Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment
Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the internet were all developed using […]
Understanding the Slave Trade
Our Robert Dingwall says he has long thought that sociologists should read more history. It might correct some of their sweeping generalizations about the emergence and development of Western societies. This reflection has been reinforced by a recent book, ‘A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution.’
Reflections on the Death of Doris Day
Ruminating on the late Doris Day – and in particular her rendition of ‘Que sera sera’ – our Robert Dingwall draws a comparison with the Greek Stoics , Western educational trends and the restraint that was once a feature of sociological inquiry.
What Counts as “Real Sociology”?
In the course of a recent visit to Mainland Europe, I got talking to a young sociologist with a particular interest in […]
Whatever Happened to Conservative Social Thought?
In the wake of Brexit, Robert Dingwall asks a series of probing questions about the eclipse of Conservative Social Thought at universities, such as when did the social sciences last have a serious engagement with the institutions of the bourgeoisie, even though by income and status many of us would belong to that class?
Why is Social Theory So Boring?
The roots of sociology lie among a group of engaged, engaging and vibrant people who often risked their well-being, or even their lives, to advance their ideas. So what happened to suck much of the life out of the discipline?
The Civic Responsibility of Ethnographers
What duty do social scientists have to report illegal activity that they witness as part of their fieldwork? If you answered quickly, you may not have thought about the issue all that deeply.
Academic Morale and Ponzi Schemes
The pool of PhDs and postdocs has expanded far more rapidly than the long-term career opportunities in higher education, a situation Charles Ponzi would have recognized- and which Felicity Callard captured with a late-November tweet.
Reflections on the Centenary of the Armistice
At the 100th anniversary of the end of World War, Robert Dingwall asks how has English sociology asked questions about the experiences and the legacy of the war — or if it even has broached those issues.
