In search of the wage-labour/service contract: new evidence on the validity of the Goldthorpe class schema

In this paper we examine new empirical evidence on the coherence and magnitude of the main classes in the Goldthorpe class schema. Particular attention is paid to issues that have recently been a source of academic dispute: the coherence and size of the service class and the distinction between the service class and intermediate classes. Using recently available British data collected by the Office for National Statistics we examine: (i) the extent to which measures of class-relevant job characteristics are empirically discriminated by the categories of the schema; (ii) the structure of a 'contract type' dimension of employment relations conceived of as a categorical latent variable; and (iii) the association between this latent variable and both the Goldthorpe class schema and a related measure socio-economic group (SEG). We find that the data are consistent with the existence of a three category latent 'contract type' variable largely corresponding to the notions of service, intermediate and wage-labour contracts explicit in discussions of the theoretical rationale for the Goldthorpe schema. We further find a substantial degree of fit between the latent 'contract types' and the schema. However, the service class fault line appears to lie within class I and II of the schema rather than between them and the intermediate classes which suggests a revised, smaller service class would better capture the reality of the contemporary British occupational structure.     

In search of the mechanisms conducive to class differentials in educational choice: a mixed method research

This paper inquires into the mechanisms conducive to social class differentials in educational choice in Flanders (the Northern, Dutch‐speaking part of Belgium) using both quantitative data gathered from parents (N = 1339) and qualitative data gathered during two focus groups with pupils (N = 16). Unlike most of the previous studies, this study takes into consideration all three theoretical perspectives that have driven research on class differentials in educational choice so far, namely cultural reproduction theory, rational action theory and the notion of social capital. Logistic regression analysis shows that self‐selection does also occur in Flanders and that the effect of parental SES cannot be explained by a specific measure of cultural capital centred on knowledge of the educational system, nor by measures of social capital. What emerges most clearly from this study is that pupils' perception of their choice process is powerfully framed by deep‐rooted conceptions about the educational alternatives available to them. Furthermore, children's choices seem to be delimited by parents' opinions of which educational alternatives were acceptable, and which ones not. Our study calls for future research to take the wider context of decision‐making processes more explicitly into account.     

In search of board effectiveness

Inside the Boardroom: How Boards Really Work and the Coming Revolution in Corporate Governance, by Richard Leblanc and James Gillies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2005. 288 pp., $34.95 cloth. Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, by Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan, and Barbara E. Taylor. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2005. 224 pp., $39.00 cloth..     

In search of experiential knowledge

In recent years, the concept of “experiential knowledge” has increasingly been used to characterize the distinctive contribution patients make to decision-making in the health field. Even though it seems well-nigh impossible to characterize it precisely, there is no doubting its significance for decision-making contexts ranging from the individual to the political. Since individual experiences of any condition or treatment differ widely, whose experiences come to constitute “knowledge”? In this paper, I argue that, rhetoric notwithstanding, numerous constraints “filter” the experiences which come to function as “experiential knowledge”. Looking to the future of health care, likely to be marked by growing inequalities, I suggest that a reflection on the notion of experiential knowledge leads to two challenges for social scientists.     

In search of the intercultural

Books reviewed in this article:
Fred E. Jandt, Intercultural Communication: An Introduction
Young Yun Kim, Becoming Intercultural: An Integrative Theory of Communication and Cross-Cultural Adaptation
Tony Schirato and Susan Yell, Communication and Culture: An Introduction
Ron Scollon and Suzanne Wong Scollon, Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach     

The individualization of class: a case of working life coaching

This article employs empirical analysis on working life coaching in order to offer a complimentary perspective on debates concerning individualization and class. Instead of viewing individualization as a process which erodes or radically shapes structures of class, this article interrogates individualization as a process which individualizes the relation between capital and labour in such a way that it appears in an individualized form. Examining practices of working life coaching sheds light on the ways in which the antagonism of capital and labour is experienced, articulated in an individual form and offered solutions for, and also on the ways in which such practices actually silence and cement the antagonism they are supposed to solve.     

In search of unity: a new politics of solidarity and action for confronting the crisis of global capitalism

ABSTRACT

This essay is an introduction to a Special Forum by critical scholar-activists responding to the late Samir Amin’s call for the establishment of a new political vehicle that would be capable of uniting diverse progressive and revolutionary movements consisting of the workers and peoples of the whole world. The purpose of this vehicle would be to confront and radically transform a global capitalist order in deep crisis. The authors of these essays tend to agree that Amin was a profound contributor to the global justice movement, and to the reformulation of Marxism to address the evolution of global capitalism and imperialism that took place in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. However, some are critical of Amin’s stance. The essayists differ about whether they see Samir Amin’s proposal for the establishment of a global party as a good or bad idea. Among those who think it is a good idea there are differences regarding the organizational nature and issue focus of the proposed organization. There are also different attitudes toward the institution of the nation-state and regarding the sources of progressive revolutionary political forces in the contemporary world. We briefly review the main issues under contention.     

In search of the gerontological self

The concept of self has a long history stretching back to antiquity. The meanings of self explored and debated in 19th and 20th century philosophy are intertwined in contemporary gerontological discourse. This review of diverse theories of the gerontological self is evoked by a personal encounter with a frail, aging friend whose fragmented conversation is framed by the clear persistence of her personality. Four approaches to the concept of self are examined: the humanists' “narrative” self, the behavioral self found in textbooks and handbooks of gerontology, post-modernists' views of the aging self, and the phenomenological self. While significant philosophical and methodological differences are uncovered, the question is asked as to what distinct contribution each approach offers when used to interpret meaning and responsibility in an actual relationship with an aged person.     

The re-making of the English working class?

Conclusion More than twenty-five years after its publication The Making of the English Working Class remains a landmark work in English history and the study of class formation. Thompson's formulation and application of agency and experience in understanding the process of class formation have altered the ways historians and social scientists approach the study of class. From its inception The Making has been a lightening rod for criticism, some of it piquant and politically charged. In the latest round of critique, Gareth Stedman Jones and Joan Wallach Scott have argued that Thompson seriously neglects the role of discourse in class formation, and in doing so has presented a partial and distorted picture. They each have offered analyses that find a central role for discourse in the process of class formation. Stedman Jones sees political radicalism as a guiding force of working-class collective action, while Scott finds a fundamental gendering of the ways in which the working class was organized through discourse.Both Stedman Jones and Scott are clearly correct in observing that discourse played an important role in this working-class history, yet their accounts are reductionist and highly skewed interpretations of a rich and complex history. By privileging discourse as a casual force in class formation they shunt experience and agency into minor roles, providing impoverished accounts of how the working class was indeed active in its own making.The alternative I have proposed is to focus on discourse as an intermediate process linking experience and agency, animated through social organization and collective action. The English working class of the early nineteenth century faced degradation of their labor and political oppression of rights they perceived as fundamental. In response to these trials they constructed expressions of their grievances and visions of solutions through the discourse streams available to them. Through the contextual use of various streams they articulated a consciousness of class. This process itself was part of the class struggle that was their making. In this sense, discourse framed the painting of the panorama, and perhaps added shading, hue, and perspective, but it did not create the picture. As Thompson, following Marx, has observed, it is people that do the making, even if it is not just as they please.     

Boys' thoughts and talk about sex in a working class locality of Glasgow

This paper analyses data on sexuality from ethnographic research and from group discussions and in-depth interviews with 58 14–16 year old males in two schools. The research was carried out in a working class locality (Brockhill) in Glasgow, Scotland. Fourteen to sixteen year old boys in Brockhill lead homosocial lives and learn about sex and develop their sexual identities almost entirely from males. Hetero-sexuality is taken-for-granted as the cultural norm. There is considerable ambivalence about heterosexual sex, however, because of the gulf between male and female worlds, the inconsistencies between the dominant norm of teenage male sexuality and the boys' own personal experiences and emotions, and the vulnerability of their sexual identities. Although most boys conform to the convention of talking about sex in a way that objectifies women and focuses on male gratification, this discourse does not always reflect their more private views, particularly amongst those most familiar with girls. Several of these latter respondents expressed frustration with the passive role to which girls usually conform. There is a strong sense of the social construction of sexuality, but resignation to the idea that existing norms are inevitable.     

In search of cultural identity factors: a comparison of ethnic students*

L'analyse factorielle d'items de type Likert administrés à des étudiants sousgradués suggère que six facteurs peuvent décrire les modalités d'identification ethnique: la religion, l'endogamie, la langue utilisée, les organisations ethniques, l'éducation paroissiale et le choix d'amis à 1'intérieur du groupe. Une comparaison des profils factoriels de sept groupes ethniques révèle plusieurs variations. Les étudiants juifs s'identifient fortement avec l'endogamie et les choix d'amis à 1'intérieur du groupe, mais donnent relativement peu d'importance à la religion et à l'utilisation de la langue ethnique. Les étudiants français sont fortement identifiés à leur langue et à leur religion. Les étudiants français et juifs attachent de la valeur à l'éducation paroissiale. L'identification au groupe ethnique est la plus faible chez les Scandinaves et les Polonais. Les modalités d'identification tendent á varier avec les expériences qui ont une importance historique pour le groupe ethnique. C'est pourquoi les mesures de ces modalités révèlent une structure à facteurs multiples. Factor analysis of Likert-type items administered to undergraduate students suggests that modes of ethnic identification can be described in terms of six factors: religion, endogamy, language use, ethnic organizations, parochial education, and choice of ingroup friends. A comparison of the factor profiles of seven ethnic groups revealed considerable variations. For example, the Jewish students identified strongly with endogamy and ingroup choice of friends but ranked low on the importance of religion and the use of their ethnic language. The French students' identification with their language and religion was high. Both the French and the Jewish students valued parochial education. Scandinavian and Polish ethnic ingroup identification was the lowest of all seven groups compared. The modes of identification tended to vary with the historically important experiences of ethnic groups. Therefore the measures of the modes exhibited a multifactor structure.     

In search of common ground about the commons

The Commons: New Perspectives on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, by Roger A. Lohmann. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. 344 pp. $34.95. Governing the Commons: The Revolution of Institutions for Collective Action, by Elinor Ostrom. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 280 pp.     

Mandated benefits for a new provider class: LICSW's

The purpose of this study is to assess the initial impact of Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSW's) as a new reimbursable provider class in an insured population with mandated nervous and mental benefits. History of nervous and mental therapy, previous provider type, age, and sex are examined. Data were obtained from Blue Shield of Massachusetts' nervous and mental claim information from 1979 through 1982 for all patients who saw a social worker during the year of LICSW certification. Results show (1) a large majority of the 1982 social worker patients had no billable psychiatric experience for the three years prior to 1982; (2) the longer a patient is in treatment, the less likely is a provider type switch; and (3) psychologists' patients are more likely to switch to a social worker than psychiatrists' patients. A concern remains for this insurer over the increase in the total number of psychiatric services concomitant with a new provider class introduction.     

In search of disability: a critical discourse analysis of a Key Stage 1 guided reading scheme

This paper employs critical discourse analysis to examine the representation of disability in the children’s Oxford Reading Tree Series Read with Biff, Chip and Kipper. The representation is found to influence self-identity and social attitudes towards disability, for it grants ‘normalcy’ a status of idolatry. Such elevation of normalcy elicits ‘normate’ culture, which, in turn, can generate ‘aesthetic nervousness’. This hegemonic tradition therefore produces a replicative process that is consequential to the production of future texts, social justice and an inclusive society.