Modernization and Fertility: The Case of the James Bay Indians*

II a été souvent avancé, mais sans preuve empirique suffisante, que le processus de modernisation peut s'accompagner, à son stade initial, d'une augmentation du taux de fécondité, notamment grâce au relâchement des contraintes traditionnelles qui affectent la procréation. Les données d'une enquête auprès des Indiens de la Baie James semblent corroborer la théorie. En effet, elles révèlent que les intervalles intergénésiques diminuent au fur et à mesure qu'on passe des générations plus anciennes aux générations plus récentes des méres indiennes. Trois facteurs, reliés au processus de modernisation, semblent avoir contribuéà ce phénomène: (1) changement dans les habitudes d'allaitement dans le sens d'une réduction de la période ou même d'un abandon de l'allaitement naturel; (2) réduction des accidents puerpéraux, intervenue à la suite des progrès médicaux et du passage du nomadisme à un mode de vie plus stable de la société indienne dans cette région; (3) diminution des incidences des séparations prolongées des époux dans la mesure où s'améliorent les communications entre les villages et la société indienne tend à devenir sédentaire. The theory that modernization at its initial stage may result in an increase in fertility through the relaxation of restrictive customs governing procreative behaviours of premodern societies has often been postulated, but little empirical evidence has been provided to support it. Data collected on fertility for Indians living in the James Bay area of Canada tend to confirm the validity of this theory. They reveal, for this population, that intervals between successive births tend to become shorter among younger as compared to older generations of mothers, and this is attributed to three factors related to modernization: (1) changes in lactation habits whereby an increasingly larger proportion of mothers either do not breast-feed at all, or do so for shorter periods of time than did the older generations; (2) reduction in the level of pregnancy wastage resulting both from medical progress and from the fact that hardship and pregnancy accidents to which the pregnant mothers were formerly exposed probably have diminished as James Bay Indians have shifted from a nomadic to a sedentary society; and (3) reduction in the incidence of prolonged temporary separation of spouses as the communication between home villages of spouses has improved and as Indian families have given up their nomadic mode of life.     

Governing through accountability: Gendered moral selves and the (im)possibilities of resistance in the neoliberal university

Drawing on Judith Butler's early work on gender as performance and her later work on the ethically accountable subject, this study examines the production of gendered moral subjects under neoliberal governance in contemporary academia. The analysis of 40 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with postdoc researchers and assistant, associate and full professors in a Belgian university reveals how in academics’ narratives of their ethical relations of (non‐)accountability towards multiple stakeholders, gendered subjects are performed along the heterosexual matrix reproducing the gender binary. The conjunction of gendered and ethical demands imposed through relations of accountability further opens up distinctively gendered possibilities of consent and resistance under neoliberal governance. We advance the extant literature on gender in academia which largely focuses on women's symbolic struggle to (dis)identify with a masculine professional norm. By locating power in the gendered relations of accountability towards multiple others, it re‐conceptualizes gender as an ontological struggle in the constitution of the self as moral along gendered norms. The study rejoins recent scholarship that calls for the recognition and elaboration of a relational ethics by showing how such ethics enables the emergence of open and responsive subjectivities in relations of accountability.     

The power of scientific knowledge - and its limits*

C'est un postulat quasi-généralisé en sociologie que la connaissance scientifique est inévitablement appelée à remplacer les formes de connaissance traditionnelles. Ces dernières sont présentées comme incapables de résister à la diffusion progressive de la connaissance scientifique. Tandis que les formes de connaissance traditionnelles sont censées être liées aux institutions, la connaissance scientifique existerait hors de tout temps et de tout lieu. Enfin, on considère que le pouvoir des porteurs des types de connaissance conventionnels est insuffisant pour en ralentir ou empêcher la disparition. En dépit du large consensus à ce sujet, force nous est de reconnaître que les formes de connaissance traditionnelles se portent plutôt bien dans la société moderne et qu'il doit done y avoir des limites à la connaissance scientifique. L'auteur résume les arguments qu'on retrouve dans beaucoup d'écrits sociologiques sur la puissance de la connaissance scientifique, pour ensuite en examiner les limites. II conclut qu'au lieu d'être une simple conséquence de la résistance à la diffusion et à la domination de la connaissance scientifique dans la société contemporaine, ces limites sont elles-mêmes constitutives de formes de savoir scientifique. With few exceptions classical and contemporary sociological discourses have assumed that scientific knowledge will inevitably replace traditional forms of knowledge. These latter forms of knowledge are portrayed as incapable of resisting the progressive dissemination of scientific knowledge. Traditional forms of knowledge are defined as institutionally based while scientific knowledge knows no time and place. It is further assumed that the carriers of conventional types of knowledge are not sufficiently powerful to slow or prevent their demise. Despite the broad consensus, thriving traditional forms of knowledge in modern society suggest distinct limits of scientific knowledge. This essay outlines the case made for the force of scientific knowledge in much of sociological theory but also examines the limits of the power of scientific knowledge, limits which are     

The self-psychology of Heinz Kohut: An existential reading

The origin and technique of Kohut's self-psychology are compared with Freudian and existential thought, and a relationship to existential thinking is observed. This is discussed by Joseph Palombo, a member of Kohut's study group, one who had the opportunity to raise the issue with Kohut.     

The distinctive South and the invisible North: Why urban ethnography needs regional sociology

This article is a review of urban ethnography's Northern bias and regional sociology's Southern bias. I begin by arguing that these two subfields have reified the South's reputation for regional distinctiveness and rendered the North's regional characteristics invisible. To illustrate why urban ethnography needs regional sociology, I explain how the reluctance to view Northern cities through a regional lens has resulted in canonical conceptualizations of “the street” that lack precision and clarity. I conclude with a discussion of how efforts to revive regional sociology by conducting ethnographic research in Southern cities will need to expand beyond the study of the South to achieve lasting impact in urban ethnography more broadly.     

The intersection of youth masculinities,decreasing homophobia and class: an ethnography

This article examines the emergence of progressive attitudes toward homosexuality among working‐class boys in a sixth form in the south of England to develop an intersectional analysis of class, youth masculinities and decreasing homophobia. Drawing on three months of ethnographic data collection, I find that working‐class male youth intellectualize pro‐gay attitudes and that homophobic language is almost entirely absent from the setting. I document the presence of homosocial tactility, as well as the valuing of friendship and emotional closeness. However, these behaviours are less pronounced than documented among middle‐class boys, and I use these findings to advance understanding of how class influences the development of inclusive attitudes and behaviours. Inclusive masculinity theory is used to understand these findings, refining the theory and extending it to a new demographic.     

The ruins of Managua vieja: the use of expressive photography in urban ethnography

This article proposes a method of conducting urban visual work – a practice-led visual study in which researcher-generated expressive photography explores the ‘city-as-archive’ (Hetherington 2013) and contributes to the urban visual archive. The photographs used in this article focus upon the social world of material remnants in the setting of the old downtown of Managua, Nicaragua. The aim of the article is four-fold: to suggest the epistemological gains of expressive photography, to discuss the methodology and style, to present the use of these images in an urban visual ethnography of Managua and to address related ethical concerns. Although expressive photographs are used to some extent by scholars, there is a noticeable lack of discussion of the method and empirical examples in urban visual studies. In this article, I propose intentionally using expressive photography to convey the subjective and affective knowledge that is generally not communicated by more conventional, ‘realist’ documentary visual techniques. Moving into a more explicit conversation of the work process, I point out three arenas for inquiry, for which this method can be useful. I detail my own visual ethnographic practice, and present my primary visual aims in three image clusters: expressive photography in conjunction with historical images, theorising the oscillation between absence and presence and visually interpreting the vernacular design of the ruinscape. The article concludes with a consideration of ‘ruin romance’ as an ethical concern, as well as some reflections over perceived difficulties in using this method as a means of doing academic research.     

The moral of the gift

The author analyses the gift as a moral phenomenon. Based on a research on gift-giving in family networks, the article shows that one cannot apply to the gift the moral rules normally based on duty. A “true” gift must be free not only from economic obligation but also from moral duty, and in some way from any obligation. It is as if something more than what the rules prescribe were essential to the gift, as defined by social agents. This is why one can define the ideal-type of gift as a positive debt system voluntarily maintained by its partners.     

The accountability gap: The use of preliminary and evaluative research in Spain

In a context where it is of increasing importance to optimize resources, to refine the definition of the environment and to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI), preliminary research and evaluation in PR have not evolved significantly in the past two decades. There are very few publications examining the Spanish case and the results of this study indicate that these practices are uncommon. There is a slight preference for research prior to the development of the campaign at the expense of evaluative research. Furthermore, there is a notable discrepancy between the results of the Spanish study and the published studies from other countries: perception audits (outtakes) and views (outcomes) are undertaken more frequently than publicity audits (outputs).     

Empathetic technologies: digital materiality and video ethnography

In this article, we advance recent theoretical and methodological discussions regarding the use of video techniques for generating empathetic encounters. We do so through a focus on how these techniques might be rendered in research conducted through sites of action and experience that are explicitly constituted through forms of digital materiality, whereby the digital and material are understood as relational and emergent. We argue for a processual view of digital materiality and in correspondence with this, of the research process, whereby empathetic imagining is itself understood as emergent from the research encounter. By way of example we draw on recent video ethnography research that has used GoPro and researcher-held video recording in collaboration with participants, in order to record and develop understandings of their experiences of self-tracking and cycle commuting.     

Tightening the focus: moral panic, moral regulation and liberal government

The purpose of this article is to tighten the focus of moral panic studies by clarifying and elaborating on an analytical framework that conceptualizes moral panic as a form of moral regulation. The first part of the article explains why moral panic should be conceptualized as a form of moral regulation. The second part presents a rejoinder to Critcher's (2009) critique of the widening focus of moral panic studies. The third part elaborates on the conceptual relationship between the sociologies of moral panic and moral regulation by offering fresh insights into the sociological and political importance of moral panic as a technique of liberal government.     

Technological knowledge,curriculum and occupational role potential*

This paper examines technological curricula in terms of their potential to be realized in occupational roles. The more the curriculum is oriented towards roles (as opposed to skills or pure knowledge), the greater the probability that it will be articulated in the labour market and the greater its efficacy and legitimacy. The concept of role has been analytically divided into six components: value commitment, normative, communicative, interactive, role intelligence and proficiency components. Theoretically, the more components are present in a given curriculum, the higher the probability that a given occupational role will be effectively articulated. However, their presence is a necessary but insufficient condition for effective role performance; their integration is of equal, if not greater importance, and the latter is meaningful only when the social context of the articulation is taken into account. It was found that the role components do not appear in a balanced manner in technological curricula investigated in Israel, and some hardly receive any attention. Those that are present are weakly linked to actual economic contexts. Thus, it appears that students in technological education, are socialized to minimal role articulation; ie, they are more likely to implement decontextualized tasks than to assume integral occupational roles.     

Oversight and accountability in the social auditing industry: The role of social compliance initiatives

The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse led to increased awareness of abusive working conditions in the garment industry. Much attention has since been paid to the role and responsibility of retailing companies. The responsibility of social auditing companies, however, has often been overlooked. The authors investigate the systems in place to detect and address substandard auditing that fails to detect violations of workers' rights. They find that, in practice, oversight of social auditors and sanctions for substandard audits are both limited. In this light, this article explores how social compliance initiatives can play a role in improving verification of audit quality and ensuring accountability.     

Applying visual anthropology: Ethnographic video and policy ethnography

This research is part of a larger project that examines the working lives of South African women prisoners. The data gathered represent one of the occupational sectors inside a women's prison in the Western Capearea where lace‐making and embroidery represent key working activity for the day. Lace‐making is a symbolic link between European and colonial heritage and is associated with hegemonic relations. Women who are involved in lace‐making must bring eye, hand and mind into creative dialogue. The sociologist as photographer attempts to draw the observer in, through the eyes of the worker and to indicate the intricacy of physical involvement and sense of necessary patience that must take place with work of this detail. (The wrong placing or direction of fine thread can raise moral, psychological and pedagogical questions to the working whole.) Lace making may be interpreted as an ‘engaging’ pedagogical vehicle and/or as a futile, oppressive vestige of colonialism.