International Sociology recent issues

'Illegal Aliens' and the State, or: Bare Bodies vs the Zombie

Schinkel, W. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:46:30 PST

This article focuses on the opposite poles of what Agamben, following Schmitt, calls the state of exception: the irregular migrant as homo sacer and the sovereign state. It takes the practice of detaining ‘illegal immigrants’ as a starting point for reflection on two central features of debates about globalization: (1) the declining relevance of space and (2) the declining relevance of nation-states. The author argues that both may be taking place, but they are being countered by states adapting themselves to the condition of globalization. By turning itself from welfare state into penal state, the state seeks new ways of defining itself in a globalizing world. This involves the detention centre for ‘illegal immigrants’ as a space of exception. The author uses three notions in order to capture the nature of the space occupied by the detention centre, which escapes traditional social scientific notions of space. Ranging from the more ‘formal’ characteristics of the spaces in question to their full political substance, they are Augé’s notion of the non-place, Foucault’s notion of the heterotopia and Agamben’s notion of the camp. The author argues that the global is networked through localities, and that the exceptional space of the detention centre for ‘illegal aliens’ is a political node in the global network. The incarceration of irregular immigrants as homines sacri is part of a response to the global by means of an absolute relevance of the local: the detention centre, which is at once the model of binding locality and the site of a space ‘outside’ regular social space.

Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite

Heemskerk, E., Fennema, M. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:46:30 PST

This article investigates the cohesion of the Dutch business elite during the 20th century. First it considers the old boys’ network, where social cohesion builds on shared family and educational background. Second, the board-meeting network of corporate directors in the Netherlands is analysed as an expression of the cohesion of the corporate elite. Unlike most studies on interlocking directorates, this article focuses on the interpersonal perspective of the network instead of the intercorporate perspective. The study finds that social cohesion declined between 1976 and 2001. The meeting network of the Dutch corporate elite has become the realm of brokers rather than a device of social cohesion and social closure. It no longer serves the purpose of creating trust among the corporate elite. As a result, norms of corporate governance have become blurred.

The Institutional Production of National Science in the 20th Century

Castilla, E. J. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:46:30 PST

Science and scientific production have been widely promoted as powerful tools for advancing national economic and social development. While much progress has been made in determining whether this is the case, less understood are the underlying factors influencing national scientific activity in the first place, especially during its 20th-century global expansion. In order to advance our understanding of the development of science and world polity, this study investigates in-depth when and under what functional and institutional conditions countries chose to join any of the scientific unions comprising the ICSU, the pre-eminent and oldest international science institution in the world. According to analyses of historical data for 166 countries from 1919 to 1990, functional arguments are only important predictors of the rate at which nation-states join scientific organizations early in the ‘science diffusion’ process. After 1945, institutional factors best account for worldwide national scientific activity: The joining rate increases more quickly during the post-Second World War era with the rise of the world system. This article also provides evidence of both convergence in the evolution of national scientific activities and of the great invariability in the impact of functional and institutional factors for core and peripheral countries over time. The article concludes by discussing the implications of this research for the future study of national scientific production and development in the world.

International Graduate Science Training and Scientific Collaboration

Ynalvez, M. A., Shrum, W. M. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:46:30 PST

Graduate training abroad is typical for scientists in developing countries. Owing to resource scarcities, collaboration is a common form of research for these same individuals. Yet few studies have examined the linkage between graduate education and scientific collaboration. This article examines this question in a population of scientists who have experienced the simultaneous influence of three scientifically strong training systems: Australia, Japan and the US. Survey data from 312 agricultural scientists in two Philippine locations are used to explore the relationships between graduate education, Internet use, professional networks and scientific collaboration. The findings show that most collaboration is domestic, but the most common international collaborations are Japanese, followed by Australian and finally US collaborations. Japanese training, but not professional networks, is associated with such collaborations, while US and Australian training appear unimportant to collaborations in these locations. This the article explains by identifying two aspects integral to graduate education, mode of study and mentoring style , which may be critical to the development of durable professional ties and ultimately to collaborative work. The results show that even among scientific training systems in developed areas, there are variations in interaction and practices that have implications for differential participation in scientific collaboration.

Resumes/Resumenes

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:46:30 PST

From the Editor

Kalekin-Fishman, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Review Essays: Environmental Policy: The Proliferation of Debate

Hamilton-Smith, E. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

The growing concerns about global environmental changes and the associated predictions of catastrophe have led to a massive growth in the available literature. Works that critically examine and assess various perspectives and claims are indeed welcome, but agreed theory and policy remains nevertheless well behind the frontline of thinking. Within this context, this review essay deals with five books that have met the inherent challenges with varying degrees of success. Each is reviewed separately, and then the reviewer indulges in discussion of the state of the art in environmental sociology. New policies and technologies are playing an increasing role in the dissemination of innovative thinking, but many publishers are responding very slowly.

100 Years of Indian Sociology: From Social Anthropology to Decentring Global Sociology

Welz, F. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

In the 20th century Indian sociology grew from the enterprise of a small elite group to a respectable size and visible voice in global sociology. It bears the potential to reconnect the sociological discourse with the classical ‘big’ questions that haunted sociology for an entire century. But for shaping the global agenda of sociology, this essay argues, the sociological discourse in India first had to deconstruct its alter ego. Overcoming the reception of western sociology as a monolithic construct will remove an intellectual obstacle. This leitmotiv is discussed by reflecting on three recent books, by Yogesh Atal, T. K. Oommen and Yogendra Singh, which analyse the development of Indian sociology as a ‘locus of struggles’ (Bourdieu): Where did it come from? How does it operate? Where will it go? While tracing its evolution and interaction with western sociological discourse, the essay first discusses the introduction of social sciences to India as a colonial heritage that implanted empiricist ‘outsider ’ studies of ‘native’ cultures, and identifies the reception of the American siblings of structural-functionalism and empiricism that dominated western sociology in the 1960s. Both intellectual encounters provoked the traditionalist call for indigenization as a counterforce to the perceived westernization of Indian social thought from 1950 to 1980. Finally, considering the recent attempt of a perspective ‘from below’, the essay discusses how far the view that places the increasing exclusion of specific groups from the public discourse on the sociological agenda could unite Indian sociology — and decentre the global one.

Words from Writers

Kalekin-Fishman, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Constructing India: Kamla Ganesh and Usha Thakkar, eds, Culture and the Making of Identity in Contemporary India. New Delhi: Sage, 2005, 274 pp., ISBN 0761933077, Rs650/US$16.00

Chaudhury, S. K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Constructing India: Roland Lardinois, L'Invention de l'Inde. Entre esoterisme et science. Paris: Editions du CNRS, 2007, 493 pp., ISBN 9782271065902, 35.00

Gayer, L. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Views of Australia: John Germov and Tara Renae McGee, eds, Histories of Australian Sociology. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 2005, 448 pp., ISBN 0522852246, AUS$49.95

Townsley, E. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Views of Australia: D. Denemark, G. Meagher, S. Wilson, M. Western and T. Phillips, eds, Australian Social Attitudes 2: Citizenship, Work and Aspirations. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2007, 320 pp., ISBN 9780868408613, AUS$59.95

Jakubowicz, A. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: East and West: Cynthia J. Buckley and Blair A. Ruble, with Erin Trouth Hofmann, eds, Migration, Homeland, and Belonging in Eurasia. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press/Baltimore, MA: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, 362 pp., ISBN 9780801890758, US$34.00

Nemoto, K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: East and West: Kyong-Dong Kim and Hyun-Chin Lim, eds, East Meets West: Civilizational Encounters and the Spirit of Capitalism in East Asia. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2007, vii + 220 pp., ISBN 9789004160217, US$92.00

Brittain, C. C. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Theorizing in and About Russia: A. G. Zdravomyslov, Sotsiologiya: teoriya, istoriya, praktika [Sociology: Theory, History and Practice]. Moscow: Nauka Publishers/Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2008, 382 pp., ISBN 90785020354074, 800 rubles/US$25.50

Yanitsky, O. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Theorizing in and About Russia: Balihar Sanghera, Sarah Amsler and Tatiana Yarkova, eds, Theorising Social Change in Post-Soviet Countries: Critical Approaches. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007, 367 pp., ISBN 9783039103294, 67.60/{pound}42.00

Yelenevskaya, M. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Theorizing in and About Russia: Steven Pfaff, Exit-Voice Dynamics and the Collapse of East Germany: The Crisis of Leninism and the Revolution of 1989. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006, xv + 333 pp., ISBN 0822337525 (hbk), US$84.95, 0822337657 (pbk), US$23.95

Eglitis, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Europe: Convergences and Divergences: Jan Zielonka, Europe as Empire: The Nature of the Enlarged European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, 304 pp., ISBN 9780199231867, {pound}20.00

Muller, A. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Europe: Convergences and Divergences: Alberto Martinelli, ed., Transatlantic Divide: Comparing American and European Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, 351 pp., ISBN 9780199204526 (hbk), {pound}50.00, 9780199204533 (pbk), {pound}20.00

Crothers, C. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Europe: Convergences and Divergences: Andy Mathers, Struggling for a Social Europe: Neoliberal Globalization and the Birth of a European Social Movement. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007, 215 pp., ISBN 9780754645801, {pound}55.00. David Lane, ed., The Transformation of State Socialism: System Change, Capitalism or Something Else? Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007, 312 pp., ISBN 9780230520882, {pound}69.00

Driver, J. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

At a Glance: William Outhwaite, European Society. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008, 206 pp., ISBN 9780745613321, {pound}15.99

Romm, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: War and Human Consciousness: Lilie Chouliaraki, ed., The Soft Power of War. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2007, 147 pp., ISBN 9789027222336, US$120.00

Katriel, T. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: War and Human Consciousness: Conny Mithander, John Sundholm and Maria Holmgren Troy, eds, Collective Traumas: Memories of War and Conflict in Twentieth-Century Europe, Multiple Europes Series, No. 38. Brussels, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford and Vienna: Peter Lang, 2007, 268 pp., ISBN 9789052010687, {euro}36.90/{pound}27.70/US$57.95

Kania, M. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: New Perspectives On Healthcare: R. DeVries, L. Turner, K. Orfali and C. L. Bosk, eds, The View from Here. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007 (first published as Vol. 28 No. 6 of Sociology of Health and Illness), 219 pp., ISBN 1405152699, {pound}19.99

Emmerich, N. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: New Perspectives On Healthcare: E. Kuhlmann and M. Saks, eds, Rethinking Professional Governance: International Directions in Healthcare. Bristol: Policy Press, 2008, 248 pp., ISBN 9781861349569, {pound}65.00

Fenger, H.J.M. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Issues in Education: Loic Wacquant, Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008, 342 pp., ISBN 9780745631240 (hbk), {pound}55.00, 9780745631257 (pbk), {pound}16.99

Borges, G. A. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Issues in Education: Richard Lynn, Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis. Augusta, GA: Washington Summit Publishers, 2006, 322 pp., ISBN 9781593680206 (hbk), US$34.95, 9781593680213 (pbk) US$17.95

Nuriddin, T. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Issues in Education: Rosarii Griffin, ed., Education in the Muslim World: Different Perspectives. Oxford: Symposium Books, 2006, 344 pp., ISBN 9781873927557, US$56.00

Abu-Rabia-Queder, S. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Issues in Education: Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Ideology, Policy, and Practice: Education for Immigrants and Minorities in Israel Today. New York: Kluwer, 2004, 433 pp., ISBN 9781402080739, {pound}122.50

Schneider, K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

At a Glance: Thomas S. Henricks, Play Reconsidered: Sociological Perspectives on Human Expression. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006, 239 pp., ISBN 9780252030789 (hbk), US$50.00, 9780252073182 (pbk), US$25.00

Romm, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Sports Throughout the World: John Horne and Wolfram Manzenreiter, eds, Sports Mega-Events: Social Scientific Analyses of a Global Phenomenon. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006, 199 pp., ISBN 9781405152907, {pound}19.99/24.00

Kotter, A. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Sports Throughout the World: Grant Jarvie, Hwang Dong-Jhy and Mel Brennan, Sport, Revolution and the Beijing Olympics. Oxford and New York: Berg, 2008, 165 pp., ISBN 9781845201012, {pound}19.99

Burnett, C. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Sports Throughout the World: Anthony King, The European Ritual: Football in the New Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003, 291 pp., ISBN 9780754636526, {pound}60.00

Ben-Porat, A., Lidor, R. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

At a Glance

Romm, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Aspects of Everyday Life: S. Bohm, C. Jones, C. Land and M. Paterson, eds, Against Automobility. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006, 259 pp., ISBN 9781405152709, US$39.95/{pound}19.99

Noy, C. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Aspects of Everyday Life: Martina Plumacher and Peter Holz, eds, Speaking of Colours and Odours. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007, 244 pp., ISBN 9789027238955, US$132.00

Low, K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Aspects of Everyday Life: Kristin Luker, Salsa Dancing into Social Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008, ISBN 9780674031579, US$27.95

Goh Chor Leng, E. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Aspects of Everyday Life: Monica Monteserrat Degen, Sensing Cities: Regenerating Public Life in Barcelona and Manchester. Abingdon: Routledge, 2008, 240 pp., ISBN 9780415397995, US$150.00

Blumen, O. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Economic and Political Issues in Citizenship: Geoffrey Wood and Phil James, eds, Institutions, Production, and Working Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, xii + 361 pp., ISBN 9780199291786, US$60.00

Sahoo, S. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Economic and Political Issues in Citizenship: Pirkko Pitkanen and Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, eds, Multiple State Membership and Citizenship in the Era of Transnational Migration. Rotterdam and Taipei: Sense Publishers, 2007, 191 pp., ISBN 9789087900793 (hbk), US$147.00, 9789087900786 (pbk), US$49.00

Bohl, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Economic and Political Issues in Citizenship: Devorah Kalekin-Fishman and Pirkko Pitkanen, eds, Multiple Citizenship as a Challenge to European Nation-States. Rotterdam and Taipei: Sense Publishers, 2007, 278 pp., ISBN 9789077874875 (hbk), 135.00, 9789077874868 (pbk), 45.00

Eder, K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

At a Glance Marlies Glasius, David Lewis and Hakan Seckinelgin, eds, Exploring Civil Society: Political and Cultural Contexts. London: Routledge, 2004, 213 pp., ISBN 9780415325462, US$52.95

Romm, D. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Looking At the Global: Nathalie Karagiannis and Peter Wagner, eds, Varieties of World-Making: Beyond Globalization. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press distributed by University of Chicago Press, 2007, 304 pp., ISBN 9781846310201, US$35.00

Kaya, I. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Looking At the Global: Chaime Marcuello and Jose Luis Fandos, eds, Sociological Essays for a Global Society: Cultural Change, Social Problems, and Knowledge Society. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitaries de Zaragoza, 2006, 156 pp. without index, ISBN 9781846310201

Kirkpatrick, K. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Reviews: Looking At the Global: Sylvia Walby, Heidi Gottfried, Karin Gottschall and Mari Osawa, eds, Gendering the Knowledge Economy: Comparative Perspectives. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 322 pp., ISBN 9781403994578, {pound}64.00

Carr, H. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:52:22 PDT

Youth Political Participation: Is This the End of Generational Cleavage?

Rossi, F. M. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

Young people express an increasing rejection of institutional politics and its classic actors, which has led to the assertion that youth are apathetic. This article intends to show why this affirmation is partial and does not reflect the underlying complexity of what motivates political participation in young people. The hypothesis is that since young people interpret the youth condition as transitory, they do not consider youth political participation an end in itself. While the youth condition does not structure political participation or constitute actors and political projects, there are specificities of youth political participation that need to be identified. For the purpose of identifying what motivates youth to participate — and how and where do they tend to do so — three cases of political involvement are presented: ATTAC Argentina, the Klampun Community of Papua New Guinea and the World YWCA. The theoretical sections rest on a broadly based research study suggest a reformulation of the common adult perception on youth political participation.

Modalities of Democratic Transformation: Forms of Public Discourse in Hungary's Largest Newspaper, 1990--7

Roberts, C. W., Popping, R., Pan, Y. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

This article is based on the premise that social systems are justified via the discursive use of modal statements (i.e. sentences in which actors delineate that which is possible, impossible, inevitable or contingent) and their associated rationales. Within authoritarian states such modal discourse usually reflects a relatively coherent `modality of permission'. However, when the citizens of such states unite to overthrow their totalitarian leaders, their activities are typically justified in terms of two mutually inconsistent discursive forms: a `modality of achievement' (based on market justice among competitors) vs a `modality of necessity' (based on social justice for the masses). These three discursive modalities have theoretical roots in Simmel's forms of sociation, and can be differentiated using content analysis. In an analysis of editorials during Hungary's first seven years of post-Soviet democratization, evidence is found of a steady increase during these years in mentions of Hungarians' opportunities being based on economic circumstances as well as in mentions of their responsibilities being grounded in political circumstances. This latter finding suggests that as late as 1997, Hungarian political discourse was heading toward a modality of necessity, more like the predominant political modality in Western Europe than the achievement modality that characterizes political discourse in the US.

The Case for Staying Home: Myth or Reality?

Yang, P. Q., Rodriguez, E. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

Recent US media reports about a new trend in returning home among married women with children, especially college-educated ones, have raised questions about the well-documented trends of increasing labor force participation among married women with young and minor children in the US. Using both cohort and period data from the 1994 and 2002 General Social Surveys, this study examines whether there is a reverse trend in staying home among married women with young children under the age of six and those with school-age children aged six to 17. Results of trend analyses by cohort and by period and multinomial logistic regression analysis indicate that there is no reverse trend in staying home among married women with young children as a whole, but the evidence does point to a new trend in staying home among married women with young children and a bachelor's or higher degree. For married women with school-age children as a whole and those with a bachelor's or higher degree, there appears to be mostly statistically insignificant changes in staying home across time periods and among the new generation. The study also finds declines in stay-home rates from 1994 to 2002 especially among less-educated, low-income or African-American married women with young children and to a less extent those with school-age children. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Measurement Equivalence in Solidarity Attitudes in Europe: Insights from a Multiple-Group Latent-Class Factor Approach

Kankaras, M., Moors, G. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

Comparing solidarity attitudes of European citizens is highly relevant in the context of European integration and unification. Such comparisons, however, are only valid if responses to attitude questions reflect true differences in solidarity and, hence, the measurement of latent solidarity attitudes is comparable. Often comparability is assumed, rarely is it tested. This research presents a multiple-group latent-class factor analysis of a set of questions concerning solidarity towards different social groups, taken from the 1999/2000 wave of the European Value Study. This multiple-group comparison reveals that equivalence in attitude measurement is not established straightforwardly. However, once the sources of measurement inequivalence are taken into account, valid comparison between countries is possible. It turns out that European countries are less divided on the solidarity attitudes than would have been concluded from a model that did not account for heterogeneity in measurement. At the same time, the improved model only slightly altered country rankings on solidarity dimensions.

Gender Differences in Educational Attainment among the Children of Canadian Immigrants

Abada, T., Tenkorang, E. Y. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

This article examines the gender differences in university education attainment among the children of Canadian immigrants, observing the extent to which parental human capital and social capital in the family and immigrant community may be more important and/or different for men and women. This allows us to examine the degree to which structural and cultural factors used to explain racial differences in academic achievement are also viable explanations along gender lines. Distinct patterns of upward mobility or possibilities for blocked mobility are segmented not only by race and ethnicity but also along gender lines. This study finds the importance of parental human capital whereby maternal education matters more for girls while father's education was more prominent for son's education. Family structure and feelings of exclusion during childhood have a more important role for women while identification with an ethnic ancestry for men is crucial for their pursuit of higher education.

Resumes/Resumenes

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:12:33 PDT

Family Research from the Life Course Perspective

Huinink, J., Feldhaus, M. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

This article presents an argument for overcoming some of the limits of current family research. To start, some major research questions concerning the future challenges of demographic change and its implications for modern welfare states are addressed. The authors propose an agenda for making progress in this field via two interrelated steps. First, they propose an integration of theoretical approaches explaining family dynamics and design a conceptual framework to model couples' and family dynamics as a process of purposeful individual action and decision-making over the life course. Second, methodological requirements of family research from this theoretical perspective are identified. Conclusions are drawn with regard to longitudinal data collection covering all dimensions of couples' and family dynamics and not just the structural dimensions.

A Longitudinal Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Religion

Bengtson, V. L., Copen, C. E., Putney, N. M., Silverstein, M. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

The longitudinal study of religious transmission or influence across generations is an important but underexamined area of research, particularly in terms of the religious influence of grandparents. How much influence do grandparents have on grandchildren's religious beliefs and practices, and has this changed over the past 30 years? As grandparents have become increasingly important in multigenerational families, do they exert an influence on their grandchildren's religiosity that is distinct from that of parents? Drawing on the Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG), this article uses grandparent—parent—grandchild triads and a generational sequential design to examine the transmission of three dimensions of religiosity — religious service attendance, religiousness and religious ideology — across generations from 1971 to 2000. Results indicate that in 1971 grandparents significantly influenced grandchildren's religious service attendance and religiousness, but these effects had weakened by 2000. The opposite pattern occurred for the transmission of conservative religious beliefs where there was a significant grandparent on grandchild effect in 2000, but not in 1971. Grandparents were also found to influence all three dimensions of grandchildren's religiosity independent of that of parents, suggesting that religious beliefs and practices formed within nuclear and extended families persist into adulthood with parents and grandparents simultaneously serving as independent and joint agents of religious socialization. In these analyses it was found that the influence of grandmothers on granddaughters' religiosity was especially pronounced. In general, the study shows a significant degree of religious influence across three generations in the family, and offers an expanded view of religious socialization by considering grandparents as active contributors to the religiosity of young adults.

Changing Attitudes to Gender Roles: A Longitudinal Analysis of Ordinal Response Data from the British Household Panel Study

Berridge, D., Penn, R., Ganjali, M. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

This article examines changes in attitudes to gender roles in contemporary Britain by using a first-order Markov process in which cumulative transition probabilities are logistic functions of a set of personal and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. The data are taken from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). The attitudinal responses examined take the form of ordinal responses concerning gender roles in 1991 and 2003. The likelihood function is partitioned to make possible the use of existing software for estimating model parameters. For the BHPS data, it was found that, depending on the value of the response in 1991, a variety of factors were important determinants of attitudes to gender roles by 2003.

Poverty Dynamics in Europe: A Multilevel Recurrent Discrete-Time Hazard Analysis

Callens, M., Croux, C. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

This article uses multilevel recurrent discrete-time hazard analysis to simultaneously model the impact of life cycle events and structural processes on poverty entry and exit across European Regions. Research questions are, (1) what is the importance of life cycle events on the road to entry into and exit from poverty, (2) are there any differences in poverty dynamics between European Regions and if so, how can we explain these differences? The analysis is based on individual and household panel data of the European Community Household Panel linked with a regional time series database. Main findings are that men's poverty dynamics is dominated by employment-related events, while for women demographic events also play a role. Regional structural factors only have a slight or no influence on poverty transitions, but the welfare regime turns out to be highly significant for poverty entry.

The Psychological Well-Being of Taiwanese Youth: School versus Family Context from Early to Late Adolescence

Yi, C.-C., Wu, C.-I., Chang, Y.-H., Chang, M.-Y. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

This study examines the growth trajectory of the psychological well-being of Taiwanese adolescents from early to late adolescence. Under the competitive educational system in Taiwan, family and school context are two major loci accounting for the developmental outcome. Data are taken from the Taiwan Youth Project, which is a longitudinal panel study of 2696 students since the year 2000. The study uses individual depressive symptoms as the dependent variable. Family cohesion, family educational strategy as well as classroom effects at school are chosen to indicate the potential contextual influence. Using the latent growth curve method, the analysis confirms that family and school factors do produce different effects over time. Family context is salient at the initial status, but not for subsequent development. Class cohesion as well as adolescents' perceptions of unfairness by teachers determine the depressive level, the linear slope and the non-linear quadratic growth curve. In other words, once the adolescent gets used to junior high school, the school context tends to exert more pronounced effects. Further analysis on gender comparisons indicates that selective family and school effects are more pronounced among females, with a greater degree of depressive symptoms over time. The article concludes that while family and school have different impacts on the growth curve of individual depressive symptoms, the school context exerts salient effects over an adolescent's life course.

Household Surveys as a Source of Data for Event History Analysis: The Study of Family-Related Life Events in Argentina Using the Encuesta Permanente de Hogares

Laplante, B., Santillan, M. M., Constanza Street, M. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT

The authors introduce a method that allows the use of data from rotating panel surveys, a design used in many household or labour force surveys, to realize statistical analyses similar to event history analysis. The method is illustrated with two examples, one on the dynamics of poverty — the effect of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the hazard of becoming poor in Argentina — and the other on family dynamics — the conversion of consensual unions into marriages. Both examples use data from the Argentinean Encuesta Permanente de Hogares, a national survey that is not designed to collect prospective or biographical data. The method allows for the use of time-varying independent variables and thus allows one to estimate the effect of an event on the hazard of another event, as in conventional event history analysis; several examples are provided.

Resumes/Resumenes

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:58 PDT