Social media is replete with left debate, at least on my timeline. Some of it is deeply philosophical or theoretical, and some more explicitly activist-oriented; and typically these comprise entirely distinct discourses. This brief blog raises three issues that I regard as critical to any left action, whether philosophically/theoretically anchored or not. I used to… Read More »
I have commented before about the entry of metric regimes into academia, invariably negatively. They are inimical to creative thinking and publishing and a tailor-made instrument of managerial control. I have also put my own stats where my mouth is and suggested that I have been notably less ‘productive’ than many members of my own… Read More »
At the conclusion of his introductory account of AI Toby Walsh (‘The Shortest History of AI’) poses a number of contemporary challenges facing us. These make immediate sense to me, carry the potential of a real threat to our social wellbeing, and warrant reproducing here. So, thanks to Toby for what follows. He lists the… Read More »
I’ve long been fascinated by those ‘I believe’ collections of pieces from often-famous thinkers and writers. Sometimes I was informed, even pleased, by precis that captured my own predilections. Perhaps more often I was disappointed to find people I admired for one reason or another, had views irreconcilably different from my own. Finding myself with… Read More »
Born an only child and much taken with solitary endeavours I have now and again reflected on the implications of this for forming friendships. Maybe there’s a genetic element too. My father, not an only child but brought up with a brother nine years younger, was similarly attracted to solitude and to ‘standing and staring’.… Read More »
There is a long-established argument that from its origins in the long 16th century capitalism has had an inbuilt tendency to contradiction and fracture. Left to its own devices, Adam Smith confessed, the rich will get richer and the poor poorer. The compelling way in which Karl Marx revised the political economy of Smith and… Read More »
This blog address three issues that I think have attracted too little attention in sociological and political circles. The first involves the tension between Habermas’ ‘communicative’ and ‘strategic action’. Academic sociologists tend to be professionally socialised into an engagement with communicative action, or discussions and writings that look to produce evidence en route to a… Read More »
My presence at a conference in Trondheim organised by old friend Aksel Tjora has given me much pause for thought. In 2013 we published a co-edited book called ‘Café Society’, and ever since we have been thinking about a companion volume of ‘Bar Society’. It is my turn to take the lead on this and… Read More »
I have over the years visited Norway many times, in the process making a number of good colleagues and friends. February 2026 is no exception. Invited by Aksel Tjora to give a plenary presentation at a two-day conference on the topic of community, Annette and I travelled to Trondheim via Bergen for a bout of… Read More »
When Aksel Tjora asked me to read through a draft of a methods paper he was writing, I readily agreed. Its main focus was on the role of intuition in ethnographic and qualitative research in sociology. It made for fascinating reading. On the one hand, many researchers would doubtless equivocate about any role being ascribed… Read More »