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Applied Sociology / News

New BSA Curriculum in Applied Sociology

The British Sociological Association (BSA) special interest group Sociologists Outside of Academia (SoA) has developed a curriculum in applied sociology, now available as a free resource for UK higher education institutions. The launch of the curriculum took place on 11 April at the 2018 BSA conference in Newcastle and was well-attended, with around 25 people present including officers and staff of the BSA. Speakers were co-convenors Nick Fox and Tina Basi, Ricky Gee and Teresa Crew. Visit the curriculum pages to explore the content. Why...

Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Welfare

Why Observations about the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Policies are Mixed

It is heavily debated how active labour market policies affect the labour market. Some argue that activation programmes help the disadvantaged, such as the low educated or people who possess obsolete skills, to improve their labour market opportunities. This is for example achieved through learning new skills through training or work programmes, making them more attractive on the labour market. Other frequently used measures are hiring and wage subsidies to make it more financially attractive for employers to hire disadvantaged...

Class & Stratification / Opinion / Social Identity / Sociology of Health & Illness / Sociology of Media & Communication

The body positivity movement: advancing ‘fat’ activism

Apart from the fight against fat shaming, other approaches to body positivity range from anti-shaving decisions, to unretouched campaigns by which certain media channels reject photoshopped pictures, to accepting body changes during and post-pregnancy, to celebrities’ body positivity advice (Money, 2017). Arguments are made that body image is no longer essential for an individual’s self-definition (Murray, 2007) and yet contradictory comments in body positivity forums show fluctuations between individual options and social pressures. An analytical overview of social media cues...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change

Forward March: The Next Destination for Feminism

An estimated five million people around the world marched on 21 of January 2017 to protest the sexist behaviour of the incoming US President, Donald Trump. Even as these marches took place, the scope seemed to expand and something shifted in the way that everyone, and especially women, were thinking and talking about feminism. This is an abridged version of the editorial from the most recent issue of the IPPR Progressive Review, which is free to read until the end...

Opinion / Rural Sociology / Science & Technology

Smart Farming: Wither Do It Yourself (DIY) Farmers

We have data coming out of our ears.  Between 2015 and 2016, the world generated more of it than what had been created in the previous 5,000 years.  The same holds true in agriculture—data related to soil characteristics, water quality (and quantity), weather, yield, market trends, and the like. The global market for precision farming technologies is estimated to reach approximately US$6 billion by 2021, which translates to an annual growth rate of 12.4 per cent. Adoption rates of precision...

News / Rural Sociology

Advertisement for new Sociologia Ruralis Editor-in-Chief

The European Society for Rural Sociology invites individuals to apply for the position of Editor-in-Chief Sociologia Ruralis We are looking for an Editor-in-Chief to succeed Bettina Bock in the position from 2020 Sociologia Ruralis reflects the diversity of European social-science research on rural areas and related issues. Over the past 40 years Sociologia Ruralis has been an international forum for social scientists engaged in social, political and cultural aspects of primary industries such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries and rural...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Opinion / People / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Interview with Professor Alison Pullen, Editor-in-Chief of Gender, Work and Organization

  Alison  Pullen  is  Professor  of  Management  and  Organization  Studies at Macquarie  University,  Australia,  and  at the time of the interview, Otto Mønsted  Visiting Professor at Copenhagen  Business  School,  Department  of  Organization. Over the course of her career, Alison’s work has been concerned with analyzing and intervening in the politics of work as it concerns gender discrimination, identity politics, and organizational injustice.  Alison is joint Editor-in-Chief of Gender, Work and Organization, Associate Editor of Organization and sits on the editorial...

Opinion / Population & Demography / Urban Sociology

What does demographic change mean for the future of housing?

The population of England – in line with many other European countries – is undergoing some significant changes that will have far-reaching implications for the future of housing. In short, the population of England has grown significantly over recent years and we are likely to see a continuation of this trend in the future. But growth is going to be concentrated, both in terms of geography but also in terms of demography. This article looks at what demographic change is...

News / Political & Economic Sociology / Population & Demography / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Urban Sociology

Spotlight on Race, Justice, and the City: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

  “Spotlight On” Web Series Cities and urban regions are the site where the world’s most pressing concerns are increasing. For the last 40 years, IJURR has been at the forefront of critical debates. The Spotlight On series publishes original, online-only pieces that offer new insights and perspectives that we hope will generate discussion and debate Race, Justice and the City For the new issue of IJURR’s Spotlight On web series, scholars working in a variety of settings  critically reflect...

Opinion / Rural Sociology

Just Existing is Resisting: a paper-video pairing strategy to talk about the everyday struggle against GM crops in Spain

  GM crops have created (and still create) socio-political storms around the globe. These conflicts illustrate a clash of visions, values and paradigms enacted by different forms of agriculture. While the EU has put considerable weight on the concept of co-existence to manage these conflicts, the nature of GM crops and the social conditions around them pose significant challenges for achieving this aim. Both the biological agency of GM crops and the social infrastructure around these crops facilitate an unintentional...

Opinion / Social Identity / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Health & Illness / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Employee well-being and versions of corporate-driven orthorexia

Context In 1997, Steven Bratman [2] launched the concept of ‘orthorexia’, derived from the Greek “orthos”, meaning “correct or right” and “orexis”, meaning “hunger or appetite”. He described his own “pathological fixation on eating proper food”; including ritualized eating of vegetables picked no more than 15 minutes before consumption, and chewing each mouthful at least 50 times before swallowing. Following this, social discourse [1, 5, 12] has defined healthy nutrition as eating simply, ‘pure’, ‘clean’, wholesome, non-processed diets; diets which...

Opinion / People / Population & Demography

An interview with Aydan Özoğuz, German Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration

Aydan Özoğuz has been the Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration in Germany since December 2013.  Speaking with Howard Duncan, editor-in-chief of policy oriented journal, International Migration, Aydan discusses Germany’s approach to immigration. This is a condensed version of a longer interview, which can be accessed here. Germany is the destination for the second largest number of migrants in the world, second only to the United States. Why has Germany taken in so many immigrants in recent years,...

Opinion / People / Sociology of Health & Illness

Interview with Jon Gabe, Professor of Sociology, Royal Holloway University of London; Chair of Trustees of the Foundation for Sociology of Health & Illness

Jonathan Gabe is Professor of Sociology at Royal Holloway University of London, and the Chair of Trustees of the UK Charity, Foundation for Sociology of Health & Illness. In a recent interview, Jon spoke about his research, as well as the objectives and activities of the Foundation.   The Foundation Objectives The Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness was established in December 1999 as a charity with the aim of promoting and improving social scientific research, education and scholarship...

News / Opinion / Political & Economic Sociology

BJS Special Issue on “post-Brexit and Trump politics”

The British Journal of Sociology presents a free special issue containing reflections on the US election and related political developments in Europe, such as the ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK.  The special issue on ‘post -Brexit and Trump politics‘ is edited by leading sociologists from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Harvard University, Nigel Dodd, Michèle Lamont, and Mike Savage. The aim of the collection is to ask how can we understand the election of Donald Trump...

Opinion / People / Sociology of Health & Illness

I think I can(‘t), I think I can(‘t): a Mildred Blaxter New Writer’s Prize winner reflects on her identity as a new career researcher

Each year the Editorial Board of Sociology of Health and Illness offers a prize for “the best article published in the journal by an early career researcher”. In September, I received an email announcing that my article Engaging conceptions of identity in a context of medical pluralism: explaining treatment choices for everyday illness in Niger had been selected as the 2017 winner. Honored and surprised to receive this message, I laughed out loud at the absurdity of how drastically my...

News / Opinion / Sociology of Health & Illness

SHI Special Issue: “Beyond behavior? Institutions, interactions and inequalities in the response to antimicrobial resistance”

A new free special issue  of Sociology of Health & Illness on Institutions, interactions and inequalities in the response to antimicrobial resistance, edited by Catherine Will  is available to read, here. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has come to prominence as a priority for policy makers and a subject for media debate, following advocacy by the Chief Medical Officer (Davies 2015). The concept refers to the emergence and spread of strains of common infections that can no longer be treated by existing antibiotic classes,...

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Energy colonialism and the role of the global in local responses to new energy infrastructures in the UK

Video abstract for the paper by Susana Batel and Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter) Read the paper here.