Book Review: Dave Elder-Vass, The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure and Agency

Sociology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieuwertje Dyi Huijg
Keyword(s):  
Causal Power ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Structure And Agency

scholarly journals Elder-Vass on the Causal Power of Social Structures

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 774-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Hansson Wahlberg
Keyword(s):  
Causal Power ◽  
Social Structures

On Structure and Agency in Ethnographies of Education: Examples from This Special Issue and More Generally

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Beach
Keyword(s):  
Social Practices ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Observational Practice ◽  
Development Possibility

The articles in this collection are about the development, possibility, exercise and possible frustration of human agency within educational exchanges. They are also all based on ethnography, which is now a common approach to educational research. Ethnography is not a seamless, neutral observational practice but is instead variable in relation to theoretical perspectives and methodological application. However, central to all approaches is an emphasis on an active and creative citizen and an assumption that there is a dialectical relationship between human social practices, human consciousness and social structures. The similarities and differences within education ethnography are apparent even in the articles present here and in the ways in which they depict, define and describe agency in this special issue.

scholarly journals Book Review: Dealing in Desires

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patara McKeen
Keyword(s):  
Financial Sector ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Ho Chi Minh City ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
International Interactions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

This is a review of Kimberly Kay Hoang’s (2015) Dealing in Desire. Her ethnographic study observes four different bars in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: 1) Kong Sao Bar, 2) Naught Girls, 3) Secrets, and 4) Lavender. Hoang traces different representations of the global financial sector after the 2008 financial crisis and explores the relationship between Asian ascendancy and Western decline. From the local to the international, interactions with clients and hostesses in the bars of Ho Chi Minh City demonstrate a new global trend: the rise in transactions occurring among a global financial sector undefined by traditional social structures (e.g., commercial or national banks). By moving from observer to participant, Hoang develops a deeper understanding of the capital and labour practices that these men and women engage in, highlighting how their everyday experiences demonstrate that nightlife in the city is a way for locals to move up the socio-economic ladder.

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