As Peter Miller and I have argued elsewhere, the government of an “economy” becomes possible only through discursive mechanisms that represent the domain to be governed as an intelligible field with its limits, characteristics whose component parts are linked together in some more or less systematic manner (Miller and Rose 1990). For the bioeconomy to…

DSM IV cautions that individuals within any diagnostic group are heterogeneous: its categories are only intended as aids to clinical judgement. But it promotes an idea of specificity in diagnosis that is linked to a conception of specificity in underlying pathology. The broad categories of the start of the twentieth century – depression, schizophrenia, neurosis…

My aim is descriptive and diagnostic – to begin to map the new territory of biological citizenship and to develop some conceptual tools for its analysis Nikolas Rose, The Politics of Life Itself, Pg 137, Princeton University Press In short: my plan is to do the same thing with sexual experience in late capitalism….

The new style of thought in biological psychiatry not only establishes what counts as an explanation, it establishes what there is to explain. The deep psychological space that opened in the twentieth century has flattened out. In this new account of personhood, psychiatry no longer distinguishes between organic and functional disorders. It no longer concernes…

Therapy seems to mean a getting back to basic sensory and visceral experience. Prior to therapy the person is prone to ask himself, often unwittingly, “What do others think I should do in this situation?” “What would my parents or my culture want me to do?” “What do I think ought to be done?” He is thus…

Human beings, characteristically try to reform and improve themselves. Inescapably, at any historical moment, they do so in terms of knowledges and beliefs about the kinds of creatures that they are. Over the first sixty years or so fo the twentieth century, human beings – at least in the advanced industrial and liberal democratic societies of the west – came to…

In advanced liberal democracies – the geographical and political regions with which I will be concerned in this chapter – genetics takes its salience within a political and ethical field in which individuals are increasingly obligated to formulate life strategies, to seek to maximize their life chances, to take actions or refrain from actions in order to increase the…

Harvey,L & Gill,R. (2011) The Sex Inspectors: Self-help, Makeover and Mediated  Sex. in Ross,K. (Ed) Handbook on Gender, Sexualities and Media. Oxford:  Blackwell, 2011 The aim of this chapter is to explore the contours of a new genre that has come to the fore in recent years as part of the proliferation of reality or…

Nikolas Rose, “Governing Conduct in the Age of the Brain” from Clinical Ethnography on Vimeo. How did we go from understanding and acting upon ourselves as psychological selves with inner depths to understandings and acting upon ourselves as corporeal beings with biological characteristics? Two main epistemological shifts: The emerging of a neuromolecular gaze (the brain becomes seen…

“I believe that the obligation to recover is linked to a reudction in the tolerance of our societies for difference and a belief that there is only one proper way to live your life. And if you don’t live your life in this way… if you’re not autonomous, if you’re dependent on someone, if you…

Previously, one might suggest, the role of medicine was not to transform human capacities but to restore a lost normativity. The body had its natural norms, illness was a loss of those norms, and medical intervention sought to restore those norms or to mimic them in some way. The hope was that, with a cured or at…

Review of the Edge of Darkness We first meet Detective Tommy Craven greeting his daughter at Boston station. He’s clearly a loving but overprotective father, a man subtly ill at ease with the modern world. His daughter chides him for ‘always’ being early, and on the way home answers his probing questions by suggesting he…

Over the first sixty years or so of the twentieth century, human beings came to understand themselves as inhabited by a deep interior psychological space, and to evaluate themselves and act upon themselves in terms of this belief (Rose 1989). But over the past half century, that deep space has begun to flatten out, to…

Enhancement, like susceptibility, is future orientated. Almost any capacity of the human body or soul – strength, endurance, attention, intelligence and the lifespan itself – seems potentially open to improvement by technological intervention. Of course, humans, at almost any place and time one cares to investigate, have tried to improve their bodily selves – using…

Digital researcher resources A guide to using Twitter in university research, training, and impact activities Supporting researcher engagement with social tools The Digital Scholar: How Technology Is Transforming Scholarly Practice Special issue on blogging in sexuality studies Social media for grad students Using Twitter for research

Twitter in Further Education If you build it, they will come? How researchers perceive and use web 2.0 Social media: A guide for researchers Content clustering and sustaining digital resources How funders’ practices influence the future of digital resources Ensuring long term access to digital information The digital information seeker Learning literacies for the digital…

10 ways researchers can use Twitter Creating a successful online presence Video interviews with Warwick bloggers Google scholar and its citation data Blog readership: build and maintain an audience Open access: what’s in it for you? Blogging about your research: first steps RSS Feeds: how they work Personal branding for researchers Facebook for researchers Making…

An excellent training course which was run by the University of Warwick library in late 2011: Publishing on the web for postgraduate researchers Creating a blog and writing your first post Single author vs. multi author blogs Journal, search and citation alert subscriptions Podcasts, videocasts and iTunes U: subscribing to multi-media content Managing online identity…

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently pondering internal comms within universities and how social media can transform it. At present, it is constrained by a degree of over-reliance upon e-mail which is ludicrous. Everyone realises it’s a problem and yet, in spite of the technological options now available, there has seemingly been little serious…

I learned how to hammer in the burning August sun Learned how to lie and cheat How to steal and just how to run I fell asleep most nights with somebody else’s blood on my tongue, your tongue You learned just how to run But it’s just the blues, Mary, the blues Swirling around my…

The connections between Manning and Assange have been concocted by a secret grand jury in Virginia that allowed no defence counsel or witnesses, and by a system of plea-bargaining that ensures a 90 per cent conviction rate. It is reminiscent of a Soviet show trial. The Obama administration’s determination to crush Assange is revealed in…

In a recent post Martin Weller argued plausibly for a ‘rebirth’ of the university press as “a place that runs a set of open access, online journals”. His case for this is partly economic: Running journals on an ad hoc basis across universities is inefficient. By centralising resource you could support several journals. At a…

In the process of writing that last post I realised that my monograph plan is no longer as fuzzy as it once was, which I take to be a sign in and of itself that continuous publishing works as a way of developing ideas i.e. a few months ago this amounted to little more than…

A few months ago myself and Pat Lockley wrote an article for the LSE Impact Blog about continuous publishing. This was actually a phrase introduced by the site’s editor for the title but it captured perfectly what were we trying to get at. Given I’ve been semi-consciously trying to do this since then, I thought it…

Monday, 21 November 2005 Joined at lunch by a Yorkshire MP, a mild-mannered fellow, incensed by The Man’s latest foray into education. ‘We’re opening the door selection. Whatever safeguards we put in place, whatever assurances we give will be absolutely worthless once the Tories are in power.’ And then: ‘I think we will lose the…

Assembling the findings of multiple primary qualitative studies using a systematic process may have a number of additional benefits: they may help generate more comprehensive and generalisable theory; they may add greater breadth and depth to existing systematic reviews of effectiveness by focusing on the views of those towards whom the interventions are directed[8]; or…

It is symptomatic of the sort of pseudo-radicalism that, at least for a time, was all too pervasive in the philosophical world: striking a blow against ‘Truth with a capital T’ was seen as a political act (and perhaps a tacit justification for a lifetime of de facto political quietism from academics safely ensconced in…

Circulating information to other postgraduates via the PG Forum email distribution list Maintaining the PG Forum pages of the BSA website & the Facebook fan page. Supporting and hosting PG Focus podcasts Making contributions to Network Assisting with the processing of BSA Support Fund applications by joining the panel of members who grant awards from the…

6th Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference Marginal Cartographies: Researching Beyond Borders Department of Sociology – University of Warwick CALL FOR PAPERS In the age of globalisation, British mainstream academic research seems to pay too little attention to other parts of the world. In this context, Marginal Cartographies: Researching Beyond Borders, the 6th Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference which will…

C. Wright Mills: Legacies and Prospects – 50 Years On Friday 13th April, 11-12.30pm  In March 2012 it will have been 50 years since the death of C. Wright Mills. In that time the world has changed beyond recognition: the Cold War ended, the Keynesian consensus broke down, a globalizing neoliberalism rose to the ascendancy…

It’s vital to talk to fellow #PhD students, but don’t compare yourself/your work to them/theirs! (@MsEmmaB) Write at least 250words everyday; update your bibliography everyday; follow all interesting avenues (@public_uni) use PhD to meet interesting people, learn skills and get involved in external projects (@DBarnardWills) And travel! (@slewth) never leave until tomorrow what can be done today #PhD and,…

The fact Twitter offers no real tools to control who follows you is a source of concern for some academics. In part this might be a function of a broader reticence towards online publishing. However I think it also stems from how Twitter is conceived as a medium. If you are presenting at a conference,…

Twitter has a definite image problem. It first penetrated the public consciousness in a way which has left it defined by celebrities and, particularly for academics, this is unattractive. If you want to persuade academics to use it, it’s important to illustrate that the academic twittersphere (I hate the term but have yet to come…

C. Wright Mills: Legacies and Prospects – 50 Years On Friday 13th April, 11-12.30pm    In March 2012 it will have been 50 years since the death of C. Wright Mills. In that time the world has changed beyond recognition: the Cold War ended, the Keynesian consensus broke down, a globalizing neoliberalism rose to the…

National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) 2012 Call for Papers about Asexuality November 8-11, 2012, Oakland, CA. Papers on any topic at the intersection of women’s and gender studies and asexuality will be considered.

Until people started calling themselves homosexual, it didn’t make much sense for anyone to refer to themselves as heterosexual. Up until that point, it had simply been taken for granted and, as such, escaped scrutiny either by individuals or by society more widely. As adjectives both homosexual and heterosexual were coined in 1892, in an English translation of work…

First they taught us to depend on their nation-states to mend, our tired minds, our broken bones, our bleeding limbs. But now they’ve sold off all the splints and contracted out the tourniquets and if we jump through hoops then we might just survive. Is this what we deserve? To scrub the palace floors? To…

This book presents current research focusing on sexual minorities. It discusses topics that include gay and lesbian parenthood; asexuality; media representations of trebly marginalised minorities; the effect of imaged contact on heterosexual women’s attitudes toward lesbian women; and, the high-school experiences of sexual and gender minority youth and best practices in the development of interventions…

The BSA postgraduate forum is sponsoring an event of  Social Class and Educational Aspiration for postgraduates involved in this area of research. The Conference and Workshop will be hosted by the  University of East London On Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st  March 2012. The event is structured around five keynote lectures by leading social class…

Yeah I am sick and tired of people who are living on the b-list Yeah they’re waiting to be famous, and they’re wondering why they do this And I know I’m not the one who is habitually optimistic But I’m the one who’s got the microphone here so just remember this Well life is about…

6th Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference Marginal Cartographies: Researching Beyond Borders Department of Sociology – University of Warwick CALL FOR PAPERS In the age of globalisation, British mainstream academic research seems to pay too little attention to other parts of the world. In this context, Marginal Cartographies: Researching Beyond Borders, the 6th Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference…

Until 2001 there wasn’t an asexual community. Why was this?  The question is more complex than it appears. The internet was a necessary condition because it allowed a geographically dispersed group to connect. Was it a sufficient condition though? It provided the infrastructure for a disparate group to connect. However there still had to be…

Are you interested in being a Postgraduate Forum Convenor? Our existing team work together to make sure that student members of the Association are kept up-to-date with matters of specific interest to them. They will also facilitate contact between student members and the BSA Council. In return for their hard work and dedication. Postgraduate Forum Convenors are…

To define the reality of the human condition and to make our definitions public To confront the new facts of history-making  in our time, and their meaning for the problem of political responsibility. Continually to investigate the causes of war, and among them to locate the decisions and defaults of elite circles. To release the…

In this podcast I talk to Nick Crossley about his recent book Towards Relational Sociology. The interview covers relational sociology, interdisciplinary approaches to social theory, the future of social theory and the contested status of quantitative methods.

There seems to be three tendencies within the literature: medical/psychological, queer theory / cultural studies / women’s studies, sociological & anthropological. With the latter two having a lot of convergence in outlook if not methods. My own work started in the third category and now sits on the border between the second and third category.…

The traditional conception of socialization rests on the assumption that socialization is simply a matter of internalization. Dispositions which ‘fit’ the subject’s social placement are internalised from the social. Exactly what the socialising agent is called varies e.g. family, schooling, class. Behind this divergence about socialising agents is a convergence about how the subject is…

Skip 8 minutes in for it to start:

Are you interested in being a Postgraduate Forum Convenor? Our existing team work together to make sure that student members of the Association are kept up-to-date with matters of specific interest to them. They will also facilitate contact between student members and the BSA Council. In return for their hard work and dedication. Postgraduate Forum Convenors are…

Asking technical questions Asking questions relating to your institution Asking questions relating to doing a PhD Promoting events within your institution Promoting broader academic events Dialogue about research interests Dialogue about the process of doing a PhD Seeking support in your PhD Offering support in your PhD Promoting your activities Courtesy of Virginia Yonkers: Looking…

This talk has grown out of my research into sexual culture and asexuality i.e. people who do not experience sexual attraction. When you view contemporary sexual culture from a perspective that doesn’t take sexual attraction for granted, it poses a range of troubling questions about how contemporary society thinks, talks and behaves sexually. In my…

To maintain that social relations have a reality of their own (sui generis) means saying that they are not simply derived from something else, but reflect an order of reality of their own with internal dynamics that require theoretical-practical conceptualization. This order of reality is not derivable from or reduicble to this or that particular…

Are you having money problems? Worried about the *nasty debt* you’ll face when you graduate? No need to fear any longer. Shiny capitalism 2.0 is here to save you! Wonga will sort out your cash flow in no time at all, in 15 minutes you’ll have the money directly in your bank account and no…

Responsible department: Department for Education There is a need for an informed public debate on the purpose of education. No expansive debate has taken place in recent years. Significant global, environmental and socio-economic conditions make such a debate vital. Policies are set by dominant political parties representing a minority of the electorate. Ministers often have…

“I came to identify as asexual this way: I have never understood the desire to engage in the acts that define sex, from kissing on down the list. My body doesn’t function that way – it doesn’t excite me. Other things excite me: a good protest, a fine steak, reaching the top of a mountain…

The art criticis who contemplate Hirst’s work are like clever children playing with one of those stereoscopic postcards: they flick it this way and that, to show the Emperor alternately naked and adorned. Thus they get their kicks. – Will Self

What I mean by emotional purchase is analogous to the idea of Merleau-Ponty (1979) that we have a basic need for an ‘optimal grip’ on the world rooted in our embodiment. He argues that our bodies sit in a prediscursive relation with the world and, as we move through this world, we strive to maintain…

There are in fact only two kinds of people to whom unworldliness comes naturally: holy fools, or the arrogant and priviliged. The former do not respect the kingdom of this world and the latter are so carefully protected from its realities that they do not need to understand it in order to sruvive… The poor,…

It has become widely accepted in lay and academic circles that the Internet and associated digital technologies are transforming the manner in which human beings interact with others and understand themselves. In her seminal work Turkle (1996) argues that such technologies are engendering profound cultural changes through the renegotiation of conceptual and experiential boundaries which…

It’s been a long and lonely trip but I’m glad that I took it because it was well worth it/ I got to read a couple books and do some research before I reached my verdict/ Never thought that I was perfect/ Always thought that I had a purpose/ Used to wonder if I’d live…

REFLECTIONS ON A YEAR SPENT STUDYING ASEXUALITY #UKRIOTS AND SOCIOLOGY HOW WE COULD DO ACADEMIC PUBLISHING DIFFERENTLY… MY RESPONSE TO TOM “SUE THE OPPRESSIVE LSE FEMINAZIS” MARTIN CHAVS, FERAL YOUTH, MORAL PANICS, #UKRIOTS

Steve Fuller on the Future of the University Stephen Turner on Normativity Simon Williams on the Sociology of Sleep Dave Elder-Vass on the Causal Power of Social Structures Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley on the prospects for UK Education Catherine Coveney on Cognitive Enhancement and Modafinil Social Theory and the Politics of Austerity Public Universities…

Lights are out, phones are dead and I’m the only thing that’s running in this city except for the clouds and then they’re coming down for if I knew my way around, I wouldn’t feel so dizzy Where’s the tele? Nobody can tell me I don’t speak a lick of that language and got a…

Restructuring economic and social relations around the temporal value of efficiency has the effect of making all relations instrumental to productive outputs. Everything and the activity of every being becomes a means to optimize productive potential. But would we ever really treat someone we really care for in an efficient manner? Would we express our…

Dewey has as his target two pathologies. The first sets the state against the public, and is attributed to liberal individualism and its arguments for the minimum state. The second is attributed to the conditions of modern corporate capitalism in which there appears to be an ‘eclipse of the public’ brought about by the dominance of…