I have always had concerns about the emergence and consolidation of the concept of ‘hate speech’ in the UK (and indeed elsewhere). It is obvious that it resists easy definition, so let’s start with the current guidelines proffered by the Crown Prosecution Service. ‘Hate crime’ is defined as ‘any criminal offence which is perceived by… Read More »
Reading Wolfgang Streeck’s recent collection, Critical Encounters, I was struck by his brief account of Darwin’s Origin of Species. Why? Because Darwin’s stance on science seems to me to bear a strong resemblance to that espoused by critical realists (like myself). Let me start with a quote from Streeck: ‘taking a fresh look at Origin… Read More »
I have repeatedly dug my heels in to retain the classic concept of ‘ideology’ for sociology. In the proverbial nutshell this refers to a view of the world that reflects the vested interests of – powerful capitalist or elite – members of a society. It does NOT refer to any view of the world held… Read More »
I have always been overly keen to begin new writing projects, be they books, chapters, papers, blogs or, nowadays, poems (have you acquired a copy of my Rhythmic Musings yet – proceeds to Medecins Sans Frontieres?). Well, at the moment I’m sitting in a local café in Dorking, having just completed a draft chapter on… Read More »
In their Social Class in Europe Hugree, Penissat and Spire have performed a useful service. They are fully cognisant – and open – about the methodological (and consequent theoretical) difficulties of measurement across very different European countries. They used the European Socio-Economic Groups (ESEG) classification and ended up with a breakdown into three main social… Read More »
I have reflected before on my personal background. Briefly, I was born to parents whose middle-class lives had been disrupted by the WW2. My father had been in line for promotion to the board of a company specialising in German shipping. After a brief period in Hamburg helping wrap up what little was left of… Read More »
There are times when it is appropriate, even necessary, to be angry and to shout out. I’m presently in a local café trying hard to restrain myself. I have two immediate sources of irritation (and many more lurking around). These are: (1) the reviewers’ reasons for calling for a second set of revisions to our… Read More »
A new report from the Resolution Foundation tells of a widening of the wealth gap in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. The short summary that follows is indebted to Larry Elliot’s summary on 12 June in the Guardian. In terms of wealth, the richest 10% of the population have gained £50,000 on average, dwarfing… Read More »
I recall in particular here two sessions of the British Sociological Association, I think in the mid-1970s. The first was at Surrey University and involved a group of ethnomethodologists from Goldsmiths College in London who had pre-circulated the text of a book on ethnomethodology they’d just written and, when presenting to an audience of 100+,… Read More »
I have repeatedly called for academics interested in the social determinants of disease, and most particularly sociologists, to go beyond: (1) merely re-affirming the existence of health inequalities; (2) emphasising the salience of structural factors like class, gender and race; and (3) commending social and health policy reform that is simply not going to happen… Read More »