On Power and its Tactics: A View from the Sociology of ScienceLaw, John
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02693.xpmid: N/A
This paper considers the relevance of the sociology of science for the study of power. Though there is by no means complete agreement between sociologists of science, recent work in this area has suggested that (a) scientists negotiate not only about scientific but also social reality, and (b) the distinction between macro- and micro-sociology is an impediment rather than an aid to analysis. Thus, though there are indeed differences in scale, il is argued that these should be seen as the outcome of differentially effective attempts by scientists to impose versions of scientific and social reality.The present paper extends this argument by considering the way in which a set of pharmacological experiments was undertaken in order to generate results and control aspects of the scientific and social environment. It is suggested that the experimentalist acted like an entrepreneur, combining a variety of potentially unruly resources with the aim of simplifying these and reducing them to docile figures on a sheet of paper. The strategies and materials used in this process of control are considered and three classes of potential resources are identified: natural objects or devices, people and inscriptions. It is argued that these have certain properties that render them relatively durable and transportable and hence convenient for the purpose of long distance social control.
The Conditions of Action, Power and the Problem of InterestsBetts, Katharine
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02694.xpmid: N/A
It is argued that the problem of ‘structure and agency’ should be reconsidered as the problem of ‘fate and agency’ for event causation and agency causation). The problem of fate and agency is addressed by outlining a model of the conditions of action derived from work by Giddens and Wright Mills. The model uses the concepts of different forms of knowledge and of the unintended consequence to set up a framework by which it should, in principle, be possible to decide of fate or events.This framework is then used to discuss the problems raised by defining power in terms of interests. It is argued that this definition is inadequate and suggested that a definition of power based on access to resources and causal responsibility for outcomes may be more useful.
The Power of the Powerless: Prostitution and the Reinforcement of Submissive FemininityDominelli, Lena
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02695.xpmid: N/A
Deviancy has been explored in terms of its potential to challenge the existing power structure. However, the implications of gender for power relationships, even in discussions of women deviants have been largely ingnored by crimonologists. Using Liazos’ paradigm of power as its starting point, the interaction between power and gender is explored by examining prostitution and the efforts of prostitutes to organise collectively in PROS to decriminalize prostitution. The significance of the gender base of power for social work intervention with ‘deviant’ groups is also considered. It concludes that women deviants can become more powerful by organising collectively, though their organisation ultimately fails to challenge existing social relationships and the distribution of power between men and women Female subordination is reinforced despite their protest.
Simmel, Rationalisation and the Sociology of MoneyTurner, Bryan S.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02696.xpmid: N/A
Simmel was born in 1858. Raised in the centre of the Jewish business culture of Berlin. Simmel studied history and philosophy, becoming a Privatdozent in 1885. Although he published numerous books and artickes, simmel was excluded from influential university positions as a result of the pervasive anti-Semitism of the period and it was bot until 1914 that Simmel was finally promoted to a full professorship at the University of Strasbourg. Like Durkheim. Simmel was both the object of anti-Semitic prejudice and a fervent supporter of the nationalist cause in the First World War. Simmel died in 1918 if cancer of the liver.1 This basic and naïve factual biography of Simmel in many respects provides many of the themes in Simmel's sociology. First, his sociology is held to be the brilliant reflection of the glittering, cospospolitan world of pre-war Berlin and that his commentary on that world took the form of impressionism his sociological essays are snapshots sub specie aeternitatis”? simmel's perspective has been regarded as an example of the nature of modern society as contained in Robert Musil's The Man's Without Qualities. That is a social existence without roots, commitments or purpose.3 Secondly, Simmel was and remained a social outsider despite his good connections with Berlin's cultural elite. His writing has been as a result characterised as perspectivism and an aestheticication of reality. As an indication of this, Simmel's influence has in the past often rested on such minor contributions as ‘The Stranger’4 Thridly, because Simmel failed to secure an influential location within the German university system, there was no development of the Simmelian school of sociology at all comparable to Durkheimain sociology. Decades of sociological interpretation of Simmel's work have still left Simmel as a theoretical enigma on the ambitus of the sociological tradition. His sociology has been categorised as interactionist, formal and conflict sociology.5 In more recent years there has been a renewal of interest in Simmel which has begun to show a greater appreciation of the unity and stature of his sociology. This renewal has been brought about by the cominentaries of Levine. Frisby, Robertson, and Holzner. 6 More importantly, the translation of Simmel's The Philosophy of Money7 by Bottomore and Frisby provides a new opportunity for a systematic evaluation of Simmel's sociology of modern culture. The main burden of this paper is that existing commentaries have failed to focus on the central theme of ‘alienation’ and ‘rationalisation’ in The Philosophy of Money which provided the major theoretical backing for on the one hand, Weber's analysis capitalism as the iron cage and on the other Lukács so-called rediscovery of the alienation theme in the young Marx.
Servers and Providers: The Distribution of Food within the FamilyKerr, Marion; Charles, Nicola
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02697.xpmid: N/A
We examine the nature of decision-making surrounding food provision within families and the patterns of food distribution established. The analysis draws upon detailed interview material and dairy records gather from 200 women currently bringing up young children. The sexual divisions and power relations which characterize families are found to have an impact on the choice of food for family consumption and on women's theories concerning the food needs of family members. The manner in which these theories are given concrete expression in the differential distribution of meat both between the sexes and intergenerationally is revealed. Variations in the extent of such inequalities are assessed with reference to the nature of the work undertaken by the marital partners and their relative control over money.
Order, Rules and Social Control in Two Training Centres for Mentally Retarded AdultsHughes, David; May, David
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1986.tb02698.xpmid: N/A
Although settings for the mentally retarded accommodate persons of markedly differing social and congnitive competence, everyday activities nevertheless proceed with a considerable degree of order and regulatiry. This paper uses the example of training centres for mentally retarded adults to examine the example the basis of social order in a situaltion where common orientation to a culturally-derived normative framework appears to be absent. It suggests that the orderly appearances of training centre life depend centrally upon the creation of a social environment in which a minority of participants accept a disproportionate share of the interactional work required to keep group behaviour within acceptable limits. The structuring of training centre activities so that ‘feedback'on directions for appropriate behabiour is constantly available for less-able group members and the continual remedial work of staff and fellow trainings, function to provide a partiallremedy for individual incompetence.