I’ve just come back from two days talking, thinking and occasionally getting frustrated by the question of the relationship between art and social research. This is something I’ve been curious about for ages. Here are some reasons why: I think… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘sociology’
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Sociologist
This wonderful phrase comes from Stephen Mugford who just forwarded me a letter he wrote some time ago complaining about the largely unacknowledged reinvention and rediscovery which can be seen in contemporary sociology and how it compares to the much more innovative research trajectories… Read More ›
The emergence of sociological media? Is social media becoming mainstream within UK sociology?
I wrote a short article for the BSA Teaching Journal last week arguing that we are seeing the early stages of social media use becoming mainstream within UK sociology. I’m interested to know what others think of this argument so… Read More ›
The Sociological Craft Project
In the appendix to Sociological Imagination, entitled On Intellectual Craftsmanship, C. Wright Mills advocates keeping a file or journal within which to record your ideas. He argues that doing so: encourages you to capture ‘fringe-thoughts’: various ideas which may be by-products… Read More ›
BSA Teaching Group Conference on June 15th
BSA TEACHING GROUP CONFERENCE Saturday 15th June 2013 Nottingham Trent University Sponsored by the Higher Education Academy The BSA’s Teaching Group is pleased to announce a regional conference hosted by the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University. This event is… Read More ›
What are you doing tonight? I’m going out to commit some sociology…
In the wake of a foiled terrorist attack in Canada, recent comments have offered a fascinating insight into mindset of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Now is not the time to “commit sociology,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday in the wake of… Read More ›
Rethinking sociological craft in an age of austerity – an interview with Les Back
In this interview I talk to Les Back about the opportunities for sociology in a time of crisis. He argues that there has never been a greater opportunity to rethink the craft of sociology than there is at present. He’ll be speaking… Read More ›
What is Digital Sociology?
Though it is a hugely exciting trend, the growth of digital research methods risks becoming a narrow specialism. It is crucial that we don’t fall into the digital dualist trap of assuming that ‘online’ and ‘offline’ constitute distinct realities, as… Read More ›
Social theory and social research – what went wrong?
Underlying much sociological explanation is an attempt to bridge the gap between the ‘micro’ and the ‘macro’ within the context of a specific empirical inquiry. As the authors put it, “in the human and behavioural sciences, the analytical connection or… Read More ›
Was Aditya Chakrabortty right about Sociology? A work sociologist responds…
In a recent article Aditya Chakrabortty argued that economics has failed us but sociology has been unable to offer any alternatives. In this podcast I talk to Melanie Simms of Warwick Business School, who signed this group letter to the Guardian, about work sociology… Read More ›
John Holmwood on “Sociology’s ‘moments’: C. Wright Mills and the critique of professionalism”
John Holmwood’s talk “Sociology’s ‘moments’: C. Wright Mills and the critique of professionalism” from the C Wright Mills session I organised at the BSA conference in Leeds. Will go up on Sociological Imagination once I’ve finished editing the session and gathering the related material I… Read More ›
Les Back on Sociology’s Promise
Les Back’s talk ‘sociology’s promise’ from the C Wright Mills session I organised at the BSA conference in Leeds. Will go up on Sociological Imagination once I’ve finished editing the session and gathering the related material I want to post… Read More ›
#UKRiots and Sociology
An absolutely superb letter in the Guardian from the British Sociological Association about the contribution sociology can make to understanding the UK Riots: One of the first things that disappears when considering disturbances such as these is perspective. One loses sight of the… Read More ›
