Uncertain Business: A Case Study of Barbadian Plantation Management, 1770–93

This article is a detailed case study of the financial records of a Barbadian sugar plantation, Turner's Hall, from 1770 to 1793. It explores the challenges faced by the managers and the strategies they adopted. The most significant internal challenge was the maintenance of a sufficient labour force and the two greatest external challenges were the American Revolution and the hurricane of 1780. Sugar production was an uncertain and volatile business, especially in this era, but the potential for high returns, even during the war, offset these risks and planters could adapt quickly to the changing business environment.     

American sociology’s changing interests as reflected in two leading journals

This study involves an analysis of the major topics published in theAmerican Journal of Sociology andAmerican Sociological Review from the 1890s through the 1970s. The data indicate that the discipline focused initially on its self-definition and major social problems, moving to more theoretical and methodological matters during the 1930s. The war years reflect a major concern with political matters, shifting to economic issues and the problems of minorities in later decades. The limitations of these normative and economic interests are discussed. He has concentrated on sociological theory, the history of sociology and comparative minority relations. He is presently engaged in a world-wide analysis of racial discrimination and conflict.     

THE IMPACT OF OWI ON BROADCASTING

A MARKED difference between the public opinion situation facinginformation specialists in this war and that in 1917 is thefact that during the last twenty-five years radio has come ofage. Never before have governments had available for use suchan important instrument of propaganda. Has the OWI taken fulladvantage of its potentialities? Mr. Landry was asked to appraiseAmerica's use of this weapon since Pearl Harbor. For ten years the author has been observing American radio fromthe platform of the radio editorship of Variety. He has listenedto and analyzed thousands of radio broadcasts. At present heis director of program writing for CBS and also a member ofthe Writers War Board.     

BBC Radio 4 and the experiential dimension of disability

In April 1998, BBC Radio 4’s programmes were rescheduled and a commitment was given that disability would become a mainstream issue for the network. Does He Take Sugar?, the network’s weekly programme which presented in‐depth treatment of disability issues was dropped. You and Yours, Radio 4’s weekday consumerist programme, was given the remit to include disability‐related coverage in its content. While mainstreaming yielded the possibility of increased coverage, the accompanying risk was that insightful treatment of disability would be lost. However, findings from an analysis of the series No Triumph, No Tragedy demonstrate that, post mainstreaming, meaningful exploration of disability continued on Radio 4. Crucial to this, it is argued, is the fact that the series was conducted by a disabled presenter.     

Does Where You Stand Depend on When You Were Born? The Impact of Generation on Post-Vietnam Foreign Policy Beliefs

American involvement in Vietnam and its attending domestic conflicthave generated a good deal of speculation about generationaldifferences and, more specifically, about the divergent "lessons"that Americans of different ages have drawn from the most salientforeign policy episodes they have experienced. The most visiblelines of cleavage have quite often been described as fallingbetween those whose views were shaped by the events leadingup to World War II, on the one hand, and, on the other, thosewhose outlook has been molded by the war in Southeast Asia.Using data from questionnaire responses of 2,282 American leadersin various occupations, this article assesses the validity ofthe "Munich generation versus Vietnam generation" thesis. Thefindings indicate that the most salient cleavages on foreignpolicy exist between occupations and within generation, ratherthan vice versa. The article concludes with a discussion ofthe prospects for early achievement of domestic consensus onissues of international politics and American foreign policy.     

Questions of assertion,diversity, and spirituality: Simultaneously becoming a minority and a sociologist

The article describes the author’s entry into a second career as both a minority and a sociologist. At age 40, after retiring from a career in the military service, due to value and culture conflict experienced over a twenty-five year span, the author decided to return to the Native American values, religion, and, in part, culture, as taught to him by his traditional grandfather. He describes the conversion and draws analogies to three major theoretical dimensions of Native American victimization raised by Dadrian (1976). Culture conflict issues were confounded by personal conflicts concerning the very nature of assertion and competition, cultural diversity, and spirituality. The author describes his difficulty in dealng with such conflicts and, as an initial move to adapt to these stresses, purposes an extension of Merton’s (1938) five adaptations to stress. His research interests include police organizational behavior and Native American suicide patterns. He is on the Minority Committee for Native American Victimization.     

From a committed achiever to a radical social scientist: The life course dialectics of a “Marginal” black american sociologist

In the following analysis, the human life course, micropolitics of dominant-subordinate relations, and phenomenological perspectives will be used to better understand marginality’ in the early socialization and career development of a black American sociologist. My graduate school education and tenure track experiences will be used as “data” through which a dialectical model of marginalization and human development can be formulated. He currently is doing an historical sociological analysis,Experts, Knowledge and Power: The Organizational and Class Contexts of Poverty and Inequality Related Applied Social Scientists; 1960–1980.     

Romancing the Sugar Daddy in Rosemarie Owino's Sugar Daddy's Lover

Abstract

As a growing body of scholarship has demonstrated, the romance genre in Africa plays a series of important functions. Whereas in the West, romance is often seen as a formulaic genre that has run its course, in Africa, it is used to explore a range of pressing social issues. Romantic fiction offers advice and suggests solutions and hence makes legible contemporary ideas on gender and romance. However, thus far, the body of scholarship on romance has tended to focus largely on the female protagonists who dominate the genre. By examining the figure of the sugar daddy, we can widen the boundaries of investigation. This article investigates these ideas in relation to a reading of a popular Kenyan novel, Sugar Daddy's Lover.     

Social dimensions of risk: The need for a sociological paradigm and policy research

The social dimensions of risk have been neglected by the sciences and professions concerned with risk. Recent debates demonstrate deep concern, much disagreement, and misunderstanding within the risk analysis community regarding issues requiring sociological analysis. The “people role” in risk analysis is not simply a matter of individual cognition and perception, important as these are. This paper reviews recent developments bearing on the policy implications of risk analysis which are of special interest to sociologists. He is completing a long-delayed book on juvenile delinquency and continuing the work on risk which was the basis for his American Sociological Association presidential address in 1984.     

American sociology in chaos: Differentiation without integration

American sociology is a chaotic discipline. There is disagreement on foundational issues that give disciplines coherence. For example, sociologist disagree on the appropriateness of a scientific orientation, the role of activism and ideology in inquiry, the best methodologies to employ, the primacy of microversus macro-levels of analysis, the most important topics to study, and many other contentious issues. The recent call for a “public sociology” in which four wings of the discipline—policy (applied), professional (scientific), critical (ideological), and public (civic engagement) sociologies—are to be integrated is less of a remedy for what troubles sociology than an admission that we are a discipline divided (Burawoy, 2005). Among the social sciences, economics is the most coherent, with the other social sciences revealing varying degrees of incoherence or chaos. Sociology is probably the least integrated of the social sciences, although cultural anthropology has increasingly become much like sociology. In this paper, my goal is to offer an explanation for how sociology came to it present state and what, if anything, can be done to integrate the discipline. Let me begin by outlining what makes a discipline coherent. Jonathan H.Turner is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. He is primarily a theorist, and his substantive interests include the history and structure of American sociology. He can be reached at jonathan.turner@ucr.edu.     

Strategic Health Planning:

Dr. R. John Young is a pioneer in "strategic health planning." Originally a native of Northern Ireland, Dr. Young received his undergraduate degree from the University of London and his master's and PhD degrees from Purdue University. He conducted post-doctoral research in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Young is immediate past-President of the Society of Prospective Medicine, an international professional association dedicated to the scientific estimation of health risks and to the art of intervening to reduce those risks. He is also a regular Study Section Chairperson and reviewer of research grants for the National Institute of Health, and a member of both the American Public Health Association and the American Psychological Association. Dr. Young is President of Corporate Health Services, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina.     

The political economy of sociology: An interview with David Goslin,national research council

In this interview, David A. Goslin responds to a variety of questions concerning the relationship between the federal government and the political economy of sociology. He addresses the identity of sociology in Washington, the treatment of behavioral and social sciences as a special case in science policy, the greater acceptability of the behavioral sciences, the battle of 1981, the recurring need for reviews of the discipline, the role of the National Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences, the current status and rising prospects of the social sciences, and emerging areas of national concern. Lawrence J. Rhoades has been on the Washington scene for more than a decade. During the first four years, he served as executive associate of the American Sociological Association and wrote a social science and government series forFootnotes. He has since served in research policy, planning, and evaluation positions in the federal government. He currently is Washington correspondent forThe American Sociologist.     

The Consequences of Validated and Self-Reported Voting Measures

This paper reports on the results of validation of the self-reportedregistration status and voting behavior of respondents in the1976 and 1978 American National Election Studies. The resultsindicate about one in seven of the respondents misreported theirregistration status or voting behavior. Comparative analysesare conducted using simple regression models to see if differencesin their explanatory power arise using validated and self-reporteddependent variables. The results show that there are no majorchanges in the fundamental nature of basic relationships thathave been observed since the first surveys were conducted. Analysisof the effects of overreported participation on estimates ofthe partisan division of the vote in three sets of subnationalcontests reveals a likely "bandwagan" effect. . Portions of the data utilized in this article were made availableby the Inter-university Consortium for Political and SocialResearch. The data for the 1976 and 1978 American National ElectionStudies were originally collected by the Center for PoliticalStudies of the Institute for Social Research. The Universityof Michigan, under a grant from the National Science Foundation.Neither the original collectors of the data nor the Consortiumbear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretationspresented here. The comments of an anonymous reviewer, whichresulted in a fruitful extension of the analysis, are gratefullyacknowledged.     

Potential expansion of the academic job market: Opportunities for sociologists

Following a period of a restricted and declining academic market, an expansion of such opportunity for sociologists is forecast. The next decade will be characterized by increasing enrollments, particularly after 1995, and an increasing percentage of faculty currently employed within academia will pass the normal age of retirement. The “uncapping” of age of retirement is not expected to have a significant impact on the need to replace older faculty. Despite a decline in the production of Ph.D.’s during the 1980s, there continues to exist a significant pool of underutilized sociologists. The impact of this oversupply will depend upon more than the increase in demand within academic institutions. The number of sociologists employed outside academia increased during the 1980s, and this trend is expected to continue. Conclusions must remain tentative because of the severe limitations of available data, and additional data collection and analysis is suggested. Nevertheless, the next decade is seen as a time of expanding opportunities for sociologists, and the market for their service is seen as becoming increasingly competitive. He served as vice president for academic affairs and provost from 1980 to 1988. He is the immediate past vice president of the American Sociological Association.     

W.E.B. DU BOIS,THE BLACK CHURCH,AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF RELIGION

During his early sociological period (1896–1914), Du Bois published several empirically-based studies on the Black Church. Many topics were addressed that are relevant to the contemporary study of the Black Church and the sociology of religion. Du Bois utilized methodological triangulation to empirically ground his studies of the Black Church. Census, survey, and ethnographic data were integrated to provide a comprehensive picture of the role of the Black Church in the African American community. He addressed the social construction of African American religious identity and provided an early functional analysis of the Black Church. The association between religion and social class was recognized, and Du Bois was a pioneer in the area of congregational studies addressing such issues as church expenditures and membership patterns and generating surveys of children's religious beliefs and ministerial effectiveness. Extensive data were collected on Black Church membership in large cities and small communities. These data make it possible to reconstruct the Black Church religious economy in these areas. Du Bois' sociological work on religion provides a link to the discipline's past and a bridge to its future.     

Abating Stereotypical Attitudes: Views on Career Paths of an Asian American Comedian

An Asian American comedian, William Mar, provides an insightful commentary about his career choice. He believes that the comedy stage is a useful position to comment on stereotypes inherent to the American culture. Comedians must challenge the audience to think about the joke not only as amusement, but to examine the other implications involved.     

War and the contest over national identity

This paper looks at a recent historical moment in which the American national identity was defined and contested in the public arena. The Persian Gulf crisis of 1990‐91 presents a case in point in which official actors attempted to define the American character and in so doing prescribed particular actions necessary to fulfill what it means to be an American confidence. He described Americans as unique in esteemed values and America as the only country capable of leading the world. In so doing, he invited American participation in support for US military intervention. On the other side, the peace movement chose to emphasize American weaknesses, domestic problems, and the gullible nature of the American people. In so doing it attempted to shame Americans into supporting the anti‐war movement.     

Injured and Silenced: Working with Workers' Compensation Claimants and Their Families

It is not uncommon for rehabilitation and workers' compensation systems to treat the injured worker as either a passive victim or a mischievous malingerer. Much ofthe literatureregardingrehabilitation ofpeople with chronic pain and soft tissue injury speaks of paralysis and powerlessness as if the injured person is a piece offlotsam buffeted about by the socialforces of WorkCare (and other compensation systems), the employer and the medical legal systems. This paper will review the pertinent literature and demonstrate the lack ofobjective supportfor a ‘blame-thevictim’ attitude. The importance of the injured person playing an active role in his/her rehabilitation will be emphasised through a systematic analysis ofthe impact ofthe WorkCare scheme on the injured worker and their treatment. In this light, a systems based approach to therapy with injured workers and their families will be outlined.     

Family leave legislation in the American states: Toward a model of state policy adoption

The issue of mandated family leave has drawn substantial attention in recent years. This article develops and tests empirically a model of adoption of family leave policies in the American states during the late 1980s. State family leave policies are seen as a function of three sets of variables: (a) institutional-elite variables such as partisan control of state government and the proportion of women in the state legislatures; (b) constituency disposition variables such as mass partisanship, mass ideology, and the likelihood of general support for “women's” issues; and (c) contextual-demand variables such as birth rates and women's participation in the workforce. The model provides impressive fit to the data, accurately predicting the family leave policies of 92% of the state cases. The results suggest the importance of partisan control of state government, proportion of women in the state legislature, urbanization, and feminism as a state policy as factors that affect the probability that states will adopt mandated family leave policies. His research interests include American politics, public policy, and domestic political economy. He is editor of theAmerican Politics Quarterly, and is former President of the State Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include family policy and women's labor force participation. She received her Ph.D. in Family Science from the University of Georgia.     

Waiting for the revolution: The use of microcomputers by social scientists

A longitudinal analysis of one academic unit is employed to assess whether the “microcomputer revolution” has affected the work of academic social scientists. In the four years since all social scientists in the multidisciplinary unit received microcomputers, average use has increased steadily to twenty-four hours per week. There is remarkable consistency in the relative distribution of uses over time, with word-processing applications and research uses remaining dominant. The social scientists report that microcomputer use has moderately increased the quantity and especially enhanced the quality of their research and that the impacts of microcomputing on their interpersonal work environments have been very positive. The data in this analysis reveal clearly that, contrary to the rather hyperbolic claims and excited projections from some social scientists, microcomputers have had benign and incremental impacts on existing patterns of work and have not transformed the nature of social scientists’ work. His recent research has emphasized the social impacts of computing and telecommunications technologies. His most recent book (co-authored with Kenneth L. Kraemer) isPeople and Computers: The Impacts of Computing on End Users in Organizations (Columbia University Press, 1986). He currently is involved in an extensive longitudinal analysis of the uses and impacts of computing technologies in American local governments. He was honored in 1987 with UCI’s first Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award for Teaching. The initial phase of this research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (IST 8317592).