Culture,the Public Sphere,and Media Sociology: A Search for a Classical Founder in the Work of Robert Park

This article examines the history of media sociology in the U.S., through a critical analysis of articles published in the major sociology journals during the twentieth century. I argue that media sociology has been at its most vibrant when its goal has been to understand the dominant cultural structures that shape the public sphere. Robert Park was the first sociologist to adopt this perspective, with his research on newspapers and the power of the press. This interest continued into the 1950s, with research on media and propaganda. By the 1960s, however, concern had shifted away from the public character of media, focusing instead on the ways in which social factors intervened between media messages and society. While important, this shift in analytical focus ultimately led to a more reductionist media sociology, which failed to explore how media provided a distinctive type of social output. There is evidence that a less reductionist media sociology has begun to emerge since the 1990s, with the rise of cultural sociology and theories of the public sphere. This new media sociology could increase its visibility within mainstream sociology by making more explicit connections to the Chicago School tradition, and by claiming Robert Park as its classical founder.     

Zustandsorientierte Maschinenzuordnungs- und Instandhaltungsplanung

Previous research focuses on preventive maintenance strategies which minimize the costs of break downs and of maintenance activities. Deteriorating machine conditions with the consequence of rising scrap rates and declining productivity are mostly neglected. This paper investigates simultaneous optimization of production and maintenance planning by applying the condition-based maintenance strategy with parallel machines and overlapping capabilities. The presented model allows exploitation of machine wear considering optimal order assignments to machines which is illustrated by a numerical example.     

“Allochthones” in the Netherlands and Belgium

Schematically one can distinguish two traditions related to ethnic statistics in Europe. In France, Germany and most southern European countries, the dominant statistical categorisations merely distinguish individuals on the basis of their nationality. In contrast, most northern European countries have been producing data on the ethnic and/or foreign origin of their populations. Belgium is caught somewhere in between these two traditions. The French speaking part of Belgium tends to follow the French tradition of refusing ethnic categorisation, while the Flemish try to copy the Dutch model in distinguishing “allochthones” and “autochthones.” This contribution offers an analysis of the construction of ethnic categories as it has been undertaken in the Dutch context and (partially) imported in Belgium.     

"Our babies shall not die": a community's response to medical neglect

The free neighborhood health center in a Midwest U.S. town was developed in response to a report that indicated that infant mortality rates were higher for the Black community than for the community-at-large. The health center soon took on the full range of health problems brought by clients regardless of client's race, ethnicity, or income. The processes for managing health care problems in an environment where racism was the rule rather than the exception are considered in this study.     

The Voice of the Child in Parenting Coordination: Views of Children,Parents, and Parenting Coordinators

This article examines the views of children, parents, and parenting coordinators (PCs) on child inclusion in the parenting coordination process. Participants in a parenting coordination pilot project in Montréal, Quebec—10 children (ranging in age from 8–17 years old), 14 parents, and 2 PCs—were interviewed at the end of the project. The goal was to understand their perceptions of child participation in parenting coordination interventions. Overall, a vast majority of children and parents agreed that children should be given a forum in parenting coordination and their voices heard. Feedback from PCs on their child inclusion experience also provided rare insight into this practice. Results confirm the importance for children of being heard in postseparation interventions, even when parental conflict is high. These findings add to the growing literature on the participation of children in postseparation interventions.