The Experience of Social Mobility: Social Isolation,Utilitarian Individualism,and Social Disorientation

The dissociative thesis states that social mobility is a disruptive and detrimental experience for the individual. Despite the absence of convincing evidence either for or against it, this thesis is generally accepted in sociology. I investigate this thesis by considering three dimensions of dissociation—i.e., social isolation, utilitarian individualism, and social disorientation. I use data from a large-scale survey in Flanders (Belgium) and apply Diagonal Reference Models to study consequences of intergenerational social mobility. I find support for asymmetric acculturation for each dimension, i.e., upwardly mobile individuals adapt more to the new social status position, compared to downwardly mobile individuals. Moreover, both for social disorientation and utilitarian individualism, I find detrimental effects of the experience of downward social mobility. As I find no detrimental consequences of both upward and downward mobility, the results do not provide evidence for the dissociative thesis.     

Verantwortliches Handeln als soziologischer Grundbegriff

As a critical modification of Parsons voluntaristic theory of action as well as of the theories of rational choice, this contribution suggests Max Weber’s concept of “responsibility” or “responsible action” as an enclosing model of action rationality, integrating both individual freedom of choice as well as over-individual categorical values. This systematical benefit of the concept of “responsibility” is especially due to the idea of a “value discussion”. This dialogical enlargement of rationality includes a modern theory of validity essentially needed to save the rationality of categorical values and to allow the equality of value-rational orientations next to questions of utility. This being said, responsibility can be presented as a basic concept of sociology, containing the key to an integrative social theory based on methodological individualism.     

Die analytische Soziologie: Soziale Mechanismen, DBO-Theorie und Agentenbasierte Modelle

Within the analytical sociology, Peter Hedström — professor at School of Social Sciences of the Singapore Management University — developed an approach to come to valid explanations of social phenomena. In this article, his approach will be described and critically assessed. The approach is based on the micro-macro view in sociology. With the assistance of the so called DBO-theory, certain social mechanisms are formulated on the micro- and macro levels to come to a sufficient (middle-range) theory for the explanation of social phenomena. To investigate the validity of the theory, agent-based models are calculated.     

Problem shifts in the study of welfare states and societal inequalities

This paper takes stock of questions in the field of welfare states and societal inequalities and related areas in sociology. Within general sociology, Lenski offered the question of who gets what and why, and the first generation of studies on welfare and inequality ranging from Cutright to Hewitt replaced questions about income shares for percentile groups by questions about state social security expenditures. Korpi, who initiated a second generation of studies, affected a change towards questions about individual benefit levels relative to the income of members of the working population. Commentators like Baldwin have pointed out that these questions are questions about solidarity, another problem in general sociology. This paper concludes by arguing in favour of a third problem shift, in which questions about the solidarity disfavoured people receive are complemented with questions about the solidarity advantaged people give.     

The Relationship Between Social Capital and Individualism–Collectivism in Europe

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between social capital and individualism–collectivism in a sample of 50,417 individuals from 29 European countries using data from the European Social Survey Round 6 (2012). Social capital was measured in terms of generalized social trust and informal social networks; individualism–collectivism was operationalized via Schwartz’s Openness to Change–Conservation value dimension. Results from a hierarchical linear modeling analysis showed that less than 10% of variance in social capital indicators was found between countries, meaning that the level of social capital varies more substantively between individuals than between the countries. Openness to Change had a weak but statistically significant and positive relationship both with the indices of Generalized Social Trust and Informal Social Networks, which remained significant even when individual age, gender, education level, and domicile were controlled for. In sum, our findings show that the positive relationship between social capital and individualism that has been found at the cultural level also holds at the individual level: people who emphasize independent thought, action, and readiness to change are also more willing to believe that most people can be trusted and are more engaged in informal social networks. The relationship is, nevertheless, very weak and the strength of the association varies significantly across different European countries. This variation, however, cannot be explained by country differences in level of democracy or human development and the country’s wealth moderates only the individual level relationship between Openness to Change and Informal Social Networks. Our findings suggest that sources of social capital at the individual level can be found in people’s immediate social surroundings, as well as their everyday social interactions.     

Symbolische Gewalt, Normalisierungsdispositiv und/oder Stigma? Soziologie der Behinderung im Anschluss an Goffman, Foucault und Bourdieu

Is Pierre Bourdieu??s sociology helpful in order to analyse dis/ability as social construction? As a first step, this paper offers a sketch of the German-speaking sociology of disability. Subsequently, it considers two approaches which are already established in this discourse. Erving Goffman??s stigma theory focuses on ??doing dis/ability??, but it reveals a naturalistic core, when it comes to phenomena of embodied difference. Drawing on Michel Foucault, his discourse analysis and theory of power, one can analyse ??making dis/ability?? by using the dimensions of discourse, discipline, normativity and normalization, but the level of agency tends to be neglected. Thirdly, the article looks at Bourdieu??s concept of symbolic violence as a possible contribution to the sociology of disability. This concept proposes that dis/ability can be described as an embodied effect of power relationships; it brings the aspect of ??being disabled?? into view. Finally, the paper discusses the added value created by the triangulation of the three theoretical approaches; it concludes with suggestions to be drawn from the analysis of disability for the sociology after Bourdieu.     

Simmels ‚Exkurs über die Soziologie der Sinne’ — Zentraltext einer anthropologischen Soziologie

The article reconstructs Simmel’s essay “Excursus on the Sociology of the Senses” as a central text of a sociology of the body, as a paradigmatic approach to an anthropological sociology. It re-systemizes Simmel’s partly implicit, partly explicit non-or pre-sociological aesthesiological premises on the senses as well as his twofold sociological perspective on the senses, i.e. the senses as a constituting factor of social relations on the one hand and the social regulation and construction of the senses on the other hand. Simmel’s phenomenological view on the structure and function of the senses (their immanence of abstraction, double perspective, difference and combination) is shown to be the aesthesiological foundation of his sociological approach, being perhaps part of a philosophical anthropology, that systematically reconstructs the basic significance of the senses or the body as prefiguring a person’s relation to him/herself, to the world and to others while at the same time saving him from biologistic reduction. The senses have their share in constituting the social world by which they are at the same time interpreted, modeled and constructed. Methodologically systemized in this way, Simmel’s essay in nuce reveals an aesthesiology of the senses that opens up the possibility of an anthropological sociology apt to rebalance the linguistic turn not only by an iconic turn but also by an acoustic turn (that can rediscover the sociological relevance of ‘parole’ against the dominance of ‘langue’).     

Emergent and effective properties in ecology and evolution

Emergent properties are often discussed in arguments concerning relationships among different levels. However, the different definitions of emergent properties sometimes confuse the arguments about macro-level phenomena, since some authors regard emergent properties not only as observable global patterns but as properties that affect and cause change in ecological and evolutionary processes. Thus it is important to distinguish higher-level or larger-scale properties that can influence particular ecological and evolutionary processes from those that cannot. I call the former properties effective properties. I gave examples that show why the distinctions between effective and non-effective properties are important.     

Socio-spatial attributes of social problems: The case of crime and delinquency

This article examines three hypotheses: (1) Socio-spatial structures and processes, like segregation, succession, and specialization, help explain the emergence of social problems. (2) "Space" is embedded — implicitly or explicitly — in every sociological approach to crime or delinquency. (3) Its explicit consideration increases the explanatory power of these approaches. Different dimensions, aspects or qualities of space are distinguished in order to dispel the terminological confusion that often surrounds "space". Spatial distances or units may include costs, symbols, of power. The relevance of these aspects for different approaches or criminal sociology like anomie, disorganization, opportunity structure, and labelling are demonstrated, and the implications of these arguments for the development of sociological theories, as well as societal, political and planning practices are also considered. Most empirical examples are drawn from recent sociological research in West Germany. Such an approach to integrate urban and criminal sociology can be used to draw conclusions for urban planning as is shown in a final passage: Desegregation and functional diversification of spatial units are recommended as strategies which may diminish crime and delinquency.I would like to thank the American and German publishers and editors for the permission to publish this extended English translation. My special thanks goes to Dr. Ralph B. Taylor from The Johns Hopkins University, Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research for helpful discussions and assistance with the English version[1].     

Prolegomena zu einer Theorie der symbolischen Gewalt

The development of modern society calls for a substantial extension of the sociological understanding of violence. To this end, Pierre Bourdieu??s concept of ??symbolic violence?? is of crucial importance. In this article, Bourdieu??s reflections on symbolic violence scattered throughout his oeuvre are collected, qualified and knit together. In the next step, Bourdieu??s perspective will be critically compared with other relevant approaches to the sociology of power and violence in order to assess the contribution of Bourdieu??s sociology for a systematic theory of symbolic violence. Finally, it will be scrutinized to what extend Bourdieu??s approach allows for an empirical analysis of modern phenomena of domination.     

Soziale Klasse in der Arbeitssoziologie. Zur Relevanz eines totgesagten Begriffs

Social class as analytical term has a longstanding tradition in sociology. Starting with Karl Marx and Max Weber international class analysis has developed heterogenous theoretical and empirical approaches. The paper outlines trends in the usage of social class in industrial sociology and the sociology of work in German-speaking countries from the after-war period to the paradigmatic shift heralded by Becks individualization thesis. The displacement of social class is interpreted as manifestation of symbolic struggles over the legitimate view of social reality, which has created considerable blind spots in the analysis of social inequalities. With reference to recent international developments in class research Pierre Bourdieu’s approach is used to explore ways to connect current subject-orientated approaches with questions of social class. Focussing on the class formation of subjectivity draws attention to the development of different orientations towards work and the dealing with the exigencies of work.     

Brave New Worlds: Philosophy,Politics, and Science in Human Biotechnology

Advances in biotechnology have important applications to the core demographic concerns of human reproduction and longevity, raising a number of difficult ethical issues. In the debate over those issues, however, the voices of demographers and other social scientists are nearly silent. In the United States the dominant bioethical arguments currently heard come from a conservative political and ideological position, represented, for example, by the President's Council on Bioethics and in particular by its chairman, Leon Kass. A critical discussion of Kass's writings identifies the philosophical roots of that position and highlights its logic and limits. Kass's specific arguments on cloning can be challenged by applying them to an earlier and revolutionary technology, birth control; his views on death and dying would argue for curtailing investment in life‐extending technology. Conservatism of this kind ignores social science perspectives and forecloses opportunities for social change.     

Equity,Security and Fertility: A Reaction to Thomas

This paper assesses recent arguments that sustained fertility decline cannot occur in circumstances of inequality, insecurity, and injustice. Naturally, these conditions are to be abhorred. However, the empirical record suggests that none of them acts as an absolute barrier to mass adoption of birth control and subsequent fertility decline. Recent trends in Bangladesh illustrate this point most vividly. One of the greatest fallacies of many fertility theories has been the assumption that there is an economic or social imperative in underdeveloped countries for couples to have many children. To the contrary, the historic norm for all societies has been an average of only about two surviving children per woman, implying an adaptation to low, not high, net fertility.     

Soziologische Emotionskonzepte und ihre Probleme

The sociology of emotions not only faces the challenge to develop an analytical theory framework by which emotions and their significance for social behavior and social relations can be analyzed, it has also to account for the complexity of emotions as far as ‘emotions’ constitute a diverse, heterogeneous phenomenon area which can be identified only in functional respect. However, in sociology as well as in emotion research in general, very often a rather reduced, single-sided understanding of emotions occurs that is based on everyday concepts. As a result, the relationship between emotionality and sociality can be grasped only sub-complexely. The following article presents a modular theory of the sociology of emotions which integrates different levels of emotions in the form of base emotions and cognitive emotions and by which different forms of social and cultural influenceability of emotions can be identified. With the example of the theory of the structure theoretical individualism of Hartmut Esser we examine how such a modular theory can be integrated into a sociological theory framework in an analytically sound way.     

“Whatsapping” the continuity of postpartum care in Switzerland: A socio-anthropological study

BackgroundDigital media such as Apps, Internet and social networks have become integral parts of the maternity experience for more than a decade. These media can support or undermine women’s experiences as has been shown in digital sociology research. Using Immediate Messaging Applications to provide information and support to women during the perinatal period is an emerging practice.AimThis article analyses how health and social care professionals – with a focus on community midwives – and women communicate between postpartum home visits through Immediate Message Applications in Switzerland.MethodsA socio-anthropological study that relied on qualitative methods including semi-directed interviews with midwives and health and social care professionals (n = 30) and immigrant women (n = 20).FindingsSince the introduction of Immediate Messaging Applications, women and their carer converse more regularly between post-partum home visits. Women send questions, pictures and videos to them, often allowing swift responses to their concerns. Midwives encounter difficulties answering women’s questions when they cannot be solved through quick communication (e.g. infant crying). To them, texting frequency forms a clinical clue to women’s mental health. Not all women contact their carer through digital messages; immigrant women are less likely to know and use this service.Discussion and conclusionImmediate Messaging Applications form a promising communication tool, complementary to home visits, and contribute to woman-centered care and continuity of care. As an emergent practice, it has not been framed by a guideline yet. Policy makers and practitioners should ensure that its use does not contribute to unequal access to care.     

Measuring Social Capital in Hamilton, Ontario

Social capital has been studied by academics for more than 20?years and within the past decade there has been an explosion of growth in research linking social capital to health. This paper investigates social capital in Hamilton, Ontario by way of a telephone survey of 1,002 households in three neighbourhood groups representing high, mixed and low socio-economic status (SES). A Social Capital Measurement Tool is proposed as a straightforward way to account for differences in social capital perceptions and actions among residents. Consistent with the literature, the paper found that there was a strong association between social capital perceptions and health, particularly mental health and life stress. Social capital was greater in the high and mixed SES neighbourhoods and much weaker in the low SES neighbourhoods. With respect to social capital actions, both volunteering and voting was associated with positive overall health and mental health. Finally, the paper identified the social capital ??elite????respondents with high or above average perceptions and who participated in the two social capital actions??voting and volunteering. Prominent among the social capital elite in Hamilton is the ??health wealthy?? senior, a positive development for the continued social well-being of the city.     

The effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public

This study tests theoretical arguments about gender differences in scientific knowledge and environmental concern using 8 years of Gallup data on climate change knowledge and concern in the US general public. Contrary to expectations from scientific literacy research, women convey greater assessed scientific knowledge of climate change than do men. Consistent with much existing sociology of science research, women underestimate their climate change knowledge more than do men. Also, women express slightly greater concern about climate change than do men, and this gender divide is not accounted for by differences in key values and beliefs or in the social roles that men and women differentially perform in society. Modest yet enduring gender differences on climate change knowledge and concern within the US general public suggest several avenues for future research, which are explored in the conclusion.