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Wiley: The British Journal of Sociology: Table of Contents

Issue Information

No abstract is available for this article.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Gender inequalities in unpaid public work: Retention, stratification and segmentation in the volunteer leadership of charities in England and Wales

 

Abstract

While gender inequalities in employment (paid public work) and domestic and reproductive labour (unpaid private work) are a prominent focus within the sociological literature, gender inequalities in volunteering (unpaid public work) have received much less scholarly attention. We analyse a unique longitudinal dataset of volunteer leaders, that follows through time every individual to have served as a board member (trustee) for a charity in England and Wales between 2010 and 2023, to make three foundational contributions to our understanding of gender inequalities in unpaid public work. First, the salience of vertical gender stratification and horizontal gender segmentation in trusteeship shows that gendered inequalities in work extend to public work in general—encompassing unpaid public work, and not only paid public work. In terms of gender segmentation, we find that women are over-represented as trustees in a small number of fields of charitable activity but under-represented across the majority of fields. In terms of gender stratification, we find that women are under-represented on the boards of the largest charities; under-represented as chairs of trustee boards; and particularly under-represented as chairs of the largest charities. Second, the dynamics underlying gendered differences in unpaid public work, which show higher rates of resignation for women trustees, resonate with research on paid employment which emphasises the importance of attrition to an understanding of how gendered inequalities in work are reproduced. This means that increasing the retention of women, not only the recruitment of women, becomes central to the policy agenda. Third, we show that there has been a decline in gender stratification and gender segmentation in trusteeship since 2010. This decline over time in gendered inequalities in unpaid public work provides an interesting counterpoint to influential research documenting a ‘stall’ in the reduction of gendered inequalities in paid employment.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Issue Information ‐ List of Books Reviewed

No abstract is available for this article.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
The rise of central banks: State power in financial capitalism. By Leon Wansleben, Harvard University Press. 2023

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 266-268, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
The trials and tribulations of research evaluation: Quantification to the rescue?

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 247-253, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
The role of the social sciences in the quantified university. Response to The Quantified Scholar, by Juan Pablo Pardo‐Guerra

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 253-255, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
The Quantified Scholar: An introduction to the book

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 246-247, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Who needs quantification?

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 256-257, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Examining the recent strike wave in the UK: The problem with official statistics

 

Abstract

In the UK, there has been a significant increase in strike activity since the summer of 2022. Due to these increased levels of strike activity, it is logical for academics and policy makers to turn to the official data on labour disputes to help us understand what has been happening. Strikes remain of core sociological interest, yet are under researched in this journal. This research note briefly examines the recent strike wave in the UK drawing on data from the Office for National Statistics. The limitations of these data are outlined before consideration is given to other potential sources of data on labour disputes.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Is it time sociology started researching incompetence?

 

Abstract

There appears to be a mismatch between apparent incompetence in the world and the amount of sociological research it attracts. The aim of this article is to outline a sociology of incompetence and justify its value. I begin by defining incompetence as unsatisfactory performance relative to standards. Incompetence is thus intrinsically sociological in being negotiated and socially (re)constituted. The next section foregrounds how widespread and serious incompetence is. This renders effective sociological understanding crucial to welfare. The article then systematically analyses uses of the term in the British Journal of Sociology (a good quality general journal) to assess the current state of research. This analysis fully confirms the neglect of incompetence as a research topic. The next section proposes suitable methods for preliminary incompetence research addressing distinctive challenges like the stigma of being incompetent. These sections then allow incompetence to be better contextualised by other contributing concepts like power, bureaucracy and meritocracy. The final section justifies suggestions about directions for future research.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Social inequality in completion rates in higher education: Heterogeneity in educational fields

 

Abstract

This article examines how social disparities in dropout rates vary by educational field. Previous studies have shown that first-generation students, in general, have lower higher education completion rates than their fellow students. Less is known, however, about how such disparities vary between educational fields. We distinguish between general and field specific cultural capital and find that general cultural capital mainly operates through academic preparedness in upper secondary school, and after controlling for upper secondary school grade point average (GPA), students with parents with higher education degrees in a different field than themselves do not complete their degrees more often than first-generation students. More field-specific advantages of having a parent with a similar education are nonetheless visible in many fields also when we compare students with equal grades. Our analyses of Norwegian register data on the entire student population (N ≈ 400,000) show that the social inequalities are largest in fields that are both soft and pure, like humanities and social science, and that in soft and applied educational fields, like teaching and social work, the social differences are small and insignificant after controlling for GPA from upper secondary school. In fields classified as hard, it is only the students with parents with a similar education who complete their initial degree more often than first-generation students. We suggest that status group formation, field-specific cultural capital and micro-class reproduction may all contribute to explaining these patterns.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Searching for desirable bodies: How recruiters value physically exertive extracurricular activities for graduate hiring at elite professional firms in China

 

Abstract

The field of research in evaluating and applying Bourdieu's theories has seen growing interests in studying how the formation and effect of cultural capital vary in different contexts and fields. While existing studies have increasingly focussed on evaluating the role of cultural capital in creating educational inequalities in the Chinese context, little is known about how activities and taste are valued in the Chinese labour market. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 73 recruiters in elite professional firms in China, this article presents a study on how recruiters interpret physically exertive extracurricular activities (ECAs) for graduate hiring. It shows that these ECAs were valorised for assessing individual qualities and competences in job interviews, while other cultural activities, leisure or tastes carried little value. The notion of the body appeared central to this valorisation, conferring symbolic value onto physical exertive ECAs. The value of these activities was twofold, serving to convey candidates' possession of physical and embodied capital, which resonated to the normative dimension of elite professional firms. Recruiters thus used these activities to seek new professional bodies consumable for demanding professional work and resonating with the normative discourses of professionalism. This study provides more nuanced understandings of cultural capital in a non-Western context and the role of ECAs in elite hiring. It also contributes to the development of physical and embodied capital by integrating perspective that links the body with labour process and professional control.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Radicalisation studies: An emerging interdisciplinary field

 

Abstract

This research note provides an overview of Radicalisation Studies as an emerging interdisciplinary field aimed at developing more holistic understandings of how and why individuals and groups turn to extreme ideologies and political violence. It traces the evolution of radicalisation research across core social science disciplines, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, and political science. While this burgeoning scholarship has expanded knowledge, persistent gaps remain due to studying radicalisation in disciplinary silos. To address this fragmentation, the research note proposes an integrated Radicalisation Studies approach grounded in critical social theory and reflexivity. This paradigm synthesises concepts and mechanisms from across disciplines to investigate the complex interplay between individual vulnerabilities, group dynamics, and broader socio-political contexts in generating radicalisation. The note outlines theoretical foundations, guiding research questions, and methodological strategies for this new field focused on mixed-methods, multi-level analysis. Radicalisation Studies holds promise for advancing theoretical integration, contextualised explanations, critical perspectives on radicalisation discourse, and evidence-based preventative policies. While challenges remain in institutionalising this emerging field, Radicalisation Studies has the potential to steer research towards greater interdisciplinarity and the nuanced understandings necessary to elucidate this complex phenomenon. The research note aims to spur debate on constructing Radicalisation Studies as a viable scholarly enterprise.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
The Quantified Scholar—Response to critics

The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 2, Page 258-262, March 2024.

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
Time use surveys, social practice theory, and activity connections

 

Abstract

Social practice theory (SPT) represents a growing body of research that takes the ‘doings and sayings’ (social practices) of everyday life as its core unit of enquiry. Time use surveys (TUS) represent a substantial source of micro-data regarding how activities are performed across the 24-h day. Given their apparent complementarities, we ask why TUS have not been utilised more extensively within SPT-inspired research. We advance two contentions: (1) ontological tensions obscure the relevance of TUS data in addressing core SPT research questions, and (2) SPT concepts do not readily translate for application in TUS analysis. In response, we operationalise Schatzki's (2019) concepts of activity events and chains to explore types and forms of temporal activity connection. Using TUS data we examine three activity events: sleeping, reading, and eating. Two types of temporal activity connection (sequence and synchronisation) are identified, together with four forms of connectivity (degrees of uniformity/diversity, sequential directionality, time-varying connections, and symmetrical/asymmetrical relationships). While practices cannot be reduced to activity connections, we argue that this analytical approach offers a systematic basis for examining the ways in which activities combine to underpin the organisation of social practices. Further analysis to compare activity connections across practices, between different groups of practitioners, and over time would offer a valuable resource to empirically examine claims regarding core processes of societal change. We further contend that SPT approaches offer insights for time use research by providing a framework capable of recognising that activities are dynamic and variable rather than homogeneous and stable categories.

 

8 March 2024, 3:31 pm
In defence of sociological description: A ‘world‐making’ perspective

The British Journal of Sociology, EarlyView.

6 February 2024, 4:00 pm

British Journal of Sociology

British Journal of Sociology is published on behalf of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is unique in the United Kingdom in its concentration on teaching and research across the full range of the social, political and economic sciences. Founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, the LSE is one of the largest colleges within the University of London and has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence nationally and internationally.

Mission Statement

• To be a leading sociology journal in terms of academic substance, scholarly reputation , with relevance to and impact on the social and democratic questions of our times

• To publish papers demonstrating the highest standards of scholarship in sociology from authors worldwide;

• To carry papers from across the full range of sociological research and knowledge

• To lead debate on key methodological and theoretical questions and controversies in contemporary sociology, for example through the annual lecture special issue

• To highlight new areas of sociological research, new developments in sociological theory, and new methodological innovations, for example through timely special sections and special issues

• To react quickly to major publishing and/or world events by producing special issues and/or sections

• To publish the best work from scholars in new and emerging regions where sociology is developing

• To encourage new and aspiring sociologists to submit papers to the journal, and to spotlight their work through the early career prize

• To engage with the sociological community – academics as well as students – in the UK and abroad, through social media, and a journal blog.

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