Watergate and sociological theory

Theory and Society -     

A cross-national consensus on a unified sociological theory?

Can a standard set of sociological theories be formulated that would command consensus across the globe? Sociology developed in the context of nation-specific knowledge communities and hence constitutes a singular endeavor anchored deeply in the respective regions of its birth. Every society’s mode of sociology analysis varies. A case study — Sociology in the US — illustrates this position. A discussion of the original contours and developmental trajectory of German Sociology is utilized in order further to isolate the uniqueness of sociological theory’s ?location” in American Sociology. Pivotal differences continue to anchor nation-specific traditions and approaches to sociological theory, all of which preclude standardization attempts.     

An electronic panopticon? A sociological critique of surveillance theory

The concept of an electronic Panopticon is making increasingly frequent appearances within analyses of electronic surveillance. This paper traces briefly the history of the Panopticon from Jeremy Bentham to Michel Foucault and through a series of case studies shows how the idea seems relevant in the context of computer databases. It is argued that while the Panopticon has some salience to electronic surveillance, particularly through its enhanced capacity for invisible monitoring of personal details, the notion of a ‘societal Panopticon’ is sociologically mistaken. Nonetheless, where vestiges of the Panopticon are present within electronic surveillance, they present a challenge to social analysis and to political practice.     

Developing a sociological theory for the empirical understanding of terrorism

This article represents an attempt to construct a sociological theory of terrorism by means of six theoretical propositions. Taken together these six propositions attempt to explain counterhegemonic terrorism and the dynamics of organizations that participate in such political violence. The terrorism literature shows three emerging trends: spectacularization, criminalization, and fragmentation as explanations for terrorism. In contrast to these atheoretical trends, the theoretical propositions are offered around the themes of counterhegemony, resource mobilization, counter-institutionalization, power-prestige dynamics, ritualization, and social solidarity. The conclusion suggests that any predictions of terrorism are problematic but that these six theoretical principles outlined herein could offer deeper insight into the sociological phenomena of terrorism.     

Ageing, status politics and sociological theory

As a feature of social change and as an aspect of social stratification, ageing and age groups have been seriously neglected by sociological theory. This article attempts to conceptualize age groups in a multi-dimensional model of stratification which considers ageing in relation to economic class, political entitlement, or citizenship, and cultural life-styles. This multi-dimensional model provides an analytical basis for rejecting functionalist theories of ageing, which emphasize the positive functions of social disengagement, activity theories, which show that self-esteem in ageing is an effect of continuing social involvement, and Marxist social gerontology, which argues that retirement is determined by labour-market requirements in capitalism. The article concludes by developing a reciprocity-maturation curve of ageing which explains age stigmatization through exchange theory as an effect of declining social reciprocity. Both young and elderly social groups in a period of economic recession are perceived to be socially dependent, and become the targets of 'the politics of resentment'. The processes of social ageing can be located in the core of sociological theory, because they are connected fundamentally to the conditions of social solidarity.     

Reconsidering sociological theory and method after 1989

1989 was a cataclysmic year in the political history of the world and the problems facing sociology, especially political sociology, have changed radically. Unfortunately the dominant paradigms of sociology in Western Europe were not developed to deal with these problems, but rather with Western European problems during the Cold War. It has, therefore, become necessary to look at these paradigms and to ask whether, in terms of their conception of sociology, its substantive problems and methods, they are at all capable of dealing with the post‐communist world. I suggest that it is now necessary to go back to some of the concerns of classical comparative and historical sociology, particularly as they are reflected in the work of Max Weber, in order to map and to understand the political structures of the contemporary world.     

Comparative studies and sociological theory: Autobiographical notes

The following article presents a brief survey on the development of the author's sociological studies and research, especially on the ways in which he has explored in these studies the relations between comparative studies and major problems and developments in sociological theory. The article analyzes how the central focus of his interest has been the problem of human creativity and its limitations, especially as it related to the social arena, the construction of different social formations—ranging from the so-called microsituations to the more formalized institutional and macroinstitutional formations—the problem of charisma and its routinization.     

A sociological agenda for the tech age

Theory and Society - This article outlines a sociological agenda for the era of “tech,” a period when digital technologies have come to dominate our social lives. It argues that we...     

The recent history and the emerging reality of American sociological theory: A metatheoretical interpretation

This paper has several objectives. First, it demonstrates the utility of employing an array of metatheoretical tools (paradigm, paradigm bridging, micro-macro, integrated paradigm, theoretical syntheses) to analyze the recent history of mainstream American sociological theory. Second, it shows that we have moved through three rather well-defined epochs in sociological theory over the last three decades and are entering a fourth. Third, it demonstrates that the trend in recent years has been away from theoretical separatism and exclusivity, and toward theoretical synthesis and integration. Finally, and relatedly, the integrated sociological paradigm that I sketched a decade ago, or at least something very much like it, it shown to be now much closer to being a reality, perhaps even a defining reality, in sociological theory.     

A general theory of addictions: A new theoretical model

A general theory of addictions is proposed, using the compulsive gambler as the prototype. Addiction is defined as a dependent state acquired over time to relieve stress. Two interrelated sets of factors predispose persons to addictions: an abnormal physiological resting state, and childhood experiences producing a deep sense of inadequacy. All addictions are hypothesized to follow a similar three-stage course. A matrix strategy is outlined to collect similar information from different kinds of addicts and normals. The ultimate objective is to identify high risk youth and prevent the development of addictions.     

Embodiment, experience and theory: in defence of the sociological tradition

This paper examines whether the theoretical analyses and ambitions of sociologists of the body are increasingly making obstructive and irrelevant the subject boundaries and methodological conventions associated with their parent discipline. Concerns about the utility of the discipline have been expressed by a number of body studies emanating from within and outside of sociology. These imply that it is necessary to reject the dominant problematic of sociology and utilise non disciplinary resources if we are to understand issues surrounding the ‘lived experience’ of embodiment. In opposing this rejection of sociology, if not the use of other intellectual resources, I argue that the discipline contains much valuable theorising about experience which has yet to be developed by body theorists. Many of sociology's central concepts, indeed, evoke dimensions of human experience that remain highly pertinent to an understanding of the individual and societal significance of the body in the contemporary era. In order to illustrate this argument, I focus on the writings of Durkheim and Simmel. Their work is rarely central to writings on the body, but provides good examples of the diversity of theoretical approaches within sociology that remain relevant to body theorists. Specifically, I want to use it to develop the outlines of a theory of embodiment as a medium for the constitution of society which has at its centre a concern with human experience. I conclude by reassessing the strategic options sociologists of the body confront in developing their analyses.     

Paradigms for analysis of social institutions: A case for sociological institutionalism

This paper makes a case for sociological institutionalism, particularly its Veblenian variant or connection. This is attempted against a background of the surge of renewed interest in analyzing institutions within modern social science, especially economics and sociology. This is indicated by the emergence of the new institutional economics as the (modified) neoclassical approach to institutions and the revival of economic sociology with its conception of the institutional embeddedness of the economy, respectively. Still, many pertinent differences between economic and sociological institutionalism are overlooked or minimized in the current literature. By exploring such differences, the paper helps span a gap in the literature in which comparative analyses of economic and sociological approaches to institutions are rare.