Wes Sharrock
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Graham Button
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The structure problem in the context of structure and agency controversies
in Human agents and social structures
The structure-and-agency 'problem' is too readily accepted as providing a crystallisation of the nodal issues in sociological theory. The articulation of the interrelationship between agency and structure within a unifying scheme is considered by many leading theorists to be the central task of contemporary theory. This chapter deals with gross and prominent misrepresentations of agency positions. These caricatures of agency are being used feloniously in the demarcation of distinct sociological traditions. One problematic domain of the agency argument for structuralists is what they understand agency proponents to be advancing when they articulate ideas of the 'construction', 'achievement' or 'accomplishment' of social reality. In particular, contemporary arguments distort the characteristics of the relevant theories associated with 'agency', such as methodological individualism, interactionism and phenomenologies, as well as crucial arguments in Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons.
Human agents and social structures
Peter J. Martin
Alex Dennis
Anthony Giddens; contemporary social theory; human agents; Jurgen Habermas; Karl Marx; Michel Foucault; Pierre Bourdieu; social structure; sociological thought; structuration theory; structure-agency dualisms
Part I: General issues
Chapter 2: The structure problem in the context of structure and agency controversies
Chapter 3: On the retreat from collective concepts in sociology
Chapter 4: Structure and agency as the products of dynamic social processes
Part II: Recent social theorists
Chapter 5: The two Habermases
Chapter 6: Pierre Bourdieu
Chapter 7: The production and reproduction of social order
Chapter 8: On the reception of Foucault
Part III: After the debate
Chapter 9: Beyond social structure
Chapter 10: Two kinds of social theory
Making work more equal
A new labour market segmentation approach
Damian Grimshaw
Colette Fagan
Gail Hebson
Isabel Tavora
This book presents new theories and international empirical evidence on the state of work and employment around the world. Changes in production systems, economic conditions and regulatory conditions are posing new questions about the growing use by employers of precarious forms of work, the contradictory approaches of governments towards employment and social policy, and the ability of trade unions to improve the distribution of decent employment conditions. Designed as a tribute to the highly influential contributions of Jill Rubery, the book proposes a 'new labour market segmentation approach' for the investigation of issues of job quality, employment inequalities, and precarious work. This approach is distinctive in seeking to place the changing international patterns and experiences of labour market inequalities in the wider context of shifting gender relations, regulatory regimes and production structures.
Go home?
The politics of immigration controversies
Hannah Jones
Yasmin Gunaratnam
Gargi Bhattacharyya
Sukhwant Dhaliwal
Roiyah Saltus
In July 2013, the UK government arranged for a van to drive through parts of London carrying the message 'In the UK illegally? GO HOME or face arrest.' The vans were short-lived, but they were part of an ongoing trend in government-sponsored communication designed to demonstrate control and toughness around immigration. This book explores the effects of such performances of toughness: on policy, on public debate, on pro-migrant and anti-racist activism, and on the everyday lives of people in Britain. This book both presents research findings, and provides insights into the practice of conducting research on such a charged and sensitive topic.
Blending original research, theoretical analysis, and methodological reflections, the book addresses questions such as:
Who gets to decide who 'belongs'?
How do anti-migrant sentiments relate to changing forms of racism?
Are new divisions, and new solidarities, emerging in the light of current immigration politics?
Written in a clear and engaging style, the book sets an agenda for a model of collaborative research between researchers, activists, and people on the ground.
Federalism and democratisation in Russia
Cameron Ross
Building on earlier work, this text combines theoretical perspectives with empirical work, to provide a comparative analysis of the electoral systems, party systems and governmental systems in the ethnic republics and regions of Russia. It also assesses the impact of these different institutional arrangements on democratization and federalism, moving the focus of research from the national level to the vitally important processes of institution building and democratization at the local level and to the study of federalism in Russia.