In February 2007 I received an unexpected email from Selwyn College Cambridge inviting me to attend a formal, black-tie dinner and give an after-dinner speech. I had at it happens spoken at an array of Cambridge Colleges, including a formal lecture at St John’s, but only to deliver standard sociological fare. This was different. I… Read More »
Blogs to my mind allow for an interlude of ‘thinking out loud’, so it is perhaps not so surprising that the blog I intended to write when I turned on my laptop has already been superceded. The reason for this is sheer frustration at the level of ineptitude and, far more seriously, of corruption in… Read More »
The point I’ve reached in this ‘sociological autobiography’ was one of flux and change. I had managed to work my way around what had been presented to me by Stan Newman as an attempt to get me out of UCL – though all was later mired in confusion – and Graham Hart had welcomed me… Read More »
I have not (yet) written on Lacan, who has been a catalyst for much social and sociological thought. Luce Irigaray studied with Lacan before developing her own influential feminist standpoint. I shall as ever in these ‘taster blogs’ have to abbreviate my exposition. The feminine, Irigaray maintained, cannot be captured, represented or symbolised adequately under… Read More »
Stuff often happens more or less by chance. I haven’t thought seriously about Poulantzas since my undergraduate days in the late 1960s (when he was on a few reading lists). At the back of my mind, however, has been Bob Jessop’s admiration for Poulantzas’ analyses of the state. Then the other day, serendipitously, I came… Read More »
One of my hopefully sparse mantras is: ‘methodology is very important, but nothing like as important as we think it is.’ What do I mean by this? Well, here are a few common fallacies to kick off with: There is one right way: ok, few would sign up to the idea that there is a… Read More »
One needs to be wary of ‘Rich Lists’, whether from the Sunday Times or from Forbes. The reason? As Piketty has shown, they seriously under-estimate the possession of wealth by individuals. It is not for nothing that greed is so well hidden. But this is not to say that the Sunday Times Rich List is… Read More »
It is too easy for those of us babyboomers inclined to toil away in isolation – like me, I confess – to miss out on: (a) the full talent and contributions of our peers, and (b) the emerging input of the next generation of sociologists. Well, occasionally, serendipitously, I hit on stuff that impressively feeds… Read More »
DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY? Graham Scambler Introducing: Behind the Scenes This is a book of sociology that differs from many another. Most obviously it is not written with students of the discipline in mind. There already exists a plethora of textbooks within students’ reach and compass, many of which are excellent guides… Read More »
I recently read Camus’ The Fastidious Assassins, and I found myself reacting with the usual uneasy admix of judgement and feeling. Camus writes wonderfully well and with considerable subtlety and depth. Yet he refuses to ‘spells things out’. This is of course a strength as well as a weakness. Its strength is the avoidance of… Read More »