Category: Social Theory

Applied Sociology / Class & Stratification / Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / News / Population & Demography / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Research Methodologies / Social Identity / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Social Theory / Sociology of Culture

Introducing a New Journal: Diversity & Inclusion Research

Launching in 2023! Diversity & Inclusion Research is an important new Open Access, multidisciplinary journal publishing high-quality research focussed on improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at the individual, organizational, and societal level. Published by Wiley, the journal aims to contribute towards the deepening of local and international, theoretical and practical understandings of DE&I.​ There is an increasing urgency driving a need for rigorous inequality research. More than two-thirds of countries are experiencing increased income disparity, exacerbating the risks of economic and...

Applied Sociology / Opinion / Social Theory / Sociology of Children / Sociology of Health & Illness

Can young children give or withhold consent to heart surgery? Obstacles to innovative research

When we began to research children’s consent to non-urgent heart surgery in 2019, we were surprised by the healthcare professionals’ enthusiasm for consent with the right to refuse. In the first of our 45 interviews with practitioners and related experts, an anaesthetist said: “As a group, we would like to be the best in the world at doing some kind of evidence-based consent that is great for patients and legally robust.  We’re aiming to be amazing at it…Definitely some four-year-olds...

News / Social Theory

Sociology Lens: new brand for the Journal of Historical Sociology

We are excited to announce that from January 2023 Sociology Lens will be the new name and brand for the Journal of Historical Sociology. Sociology Lens is the new name and brand for the Journal of Historical Sociology which was founded in 1988. Sociology Lens builds upon the legacy of Journal of Historical Sociology, founded on the conviction that historical and social studies ultimately have a common subject matter and can only benefit from the interchange of ideas and perspectives. The journal aims to provoke...

Class & Stratification / Opinion / People / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Theory

Interview with Dr Zhuoni Zhang, Associate Editor for Sociology Compass

Sociology Compass is delighted to welcome Dr Zhuoni Zhang to lead the Social Stratification Section as Associate Editor, along with Professor Xiaogang Wu. Zhuoni is Associate Professor in Urban Governance and Design Thrust, Society Hub, at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). The Associate Editor role at Sociology Compass is to lead on the commissioning of state-of-the-art review articles under dedicated subject areas. We took the opportunity to talk to Zhuoni about her research background and aims for the social stratification section as she...

Class & Stratification / Opinion / People / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Theory

Interview with Professor Xiaogang Wu, Associate Editor for Sociology Compass

Sociology Compass is delighted to welcome Professor Xiaogang Wu to lead the Social Stratification Section as Associate Editor, along with Dr Zhuoni Zhang. Xiaogang is Professor of Sociology at New York University Shanghai. The Associate Editor role at Sociology Compass is to lead on the commissioning of state-of-the-art review articles under dedicated subject areas. We took the opportunity to talk to Xiaogang about his research background and aims for the social stratification section as he and Dr Zhang join the Sociology Compass editorial team....

Opinion / People / Population & Demography / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Theory / Sociology of Globalization

Interview with Dr Sayaka Osanami Törngren, Associate Editor for Sociology Compass

Sociology Compass is delighted to welcome Sayaka Osanami Törngren as our new Associate Editor for the Race & Ethnicity section. Dr Osanami Törngren is Associate Professor in International Migration and Ethnic Relations, and Senior Researcher at Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare. The Associate Editor role at Sociology Compass is to lead on the commissioning of state-of-the-art review articles under dedicated subject areas. We took the opportunity to talk to Sayaka about her research background and aims for the race &...

Opinion / Social Theory / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

What happened to Crime during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Since the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there has been a drastic change in people’s daily lives with emerging news reports suggesting that criminal and violent behaviors have also been affected.[i], [ii] Specifically, in the U.S. and across other countries, different types of crime (i.e., theft, robbery, assault) were found to decline since the onset of containment measures and lockdown orders.[iii], [iv] However, studies found increases in other crimes such as non-residential burglary and motor vehicle theft.[v], [vi]...

Research Brief / Science & Technology / Social Theory / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Health & Illness / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Put to the test: For a new sociology of testing

A test can be defined as an orchestrated attempt to reveal an entity’s potentially unknown properties or capacities. A drug trial, a pregnancy test, and a planetary probe are all procedures designed to ascertain the properties of some entity. However, while tests and testing are well‐established social forms, their role in culture, economy, politics, and everyday life seems to be expanding. With smart city experimentation, randomized controlled trials in economic development, and apps to test your personality and the performance...

Article types / Class & Stratification / Opinion / Social Theory

Sociologists should stop talking about social class

Once upon a time it meant something when we talked about social class.  The concept was useful in describing social inequalities, or predicting outcomes such as illness and premature death.  But the turn towards cultural and symbolic approaches to class in recent sociology has made ‘social class’ increasingly meaningless and empirically unhelpful.   For most of its history, sociology has explored the stratifications and inequalities it has observed among members of societies, most notably in terms of gender, race and...

Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / Social Identity / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Social Theory

The Importance of Trans Positive Research in a Time of Great Criticism

  ‘Two in five trans [1] people (41 per cent) and three in ten non-binary people (31 per cent) have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months.’ (Stonewall Trans Report 2018). If you add to this the levels of criticism and “debate” present on social media ranging from Piers Morgan [2] to Paula Radcliff [3] about the trans community it makes for a pretty dire situation. I contend that a way to improve this...

Opinion / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Social Theory / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Are Hope and Possibility Achievable in Prison?

  Following the publication of original article, Are Hope and Possibility Achievable in Prison?  lead author, Professor Alison Liebling, discussed her motivations for conducting the research, the findings and the ideas underpinning her approach.  This conversation with the Howard Journal of Crime and Justice’s Editor-in-Chief, Professor Ian Loader and the Governor of HMP Wayland, Sonja Walsh is available to watch in the above video. “Hope is everywhere … From the minute you get off the bus. They shake your hand and give you...

Class & Stratification / News / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Theory / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

The British Journal of Sociology: New Design Volume 70

As an editorial team we are keenly aware of the momentous changes that are taking place in the world of journal publishing, and fully intend to keep our own practices as a journal and as editors – everything from what we publish to how we review, and how quickly – under constant scrutiny in order to ensure that we stay as up to date and as relevant as we can be. So, it is with great pleasure that we announce...

Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Theory / Sociology of Organizations & Work

The Power in Writing a Good Note

Why study bureaucracy? Institutions and practices that we have tended to take for granted have recently been subjected to a new awareness and interest. For instance, Timothy Snyder, in his recent book On Tyranny (2017) argued for the importance of government institutions and their capacity to preserve the rule of law when faced with the rise and coming to power of authoritarian populist parties. Others, including key political scientists such as Francis Fukyama, Bo Rothstein, Paul DuGay add to this and point...

News / Social Theory / Sociology of Culture

British Journal of Sociology Best Paper Prize 2018: Gabriel Abend, ‘Outline of a Sociology of Decisionism’

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2018 British Journal of Sociology (BJS) Best Paper Prize, awarded to what we consider to be the best – most significant, provocative, intriguing, exciting, thought provoking – piece published in the journal over a two-year period running from our March 2017 issue to the December 2018 issue. This year’s prize goes to Gabriel Abend, Professor of Sociology at University of Lucerne and Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University, for the...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / Peace, War & Social Conflict / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Identity / Social Theory

Making Sense of Brexit: Interview with Victor J. Seidler

Victor Jeleniewski Seidler is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, at Goldsmiths University of London. His research interests include social theory and philosophy; Marxism and critical theory; moral theory; masculinity and sexual politics, and he has written on social theory, ethics and gender, particularly in relation to men and masculinities. In recent years his writing and research have focused on the cultural memory of particular events, including 9/11 and 7/7, and the ways they might challenge traditional social and...

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...