Language,structure and agency: What can realist social theory offer to sociolinguistics?

The sociolinguistic enterprise raises fundamental questions about the nature of the relationships between social phenomena (such as social class or gender) and linguistic variation, while within social theory a persistent concern is the nature of the relationship between structure and agency. Sociolinguistics can draw on social theory for analysis of the relationship between speaker and system, the role of language in the creation, maintenance and change of social institutions, and the role of human agency in sociolinguistic phenomena. This article summarises the key tenets of a sociological realism, based on the recent work of Margaret Archer (in particular her exploration of analytical dualism) and of Derek Layder (specifically his theory of ‘social domains’). It relates these ideas to sociolinguistics, arguing that language can be seen to have a different significance, depending on which domain is the focus of the researcher's interest. The article considers the distinctiveness of this approach, contrasting it with structuralist and social constructionist accounts and with structuration. It concludes by identifying some methodological implications, suggesting that sociological realism offers a productive theoretical framework for sociolinguistics in dealing with questions of language, structure and agency.     

How biology became social,and what it means for social theory

In this paper I first offer a systematic outline of a series of conceptual novelties in the life‐sciences that have favoured, over the last three decades, the emergence of a more social view of biology. I focus in particular on three areas of investigation: (1) technical changes in evolutionary literature that have provoked a rethinking of the possibility of altruism, morality and prosocial behaviours in evolution; (2) changes in neuroscience, from an understanding of the brain as an isolated data processor to the ultrasocial and multiply connected social brain of contemporary neuroscience; and (3) changes in molecular biology, from the view of the gene as an autonomous master of development to the ‘reactive genome’ of the new emerging field of molecular epigenetics. In the second section I reflect on the possible implications for the social sciences of this novel biosocial terrain and argue that the postgenomic language of extended epigenetic inheritance and blurring of the nature/nurture boundaries will be as provocative for neo‐Darwinism as it is for the social sciences as we have known them. Signs of a new biosocial language are emerging in several social‐science disciplines and this may represent an exciting theoretical novelty for twenty‐first social theory.     

A case for psychodynamic social work

Abstract

Psychodynamic casework is not as popular in social work theory and practice as it once was. It is considered by some to be impractical, unscientific, and not suitable for those customarily receiving a social work service. Task-centred casework, behavioural approaches, the newer psychotherapies, and family therapy have all taken over as major paradigms of social work method. This is especially so, I think, for the social worker working in a psychiatric setting, where many clients stay only for a short time and where emphasis is placed on assessment and short-term intervention.

In this paper I shall argue that a psychodynamic approach in social work is still relevant; that it is important for its humanizing qualities, for understanding and working with people with severe problems and for, perhaps, helping us to locate the position of social work vis-a-vis other mental health professions. I shall do this by focusing on a particular case I had as a social work student on placement in a psychiatric day hospital.     

Exploring literacy in Social Work Education: a social practices approach to student writing

The literacy of social workers has been highlighted as a concern by the strengthening of both entry and assessment literacy requirements of the new social work degree in the United Kingdom. This paper challenges the traditional perception of student writing, the specific focus of this paper, as being associated with basic literacy and skill acquisition, by presenting a ‘social practices’ approach to student writing in social work education. Whilst in no way contradicting the belief that literacy is central to professional social work competence, and thus an essential aspect of social work education, this approach provides a social and cultural framework for educators to reflect upon what it means for students to engage in writing in social work courses. The paper focuses in particular on meaning making experiences of non‐traditional (including Black and Minority Ethnic) students engaging in academic writing. The paper is based upon research which explores the experiences of a socially and ethnically diverse group of social work students engaged in academic writing on a diploma in social work programme. Whilst representing work in development, it suggests that the recognition of issues such as language history and identity are of significant importance for social work programmes striving to ensure that non‐traditional students are not disadvantaged in their academic writing.     

Some indications for professional development in social work: a study of theoretical interest and attitudes towards research among Icelandic social workers

This study among Icelandic social workers generally showed positive attitudes towards research activity in the field. Most respondents, whereof half were practice teachers, saw the practicum as an important tool for the integration of theoretical application and research activity to practice. Almost all saw research activity as a feasible way to empower social work as a profession. Simultaneously, a relatively small percentage report their own research activity. Besides this discrepancy some interesting differences were found according to number of years after graduation, field employment and experience as practice teachers. It is argued that the theme in focus is a critical indication of professional development and highly relevant for the educational discourse as for future professional development.     

Semiosis,interaction and ethnicity in urban Java1

This paper teases out the interdiscursive relations between local and perduring signs of personhood and their recontextualization in situated talk. In doing so, I aim to provide further evidence of the utility of incorporating ethnography, linguistic anthropological work on semiotics and work on face‐to‐face interaction. My empirical focus is on two consecutive men's meetings that occurred in an urban Indonesian milieu. In particular, I draw upon work on semiotic register formation and processes of social identification to flesh out how signs from different temporal‐spatial scales figure in the social identification of a non‐present neighbor as deviant and Chinese. By taking an interactional view I also attempt to fill a gap in the scholarship on such inter‐ethnic relations in Indonesia, which has hitherto primarily been historical in nature.     

Recognition and judgement in social work

The purpose of this article is to argue for recognition as a normative ideal for social work and to confront the ideal with the reality found in the social institutions. I shall use the concept ‘judgement’ to describe institutional routines and ways of thinking which constitute barriers to recognition. In the first part, I outline the normative ideal and show its relevance for practical social work on the basis of social clients’ experiences of disrespect. In the second, I explain the concept of judgement and criticise the prevailing forms of judgement to be found in social institutions. In my interpretation these pose an obstacle to recognition.     

The Formative Context of Organizational Hierarchies and Discourse: Implications for Organizational Change and Gender Relations

Society as artifact, meaning society as a thing that is made and imagined, is a central aspect of Roberto Unger's constructive social theory. This article develops Unger's social theory, specifically his notions of organizational hierarchy, discourse, and organizational change, and applies it to an understanding of gender relations at work. Constructive social theory is defined with a focus on the instrumental concept of formative context. A critical perspective of Unger's constructive social theory is also presented to illustrate its strengths, challenges and limitations. Drawing on literature from a variety of sources and perspectives, organizational hierarchy, organizational discourse, organizational change and gender relations are viewed through a formative context lens. The concept is then applied as a framework for organizational change through change in organizational discourse, specifically language. Change in organizational discourse through language is utilized as a means of improving gender relations: in particular, the advancement of women in organizations.     

Global Englishes, Rip Slyme, and performativity

In this article I suggest that while recent sociolinguistic work focusing on crossing, styling the Other or language boundaries is raising significant questions concerning how we relate language, identity and popular culture, these insights have largely passed by the sociolinguistics of world Englishes. This latter work is still caught between arguments about homogeneity and heterogeneity, between arguments based on liberal accommodationism, linguistic imperialism or linguistic hybridity that do not allow for sufficiently complex understandings of what is currently happening with global Englishes. Focusing particularly on rap music, I suggest that we need, at the very least, a critical understanding of globalization, a focus on popular cultural flows, and a way of taking up performance and performativity in relationship to identity and culture.     

Is a Critical Sociology Possible: Alvin Gouldner and the “Dark Side of the Dialectic”*

Alvin Gouldner's oeuvre is examined in terms of its confrontation with and critical appropriation of both empirical social research and Marxism. Traversing an enormous range of diverse topics-the sociology of knowledge; industrial sociology; problems of bureaucracy and democracy; studies in leadership; the role of intellectuals and ideologies; sociolinguistics; functionalism, Marxism, Stalinism, and anarchism; and studies of Plato, Saint-Simon, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Parsons-Gouldner's work retains a basic thematic focus. This work is neither a harmonious synthesis of these various topics nor does it remain totally consistent with any topic taken individually. Nonetheless there is a thematic continuity underlying the creative tensions and contradictions in his work. This continuity is identified as the classical political and historical mission of social theory; namely, the Enlightenment quest for rational discourse and the establishment of the social conditions for a truly humane society.     

Syringe sociology

In this article I consider the impact of social epistemologies for understanding the object of the syringe. My aim is to examine the process through which the syringe transforms from an injecting device to a tool of social and political inquiry. Paying particular attention to the uses of Foucault, Becker, Bourdieu, Freud and Latour in empirical studies of injecting heroin use, I examine the sociology of the syringe through the lens of habit and habitus, discourse and deviance, mourning and melancholia, attachment and agencement. In pursuing the theory behind the object my goal is to address a sociological object in the making. In so doing I show how the syringe has been significant for social research, social theory, and sociology. It is the difference the object makes that this article seeks to describe. In tracing the epistemology of the syringe I show how the object is important not just for knowledge of addiction but sociology itself.     

Spatial approaches to social work – theoretical foundations and implications for practice and research

ABSTRACT

Spatial approaches have inspired and grounded the social sciences and social geography already for a longer time. Beyond these models, the theory discourse on social work developed innovative concepts and models of socio-spatial approaches. They set a special focus on aspects of individual and social development, the concept of acquirement and emancipatory approaches to spatial design. For interventions, special methods for socio-spatial analyses were developed. This article reflects the main approaches of this theory discourse and asks for its key implications for social work practice and research.     

Entanglements of colonialism,social class,and Unequal Englishes

Recent work in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and language education has called for the “return” of class in the critical examination of the role of language in society and education under the organizing logic of capitalist globalization. Nevertheless, while the restoration of class as a core aspect of sociolinguistic analysis is much welcome, it has also come with its own ideological erasures: the disappearance of colonialism and coloniality. Thus, this paper aims to, first, tackle the general erasure of class in intellectual movements in the humanities and social sciences for the past few decades, then second, demonstrate how such erasure in fact involves the decoupling of class and colonialism through the example of the politics of Englishes in the Philippines, before introducing the concept of colonially induced Unequal Englishes (Tupas, 2015; Tupas & Salonga, 2016) as a way to address directly such politics.     

A still,small voice: Letter‐writing,testimony and the project of address in Etty Hillesum's letters from Westerbork

Abstract

This paper derives from an exploration of the ways in which the letters of Holocaust writer Etty Hillesum, which are seemingly resistant to many of the interests of current trauma theory, can be read in relation to contemporary writing on testimonial. In particular, the three theorists I shall discuss here, Derrida, Caruth and Irigaray, directly address Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle, a central text in the current refiguring of trauma. This paper traces the ways in which Hillesum's letters can be read across the theoretical accounts. An interpretation of Hillesum's writing emerges in which the conventional emphasis on the mystical aspect of her texts is reinterpreted in terms of Caruth's emphasis on the life drive. Viewed as forging a creative language of departure, Hillesum's letters are situated in a central relation to the most recent developments in the theoretical discourse around testimony.     

Introduction: Sociolinguistics and computer-mediated communication

This theme issue of Journal of Sociolinguistics comprises a number of empirical studies focusing on a range of ways in which people use language in computer-mediated communication (CMC). This introduction contextualizes the contributions to this issue by providing an outline of linguistically focused CMC studies. A critique of the research on the 'language of CMC' is given, and aspects of CMC research from a sociolinguistic viewpoint are presented: the move from the 'language of CMC' to socially situated computer-mediated discourse; its grounding in the notion of online community; and the application of sociolinguistic methodologies to its study. It is argued that CMC provides a new empirical arena for various research traditions in sociolinguistics; conversely, sociolinguistics can contribute to the interdisciplinary theorizing of CMC by demonstrating the role of language use and linguistic variability in the construction of interpersonal relationships and social identities on the Internet.     

Psychodynamic theory within the politics of social work theory

Abstract

It is argued that social work theory has a politics in which supporters of theoretical perspectives are in discourse. The political position of psychodynamic theory has varied in each of three phases of social work theoretical development: the pre-influence, dominance and alternatives phases. In the dominance phase social work theories usually derived from psychoanalysis, psychodynamic ideas permeated basic social work practices and non-psychodynamic perspectives were influenced by it. In the alternatives phase, these influences continued, psychodynamic theory became a player in a wider discourse, was incorporated into or incorporated other perspectives and continued its dominance in specific settings. However, intensity of criticism of it, non-therapeutic approaches in much of social work, restricted training programmes, poor media of professional communication, the novelty of newer perspectives and poor transfer of new developments in psychodynamic theory have implied an insecure position for psychodynamic theory. But many of these problems are shared by alternative perspectives and its historical strength, strength in related occupations its adaptiveness and inclusiveness and the development of post-qualifying training offer continuing avenues to strengthen its political position within social work theory     

Toward a social psychology of survey methodology: An application of the approach and directions for the future

Survey methodology is a relatively new academic discipline focused on understanding sources of survey errors. As an interdisciplinary field, survey methodology borrows theoretical approaches from other disciplines and applies them to understand how survey respondents answer questions. One field in particular, cognitive psychology, has played a central role in the development of survey methodology. The cognitive approach has focused researchers' attentions on the sources of error at each stage of the cognitive process respondents use to answer a survey question: comprehension of the question, recollection of relevant information, estimation and judgment, and reporting an answer. Although this focus on the cognitive response process has been positive and fruitful, potentially strong social and interactional influences on the response process have been underinvestigated and undertheorized. Thus, this essay argues for a revitalized research program in the sociological social psychology of survey methodology, given its rich body of theory and research. The current strengths of social psychological and interactional approaches are highlighted, focusing primarily on recent work using identity theory to understand social desirability biases. Finally, potentially fruitful future directions for research are proposed, matching sociological social psychological theories to the survey errors upon which they may shed light.     

A Serious Researcher or Just Another Nice Girl?: Doing Gender in a Male-Dominated Scientific Community

This paper explores how we as female researchers are constructing our professional identities in a male-dominated scientific world. In particular, we focus on the extent to which patriarchal articulations of professional identities influence female academics' self-concept and consciousness of their own abilities. We believe that the business school in which we work reproduces certain inequalities systematically, if unintentionally. We are especially interested in the way in which we, as part of the scientific community, are ourselves discursively producing and reproducing the gender division based on differences of sex. In other words, how we ‘do gender’ in a particular organizational setting and when assuming a particular organizational role. The argument of this paper rests on the belief that the social construction of gender identities is not taking place only in the interaction of persons but also in the discourses within which those interactions occur. Identity and the meaning it implies are located here especially in language use. Discourses not only constitute meanings for terms and practices, but they also engender personal identities. Identity is not seen as fixed but rather as actively negotiated and transformed in discourse.     

'It's good to talk': The focus group and the sociological imagination

This paper argues that the critical social scientist can employ the focus group – group discussions focused by a facilitator around a particular topic or area of experience – to recast radically both the social relations and the object of the research process. I explore the potential of the focus group to cultivate the sociological imagination in both the facilitating social scientist and the participants: in Bhaskarian terms, a 'transformtional act', raising consciousness and empowering participants, rupturing rather than reproducing underlying relations of exploitation and domination. The hitherto dominant forms of focus group research are criticised as being embedded in the epistemological and methodological assumptions of positivism, behaviourism and empiricism, and in social relations which service power. The qualities of the focus group which have attracted the marketer and advertiser – access to the experiential knowledge, opinions and world-view of the participants, in a context of synergic interaction – are examined. The paper argues for an alternative, radical use of focus groups, based on the new politics of knowledge associated with movements of social resistance. The relationship between this radical conception of focus groups and both Habermas's theory of communicative action and Bhaskar's critical realism is discussed and examples of the potential for focus groups to democratise governance and service provision are offered.