Styles of Illusion

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Theory Method ◽  
Contemporary Sociology ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The Uk

This paper argues that one of the most prevalent styles in contemporary sociology – style referring to a complex of theory, method and treatment of the literature – systematically allows space for the misrepresentation of reality. The theoretical core of the style in question is a view of identity as formed through the active consumption of discourse, its preferred methodology is that of qualitative fieldwork whilst a largely impressionistic literature is treated as a source of authoritative commentary on the influence of specific discourses. The theoretical and methodological elements of this style interact so that its treatment of ethnographic data functions as a self-fulfilling prophecy for whatever presuppositions can be constructed from its treatment of the literature. This thesis is illustrated through an analysis of the claims made by Paul du Gay (1996), and Musson and Cohen (1997) that enterprise discourse had achieved hegemonic status in the UK during the last decade of the Twentieth Century.

Narrative Exchange as Knowledge Transfer: The Rhetorical Construction of Opposition to GM Crops in SW England

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Downing
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Rhetorical Construction ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The Uk

The release of genetically modified organisms into the environment and food chain in the UK has produced one of the most visible and enduring controversies of recent times. Amid ongoing claim and counter-claim by actors on either side of the GM ‘debate’ over the salient ‘facts’ or balance of risks and benefits associated with the technology, this controversy can be fruitfully seen as a struggle between contested networks of knowledge. Drawing on ethnographic data collected during recent PhD fieldwork, I focus on those, loosely defined as members of ‘local food networks’ in SW England, who perceive their values and cultural projects to be at risk from the deployment of this technology. In scrutinizing how distinctly ‘oppositional’ knowledge is created, exchanged and transformed particularly in relation to the construction and maintenance of cultural and historical boundaries, I suggest that in this arena a key vehicle of knowledge transfer is the narrative or story. A successfully deployed narrative can resolve uncertainties, or equally, dissolve undesirable certainties. Knowledge transfer thus becomes a matter of rhetoric, of persuasion, whereby skilfully deployed narratives can be viewed as analogical networks of associations - enrolling culturally appropriate characters, values and concepts - to move the targeted audience in the desired manner. I argue that such transfers must be seen not only as exchanges of networks of knowledge but also of networks of ignorance, for as the ethnographic data reveals, when the stakes are perceived to be so high, ideological coherence often outweighs empirical evidence and logical consistency. This raises a critical dilemma for the ethnographer. What should he/she do when confronted in the field by exaggerated claims or misinformation?

Emergent and Adaptive Spiritualities in the Twentieth Century

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Lord
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Church Life ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

This chapter points to the ‘pluralization of the lifeworld’ involved in globalization as a key context for changing dissenting spiritualities through the twentieth century. These have included a remarkable upsurge in Spirit-movements that fall under categories such as Pentecostal, charismatic, neo-charismatic, ‘renewalist’, and indigenous Churches. Spirit language is not only adaptive to globalized settings, but brings with it eschatological assumptions. New spiritualities emerge to disrupt existing assumptions with prophetic and often critical voices that condemn aspects of the existing culture, state, and church life. This chapter outlines this process of disruption of the mainstream in case studies drawn from the USA, the UK, India, Africa, and Indonesia, where charismaticized Christianity has emerged and grown strongly in often quite resistant broader cultures.

Anthropology, Class and the ‘Big Heads’: An Ethnography of Distinctions between ‘Rough’ and ‘Posh’ amongst Women Workers in the UK Pottery Industry

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hart
Keyword(s):  
Women Workers ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Pottery Industry ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Global Corporation ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Working Class Women ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
The Way

In the context of the take-over by a global corporation (Royal Doulton) of a family-owned and run pottery factory in Longton Stoke-on-Trent, known as ‘Beswick’, and the subsequent re-structuring of production, this paper explores the way in which women pottery workers make social distinctions between the ‘rough’ and ‘posh’, ‘proper paintresses’ and ‘big heads’ which cut into and across abstract sociological notions of class. Drawing on ethnographic data I show that for these working class women, class as lived is inherently ambiguous and contradictory and reveal the ways in which class is gendered. I build on historical and sociological studies of the pottery industry, and anthropological and related debates on class, as well as Frankenberg's study of a Welsh village, to develop my argument and draw analogies between factory and village at a number of levels. My findings support the view that class is best understood not as an abstract generalising category, but in the local and specific contexts of women's working lives. I was the first one in our family to go in decorating end and they thought I was a bit stuck-up. My sister was in clay end as a cup-handler and I had used to walk off factory without her, or wait for her to leave before I left, though she said, ‘If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have anything to paint!’ They were much freer in the clay end – had more to do with men – we thought we were one up. 1

scholarly journals A Place Called Supermarket

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Elisabeth Goidanich ◽  
Carmen Rial
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The City

Abstract: The objective of this study is to interpret supermarket stores as privileged spaces for the observation of social relations. The article is based on an ethnography of shopping conducted in the city of Florianópolis, Brazil, by observing middle class housewives during their daily shopping in supermarkets. These stores are seen as places, in opposition to that proposed by Augè (1995), who affirms that supermarkets are non-places produced by supermodernity. The article discusses the history of supermarkets, their role in the cultural and social transformations of the twentieth century, as well as ethnographic data, and shows that it is possible to identify many social interactions inside Brazilian supermarkets.

Civil society in search of a state: Dublin 1898–1922

Urban History ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
CIARÁN WALLACE
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Municipal Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Government Reforms

ABSTRACT:A municipal boundary dispute between Dublin's nationalist city council and its independent unionist suburbs in the early twentieth century was symptomatic of a much deeper disagreement over national identity within the United Kingdom. Considering urban councils as the link between the state and local civil society (or subscriber democracy), and using theories proposed by Graeme Morton, R.J. Morris and Norton E. Long, along with illustrative contrasts from municipal behaviour in Edinburgh, this article examines these relationships in Edwardian Dublin. It argues that the modernization of Irish municipal government in 1898 empowered Dublin in unforeseen ways. By amplifying existing divergent identities, and providing a platform for the nascent Irish state, municipal government reforms contributed significantly to the break-up of the UK in 1922.

Inventing Amplified Telephony: The Co-Creation of Aural Technology and Disability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coreen McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Post Office ◽  
Personal Needs ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship

Amplified telephony was introduced to the UK by the General Post Office in an attempt to provide ‘hard of hearing’ individuals access to telephone communications during the inter-war years. In defining deafness as an inability to engage with telephony, the Post Office used this technology to construct new thresholds of hearing loss. Through exploring the development of amplified telephones for ‘deaf subscribers’ I show how telephony was used as a tool in the categorisation of disability and how, in turn, telephone users modified such technology to fit their personal needs and identities. A growing number of histories of disability examine the multiple ways in which social contexts shape disability and ability. This analysis provides a new perspective on the fluid, technology influenced definitions of hearing and deafness. By conceptualising the amplified telephone as a prosthetic, this analysis uncovers some of the ways in which hearing and deafness were socially and technologically constructed in interwar Britain. Study of early twentieth century telephony redefines the relationship between technology, communications, and disability, broadening our historical understanding of deafness in particular.

Creativity in Action

2013 ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
David Calvey
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Organisational Learning ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Professional Obligations ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Multi Media ◽  
Collaborative Negotiations ◽  
The Uk

This chapter explores the concept of communities of practice (CoP), with reference to ethnographic data from a range of creative multi-media SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) in Manchester in the UK. The central argument is that many of these communities are profoundly mediated by the interplay of competitive commercial imperatives with professional obligations and constructions of identity. Hence, the concept of community is a more fragmented and fractured one. Ultimately, CoP is a robust metaphor to analysis organisational life but more descriptive detail of situated lived practices and mundane realities of various work settings is called for. Ethnographic data is drawn on to demonstrate the participant’s accounts of their lived experiences, which include reflections on the process of creativity, collaborative negotiations with clients and organisational learning. Ethnomethodology, a form of sociological analysis, is then used to suggest alternative ways to analyse the situated nature of practice, learning and community.

Governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 14-52
Author(s):  
Louise A. Jackson ◽  
Neil Davidson ◽  
Linda Fleming ◽  
David M. Smale ◽  
Richard Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Intersecting Identities ◽  
Idealised Model ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Tripartite Relationship

This chapter analyses the formal rhetoric, mechanisms and structures of governance through which policing was organised in Scotland. It examines shifts in the tripartite relationship between the UK Home Office, the Scottish Office and local police authorities, highlighting the tensions between centrism and localism across the twentieth century, as well as the intersecting identities associated with British, Scottish and burgh/county policing. It also outlines modes of discipline through which police officers were themselves regulated: from training manuals and physical drill (which aimed to mould an idealised model of masculinity) through to the internal handling of complaints about officers’ conduct. Examining a small number of flashpoints relating to the official scrutiny of Scottish policing, the authors suggest that the narrative of more ‘benign’ relationship between police and community in Scotland conceals a more complex and chequered picture.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
pp. 222-234
Author(s):  
Stuart Aveyard ◽  
Paul Corthorn ◽  
Sean O’Connell
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Consumer Credit ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
European Consumer ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

The long-term perspective taken by The Politics of Consumer Credit in the UK affords fresh evidence on a number of significant historical debates. It indicates that Britain’s departure from pathways followed in other European consumer credit markets was not simply a by-product of neo-liberalism’s influence on late-twentieth-century governments. It has also allowed us to offer important contributions on questions such as the impact of political ideologies over policymaking, the validity of a right–left framework for analysing politics, the extent to which a post-war consensus existed (and was broken after 1979), and the question of how adept British political parties were in exploiting the emergence of a more affluent electorate....

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