The Blackwell Companion to Sociology (2 page)

should address these questions in an informed and thoughtful way, taking into

account humanistic understandings of historical consciousness and contempor-

ary narratives, and recent thinking about social variation and shared, or uni-

versal, needs and interests.

Organization of the Chapters

The chapters in part I deal directly with aspects of globalization and, in par-

ticular, how to achieve more freedom, and reduce people's constraints on space

and time (Urry, chapter 1), as well as on institutions (Wagner, chapter 3). Peters (chapter 2) analyzes how media and communications foster shared symbolic

worlds and discourses about what is universally shared and what is particular-

ized, while Urry focuses on how places provide comparable constructions of

centrality and dispersion through networks and diaspora. Wagner (chapter 3)

discusses modernity in terms of its various ``probleÂmatiques,'' including the

tension between autonomy and mastery that emerged with the weakening of

`òrganized modernity.'' One of the tragic aspects of modernization is the extent to which rich industrial nations have contributed to environmental destruction

and the depletion of resources. The development of environmental sociology is

outlined by Buttel and Gijswijt (chapter 4). They suggest that challenges raised in cultural studies to question the division between the natural sciences and the

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humanities may have led to the relativization of knowledge, but may also have

created a broader base for inquiry about the environment. Blau seeks to clarify in chapter 5 how social interdependencies might help to overturn growing inequalities, such as those described in the chapters on immigration (chapters 10 and 27) and health (chapter 24), and in part III.

Part II deals with Relationships and Meaning in general ways ± as embodied

abstractly in civil society and as conceived in the abstract as human rights ± and in concrete, lived forms. Misztal (chapter 6), after sorting through the various conceptualizations of civil society, expands its usefulness for sociology by indicating how it relates to institutions and the market, and how it is a sphere of

autonomous individual actions. Another facet of civil society pertains to the

rights of individuals and groups. An-Na'im, in chapter 7, shows how the human

rights paradigm that pertains to the protection of individual civil and political rights is consistent with a broader conception about the rights of groups, communities, and other collectivities. He also invites sociologists to consider human rights from a social and political movements perspective.

The substance of civil society lies in political engagement (parts V and VIII),

but also in other spheres of meaning, notably religion, and participation in

voluntary associations. Smith and Woodberry (chapter 8) show the growing

importance of religion throughout the world in providing identity and meaning.

Religious convictions can leverage progressive social change, but they can also

provide a defense for group protection. The expansion of autonomy and choice

is nowhere more evident, perhaps, than in relationships. Dozier and Schwartz's

chapter (9) on intimate relations brings this out especially clearly.

High rates of migration accompany globalization. In chapter 27, Rumbaut

discusses overall patterns of immigration to the USA, with an emphasis on

historical changes, and SuaÂrez-Orozco (chapter 10) gives immigration à`face.''

A critical dimension of migration is how individuals cope, and in particular how children fare. Family relationships are especially important as buffers for immigrant children, and in examining the pressures that these immigrant children

face, SuaÂrez-Orozco indicates that it is important to understand developmental

processes as well as parental and family relations, along with school experiences.

If the ideal of modernity is equal opportunities, there is nothing to suggest that we are moving steadily in a direction of promoting that ideal. Economic inequalities continue to grow both within and between nations, and, also, between

particular groups. Chapters in part III deal with various aspects of economic

inequalities. Osmani (chapter 11) considers two arguments. The first hinges on

the goal of equal liberty versus that of equality in basic respects, such as freedom from hunger and the freedom to lead a healthy and active life. Osmani's second

argument centers on the debate concerning growth versus equity. His chapter

provides the philosophical perspective on justice for the empirical chapters in

this section, and also provides a helpful background for the chapters on social

action in part VIII.

Oliver and Grant (chapter 12) describe thè`violence of poverty'' in the USA

and poor nations, but they also indicate how communities are involved in asset

building, with examples from Indianapolis and Pilluseri, a small village in Tamil Preface

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Nadu. They show how remarkable change can be initiated and implemented at

local levels. Their optimism is not, however, shared by other authors. The overall magnitude of racial economic inequalities in the USA is substantial and persistent, as described by Darity and Myers (chapter 13). Not all of the gap in

earnings and income can be explained by educational differences, and the

evidence suggests that discriminatory practices are not declining. During the

1980s, attention focused on poverty in inner cities of older industrial centers in the Northeast and Midwest of the USA, and little attention was paid to rural

areas, particularly in the South. Dill provides an overview of rural poverty in the USA (chapter 14), and shows how women and their children are especially at

risk of poverty in rural areas.

Together, the chapters in part IV indicate, despite their divergent approaches,

the broad scope of creative inquiry in the areas of the sociology of science, ideas, and knowledge. Whereas earlier investigations in the sociology of science

focused on the normative and organizational aspects of science, Duster (chapter

15) examines the knowledge base itself, specifically in the field of molecular

biology. Its virtual autonomous development poses central dilemmas for society,

and by treating the natural sciences as esoteric, sociologists have had little voice in their development and applications. Duster's main focus is the genetic mapping of race. Lee and Wallerstein (chapter 16) situate the importance of social

scientists' probing the contents of science in a historical overview. They trace the trajectory from the division of knowledge between science and the humanities to

a collapse of that division. The point of transition entails both the liberation of human action and a crisis in human relations. Camic and Gross (chapter 17)

likewise underscore the demise of dichotomies in social thought and knowledge.

They trace the development of the sociology of ideas, and highlight the import-

ance of the local context in which ideas are produced, and how fragmentation

and struggle develop among intellectual fields.

As the chapters in part V indicate, there is a new convergence between

political sociology and the sociology of social movements. This is due to the

deformalization of politics and other institutional spheres, the heightened

importance of symbols and of identity in mobilization processes, and the ritual-

ization of contention. Savage, in chapter 18, takes on a range of issues from the perspective of political sociology, including the role of social class, political realignments, and institutional theory. He describes how the repertoires of

mobilization slip through groups, thereby destabilizing traditional divisions.

Collective action is the focus of Klandermans's chapter (19). He indicates that

cultural frames and identities provide the potential for mobilizing, but also

stresses that actual participation involves other factors, such as incentives and networks. Social movement researchers alternatively favor cultural approaches

and organizational approaches. Minkoff (chapter 20) argues that when one is

considering global social movements, organizations and resources are especially

important, although they cannot easily be disentangled from cultural dimen-

sions.

The study of ``structures,'' which has always been central to sociology, poses

increasing challenges to researchers owing to variation in different contexts and xiv

Preface

the dynamic qualities of structures themselves. Three kinds of structures are

exemplary in sociology: stratification, social networks, and organizations; these are the topics in part VI. Approaches to studying stratification were largely

developed to account for occupational distributions and mobility in industrial

societies, but Treiman (chapter 21) examines recent advances using cross-

national and multilevel approaches. Networks are neutral structures from one

perspective since any network can be described in purely formal terms: central-

ity, vacancies, sparseness, and so forth. In chapter 22, Erickson shows that a

network framework provides distinctive ways of answering substantive ques-

tions about culture, power, and thinking, to mention just a few of her examples.

Network theories and methodologies are especially suited to the study of con-

temporary organizations that are loosely assembled. Knoke (chapter 23) pro-

vides an overview of the conceptual and methodological power of network

analysis in studying economic behavior of firms, ties among actors, and the

consequences of organizational networks.

The chapters in part VII relate to research on individuals and their wellbeing.

Schwartz (chapter 24) discusses how sociologists can make distinctive contribu-

tions to medical research, through, for example, studies of stress and health

outcomes, and how the larger environment and, in particular, contextual

inequalities, affect health. Like Duster (in chapter 15), Schwartz suggests that more collaborative research involving sociologists and scientists is greatly

needed. DNA researchers, according to Duster, may prematurely draw naive

conclusions about racial differences from genetic tracers without an understand-

ing of the ideological construction of race and the overwhelming importance of

people's circumstances. Schwartz draws attention to the contributions that

sociologists can make in medical research, but also what social scientists can

learn from medical researchers. He illustrates the latter with examples of laboratory research on the effects of maternal behavior on the brain physiology of

young animals, suggesting possible parallels with the effects of nurturing par-

ental behavior on health outcomes among humans.

Two areas that have long developed through interdisciplinary collaboration

and been mindful of application and relevance are education and the study of

aging. Hallinan organizes her discussion in chapter 25 in terms of two dominant

foci in the sociology of education: organizational analysis of schools, and the

transition from school to work. Madonna Harrington Myer and Pamela Herd

provide the reader in chapter 26 with a general overview of the large field of

aging. They discuss the current emphasis on the life course, and, among other

aspects of aging, examine those that relate to inequalities of race, class, and

gender.

Contemporary immigration patterns are examined from a historical and

comparative perspective by RubeÂn Rumbaut (chapter 27). He shows how race,

national origins, and immigration laws have played out in the USA in terms of

public discourse and how immigration affects demographic and cultural plural-

ism. Social psychology is an enormous field, encompassing a great variety of

perspectives and methodological approaches. Smith-Lovin (chapter 28) provides

an overview of the field by centering attention on the tradition of group

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processes and on the research linking social structure and personality. She

concludes her chapter with a discussion of recent work on the convergence

between affective and structural processes.

The papers in part VIII raise questions about epistemology in sociology, social

transformation, and social action. Not all sociologists would agree that social

action and activism are appropriate extensions of scholarship, but most would

agree that there is an epistemological hiatus involving the conception of social agency and that of social responsibility. One way this is bridged is through

activist research in which a reciprocal relationship is established between the

research-scholar and thè`subject,'' which is especially important when the

purpose is to gain an understanding of exclusion and domination. Hondagneu-

Sotelo's (chapter 29) research examines immigrant women who work in domes-

tic jobs. She shows how participant, activist research helps to transcend social spaces in ways that are impossible using conventional research methods, and

how the process itself yields new understandings. The final two chapters, though strikingly different in their goals, raise critical questions about how emergent processes unfold through social action and transform consciousness. For Touraine (chapter 30), consciousness interacts within and opposed to society and

involves a quest for identity and for social coherence. Collective social action is both interpretive and integrative. Fantasia (chapter 31) is more concrete, as he suggests that transforming ``consciousness'' must be broad-based, grounded in