of social inequality, citizenship cart be seen to exert a force-field of its own. Four main types of 'civic stratification' are distinguished by reference to citizens' differing enjoyment of, and abilities to exercise, rights, their social categorization by the rights themselves and by their motivation to extend and enlarge them: namely, civic exclusion, civic gain and deficit, and civic expansion. Their consequences for social integration are then briefly discussed. One advantage of this approach is that it allows inequalities related to age, gender and ethnicity to be incorporated within the same explanatory scheme.

Class analysis and the reorientation of class theory: a case of persisting differentials in educational attainment [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

John H. Goldthorpe British Journal of Sociology. 1996. Vol. 47. No. 3. P. 481-406.

In class analysis the main regularities that have been established by empirical research are not ones of long-term class formation or decomposition, as envisaged in Marxist or liberal theory, but rather ones that exhibit the powerful resistance to change of clam relations and associated life-chances and patterns of social action. If these regularities are to be explained, theory needs to he correspondingly reoriented, and must abandon nationalist and teleological assumptions in favour of providing more secure micro-foundations. This argument is developed and illustrated in the course of an attempt to apply rational action theory to the explanation of persisting class differentials in educational attainment.

Class analysis from a normative perspective [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Adam Swift British Journal of Sociology. 2000. Vol. 51. No. 4. P. 663-679.

Abstract: Distinguishing between an explanatory and a normative interest in social stratification, this paper considers the relation between class analysis and the value of equality. Starting from the familiar distinction between (in)equality of position and (in)equality of opportunity, and noting the extent to which mobility research focuses on the latter, it suggests that class positions can themselves be characterized in terms of the opportunities they yield to those occupymg them. This enables the clear identification of the kinds of inequality that are and are not addressed by research findings presented in terms of class categories, and odds ratios. The significance of those findings from a normative perspective is then discussed, and their limitations are emphasized - though the paper also explains in what ways they are indeed of normative relevance.

Class inequality and meritocracy: A critique of Saunders and an alternative analysis [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Richard Breen, John H. Goldthorpe British Journal of Sociology. 1999. Vol. 50. No. 1. P. 1-27.

Saunders' (1996, 1997) recent work claiming that contemporary British society is to a large extent 'meritocratic' is criticized on conceptual and technical grounds. A reanalysis of the National Child Development Study data-set, used by Saunders, is presented. This reveals that while merit, defined in terms of ability and effort, does play a part in determining individuals' class destinations, the effect of class origins remains strong. Children of less advantaged origins need to show substantially more merit than children from more advantaged origins in order to gain similar class positions. These differences in findings to some extent arise from the correction of biases introduced by Saunders; but there are also features of his own results, consistent with those reported in the reanalysis, which he appears to not fully have appreciated.

Class structure in a deeply divided society: Class and ethnic inequality in Israel, 1974-1991 [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Meir Yaish British Journal of Sociology. 2001. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 409-439.

Despite the fact that in many societies ethnicity plays an important role in stratification processes, a common view held by students of stratification argues that the role of ascriptive criteria in stratification processes is diminishing, and that the main axis of the modern stratification system is rooted in the division of labor in the marketplace. Despite this, most Israeli sociologists have taken the ethnic and national cleavages to be the main axes of stratification in Israel. This paper utilizes the 1974 and 1991 mobility surveys in Israel to examine changes over time in the association between ethnicity/nationality and class position in the Israeli stratification structure. It also examines the extent to which inequality of opportunity within the Israel class structure is affected by ethnicity/nationality. Here it is found that the ethnic/national cleavage in Israel appears to have played a less important role over time in the allocation of Israeli men to class positions.

Compromising positions: Emergent neo-Fordisms and embedded gender contracts [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Heidi Gottfried British Journal of Sociology. 2000. Vol. 51. No. 2. P. 235-259.

This paper adopts a regulation framework to chart the emergence of neo-Fordism as a flexible accumulation regime and mode of social regulation. Neo-Fordism relies on old Fordist principles as well as incorporating new models of emergent post-Fordisms; old and new social relationships, in their particular combination, specify the trajectory of national variants. It is argued that Fordist bargains institutionalized the terms of a compromise between labor, capital and the state. These bargains embedded a male-breadwinner gender contract compromising women's positions and standardardizing employment contracts around the needs, interests and authority of men. A focus on compromises and contracts makes visible the differentiated gender effects of work transformation in each country.

Co-operation in inter-firm relations in Britain and Germany: the role of social institutions [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

British Journal of Sociology. 1997. Vol. 48. No. 2. P. 226-254.

The first part of the paper will theoretically examine the social function of trust, the preconditions of the production of trust and the possibility of reconstructing power as a mechanism functionally similar to trust. The second part of the paper is based on empirical research and will elaborate from a comparative perspective (Britain and Germany) how industry associations and legal regulations influence the quality of inter-firm relations. Our central argument is that trust is more reliably produced when these institutions are strong and consistent and business relations are deeply embedded into their institutional environment. We will argue that power is more likely to function as an alternative mode of co-ordinating social expectations and interaction when the institutional Framework and the embeddedness of social interaction is weak, But power produced by a comprehensive and stable institutional environment - what we call system trust - appears to be fostering the production of trust rather than being detrimental to it.

Co-operative capitalism: corporate networks in Germany and Britain [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Paul Windolf, Jurgen Beyer British Journal of Sociology. 1996. Vol. 47. No. 2. P. 205-231.

This study examines the capital network (ownership) and the network of interlocking directorates among the 623 largest business firms in Germany and the 520 largest in Britain. Three major differences are identified in the structure of these networks in the two countries: (1) In Germany ownership is highly concentrated, i.e., shareholdings - generally by the non-financial sector - tend to be sufficiently large to allow the owners to dominate the firm. In Britain ownership is much less concentrated, with almost half of all shareholdings - generally in the financial sector - amounting to less than 5 per cent of company stock. (2) In Germany - in contrast to Britain - the network of interlocking directorates is closely related to the capital network, i.e., it serves to enhance the power of the owners. (3) In Germany - in contrast to Britain - both networks are concentrated within the same industry, i.e., potential competitors are associated with one another. Germany thus illustrates 'co-operative capitalism' whereas Britain exemplifies 'competitive capitalism'.

Cross-national changes in time-use: Some sociological (hi)stories re-examined [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 15-12-2002

Veronika Tacke, Oriel Sullivan British Journal of Sociology. 2001. Vol. 52. No. 2. P. 331-347.

Some macro-sociological questions about changes in broad categories of time-use are addressed. Reference is made to some well-known sociological and historical accounts of such change, and to the fact that time-use diary data has only relatively recently become available for analyzing trends over time. The data used are drawn from a comparative cross-time data archive held by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University, comprising successive time-use diary surveys from a range of industrialized countries collected from the 1960s to the 1990s. The time use evidence suggests relative stability in the balance between work and leisure time over the period covered by the analyses. Some alternative explanations are advanced for why there seems to be a gap between this evidence and, on the one hand, the burgeoning literature in both academic and popular media addressing the time famine and, on the other, people's professed experience of what is happening to their time.

Culture, the "Sick Role" and the Consumption of Health [статья]

Опубликовано на портале: 23-03-2007

Chris Shilling British Journal of Sociology. 2002. Vol. 53. No. 4. P. 621-638.

This paper revisits Parsons's conception of the 'sick role' and examines the relevance of his writings on the cultural understanding of sickness to the consumption of health in the contemporary era. In terms of current developments, the author focuses on the development of pro-active approaches towards the healthy body, and the growth of "information rich" consumers of health care. These have become prominent themes in sociology, and while Parsons's writings are usually viewed as anachronistic he argues they remain highly pertinent to understanding the emergence of informed, body conscious lay people. If Parsons's analysis of health is more relevant to current circumstances than many critics assume, however, it is not unproblematic. The residual categories associated with the sick role obscure the continued utility of his work on the general cultural values informing health care. It is Parsons's analysis of these values, Chris Shilling suggests, that needs rescuing from restricted understandings of the sick role and highlighting as an important resource for contemporary theorists.

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