Japanese urban sociology: Development and current trends

This article focuses on current trends in Japanese urban sociology as they developed historically. They can be understood in the distinctive context of Japanese sociology, as the products of an interaction between Western sociological theories and their adaptation to Japan’s own materials. The article begins with the historical context of urban development and provides an overview of the development of urban studies in Japan, including issues in the theory of urbanization, the distinctive character of the neighborhood association, Cbonaikai, and the formation of new local communities in suburban areas. The current trends since the 1980s involve the macro approach to urban restructuring, studies on urban ethnicity, and social network analysis. Overall, it is suggested that the influence of American sociology makes Japanese urban analysis comparative. I thank Claude S. Fischer and Tazuko Hanzawa for their help with editing this paper. Remain-ing deficiencies are mine.     

Occupational sociology as career and employment counseling: Patterns and possibilities

This article contends that career and employment counseling should be viewed as an aspect of the clinical practice of occupational sociology. First, the actual development of career and employment counseling is briefly traced. Then, against this backdrop, past and present linkages between occupational sociology and career/employment counseling knowledge are identified. Finally, sociology training and internship possibilities for the counseling component are suggested.     

Recent trends in job security and stability

In recent years, the popular press has led us to believe that downsizing and mergers are throwing unprecedented numbers of Americans out of secure jobs. In this paper, we survey current research that addresses these concerns, reconciling the sometimes disparate results of papers examining job tenure and separations, exploring the consequences of involuntary job loss, and reviewing research on trends in part-time, temporary, and contingent employment. There is no evidence of a dramatic change in job security over the last two decades. The various studies do not point to consistent losses in job security for any particular demographic group. Gina Franco, Noah Hochman, Charles Kaljian, Leah McKelvie and Christopher Thompson provided exceptional research assistance. The authors thank Robert Krol, Alec Levenson, and Elaine Reardon for their suggestions. Shirley V. Svorny is also an affiliated scholar at the Milken Institute.     

Recent trends in the union wage premium

Estimates of union-nonunion wage differentials are updated by examining a wide variety of subgroups in the general population. Variations in union wage premiums are tracked over a 15-year period, allowing inter-temporal comparisons that are not usually available. One important finding is that union wage premiums have been generally rising since 1972–1973. It also appears that females and nonwhites no longer gain the huge payoffs from unionism that evidence has suggested. The impact of race and education on union wage premiums is weighed, and there is an examination of how levels of education, association with blue-collar or white-collar occupations, and employment in specific industries affect union premiums. The author thanks Professor Jack Skeels for invaluable comments and Northern Illinois University for financial support.     

The sociology of education in seven European countries: Theoretical trends and Social contexts

The present paper aims to describe the main trends in sociological studies of education in the last two decades in six European countries, namely, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Topics addressed include (1) the main thematic trends in the area of educational studies and especially the sociology of education; (2) the interrelations between the social context—and, especially, the educational context—and social theories; (3) the interrelations between the various professional communities involved in educational research and (4) the interaction between international and national approaches in the study of education‐related themes.     

Producing sociology: Time trends in authorship of journal articles, 1975–1986

Authorship of articles in three major journals is used as an indicator of productivity of individuals and institutions over a twelve-year period. Authorship is dispersed among more than 1000 persons, with few consistent publishers. Productivity is highly concentrated among institutions. But while relative rankings of institutions on productivity by alumni are extremely stable, there have been important changes in rankings on authorship by current staff during this period. Finally, productivity is strongly associated with reputation for faculty quality, but change in productivity is hardly correlated with reputation for improvement. His recent book,Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place (coauthored with Harvey Molotch) was published by the University of California Press in 1987.     

Recent trends in rural development and their conceptualisation

The reversal of rural-urban traditional migration patterns in the last 20 years and the diffusion of non-agricultural activities in rural areas indicate that recent trends in rural development have not followed expected patterns. The paper retraces these recent changes, using as examples the case of France and Italy, two countries with quite different patterns of economic and social development. It follows the characteristics of the real processes under way on the one hand and the conceptualisations and categories used to understand them on the other. The paper concludes that recent trends require a thorough theoretical revision of the traditional assumptions in the social sciences. It suggests that the rural-urban criteria of spatial differentiation is losing significance while the regional or local economy approach provides a more useful framework, to explore the relevant criteria for differentiating rural development.     

Recent trends in public support for unions in Canada

This paper investigates trends in public support for unionism during the 1980s. Comparing data from two western Canadian cities in 1981 and 1987, we examine the impact of the recession of the early 1980s on public perceptions of the role of unions, whether the differences between cities documented during 1981 had increased or decreased by 1987, and if “hard times” had resulted in more nonunion employees expressing a willingness to join a union. There is little evidence of growing support for negative “big labor” opinions about unions in the two cities. Despite a well-publicized labor dispute involving the use of strikebreakers in one city, there was no increase in support for legislation restricting the practice. Residents in the same city, however, were significantly more likely to agree with “business unionism” sentiments, an opinion trend accompanied by a growing willingness to join a union. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the Western Association of Sociology & Anthropology, February 1988, Edmonton. We thank the Population Research Laboratory at the University of Alberta and Dr. Raymond Currie, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba, for making available results of the 1981 and 1987 Edmonton and Winnipeg Area Studies. We also acknowledge the research assistance provided by Alan Law and Mary Thompson, and the word processing done by Linda Abbott.     

Recent trends in Hispanic immigration to the United States

Recent patterns of Hispanic immigration to the United States are examined using data from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "From 1960 to 1978 Hispanic immigration increased significantly, reflecting the general acceleration in total immigration to the United States. Demographic trends reveal that Hispanic immigrants are increasingly working-age women. Their occupation composition is primarily blue collar, with operatives emerging as the predominant job category during the 1970s." The authors note that these immigrants settle primarily in a small number of urban centers of Hispanic population and culture in the United States, and thus the effects of immigration will be concentrated on the low-skill segment of particular urban labor markets that already contain large numbers of Hispanic workers.     

Recent developments in the employment and retirement of older workers in Germany

Against a background of an aging population, rising social security costs, and foreseeable labor and skill shortages, there have been public policy changes affecting older workers in Germany. Labor-market related initiatives aim at an increase of labor force participation among this group. Enterprise-related, active age-management strategies aim at improving occupational conditions of aging workers. In this context, prolonging the working life must be seen as one option of "active aging." Another view of the current retirement discussion is the question of how the unused potential of Germany's younger, early-retired seniors can be exploited. Active aging has become a social duty nowadays, with the intention that older persons contribute to society to avoid generational conflicts. In the future, active aging will preserve the competitiveness of enterprises and of the entire economy, despite an aging labor force. But gerontological research points out that different options to carry out individual life plans of active aging are also required. This article reviews the changes in public policies towards older workers and includes the findings of a project that illustrates good practice to combat age barriers in the labor world.     

Between sociology and the business school: critical studies of work,employment and organization in the UK

This is a paper about what happens when a form of knowledge moves to another part of the university. The author, identifying himself as an ‘ex‐sociologist’, investigates the relationship between the sociology of work, employment and organization and various ‘critical’ traditions within the business school. I argue that the contemporary divide between sociologies of work and employment, and Critical Management Studies (CMS) within the business school rests in part on developments in UK sociology in the 1960s and 70s. This means that divergent understandings of the role of sociology and its relevant theoretical resources provided the deep structure for the current tension between CMS on the one hand and research on work and employment on the other. The movement of sociologists and industrial relations academics to the business school provided the preconditions for two very different critical traditions. The paper concludes with thoughts on what it means to be an outsider inside an institution, and on the future prospects for Burawoy's ‘critical’ or ‘public’ sociologies in UK business schools.     

Recent trends and future prospects for the elderly in Scandinavia

After World War II, and all through the 1970s, social and economic development in general, and social policy in particular, raised the standard of living for old people in Scandinavia considerably. Public provision then leveled off and declined through the 1980s, with some variation between the countries. While the aging of the population continues, the political and economic climate now favors cuts rather than expansion of public budgets. Any further development along these lines will reinforce the inequalities, and place a growing number of the elderly and their families at risk.     

Metatheorizing in sociology

This paper describes and makes the case for sociological metatheorizing, or the systematic study of sociological theory. Three types of metatheorizing are delineated on the basis of their end products: the attainment of a deeper understanding of theory, the creation of new theory, and the creation of an overarching theoretical perspective (a metatheory). The basic problems in metatheorizing are reviewed and it is concluded that the most basic difficulty has been the lack of a clear definition of the subfield. Some thoughts on the future of metatheorizing in sociology are offered.     

Demographic,employment and development trends: the need for integrated planning

"The authors contend that problems associated with rapid demographic growth in developing countries have to be tackled through comprehensive population and human resource planning. Linkages between population and development are especially close in the area of labour markets. Following a discussion of the impacts of demographic factors on labour supply, labour demand and migration, the article proposes a practical framework in which population and human resource development plans may be operationalised. The concluding section briefly discusses the emerging area of population policy formulation and implementation."     

Decompartmentalizing the sociology of activist commitment. A critical survey of some recent trends in French research

This article is a critical survey of a field of research that for 20 years has been particularly active in France and is once again gaining momentum: the sociology of activist commitment. An outcome of this sociological current was the inter-actionist paradigm, i.e. how activists’ careers are embarked upon and evolve. The notion of how to reward activism has been refined and reconsidered. Theoretical debates relating to the surfacing – or not – of “new forms” of activism – or even “new activists” – are replaced in perspective and the two challenges that confront research today stressed. Both concern the social division of labor: how to account more thoroughly for the link between macro-social transformations and individual commitment, on one hand, how organizations are instrumental in formatting activism, on the other.