Category: Opinion

Opinion / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Children / Sociology of Health & Illness / Sociology of the Family

Imagining their Future Selves: Children’s Attitudes to Older People and their Expectations of Life at Age 70

Our recent article ‘Imagining their Future Selves: Children’s Attitudes to Older People and their Expectations of Life at Age 70’ published in the journal Children & Society provided an insight into children’s thoughts about older people, and how they imagine their own lives will be when they are older. So why is this important? Well, we know that the world’s population is ageing.  We also know that there has been scare-mongering about the ‘crisis’ this will cause, especially for the...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / News / Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Theory

BJS Annual Lecture: From “Having” to “Being”: self-worth and the current crisis of American society, by Michèle Lamont

On Thursday 25th October 2018, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Department of Sociology hosted its annual British Journal of Sociology  (BJS) public lecture. The lecture, by Professor Michèle Lamont from Harvard University was entitled, From “Having” to “Being”: self-worth and the current crisis of American society. The lecture focused on diagnosing the challenges of neoliberal American society: the pitfalls of the American dream across classes, hardened group boundaries, and the need to invent new narratives of hope.  The lecture...

Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Identity / Social Movements / Social Change

“Disgruntlement” and Protest Movements in the Trump Era

In their recently published article, “Protest Movements and Citizen Discontent: Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party”[1], Martin et al. seek to explain how and why citizens support broad-based protest movements like the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street.  Unlike social movements with clear constituents and defined goals, movements like these lead us to wonder why some individuals participate and not others.  Deviating from conventional frameworks that point to the extension or dislocation of political ideologies as social movement catalysts,...

Applied Sociology / Opinion / Social Identity / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Mirror, mirror on the wall… which one of the healthcare team am I? Understanding healthcare practitioners’ professional identities and what role professional regulation plays

In this article, Policy Adviser Michael Warren outlines some of the themes and challenges that arise from the Professional Standards Authority’s work on understanding professional identity and regulation. The research can be found here. Think of it, someone comes up to you and asks: “who are you?”. Where do you start? It’s a query that calls into question your entire identity. One place to start is your occupation, or ‘professional identity’. You may even have more than one professional identity,...

News / Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Welfare

International Social Security Review: Actuarial and financial reporting of social security obligations

A new special issue of the International Social Security Review discusses social security protection as a strong and vital component of society and national economies, maintaining and developing the human capital of all. To ensure the sustainability of social security protection, the actuarial profession has a responsibility to act in the public interest. In a context of increasing transparency of social security design and financing, this responsibility shapes the important work of the actuarial profession, demanding that it pays constant...

Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Theory

Sociology Lens Editor’s unexpected reflections on the year so far

This time of year always brings me mixed emotions. Autumn is my favourite season and as a once upon a time student of the English Romantic Poets, I’ve always enjoyed the nostalgia of mists and mellow fruitfulness (1). The lowing sun still has its warm but heavy glow, the creeping light winds up the walls a little earlier every day, whilst the coming darkness slides along the street, Rubbing its back upon the window-panes (2)  as we start to curl about the...

Books and arts / Opinion / Science & Technology

What the Greatest Generation Knows about Technology that You Don’t

In 2015, Anthropologist Veronica Kirin took a solo trip of 12,000 miles through 40 states in America to interview our oldest living citizens, ranging from 75 to 106 years old, about the changes they’ve seen during their lifetimes. The resulting book, “Stories of Elders,” documents nearly 8,435 years of life lived and roots our technological evolution in history. In this interview, we discuss her findings and why she was the one to do this research. What were the common themes...

Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

What not to watch: #MeToo and contemporary popular culture

In light of #MeToo, one of issues I have found myself thinking about on a daily basis is how to come to a decision as to whether or not a piece of culture is irredeemably tainted by the involvement of men accused of abuses and if I, as an ethical subject, should continue to consume them. The most significant factor in assessing whether or not to consume a piece work in which so-called ‘bad men’ feature prominently is individual experience....

Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change

‘Hokianga Says No to Deep Sea Oil’: Revisiting Environmental Protest in New Zealand

In August 2015, around 120 people gathered outside New Zealand’s Northland Regional Council. They protested against closed-door briefings by Statoil on proposals to drill for oil, displaying placards and banners (such as ‘Hokianga Says No to Deep Sea Oil’), singing songs and chanting their call for exploration licenses to be revoked. This action was one of a number that took place around New Zealand after 2011, when the National Party led government (2008-2017) pursued offshore oil exploration within its drive...

News / Opinion / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Health & Illness

Highlights from the American Sociological Association Conference, ‘Feeling Race’, Philadelphia, 11-14 August 2018

This year’s American Sociological Association (ASA) conference was held in Philadelphia, on the theme ‘Feeling Race’. I attended in my role as Research Editor for the journal Sociology of Health & Illness (SHI), to network with Medical Sociologists and encourage awareness of SHI as a place to publish their work. I was excited to visit this city and had been told to do two things (work activities aside!) whilst I was there: run up the ‘Rocky Steps’ and eat a Philly...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / Research Methodologies / Sociology of Health & Illness

Us too! Why it’s time to give female death by suicide some serious sociological attention!

The #MeToo campaign has had many consequences, one of which is a welcome and long overdue look at the devastating consequences of female sexual assault on the lives of women. One recent study has highlighted the long term consequences of these events on the victims by demonstrating that around 80% of women who are assaulted go on to suffer from mental health problems (see The Guardian). There are many other distressing aspects to the recent revelations but one that I...

Opinion / Rural Sociology / Sociology of Health & Illness

Looking after farmers as well as the land: research with farmers in North Yorkshire’s Cornfield Flowers Project

Do farmers derive any personal benefit and well-being from their Agricultural Environmental Schemes (AES) work? Being a volunteer grower and seed guardian for North Yorkshire’s Cornfield Flowers Project (CFP) made me aware of how this project functioned differently from other, mainstream AES. The CFP capitalises upon farmers’ personal interest in arable flowers [1] Participating farmers are not paid for the work, do not sign contracts, and are not obliged to adhere to prescriptive cultivations methods imposed by an external agency. Unlike...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / News / Opinion / Peace, War & Social Conflict / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Theory / Sociology of Culture

Highlights from the ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, 15-21 July 2018

The XIX International Sociological Association World Congress of Sociology is taking place this week, 15-21 July 2018. The Conference theme is Power, Violence and Justice, a topic that could not be more relevant for the global landscape in 2018. With over 5,000 delegates attending from across the globe, the congress opened with a vibrant and rousing performance by the Red Urban Project, Wasauking First Nation dancers and musicians. Professor Myrna Dawson, President-Elect of the Canadian Sociological Association began the addresses...

Opinion / People / Rural Sociology

Interview: Ruth McAreavey on Rural Sociology

Dr Ruth McAreavey is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Newcastle University. Ruth’s research focuses on migration, particularly to regional and rural areas, and inequalities faced by migrants in the labour market and in other parts of everyday life. Ruth has published extensively on rural development, and her most recent book on New Immigration Destinations was published by Routledge in July 2017. Ruth will Chair the Scientific Committee at the next European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) Congress in Trondheim, Norway,...

Books and arts / Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Health & Illness

THE NHS: TO PROVIDE ALL PEOPLE

This article by Dr Catherine Will is originally published on the Cost of Living, a site is for all people interested in the politics, economics and sociology of health and health care. The ‘Cost of Living’ aims to provide a vibrant mix of topical comment pieces, analytical features, and contemporary reviews, related to health, medicine and health care. I offer a very contemporary comment this week, having come across this recent BBC programme for the 70th anniversary of the NHS, by...

Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / People / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Identity

Interview: Professor Diane Richardson on Sexuality and Citizenship

Diane Richardson is a Professor of Sociology at Newcastle University. Diane is internationally recognised for her work in the area of feminist and sociological study of sexuality and gender, including recent publication, Sexuality and Citizenship (Polity 2018). A central concern of this research is to understand how models of citizenship are constructed and deployed by marginalised groups as new democratic moments emerge. Diane’s research addresses interlinked themes including the relation between cultural and material aspects of recognition, as well as...