Transnational Feminism in Sociology: Articulations,Agendas, Debates

What is the current terrain of transnational feminism in sociology? This essay begins by introducing the key interdisciplinary writings that helped initiate a specifically transnational feminist approach in women’s and gender studies. It then delineates three primary ways in which these writings have been adapted and/or expanded with/in sociology, as well as some points of tension and debate among these varying approaches. It argues that although there are numerous sociologically oriented transnational feminisms, most authors do not acknowledge this multiplicity and complexity, contributing to a sometimes confusing conversation where assumptions about key concepts, causality, and processes remain unclear. The essay ends with suggestions for future research.     

Logic of order: state hierarchy,law, sovereignty,and war

While natural sciences such as physics hold causality for granted as one of the most fundamental principles to make adequate theories of the real world, social sciences, first of all, sociology have not this advantage. Of course, humans are subjected to causality insofar as they are physical entities too, but moreover they are endowed with free will that essentially complicates their behavior and social activity. Unlike causality, logistics should take the same place in social sciences. Conscious beings behave rationally and act logistically as well as they possess some physical experience (including causality) and socially structured knowledge. Thus, free will is restricted not only by causality and other physical laws but also logistics. This paper argues for a logistical approach to the society and models the state as a power hierarchy (mathematical ideal). The state can exist, function, and be stable over time only as a hierarchy. Then sovereignty emerges as a logistical phenomenon whose ‘dynamical magnitude’ is naturally decomposed by the societal strata of the society and the mankind as a whole. Further, any state-based legal system (SLS) can be analyzed in structuralism tradition by means of logical-algebraic modeling. When the states as a set of the self-sufficient (logistically complete) sovereign hierarchies confront in the international law field (ILF) it leads inevitably to incompleteness of the ILF. In sum, the logistical theorem on war can be elicited.     

Race and Theory: Culture, Poverty, and Adaptation To Discrimination In Wilson and Ogbu

This article provides the theoretical resources to resolve a number of conundrums in the work of William Julius Wilson and John Ogbu. Contrary to what Wilson's and Ogbu's work sometimes imply, inner-city blacks are not enmeshed in a "culture of poverty," but rather are generally committed to mainstream values and their normative expectations. Activities that deviate from these values derive from the cognitive expectations inner-city blacks have formed in the face of their restricted legitimate opportunity structures. These expectations, which suggest that educational and occupational success are improbable for inner-city residents, are accurate. If their opportunities were to improve, their cognitive expectations would change and most would be committed to taking advantage of these new opportunities. The differences that separate the inner-city poor from whites center on cultural symbols, which help constitute their identity, sometimes in opposition to the white majority. Most deficiencies in performance among blacks stem not from these cultural attributes, but from the way they are processed in white-dominated organizations. Given a majority commitment to equal opportunity and a majority belief that blacks actually have equal opportunity, many conclude from their performance that blacks are in some sense inferior. This "new racism" overdetermines the performance of blacks.     

The Effect of Failure on Self-Concept

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of failure on an individual's self-concept. A model based on attribution theory, among others, is elaborated to predict how an individual's self-concept will be affected by failure situations. It is argued that where the individual chooses to attribute causality for failure, the situation will determine the effects of that failure on his self-concept unless the individual's belief system modifies the attribution process. This attribution is related to one major individual difference: a person's generalized expectancy for control. It is hypothesized that an individual's predisposition to conceive of causality as deriving from either controllable forces or uncontrollable forces will mediate the attribution process and hence the effect of the failure on his self-esteem. The hypothesized effects of failure on self-concept are tested by analysis of 122 undergraduate students' responses to a series of ten hypothetical failure situations. Responses to the situations were compared across individuals who varied along the internal-external and self-confidence dimensions of personality. Analysis indicated that the respondents' reactions to failure situations seemed to depend on the combined effects of the internal-external and self-confidence dimensions. These reactions seemed to mediate the attribution process resulting from failure and the effects of these attributions on self-concept.     

The Great Collapse, Democratic Paralysis and the Reception of the Bomb

Abstract Expanding the traditional question of how and why the bomb was built when it was, this paper asks how socio-historical factors influenced the reception of the bomb in the West. It suggests that the bomb was received as the 'winning weapon' and that this view of it was linked to two historical factors: the Great Collapse, which undermined belief in historical progress and threatened the survival of the democracies; and the failure of balancing, the inability of the democracies, for a number of sociopolitical reasons, to act in their own collective security. As the winning weapon, the bomb was expected to overcome these problems. More broadly, the analysis suggests that when collective actions do not appear capable of redressing persistent threats, then leaders tend to invest their faith in technological panaceas.     

Can a Family Therapist do Statutory Work?

Despite a clear interest in problems such as child abuse it appears that family therapists could work more extensively and constructively with statutory presentations. This paper proposes three reasons as partial explanation for the difficulty many therapists have in working with statutory cases. These reasons are: (i) a belief that social control is not the business of therapy, (ii) a belief in a particular and restrictive notion of neutrality, and (iii) a practice habit of talking less than directly to clients. The existence and persistence of these constraints to the effective provision of statutory services is related to the historical tradition which largely structures professional/client relationships. It is argued that this pattern is highly implicit in our work and can therefore act to restrict our practice and our ability to envisage alternatives.     

Pregnancy,the Family,and Work: An Historical Review and Update of Legal Regulations and Organizational Policies and Practices in the United States

In spite, or sometimes because, of extensive employment legislation, women have still not achieved economic equality. Traditionally, pertinent employment legislation either singled women out for less-preferential treatment (treating women very differently from men) or treated them exactly the same as men. Both extremes may be based on the idea that the workplace is essentially male, and women should either be prohibited from entering the workplace, or should accept standards designed around male employees. An historical review of the issue of pregnancy/family leave examines the impact of such gendering. Recent legal developments are described. Finally, additional changes that would help create a more gender-neutral workplace are identified and discussed.     

The demobilization of diaspora: history,memory and ‘latent identity’

In the context of sustained interest in the mobilization of diasporic identities, I consider how and why diasporic identities might be demobilized over time. I use the case of an Indian Pakistani community in the UK and the USA (sometimes referred to as ‘Bihari’) to examine how historical memories of conflict are narrated in diaspora and the impact this has on the presence or absence of ‘diasporic consciousness'. The significance of memory in diasporic and transnational communities has been neglected, especially where the narration of historical events is concerned. The impact of forgetting has received particularly scant attention. I argue that, in the absence of this story, important lessons about the role of history in the formation of community are obscured. In this example, the ‘latent’ identities created on diaspora's demobilization help us to unpick the dyadic relations of ‘home’ and ‘away’ at the heart of essentialist conceptualizations of the concept.     

NARRATIVE ANALYSIS AND THE NEW HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY

While many scholars assert the importance of the narrative mode in historical inquiry, none have demonstrated how it is used specifically to analyze historical events and social action in processual, action-oriented ways. In this essay, we examine recent research on capital-state relations and urban development to demonstrate how political sociologists and urban sociologists are using narrative mode to examine the interconnectedness of human agency and social structure and the temporality of historical events in processual ways. We find that this newest research is utilizing narrative to generate new meanings of causality and to redefine the role of theory and explanation. We conclude by considering the implications of these developments for the future of sociology.     

Signs,Symbols, and Interaction Theory

Abstract

People may attribute their success in life to their own hard work and ability or to forces external to themselves like luck, chance, God, or other people. These attributions have social causes and emotional consequences (Seeman 1959; Wheaton 1980). Theory and research indicate that belief in personal control is associated with low levels of psychological distress compared to the belief that outcomes are determined by forces external to oneself. Less is known about the varieties of these external forces. If people do not attribute success to pesonal control, they may attribute it to luck, family background, connections, or God I examine the relationship of various attributions of success with distress, as measured by symptoms of depression and anxiety. I find that attributing success in life to luck and to good connections with others significantly increase distress. However, attributing success to God and to family background are not significantly associated with distress. The internal attribution of success to personal control significantly decreases distress. I discuss possible reasons why some external attributions increase distress, while others do not.     

Max Weber, Interpretive Sociology, and the Sense of Historical Science: a Positivistic Conception of Verstehen

Weber's advocacy of understanding and an interpretive sociology is shown to be a consequence of the anthropological premises of his theory of concept formation in history. These premises, which are implied in his Rickertian conception of value-relevance as the foundation of historical knowledge, are that men are interested in understandable historical developments because of their practical involvement in society—they rely on historical knowledge in their efforts to make sense out of the present. While acknowledging this indispensable function of history Weber insists, however, that historical knowledge can strictly justify neither the meaning given to the present nor man's conduct in practical affairs. This is why, in opposition to the mainstream of the Verstehen tradition, he argues against a valuing historical and social science. Yet this separation of values and facts does not entail an option for an irrational decisionism in value matters. On the contrary, it provides the very basis for their rational discussion. Those who impute to Weber the position that empirical knowledge has nothing to contribute to a social praxis but instrumental recommendations do not realize that this makes nonsense of his justification of historical knowledge.     

Spirituality as a Form of Functional Diversity: Activating Unconventional Family Strengths

SUMMARY

Increasing attention is being given to the role of spirituality in understanding family process. Concerns often focus on the type of clientele for whom spirituality may be of importance, the role of spiritual beliefs in helping to sustain family problems and the sometimes conflicting dynamics between religious identification and spiritual awareness. Assumptions about “what needs to change” dominate literature regarding interventions within spiritual belief systems. This article suggests that consideration for what needs to stay the same also has significant implications for effective practice. If “what needs to stay the same” is inherent in unconventional family strengths we are called to see what may not otherwise be apparent when using traditional ways of knowing. Spirituality emerges from a well-spring of deep culture that is reflected in roles, rules and patterns integral to family life and family survival.     

Left-wing isolationism,literature and ideology in America during the run-up to World War II Malcolm Cowley,Waldo Frank,Archibald MacLeish,Lewis Mumford,John Strachey and the New Masses

Abstract

In the run-up to the Second World War, the left in the US came under increasing pressure to conform to the increasingly totalitarian Stalinist line. The relation between literature, ideologies, political analysis and a world actually preparing for war became extremely complex and fraught. In October 1940, the American Communist journal, New Masses, denounced the well-known American writers Malcolm Cowley, Waldo Frank, Archibald MacLeish, Lewis Mumford and the British Marxist intellectual John Strachey as virtual Nazi sympathisers. This article takes a cartoon relating to the denunciations and reconstructs in historical detail the reasons for them. The stories throw a new and complex light on the sometimes surprising relations between ideology and literature of the period as well as adding a footnote to debates on pre-war American isolationism.     

DIFFICULTIES WITH TESTING FOR CAUSATION*

This paper examines the use of econometric tests for causality that are based on the work of Granger and Sims. The main conclusion is that it is not possible to infer the direction of causation from observed correlations. There are two reasons why the causality tests cannot reveal the direction of causation from observed correlations. First, the null hypothesis tested is necessary but not sufficient to imply causality. Second, any specification error renders the causality test results uninterpretable.     

Complementary gender stereotypes and system justification: the moderating role of essentialist lay theories for group differences / Estereotipos de género complementarios y justificación del sistema: el papel moderador de las teorías populares esencialistas sobre las diferencias grupales

Past research has established that complementary stereotypes of men and women serve to justify the gendered division of labour as well as the division of labour in society at large. This paper is concerned with the essentialist lay theories for the origin of group differences (i.e. belief in genetic determinism vs. belief in social determinism) which may moderate the justificatory effect of complementary gender stereotypes. We present data from an experimental study conducted in Greece, in which genetic vs. social deterministic lay theories for group differences and complementary vs. non-complementary accounts of gender differences were crossed. In these data, complementary accounts of gender increased participants’ justificatory responses only when a genetic deterministic context was made salient; on the contrary, the social deterministic context appeared to buffer the justificatory function of complementary accounts of gender. The results extend the literatures on the justificatory effects of complementary stereotypes as well as on essentialism, and point to the importance of the historical context in which particular ideas and lay theories for intergroup differences are embedded.     

Conventional Ties,Peer Influence,and the Fear of Apprehension: a Study of Adolescent Marijuana Use*

This study examines the relationship between a belief in the certainty of apprehension and self-reported marijuana use; the relative importance of this belief and ties to conventional others as sources of control; and the extent to which involvement with other users is related to the belief examined and use. The findings suggest that both the belief examined and conventional ties, in this case to the family and school. serve as independent sources of control among the high school youth studied. Of particular importance is involvement with other users; use is unlikely given the absence of group supports. This holds both for youth who maintain conventional ties and for those with weak ties. Further, involvement with nonusing peers is related to patterns of use as well as the belief that one will get caught should he try. The effectiveness of the law as a deterrent, then, is questionable given peer involvement and reinforcement for beliefs which effectively discount or support the certainty of apprehension as a viable reason for nonuse.     

Daily Grind: A Comparison of Causality Orientations,Emotions, and Fantasy Sport Participation

In 2015, daily fantasy football entered the fantasy sports market as an offshoot of the traditional, season-long form of the game. With quicker payouts and less commitment, the new activity has drawn comparisons to other forms of illegal gambling, and the determination of whether it is a primarily a game of skill or chance has become the center of the comparison. For the most part, legal commentators and society, in general, views traditional, season-long fantasy football as an innocuous, social activity governed equally by both skill and chance. Little evidence exists, however, about participant perception of skill and chance components in daily fantasy football. The current study surveyed 535 daily and traditional-only fantasy football participants in order to understand differences and similarities in the causality orientations of participation (skill or chance). In addition, enjoyment and anxiety were tested for mediating effects on causality orientations and consumption behavior. The results suggest the differences between the activities are not extreme. However, differences were found in which causality orientations influenced enjoyment and which emotion mediated the relationship between perceived skill and consumption.     

Children's Challenges to Efforts to Save Them: Competing Knowledges in the Child Welfare System

The child welfare system is founded on a belief that children are sometimes endangered by their parents or caregivers and must be saved by agents of the state. Children are perceived as objects to be saved, but they are rarely seen as active strategists in their interactions with child welfare system social workers. Using ethnographic data collected during observations of social workers and juvenile court proceedings, this article shows how children have their own complex understandings of state intervention and strive—to varying degrees of success—to contest official views of their lives and provide competing forms of knowledge. Specifically, children attempt to rework state actors' perceptions of their families and familial problems, use state actors as an audience for their versions of their lives, and attempt to mobilize state power for personal or material gain.     

Continuity and change in contemporary Ulster Protestantism*

This paper explores current trends in religious practice, observance and belief in Ulster Protestantism for elements of continuity and change. Using historical and survey data it is clear that there are strong elements of both. However, Protestant religiosity is not changing to the point that it constitutes secularisation, as sociologists of religion understand it. Nor are new trends in religiosity weakening ethno‐national identities in Northern Ireland. This is because political identities are socially reproduced in ways that are independent of their religious roots and are thus unaffected by patterns of religiosity. Likely changes in Protestant religiosity in the future therefore offer no immediate panacea for altering the dynamics of Northern Irish politics.     

Freedom,mobility and marginality: an interdisciplinary study of the historical roots of contemporary street youth in urban Brazil

This study is focused on the lives of street youth in urban Brazil through an interdisciplinary and cross-historical approach, providing a conceptual analysis of three different but interconnected sources of knowledge: A historical study of vagrants in the 1800s by [Fraga Filho, Walter. (1996). Mendigos, Moleques e Vadios na Bahia do Século XIX. São Paulo: HUCITEC/EDUFBa], the novel Jubiába by [Amado, Jorge. ([1935] 1984). Jubiába. New York: Avon Books] on the life of a youth on the streets in the 1930s, and empirical material from a current ethnography of boys and young men on the street. This approach facilitates a broader perspective on stability and change regarding the dynamics of street life, allowing cross-historical themes to surface. It reveals how young men on the street challenge socio-spatial and moral boundaries. While their marginal position empowers them and increases their mobility, it also encumbers their trajectories. The conclusion arrived at is that marginality and mobility are closely interlinked, as marginality is not only the cause but also consequence of mobility, and sometimes even the obstruction of it.