Sociology books

Winner of the 2018 British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize. Whilst scholarship has increasingly moved to consider mixedness and the experiences of mixed-race people, there has been a notable lack of attention to the specific experiences of mixed-race men. This is despite growing recognition of the particular ways race and gender intersect. By centring the accounts of Black mixed-race men in the United Kingdom and United States, this book offers a timely intervention that extends the theoretical terrain of race and ethnicity scholarship and of studies of gender and masculinities. As it treads new and important ground, this book draws upon theories of performativity and hybridity in order to understand how Black mixed-race men constitute and reconstitute complex and multiplicitous identities. ‘Post-racial’ conditions mean that Black mixed-race men engage in such processes in a context where the significance of race and racism is rendered invisible and denied. By introducing the theoretical concept of ‘post-racial’ resilience, this study strives to capture and celebrate the contemporary, creative and innovative ways in which Black mixed-race men refuse the fragmentation and erasure of their identities. As it does so, the author offers a corrective to popular representations that have too readily pathologized Black mixed-race men. Focusing on the everyday through a discussion of Black mixed-race men’s racial symbolism, experiences of racial microaggressions, and interactions with peers, Black Mixed-Race Men: Transatlanticity, Hybridity and Post-Racial Resilience offers an in-depth insight into a previously neglected area of scholarship.

Brexit Negotiations after Article 50: Assessing Process, Progress and Impact brings together contributors from academia, politics and practice to discuss and debate the progress (or lack of) to date since the Prime Minister, Theresa May, enacted the Article 50 process to leave the EU on 29th March 2017.  This collection is split into two key areas of inquiry. The first section explores the process of Brexit and the multifaceted aspects of the Article 50 process, examining the arguments for and against membership of the European Union. The second section develops the arguments within the first section by providing thematic chapters on the likely impact of Brexit on particular sectors of the UK economy, namely: the financial services sector; SMEs and related supply chain issues; and, the automotive sector (as an emblematic sector for UK manufacturing).  The book will make a unique contribution to the debate on Brexit as it brings together academics and practitioners from both a 'Remain' and 'Leave' persuasion,  including Sir Bernard Jenkin, MP, economist Vicky Pryce and philosopher AC Grayling.

New Public Management has held a central position within public administration over the past few decades, complemented by various models promoting post-bureaucratic organization. But ‘traditional’ bureaucracy has not disappeared, and bureaucracy is in transition in the West and the rest of the world. Bureaucracies still fill crucial positions in modern societies, despite growing criticism of assumed inefficiencies and unlimited growth.   This volume examines a range of issues related to bureaucracies in transition across Europe, with a particular focus on the Nordic region. Chapters examine a range of topics including a reinterpretation of Weber’s conception of bureaucracy; the historical development of institutions and organizational structures in Sweden and Greece; the myth of bureaucratic neutrality and the concept of ‘competent neutrality’; performance management systems; the anti-bureaucratic identities of senior civil servants; the role of experts and expertise in bureaucratic organizations; the impact of reform on public sector executives; the curbing of corruption in Scandinavian states; an interrogation of the Nordic administrative model; Supreme Audit Institutions; ‘street-level’ bureaucracy; and the establishment of an ‘ethics of office’ amongst Danish civil servants.

In this new volume of Studies in Symbolic Interaction Carl J. Couch’s (1925-1994) memoir The Romance of Discovery, which has lain unpublished for thirty years, is published in full for the first time. Couch, one of the co-founders of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, reflects on his work that influenced a generation of scholars and created a novel perspective known as the new Iowa School of Symbolic Interaction. His memoir describes the joy of establishing synergetic connections and the pain of the political struggles associated with the establishment of this school of thought. It offers a frank, proud yet humble, unapologetic description of a scholar’s journey, from a successful research to a founder of a school of thought. It provides a readable and valuable ‘moral tale’ of how research is not only a social act, but charged with political and conflictual dynamics as well.  Edited and set in context by Michael A. Katovich, the volume also includes Couch’s unpublished essay ‘Forms of Social Processes’ which sets out a theory of his methodology. Friends and colleagues offer their personal reflections on their relationship with Couch, and the volume concludes with a unique selected bibliography on new Iowa School works.

This volume covers the evolution of the chartered company; contributions employ comparative methods, archival research, case studies, statistical analyses, computational models, network analyses, and new theoretical conceptualizations to map out the complex interactions that took place between state and commercial actors across the globe.

This book examines childbirth and parenting in horror texts. By analysing new texts, and re-analysing commonly used texts with new feminist methodology, this study provides a unique contribution to the fields of gender and horror studies. Focusing on horror fiction and film, this book reviews textual treatments of birth and motherhood, and how they differ from representations of fatherhood. Motherhood and birth are represented as revolting in several ways. Mothers in horror do not fulfil their gender role, and the neglect of motherhood by a woman is deemed horrific because it is the antithesis of Western patriarchal ideals of female identity. These mothers are unforgiven. Bad fathers, in contrast, are given moments of restoration that allow audiences or readers to feel immediate sympathy for them. Examining conception, birth, motherhood and fathers, this work provides a unique exploration of the monstrous and the marginalized within the horror genre.

This book provides a resource for readers interested in the issues surrounding mobile phone use by children. Mobile phones are ubiquitous in young people’s lives around the world. Most teenagers and many pre-teenage children have their own mobile phone and carry it around everywhere they go. While the mobile phone remains an important communication device for making and receiving voice calls, technological advances have evolved the typical device far beyond simple functionality. Recent models are multi-functional mini-computers with ever-increasing power that enable users to communicate through a range of channels and to engage in multiple other activities. For many young people, life without their mobile phone is unimaginable, but mobile phones can be a source of risk and threat. Understanding how they are used and highlighting potential dangers is an essential activity to enable the creation of sensible and acceptable strategies to ensure that benefits are maximised and risks are minimised. Stakeholders such as parents, industry, regulators, government and children themselves all have vested interests in how children use mobile phones and bear some responsibility for young mobile users. 

This volume contains an Open Access Chapter Currently, there are more than 36 million transnationally mobile children and youth. Featuring the stories of children and youth from places such as Myanmar, India, Hungary, the USA, and Central America, Children and Youths' Migration in a Global Landscape interrogates how transnational mobility shapes the lives of the relatively young. This edited collection addresses questions that encourage us to consider what it means to be a transnationally mobile child or youth in the 21st century. How does transnational mobility affect youths' understanding of their ethnic identity? What is the link between educational attainment and social mobility? How does social class impact the educational trajectories of return migrant children? What impact does the knowledge economy have on new norms and practices related to human capital accumulation? Illustrating that transnationally mobile children and youths' experiences need social enquiry, this book pushes all of us to question our assumptions, challenge well-established theories, and rethink our understanding of the root causes of social inequality.

The concept of time in childhood and youth is discussed in two contradictory ways; first romanticized, as a time of play, innocence, and exploration - of learning through trial and error, and second, as a time restricted by tight societal and generational structures, such as chains of care, institutional and family timetables. Children, Youth and Time reflects on the complex concept of time as perceived and experienced by children and young people in relevant societal and generational contexts. Including empirical and theoretical contributions from around the globe which shed light on time and temporality as it is negotiated by children and young people in distinction to adults, both within the family and in institutional contexts, the chapters in this collection delve into the impact of current global challenges upon children, young people, and families’ time. How do critical global concerns such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic affect the temporal experience of children and youth? Providing fresh insight at a crucial moment of global disruption, the authors equip us with a stronger awareness of young people’s perceptions of the world during periods of crisis. As a vital tool for safeguarding and implementing strategies to support children and young people in an everchanging world, this is a timely resource for researchers interested in the welfare of children and youth.

The armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan are in dire need of reform to address a plethora of problems including inadequate training, low morale, poor public perception, and low recruitment numbers. This book uses the postmodern military model to measure how public perception of the military is influenced by self-identification in Taiwan, and it shows that the public has little confidence or trust in their military, even as they remain acutely aware of the threat posed by an increasingly belligerent China and its ever-growing People's Liberation Army. While there has been much analysis as to what strategies and weapons systems should be adopted by ROC defense planners, relatively little has been written on how to create a more relevant military within Taiwan society. Ultimately, this book addresses these matters and provides policymakers within the ROC government and military, as well as researchers of Asia Pacific security, with an understanding of the current relationship between military and society, to assist in the creation of a more accountable military.