6 articles matched your search:
- 'Winners' and 'Losers' in Social Transformations
Graham Crow and Tony Rees
Sociological Research Online 4 (1) crow_reesAbstract: The language of 'winners' and 'losers' is frequently deployed in the discussion of social transformations, but such analyses are less straightforward than they seem. Disagreements exist about which groups might reasonably be designated as 'winners' and 'losers', what the criteria are for identifying a gain or a loss, what time frames are appropriate for the calculation of gains and losses, and what sort of relationship exists between 'winners' and 'losers'. We argue that the language of 'winners' and 'losers' carries with it the danger of oversimplification of lines of social cleavage, particularly because of the difficulties to which it gives rise concerning the position of intermediate groups. Secondly, we suggest that it is crucial to set out the criteria by which gains and losses are to be identified if the designation of 'winners' and 'losers' is to be at all viable as an analytical framework. Thirdly, we argue that it is important to distinguish between short-term fluctuations and longer-term trends in the analysis of changing patterns of distribution. And fourthly we argue that judgements about the nature of the relation between 'winners' and 'losers' need to be made explicit. Monitoring the uneven effects of social transformations is a central task of contemporary sociology, and it is important that the analytical framework provided by the language of 'winners' and 'losers' is employed carefully in order to be able to capture the full complexity of these processes.
- Community Studies: Fifty Years of Theorization
Graham Crow
Sociological Research Online 7 (3) crowAbstract: This paper reviews the ways in which sociologists in the second half of the twentieth century attempted to make sense of the major trends unfolding in their societies. It focuses in particular on the way in which sociologists have responded to the legacy of the founding figures in terms of their identification of trends such as rationalization, bureaucratization, and proletarianization. The proliferation of other trends captured by words ending with the suffix -ization (for example globalization, McDonaldization, and postmodernization) is noted, and the argument is developed that this style of theorising is valuable but problematic. It is valuable because it encourages sociologists to think comparatively, given that the trends identified necessarily have reference points in the past and that their uneven progress in different societies (or other social units) can be compared. It is problematic because there is no agreement on what constitutes evidence that these processes are unfolding, nor on the need for such evidence. A further problem relates to the issue of how these processes are considered to relate to each other. Research undertaken in the field of community in Britain and beyond over the period 1950-2000 is drawn upon to illustrate these points and to support the argument that concepts drawn from theorization at a general level are essential tools in the analysis of contemporary trends. It is also used to support the related argument that such theorization needs to be grounded in empirical evidence if it is to go beyond mere speculation.
- Towards a Sociology of Endings
Graham Crow
Sociological Research Online 10 (3) crowAbstract: Sociological commentaries on the future are frequently built around the claim that we are witnessing the beginning of a new social phenomenon as a result of an existing one coming to an end. Recent examples of discussions framed in terms of new beginnings include reference to the emergence of new forms of family, community, politics, slavery and the international division of labour, while the focus on endings includes analyses of the end of marriage, masculinity, work, class, capitalism, development, history, and the world as we know it. This paper argues that such claims exaggerate the discontinuous nature of social change, and that a more nuanced account of the processes involved in beginnings and endings needs to be developed. As a contribution to this project, ten propositions are advanced about the processes whereby old social phenomena come to an end and new ones emerge. For example, people's perceptions about whether they stand to gain or lose from the substitution of a new social arrangement for an old one are volatile, and this has major implications for the prediction of their behaviour. Taken together, the ten propositions offer a distinctive perspective on the understanding of long-term social change.
- Friends, Neighbours and Distant Partners: Extending or Decentring Family Relationships?
Lynn Jamieson, David H. G. Morgan, Graham Crow and Graham Allan
Sociological Research Online 11 (3) jamiesonAbstract: [No abstract]
- Informed Consent and the Research Process: Following Rules or Striking Balances?
Rose Wiles, Graham Crow, Vikki Charles and Sue Heath
Sociological Research Online 12 (2) wilesAbstract: Gaining informed consent from people being researched is central to ethical research practice. There are, however, several factors that make the issue of informed consent problematic, especially in research involving members of groups that are commonly characterised as 'vulnerable' such as children and people with learning disabilities. This paper reports on a project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) which was concerned to identify and disseminate best practice in relation to informed consent in research with six such groups. The context for the study is the increased attention that is being paid to the issue of informed consent in research, not least because of the broad changes taking place in research governance and regulation in the UK. The project involved the analysis of researchers' views and experiences of informed consent. The paper focuses on two particular difficulties inherent in the processes of gaining and maintaining informed consent. The first of these is that there is no consensus amongst researchers concerning what comprises 'informed consent'. The second is that there is no consensus about whether the same sets of principles and procedures are equally applicable to research among different groups and to research conducted within different methodological frameworks. In exploring both these difficulties we draw on our findings to highlight the nature of these issues and some of our participants' responses to them. These issues have relevance to wider debates about the role of guidelines and regulation for ethical practice. We found that study participants were generally less in favour of guidelines that regulate the way research is conducted and more in favour of guidelines that help researchers to strike balances between the conflicting pressures that inevitably occur in research.
- New Divisions of Labour?: Comparative Thoughts on the Current Recession
Graham Crow, Peter Hatton, Dawn Lyon and Tim Strangleman
Sociological Research Online 14 (2) 10Abstract: This article argues that it is useful to compare the current recession with that which occurred three decades ago. Drawing on research undertaken at that time by Ray Pahl, it is suggested that four questions are once again revealing in the study of the current economic downturn: 'How have we come to be where we are currently?', 'Who gets what?', 'How do we know what we claim to know?', and 'What sorts of lessons can be drawn to inform thinking about the future?' The usefulness of asking these questions is discussed, even though the answers must await further research.
