bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sociology and, of and in Web 2.0: Some Initial Considerations
Authors: Beer David , Burrows Roger
Published: March 2010

This paper introduces the idea of Web 2.0 to a sociological audience as a key example of a process of cultural digitization that is moving faster than our ability to analyse it. It offers a definition, a schematic overview and a typology of the notion as part of a commitment to a renewal of description in sociology. It provides examples of wikis, folksonomies, mashups and social networking sites and, where possible and by way of illustration, examines instances where sociology and sociologists are featured. The paper then identifies three possible agendas for the development of a viable sociology of Web 2.0: the changing relations between the production and consumption of internet content; the mainstreaming of private information posted to the public domain; and, the emergence of a new rhetoric of ‘democratisation’. The paper concludes by discussing some of the ways in which we can engage with these new web applications and go about developing sociological understandings of the new online cultures as they become increasingly significant in the mundane routines of everyday life.
Environmental Injustice or Just the Lie of the Land: An Investigation of the Socio-Economic Class of those at Risk from Flooding in England and Wales
Authors: Fielding Jane
Published: March 2010

An outcome-based analysis using surface population models and logistic regression analysis shows that significant inequalities exist between the middle and working classes, and also between the middle classes and the inactive (the unemployed and unclassifiable classes, not the retired), in risk factors associated with flood emergencies in all Environment Agency Regions of England and Wales except the Midlands region. This analysis demonstrates overall inequality is reproduced in both the fluvial and tidal flood plains, although that within the tidal flood plains is especially significant and more pronounced in some areas, especially, in the Eastern regions of England. The paper then discusses whether this inequality is unjust or discriminatory, and considers that further, more process-driven, analysis would be necessary to explore this issue, especially looking at neighbourhood generation processes with respect to migration into and out of areas.
Constructing Meaningful Lives: Biographical Methods in Research on Migrant Women
Authors: Erel Umut
Published: March 2010

The article argues that biographical methods are particularly suited to shift the methodological and theoretical premises of migration research to foreground the agency and subjectivity of migrant women. It is argued that structural and cultural readings can usefully be applied to the self-representations of migrant women. The context of migrant women's self-representations is explored through looking at the story-telling communities they develop and through the expert knowledges of institutions regulating migration. The dichotomisation of unique versus collective modes of life-stories is questioned. Applying the Foucauldian concept of subjugated knowledges, it is argued that migrant women's life-stories hold transformative potential for producing knowledges critical of gendered and ethnocised power relations that research should pay attention to.
Who are you Sleeping With? the Construction of Heteronormativity in Stories about Sleep in British Newspapers
Authors: Lowe Pam , Boden Sharon , Williams Simon , Seale Clive , Steinberg Deborah
Published: March 2010

In popular British understanding the terms ‘sleeping’ or ‘slept’ are often used to mean sex, and (hetero)sex is seen as crucial to sustaining intimate relationships. This study of UK newspapers coverage shows that stories about sleep and sleeping arrangements can be seen to (re)produce heteronormativity through focusing on the (heterosexual) ‘marital bed’. The ‘marital bed’ is constructed as both the physical and symbolic centre of successful heterosexual relationships. Moreover, the maintenance of this symbolic space is gendered with women given primary responsibility. The focus on the ‘marital bed’ helps to exclude non-heterosexuals from the idea of intimate relationships, by effectively silencing their experiences of sleep and sleeping arrangements. Normative ideas about male and female (hetero)sexualities are drawn on to undermine women's right to refuse sex within the martial bed. In addition, the term ‘sleep-sex’ is used to reconceptualise stories of rape, minimising the victim's experiences and absolve the perpetrator from full responsibility for the assault. By exploring these articles we can see both how the representation of the organisation of sleep is produced through heteronormativity, as well as how heteronormativity determines whose accounts of sleeping are prioritised.
Towards a Theory of Constrained Relativism: Comparing and Combining the Work of Pierre Bourdieu, Mary Douglas and Michael Thompson, and Alan Fiske
Authors: Verweij Marco
Published: March 2010

In this article, I seek to compare Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice, the cultural theory developed by Mary Douglas and Michael Thompson, and the relational models theory pioneered by Alan Fiske, and attempt to sketch how these theories could possibly be combined. I argue that the three theories are among the most interesting conceptual enterprises in the social sciences of the last few decades, as they all represent –quite similar– syntheses of long-standing social-science dualisms, such as objectivism vs. subjectivism, social structure vs. free will, functionalism vs. social conflict, etc. Besides these commonalities, I spell out the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches. This allows me to conclude by considering whether, and how, it might be possible to synthesise these syntheses by picking the most interesting features of the three theories, and avoiding their less appealing ones.
Cultural Capital, Cultural Knowledge and Ability
Authors: Sullivan Alice
Published: March 2010

Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction has been interpreted in various ways, and several authors have criticised an overly narrow interpretation of cultural capital as simply consisting of ‘beaux arts’ participation. For researchers, this raises the challenge of developing a broader interpretation of cultural capital which is still specific enough to be operationalised. This paper discusses the ways in which parents may transmit educational advantage to their children through cultural rather than economic means, and the forms of knowledge and skill which may be considered as ‘cultural capital’. An operationalisation of cultural knowledge is discussed, and empirical evidence is presented on differences in levels of cultural knowledge between the children of graduates and non-graduates.
Negotiating Breast-Feeding: Pakistani Women, White Women and their Experiences in Hospital and at Home
Authors: Bowes Alison , Domokos Teresa Meehan
Published: March 2010

Breast-feeding is a socially constructed and socially controlled practice, and the social factors which influence it have been much debated. This paper argues that a model of breast-feeding as a socially negotiated project can develop fresh insights into how women breast-feed, through focusing on women's own points of view, and on the role of health professionals. Data from a research study of women from diverse ethnic and class backgrounds are discussed. It is argued that breast-feeding women in hospital are generally subordinate to professionals, but remain active in the negotiation of breast-feeding. At home, health visitor support is especially significant. Breast-feeding appears to be a lonely struggle, and the end of breast-feeding is felt to be stimulated by outside influences. Successful breast-feeding projects are most likely for white, middle class women who have effective stocks of knowledge, and can negotiate concerted action with health professionals. Women belonging to socially excluded groups have greater difficulty in the negotiation process, and their breast-feeding projects are less likely to be successful. Whilst influenced by patterns of constraint, breast-feeding projects also show marked individuality. In conclusion, it is argued that the conceptualisation of breast-feeding as a negotiated project promises to improve sociological understanding, but that further research is needed.
La Distinction Indifférente
Authors: Papilloud Christian
Published: March 2010

The concept of distinction is central to the German reception of Pierre Bourdieu's work. The specific translations of the main terms which are linked directly to the concept of distinction, namely the body (‘Leib’) and the agent (‘Akteur’), as well as the translation of the concept of distinction itself (‘Unterscheid’), lead to a reconsideration of their meanings in Bourdieu's original French works. The analysis has been carried out with reference to physical suffering and shows that – contrary to what the German semantics of ‘distinction’ suggests – Bourdieu's distinction does not incorporate its own differentiation. The concept reflects the privileged status granted to a description and explanation of social practices which build on a strong principle of relation. However, the concept has a disadvantage in that it does not give consideration to the phenomena of deconstruction which refer to differentiations of distinctive logics which can appear in the context of physical suffering.
The Sleeping Lives of Children and Teenagers: Night-Worlds and Arenas of Action
Authors: Moran-Ellis Jo , Venn Susan
Published: March 2010

Most research into sleep, even that which includes a sociological dimension, tends to focus on sleep outcomes, in effect following an agenda set by the natural sciences and psychology. The work reported in this paper engages with the material and social dimensions of sleep from within social constructionist and interactionist frameworks, seeking to explore and theorise the meaning and experience of sleep from the perspective of the sleeper. In doing this, we examine how contemporary constructions of sleep and constructions of childhood and adolescence arise and are linked in the UK context. Sleep time tends to be constructed as empty of activity other than sleeping and devoid of the sorts of interactions that characterise wakeful day-time. However, a grounded analysis of qualitative data generated with 9 children and 20 teenagers suggested that the assumption of absence of activity and interaction was misleading: their nights were populated by a range of actors, presences and activities. Placing our focus on these aspects of our participants’ accounts of their sleep we found that the temporal, spatial and interactional dimensions of routine sleep served to create a definable arena of action (Hutchby and Moran-Ellis 1998) which was marked out both materially and socially. We conceptually frame this arena of sleep as a night-world (Moran-Ellis, 2006).
‘It's Okay for a Man to Snore’: The Influence of Gender on Sleep Disruption in Couples
Authors: Venn Susan
Published: March 2010

Snoring is a common cause of disturbed sleep for both the snorer and their partner. Whilst the physical effects of snoring are well documented as causing excessive daytime sleepiness, decreased effectiveness at work and irritability, it is also important to recognise the impact snoring has on the negotiation of sleep within couple relationships. This article analyses qualitative data from an ESRC funded multi-disciplinary project on couples’ sleep based on in-depth audio-tape recorded interviews with 31 couples (aged 20-59) where either one or both partners snore. Additionally, one week's audio sleep diaries were completed and follow up separate in-depth interviews were undertaken with each partner.

The gendered nature and implications of snoring are analysed. Results indicate that there is a gendered conception of snoring, which is problematic for women in three ways. First, women who snore are embarrassed and stigmatised by this ‘unfeminine’ action. Secondly, the embarrassment that women feel about their snoring is compounded by their partners sharing that information outside the privacy of their relationship. Thirdly, by finding excuses for their male partners’ snoring, as well as developing strategies to cope with its disruptive effects, most women are prioritising their partners’ sleep over their own, and perpetuating their own sleep disruption.
A Bed of Roses or a Bed of Thorns? Negotiating the Couple Relationship through Sleep
Authors: Hislop Jenny
Published: March 2010

The convention in Western societies of partners sharing a bed is symbolic of their status as a couple, their commitment to the relationship, and their desire for shared intimacy. Yet for many couples, incompatibility as sleeping partners may threaten to undermine romantic notions of the double bed. This paper draws on in-depth interview and audio diary data from research into sleep in couples aged 20-59 (N=40) to examine how couples negotiate the spatial, temporal and relational dimensions of the sleeping environment. The paper contends that the management of tensions inherent in the sleeping relationship plays a key role in framing the couple identity over time, as well as reinforcing the gendered roles, power relationships and inequalities which underpin everyday life.
The Social Significance of Sleep for Older People with Dementia in the Context of Care
Authors: Martin Wendy , Bartlett Helen
Published: March 2010

While the social aspects of dementia have been increasingly researched over the past decade, there has been little focus on sleep and its significance to older people with dementia within the context of care. This paper attempts to address this knowledge gap by exploring the experiences of sleep among older people with dementia and the perceptions of family carers and care staff in different care settings. The paper is drawn from a larger research project that explored the empowerment of older people with dementia, and involved 18 in-depth interviews with older people with dementia and 8 focus groups with health and social care staff and family carers.

The discourses of the older people with dementia and family carers, emphasised vulnerabilities associated with sleep, thematically represented as: (1) interconnections between health, care, the body and sleep; (2) memory loss and perceptions of sleep, time and place; and (3) a sense of vulnerability around night-time, sleep and safety. The sleep discourses of the older people with dementia and their family carers focused on meanings associated with experiential dimensions of sleep and were closely connected to their social identities and roles. The key concern for the health and social care staff was the organisation of sleep, including: (1) temporal management of sleep and sleep practices, and (2) management of sleep across public/private space: safety, surveillance and privacy. The sleep discourses of the health and social care staff predominately focused on sleep practices and environmental dimensions of sleep. These different perspectives denote varying positions and concerns in relation to sleep between waking conscious actors and dormant bodies, thereby highlighting the social significance of power relations and vulnerabilities within the context of care for older people with dementia.
Power, Ideology and Resources within Families: A Theoretical Context for Empirical Research on Sleep
Authors: Pahl Jan
Published: March 2010

The aim of this article is to outline and discuss theoretical approaches to the study of family life and to make suggestions about how these approaches might apply in planning and carrying out empirical research on sleep. It argues that, while theories about power and gender can inform research on sleep, the findings from research on sleep will help to extend and enrich theoretical approaches to family life and the social order. The article is concerned especially with gendered power relations and with ‘sharing sleep’. It draws on Morgan's sociological analysis of family life, and on the distinction he makes between the political economy, the moral economy and the emotional economy. It uses research findings on the allocation of money and on domestic violence to examine different theoretical approaches and to consider how these theories might be used in research on sleep. In the past many of the battles which rage within bedrooms were individualised as ‘her’ or ‘his’ fault. Applying sociological understanding and theoretical approaches may enable some of these individual and very private troubles to be seen as more general issues, while making a contribution to the new sociology of sleep.
Bureaucracy and Beyond: The Impact of Ethics and Governance Procedures on Health Research in the Social Sciences
Authors: Reed Kate
Published: March 2010

This piece has been written in response to a recent article published in the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) which exposed the red tape restricting health research in the UK's National Health Service (NHS). Whilst the THES article was critical of NHS ethical review and research governance, it still views a streamlined version of the process as necessary for the protection of researchers and respondents. Drawing on the recent experience of applying for ethical approval and research governance for a qualitative study on gender and genetics, this paper examines the review process and the restrictive paperwork and procedures that surround it, focusing in particular on the impact this has on social science research. The argument will be put forward that while all research, whether clinical or social, is hampered by the bureaucracy surrounding the review process, social research is further alienated by it. This is because the paperwork and processes involved are set up to evaluate clinical, not social, research. Furthermore, the process is caught up in a culture of fear that breeds mistrust towards ‘outsiders’ wishing to conduct research in the NHS. The revision of NHS ethical review has to go further than mere bureaucratic streamlining - it needs to be made more relevant and accessible to health researchers working across a range of disciplines.
Shifting Positionalities: Empirical Reflections on a Queer/Trans of Colour Methodology
Authors: Haritaworn Jin
Published: March 2010

How can we study ‘Queer’, or indeed, should we? Drawing on fieldwork with people raised in interracial families in Britain and Germany, and reflecting on my own coming out as transgendered/genderqueer during the research, I reflect on the role of difference, similarity, and change in the production of queer knowledges. My entry point is a queer diasporic one. Queers of colour, I argue, have a particular stake in queering racialised heterosexualities; yet differences within diasporic spaces clearly matter. While ‘Queer’ can open up an alternative methodology of redefining and reframing social differences, the directionality of our queering - ‘up’ rather than ‘down’ - is clearly relevant. I suggest the anti-racist feminist principle of positionality as fruitful for such a queer methodology of change. This is explored with regard to a selection of empirical and cultural texts, including the debate around Paris is Burning, Jenny Livingston's film about the Harlem house/ball scene; the appeal that a non-white heterosexual artist such as South-Asian pop singer MIA can have for queers of colour; the camp role model which Thai sex work femininity can represent for queer and trans people from the second generation of Thai migration; and the solidarity of a Southeast Asian butch with feminine women in her diasporic collectivity.
Researching Same Sex Domestic Violence: Constructing a Survey Methodology
Authors: McCarry Melanie , Hester Marianne , Donovan Catherine
Published: March 2010

The article discusses the issues and problems that need to be addressed in the development of a comprehensive survey approach to explore same sex domestic violence in relationships involving individuals identifying as lesbian, gay male, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBT&Q). It draws on the most detailed study to date in the UK comparing love and domestic violence in same-sex and heterosexual relationships. The survey methodology built on previous research, attempting in particular to overcome the limitations of earlier studies; and to produce data that could be compared with existing data on domestic violence in both heterosexual and LGBT&Q communities. The result was a questionnaire that reflected a wide range of abusive behaviours; examined impact of the violence alongside a quantification of particular acts; took into account experience of violence from a partner, as well as use of violence against that partner; and incorporated issues related to equality/inequality and dependency. The questionnaire was successfully distributed across the UK to provide a national ‘same sex community’ survey of problems in relationships and domestic violence.
Navigating Queer Street: Researching the Intersections of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) Identities in Health Research
Authors: Fish Julie
Published: March 2010

Health researchers engaged in the project of identifying lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) health as a distinct topic for study have often emphasised the differences in health and health care from heterosexuals and similarities among LGBT people. This work has sometimes rendered invisible the experiences of disabled, black and minority ethnic and other groups and has contributed towards the homogenisation of LGBT communities. In this paper, intersection theory is used to explore how diverse identities and systems of oppression interconnect. As a theory, intersectionality requires complex and nuanced thinking about multiple dimensions of inequality and difference. Drawing on the work of Crenshaw (1993), I use three types of intersectionality: methodological, structural and political to explore how the meanings of being lesbian may be permeated by class and gender and how racism and heterosexism intersect in the lives of black and minority ethnic gay men and women. Intersection theory offers possibilities for understanding multiple inequalities without abandoning the politics of social movements.
Women Parenting Together: A reflexive account of the ways in which the researcher's identity and experiences may impact on the processes of doing research
Authors: Almack Kathryn
Published: March 2010

It is often suggested that in carrying out research into the lives of LGBT people, researchers have an advantage if they share the same sexual orientation with their respondents – including greater access to respondents and the production of research accounts that perhaps have greater validity. However the process of doing research and writing up research is more complex than this suggests. In this article I seek to examine some of these assumptions in greater depth. A central (although not exclusive) concern of feminist debates is the extent to which the researcher's identity and experiences impact on the processes of doing research - and as such, the extent to which these should be made explicit. In examining some of these complexities, I draw upon these debates, the experiences of other researchers in the field of LGBT research and my own research examining the family lives of twenty lesbian parent families in the UK. I conclude that the ways in which the researcher may be positioned as an insider/outsider in research can be complex and these issues are particularly salient when choosing research topics to which the researcher has some level of personal and/or political commitment.
Researching Drug Sellers: An ‘experiential’ account from ‘the field’
Authors: Ward Jenni
Published: March 2010

Ethnographic research techniques are well regarded as a way to elicit detailed understandings of human interaction. They are particularly useful for examining ‘deviant’ cultures and the dynamics of illegal activity. Though, ethnographic research on illegal activity can be ‘messy’. This paper reports some practical and ethical issues encountered while carrying out an ethnographic study of drug use and drug selling among ‘rave’ dance participants in London. In particular it addresses the issue of using friendship to assist the research relationship and the use of a semi-covert style of research. Connected to this, it touches on the emotional work of the fieldworker whilst undertaking ‘sensitive’ research. It makes a timely contribution to discussions of ‘reflexivity’ in the research process, as well as the discourse on social sciences research governance. It argues the standardized codes of ethical conduct can not easily be translated to ethnographic research on criminal activity, such as drug use and drug selling.
Standpoint, Objectivity, and Social Construction: Reflections from the Study of Gay and Lesbian Communities
Authors: Homfray Mike
Published: March 2010

This article considers a number of related concepts – standpoint, objectivity, emancipation – in the light of my own research which looked at gay and lesbian communities in the north-west of England. It advocates and promotes the use of gay and lesbian standpoint and defends research with emancipatory aims, notably in the light of academic and theoretical developments which eschew real-life experience and categories of identity rooted in lived actuality. Suggesting that queer theory is largely irrelevant to the lives of gay men and lesbians, it advocates a return to an engaged and practical sociology which acknowledges the benefit of research which has potential for application by the communities it observes.
Planning in Organisations: Rational Control or Contingent Activity?
Authors: Dant T. , Francis D.
Published: March 2010

[1] This paper develops an interactional approach to planning in organisations that draws out the relevance of both rationalist and contingent models of planning. The distinction between these two models is developed in the light of the modernist / postmodernist debate to provide a set of theoretical issues to with planning in organisations. These issues are explored in the context of planning carried out in two empirically studied settings, a health authority and a school. The two models are found to provide resources for organisations and participants in these settings, both to proceed with planning activity and to account for it. Neither model is however adequate to describe the process of planning which is always a practical and situated activity whose character emerges in the process of interaction.
Social and Cultural Constructions of Ageing: The Case of the Baby Boomers
Authors: Phillipson Chris , Leach Rebecca , Money Annemarie , Biggs Simon
Published: March 2010

This paper examines social and cultural constructions of first wave baby boomers, those born in the period 1945-1954. Boomers are depicted, variously, as bringing new lifestyles and attitudes to ageing and retirement; or heralding economic disaster; or placing fresh burdens on health and social care services. The paper seeks to explore narratives about the boomer generation, drawing on sociological studies, the mass media and cultural and social histories of the post-war period. The article provides a critical analysis of the construction of boomers as a ‘problem generation’, exploring this from the perspective of demography, consumption and politics. The paper concludes with a research agenda for further work around the boomer generation.
Death Metaphors and the Secularisation Debate: Towards Criteria for Successful Social Scientific Analogies
Authors: Dutton Ed
Published: March 2010

The aim of this article is to examine the successfulness of death metaphors in the contemporary debate over the Secularisation Theory. Through doing so, the article will propose criteria by which the success of a metaphor – in the sociology of religion and in social science more broadly – can be assessed. It will examine metaphors employed by Stark, Bruce and Callum Brown. It will firstly discuss the nature of the Secularisation debate, metaphor and metaphor in sociology and science more broadly. Then, drawing upon previous research in this area, it will discuss the use of metaphor and analogy in academic discourse and examine criteria by which the success of scientific metaphors might be assessed. Thereafter, it will look at the successfulness of the main recent metaphors employed by proponents and critics of secularisation in terms of these criteria.
The Dynamics of Motherhood Performance: Hong Kong's Middle Class Working Mothers On- and Off-Line
Authors: Chan Annie Hau-nung
Published: March 2010

This paper examines the on- and off-line identity performance of a group of Hong Kong middle-class working mothers who are users of an internet based community. The development of my involvement in this community from lurker to participant and then to virtual ethnographer provides a unique opportunity to compare the on- and off-line interactions of an Internet based community. By examining the relationship between the dominant discourse of motherhood and these women's motherhood performances on- and off-line, three modes of performativity are identified and discussed. I argue that although there is considerable pressure within this community to uphold the dominant motherhood discourse, users’ reflexivity and subversion regarding this performance are evident in both on-line and off-line contexts. In particular, users’ performativity in what I call the ‘Si Nais behaving badly’ mode can be read as a reaction towards, though not necessarily subversive of, society's prevailing conception of motherhood. My findings throw light on how the structure of internet chat frames these women's presentation of self, and how internet chat exposes aspects of their self-hood, which portray a much more varied identity than the literature on motherhood currently suggests.
Presentation of Self in E-veryday Life: How People Labelled with Intellectual Disability Manage Identity as They Engage the Blogosphere
Authors: McClimens Alex , Gordon Frances
Published: March 2010

Very little is known about the online habits of people labelled with intellectual disability. What little information there is focuses more on demographic descriptors rather than any analyses of issues specific to that group. Hence the vast majority of the literature is firmly focused on more generic issues as they affect the general population. Some very few disability dedicated studies, however, have examined homepages maintained by individuals who live with Down syndrome. Here at least is evidence of a field of inquiry that recognises there may be particular aspects of web based communications that deserve special interest. The dynamics of web based communications are fast moving and the relatively static homepage has subsequently given way to Web 2.0 technologies. Here the recent and exponential increase in the popularity of blogging as a means of mass communication has attracted much comment in both popular and specialist quarters. Its ease of use and near universal availability has prompted massive sociological inquiry. But again the profile of people living with intellectual disability is absent from the debate. Our study reports on a project in which adults with intellectual disability were assisted to access the web in general, and the ‘blogosphere’ in particular. Our focus is on the means and methods by which the participants were able to manage their off and online identities. We look at the language employed, the layouts used and the way the online messages and postings reflected or distorted the actual lived experiences of these proto-bloggers. Notions of authorship and audience also contribute to the debate as these issues raise questions about sense of self, disability as a cultural construct and our ability to negotiate the increasingly important virtual world of the web.
Hypermedia and Ethnography: Reflections on the Construction of a Research Approach
Authors: Dicks Bella , Mason Bruce
Published: March 2010

Current interest in ethnography within social research has focused on its potential to offer insights into the complexity of the social world. There have increasingly been calls for ethnography to reflect this complexity more adequately. Two aspects of ethnographic enquiry have been particularly singled out as areas in need of redefinition: the delineation of ethnography's object of study and its mode of presentation. Both of these areas are implicated in the recent attention to the possibilities of hypermedia authoring for ethnography. The paper offers a discussion of this potential in the light of an ongoing research project with which the authors are engaged. The project is designed to enable this potential to be assessed, and to provide for the construction of what the authors call an ethnographic hypermedia environment (EHE). We believe that the promise of hypermedia lies not only in its facility for non-sequential data organisation, but also in its ability to integrate data in different media. The synthesis of the visual, aural, verbal and pictorial planes of meaning holds considerable promise for the expansion and deepening of ethnographic knowledge. Consequently, we suggest that hypermedia has implications for all stages of the research process, and argue against the current tendency to see it as merely a tool either for analysis or for presentation. These arguments are illustrated by means of a commentary on some work in progress.
National Identity in the Democratic Multi-Cultural State
Authors: Rex John
Published: March 2010

It has been suggested that there is a crisis of national identity in the advanced welfare states of Western Europe following post-war immigration. The aim of this paper is, first of all, to clarify the concept of national identity in its application to these states prior to this immigration, secondly to analyze the concept of ethnic identity amongst immigrant ethnic groups, and, finally, to look at the kinds of institutions which have evolved to determine the relation of immigrant groups to the established national societies of settlement.

The modern nation state is often thought of as part of a modernizing project in industrial societies. In this project the nation state is not thought of as being based upon a national identity, but is seen as having more universal aims. These include a modern economy, universal and uniform education and the compromise institutions of the welfare state negotiated between different classes and status groups. In some cases, on the other hand, the nation state may be established by a dominant ethnic group with its own values and institutions. In both cases the nation state will develop its own national ideology but will be corrosive of subordinate ethnicities and ethnic identities.

New immigrant ethnic minorities have their own separate sense of identity. This should not however be thought of in essentialist terms as unchanging and clearly bounded. A more complex model of ethnic mobilization under conditions of migration is suggested.

The response of established societies to the presence of these minorities might take one of three forms. It may involve attempts to assimilate the minorities on equal terms as citizens; it may seek to subordinate them to a dominant ethnic group as second class citizens or denizens; or, it may recognize cultural diversity in the private communal sphere while maintaining a shared public political culture. The new national identity of the host society will depend upon the outcome of processes which follow from the adoption of these different policies.
Towards a Sociology of Resentment: A Debate on Class and Whiteness
Authors: Ware Vron
Published: March 2010

This debate essay argues that there are urgent reasons why sociologists should pay attention to the history of resentment as ‘a political idea’. It offers different examples of the way the concept of white working class resentment has been routinely used in public discourse on race, immigration and multiculturalism in the UK. The BBC White Season is examined in detail as a framing device. Trends in political campaigning indicate increasing use of polling data to identify emotive issues, such as economic immigration and asylum seekers, which have been shown to be particularly divisive in marginal areas. In the context of policy-oriented, academic research on social cohesion, citizenship and belonging, social class and white identity emerge as key indicators of ‘resentment’. The Nietzschian concept of ressentiment, particularly as developed by German sociologist Max Scheler, is considered in order to complicate the broader psycho-social dynamics of resentment today. Finally, the essay discusses Ghassan Hage's work on affective attachments as a model of thinking through ‘resentment’ as a particular response to perceptions of waning racial privilege. The concept of ‘white decline’ and the subsequent embracing of victim identity precipitates political formations that endanger fragile multicultures.
Geographies of Inclusion/Exclusion: British Muslim Women in the East End of London
Authors: Begum Halima
Published: March 2010

This paper takes a look at the place-based multicultural construction of ‘Banglatown’ in the East End of London, and asks what meaning it offers for young Bangladeshi women growing up in Spitalfields. It begins by bringing together theoretical debates on identities, youth, gender and space, and goes on to ground the discussion on Bangladeshis and Islam in the East End. The conclusions suggest that there are new challenges to place-based constructions like ‘Banglatown’ that show such places to be masculine and subtly prohibitive for Bangladeshi women. The limits of multiculturalism are thrown wide open from two unlikely quarters – from young women who are pressurised into vacating that space, and others who take issue with its secular, Bengali based identity, preferring a transcendental identity like Islam.

The growing attention on Muslims in non-majority Muslim countries (e.g. Britain) has sharply focused on women's mobility and the visibility in veiling practices, and progressively over time visibility has come to denote multiple meanings and perceptions in spheres of representations. How does this growing visibility sit with the pressures and practices of selling ‘places’ and the representation of commodities and multicultures as the East End competes for mega city status? Building on geographic thinking on space the research charts some direction towards a gendered understanding of regeneration processes taking place in the East End of London, and more widely in different parts of the United Kingdom. The arguments made in the paper point to the limits of multiculturalism in accommodating young feminine identities in Spitalfields’ redevelopment.
Mockery and Morality in Popular Cultural Representations of the White, Working Class
Authors: Raisborough Jayne , Adams Matt
Published: March 2010

We draw on ‘new’ class analysis to argue that mockery frames many cultural representations of class and move to consider how it operates within the processes of class distinction. Influenced by theories of disparagement humour, we explore how mockery creates spaces of enunciation, which serve, when inhabited by the middle class, particular articulations of distinction from the white, working class. From there we argue that these spaces, often presented as those of humour and fun, simultaneously generate for the middle class a certain distancing from those articulations. The plays of articulation and distancing, we suggest, allow a more palatable, morally sensitive form of distinction-work for the middle-class subject than can be offered by blunt expressions of disgust currently argued by some ‘new’ class theorising. We will claim that mockery offers a certain strategic orientation to class and to distinction work before finishing with a detailed reading of two Neds comic strips to illustrate what aspects of perceived white, working class lives are deemed appropriate for these functions of mockery. The Neds, are the latest comic-strip family launched by the publishers of children's comics The Beano and The Dandy, D C Thomson and Co Ltd.
Rivalries and Racisms: ‘Closed’ and ‘Open’ Islamophobic Dispositions Amongst Football Supporters
Authors: Millward Peter
Published: March 2010

Racism in football has been the topic of much academic discussion. However, the issue of Islamophobic racism has received very little attention. This article looks at Middlesbrough FC and Newcastle United FC fan discussions around the ‘Mido affair’ in August 2007 to consider the issue and uses this evidence to discuss the effectiveness of the football Faith Summit's policy suggestions to combat Islamophobia in football. The unfolding argument is that Middlesbrough FC and Newcastle United FC both use ‘open’ and ‘closed’ Islamophobic positions opportunistically to express their feelings of rivalry toward each other and the emergent policy suggestions are that the football authorities should seek to work with football fans, rather than potentially punish them, in order to reduce anti-Muslim sentiment in spectator football.
The Social Constructionist Challenge to Primacy Identity and the Emancipation of Oppressed Groups: Human Primacy Identity Politics and the Human/‘Animal’ Dualism
Authors: Peggs Key
Published: March 2010

In a recent issue of this journal Mike Homfray asserted that social constructionism challenges emancipatory politics based in essential conceptualisations of identity. Thus for Homfray the concept of identity as associated with the pre-deconstructed subject is central for the emancipatory goal of oppressed groups like the lesbian and gay movements. In this paper I offer a distinction between radical identity politics that seeks to liberate oppressed groups, and what I have called primacy identity politics in which primacy identity is used to preserve the subjugation of those who are oppressed. In so doing I put forward a challenge to Homfray's somewhat wholesale rejection of the capacity for a critique of identity to work for emancipatory politics by focussing on primacy identity politics rather than on radical identity politics. In making an argument for the deconstruction of identities for emancipatory purposes I refer to my work on the human oppression of nonhuman animals. In this work I turn my attention away from those who are oppressed to the oppressors because this transfer of attention shows how useful the deconstruction of identity could be for the emancipation of oppressed groups. My examination of discourses used by the pro nonhuman animal experimentation lobby group Pro-Test shows how primacy identity politics can effectively be challenged by a social constructionist critique of essential identities and thus, contra Homfrey, I conclude that the deconstruction of identities can strengthen emancipatory causes.
‘Do We Look like Boy Racers?’ The Role of the Folk Devil in Contemporary Moral Panics
Authors: Lumsden Karen
Published: March 2010

This article addresses the failure of studies concerning moral panics to take into account the reaction of those individuals who are the subject of social anxiety. It responds to the suggestion by McRobbie and Thornton (1995) that studies of moral panic need to account for the role played by the ‘folk devils’ themselves, for a moral panic is a collective process (Young, 2007). The paper presents findings from ethnographic fieldwork with the ‘boy racer’ culture in Aberdeen, qualitative interviews with members of outside groups, and content analysis of media articles. The societal reaction to the ‘boy racer’ subculture in Aberdeen is evidence of a contemporary moral panic. The media's representation of the subculture contributed to the stigmatization of young drivers and the labelling of the subculture's activities as deviant and antisocial. The drivers were aware of their negative portrayal in the media; however their attempts to change the myth of the ‘boy racer’ were unsuccessful. Although subcultural media can provide an outlet of self-expression for youths, these forms of media can also become caught-up in the moral panic. Ironically the youths’ own niche and micro media reified the (ir)rationality for the moral panic.
It's Not Just Structural: Social Movements are not Homogenous Responses to Structural Features, but Networks shaped by Organisational Strategies and Status
Authors: Saunders Clare
Published: March 2010

Political opportunity structures are often used to explain differences in the characteristics of movements in different countries on the basis of the national polity in which they exist. However, the approach has a number of weaknesses that are outlined in this article. The article especially stresses the fact that such broad-brush approaches to political opportunity structures fail to account for the different characteristics of movement organisations within the same polity. The article therefore recommends using a more fine-tuned approach to political opportunities, taking into account that the strategies and status of organisations affect the real political opportunities they face. This fine-tuned approach is used to predict how the status and strategy of environmental organisations might influence the extent to which different types of environmental organisations in the UK network with one-another. We find that organisations that face an open polity - those with a moderate action repertoire and a constructive relationship with government institutions - tend not to cooperate with those with a radical action repertoire and negative relations with government institutions. On the other hand, those that vary their action repertoires, and which have variable status according to the issues involved or campaign targets, have a much broader range of network links with other types of organisations. Thus, there is much more diversity in types of environmental organisation in the UK than the broad-brush to political opportunity structures would account for. Nonetheless, it does seem that environmental organisations are aware of how their own behaviours might influence (non-structural) political opportunities, and that they mould their strategies and networking patterns around this awareness.
Young People and Political Participation: An Analysis of European Union Policies
Authors: Brooks Rachel
Published: March 2010

There is now widespread recognition that, far from being politically apathetic, young people across Europe are engaged in a wide range of ‘political’ activities. While turnout at national and European elections among the 18-25 age group may be low, researchers have highlighted diverse and creative new forms of political participation. In relation to young women, in particular, Harris (2005) has presented a compelling analysis of the new ‘borderspaces’ opened up between public and private domains by young women through the use of new technologies. She contends that in the face of greater surveillance and regulation brought about by the shift to neo-liberal forms of governmentality, carving out a protected space for oneself is a political act, in itself. Moreover, the creative ways in which young women across the world use such spaces – to question dominant narratives about the nature of contemporary girlhood, to resist discourses which construct young women as merely passive consumers, and to trouble conventional notions of ‘youth participation’ – are highly political. Some EU representatives have indicated an awareness of these new forms of engagement and professed a desire to develop links between them and more traditional forms of party politics and policy making (Hoskins, 2005). Nevertheless, the degree to which these sentiments have been translated into policy remains unclear. This article draws on recent documents on young people, citizenship and political participation to assess the extent to which these new spaces of young women's politics are, firstly, recognised and, secondly, valued within EU policy.