Mechanisms in sociology-a critical intervention.

The notion of the mechanism is one of the most popular and widely used concepts in science and sociology is no exception. This paper problematizes the widespread and often uncritical use of the term "mechanism" in contemporary sociology. Drawing on the mechanistic worldview associated with leading figures of the scientific revolution, the paper emphasizes the impact of mechanistic thinking on the societal rationalization process identified by Max Weber and the Frankfurt School. The analysis suggests that mechanisms, when applied to sociological theories, may uncritically reproduce a cultural fetish of the rational society with potentially dehumanizing consequences. The author advocates for a critical reflection on the cultural and historical context of mechanisms, urging sociologists to view them not merely as analytical tools but as active contributors to the creation and shaping of social worlds erected on a belief in instrumental reason.

Fake kindness, caring and symbolic violence.

The article starts by offering a definition of fake kindness focused on the dissociation between the behavioural components of kindness and the intent to sincerely pay some heed to the needs of others. Using the sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu, this definition is then used to articulate how fake kindness can be conceptualized as a specific form of symbolic violence. Such a view allows explanations as to how and why the prevalence and effectiveness of fake kindness vary according to microsociological norms and values. The generic definition and conceptualization of fake kindness as a form of symbolic violence are then used to discuss how nursing's enthrallment with the concept of caring and its operationalization as a moral compass likely fosters the growth of fake kindness within the profession. In this view, the institutional enforcement of propriety and well-behaved professionalism is more likely to lead to toxic environments than to healthy workplaces. We hope that being able to understand how professional norms and institutional rules are sometimes turned into social tools to enforce obedience and existing hierarchies can empower victims of those phenomena to resist them more effectively. It might also contribute to increasing the awareness of well-meaning nurses or people in position of authority who have been socialized in environments where fake kindness is normalized.

Anticolonial thought, the sociological imagination, and social science: A reply to critics.

This essay responds to commentaries (this issue) on Go's "Thinking Against Empire: Anticolonial Thought as Social Theory" (this issue). The essay addressed shared concerns and underlying themes of the commentaries, most of which pivot around the problem of the anticolonial and the status of disciplinary sociology as a knowledge project. Is there a need for sociology to incorporate anticolonial thought? How does anticolonial thought as social theory differ from other epistemic projects? Is the distinction between sociology's imperial episteme and anticolonial thought fruitful or obfuscating? And what are the possibilities and limits of a social science informed by anticolonial thought? Ultimately, the essay maintains that anticolonial thought offers a powerful sociological imagination that can be fruitfully tethered to a project of realist social science. It also maintains that realist social science can be emancipatory; provided that it is reoriented by anticolonial thought.

After Neoliberalism: Social Theory and Sociology in the Interregnum.

Charles Thorpe argues sociology lacks a "language of society as a whole." He holds that positivist sociologists de-legitimated holistic theories or broad normatively oriented "social theories," leaving the discipline without discursive means to critically assess and deliberate its overall directions and those of society. Thorpe does not address holistic theory directly or explain how it differs analytically from standard "sociological theory." My intent is to clarify these matters by extending facets of his argument to illuminate the interdependence between holistic theorizing and empirical-historical social science, which is necessary to create the type of "reflexive sociology" that Thorpe argues would make sociology more cosmopolitan and capable of addressing the turbulent sociopolitical conditions in the interregnum after neoliberalism.

Recognition in interaction: theoretical and empirical observations.

In the current paper we aim to combine the theoretical ideas of recognition theory to conversation analytical, empirical observations. We ask what recognition theories can give to conversation analysis, and vice versa. We operate on a model of recognition that consists of three different modes: respect, esteem, and love/care, and which distinguishes the levels of conversational actions and the attitudes of recognition manifested in such actions. In this study we examine data examples from various conversational settings (institutional, quasi-experimental, family interaction) and activities (decision-making, storytelling), focusing on the more complex cases of (mis)recognition. We show how recognition can appear both explicitly and implicitly in conversational sequences, and demonstrate how the levels of conversational actions and recognition can be either congruent or incongruent with each other. At the end of the article, we discuss the implications of this view for the interface of conversation analysis and sociological theory, arguing that it can inform and promote the development of interactionally based social and societal critique.

Why mental disorders flourish and wither: Extending the theory of ecological niches.

Why do some mental illnesses emerge in certain times and places and later disappear? Because it integrates a wide array of social processes and relies on a strong epistemological position, Hacking's theory of ecological niches constitutes the most comprehensive and ambitious attempt to answer this question. However, this theory lacks a convincing definition of its research object ("transient mental illnesses"), a conceptualization of how individuals would "fall ill" as well as a solid methodological framework to form case studies. This article addresses these issues in order to propose an extended theory of ecological niches.

Engaging with motherhood and parenthood: A commentary on the social science drugs literature.

The majority of qualitative social scientific research on the topic of parenthood and substance use focuses on mothers who use illicit drugs and their experiences of social marginalization and stigmatization. This commentary argues that new and important insights might be gained about parenting in the context of substance use by engaging more closely with everyday experiences of mothering and with contemporary theorising around motherhood and parenthood. Drawing on recent sociological studies of family life influenced by late-modern individualism and by new expert attention on the quality of parent-child relationships, the commentary proposes directions for future social research on the identities and experiences of mothers and fathers who use alcohol and other drugs.

A dynamic and multifunctional account of middle-range theories.

This article develops a novel account of middle-range theories for combining theoretical and empirical analysis in explanatory sociology. I first revisit Robert K. Merton's original ideas on middle-range theories and identify a tension between his developmental approach to middle-range theorizing that recognizes multiple functions of theories in sociological research and his static definition of the concept of middle-range theory that focuses only on empirical testing of theories. Drawing on Merton's ideas on theorizing and recent discussions on mechanism-based explanations, I argue that this tension can be resolved by decomposing a middle-range theory into three interrelated and evolving components that perform different functions in sociological research: (i) a conceptual framework about social phenomena that is a set of interrelated concepts that evolve in close connection with empirical analysis; (ii) a mechanism schema that is an abstract and incomplete description of a social mechanism; and (iii) a cluster of all mechanism-based explanations of social phenomena that are based on the particular mechanism schema. I show how these components develop over time and how they serve different functions in sociological theorizing and research. Finally, I illustrate these ideas by discussing Merton's theory of the Matthew effect in science and its more recent applications in sociology.

A Systematic View on the Use of History for Current Debates in Sociology, and on the Potential and Problems of a Historical Epistemology of Sociology.

For various reasons, among them changes in the global higher education regime and competitive knowledge claims from other disciplines, the field of the history of sociology (HoS) has experienced an increased pressure to justify its own existence during the last decade. Positing that the best approach to justify the existence of a thing is to show its usefulness, the article discusses four types of claims to usefulness made by historians of sociology. The history of sociology can be said to be relevant in (I) shaping and maintaining the discipline's identity; (II) in providing a rich fund of teaching future sociologists; (III) in informing current research and theorizing; and (IV) in reflecting more broadly on the cultural status of sociology in modern societies. The article then assesses the potential and problems of aspiring a historical epistemology of sociology, a proposal made recently especially in German and Anglophone contexts to link the history of science with its philosophy in the sense described as type III. It concludes that selected principles or ideas of historical epistemology can be very fruitfully applied in HoS. However, the project of transferring the whole program of historical epistemology into HoS is bound to fail. Nonetheless, there is plenty of reason to continue conceiving of HoS as an integral part of sociology.

Cultures of choice: towards a sociology of choice as a cultural phenomenon.

The article explores different ways to conceptualize the relationship between choice and culture. These two notions are often constructed as opposites: while sociologies of modernization (such as Giddens') portray a shift from cultural traditions to culturally disembedded choice, dispositional sociologies (such as Bourdieu's) uncover cultural determination as the hidden truth behind apparent choice. However, choice may be real and cultural simultaneously. Culture moulds choice not only by inculcating dispositions or shaping repertoires of alternatives, but also by offering culturally specific choice practices, ways of choosing embedded in meaning, normativity, and materiality; and by shaping attributions of choice in everyday life. By bringing together insights from rival schools, I portray an outline for a comparative cultural sociology of choice, and demonstrate its purchase while discussing the digitalization of choice; and cultural logics that shape choice attribution in ways opposing neoliberal trends.

Improving Access to, Use of, and Outcomes from Public Health Programs: The Importance of Building and Maintaining Trust with Patients/Clients.

The central argument in this paper is that "public trust" is critical for developing and maintaining the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities, and societies. I argue that public health practitioners and policy makers need to take "public trust" seriously if they intend to improve both the public's health and the engagement between members of the public and public health systems. Public health practitioners implement a range of services and interventions aimed at improving health but implicit a requirement for individuals to trust the practitioners and the services/interventions, before they engage with them. I then go on to provide an overview of the theory of trust within sociology and show why it is important to understand this theory in order to promote trust in public health services. I then draw on literature in three classic areas of public health-hospitals, cancer screening, and childhood immunization-to show why trust is vital in terms of understanding and potentially improving uptake of services. The case studies in this paper reveal that public health practitioners need to understand the centrality of building and maintaining trusting relationships with patients/clients because people who distrust public health services are less likely to use them, less likely to follow advice or recommendations, and more likely to have poorer health outcomes.

W. E. B. Du Bois at the center: from science, civil rights movement, to Black Lives Matter.

I am honoured to present the 2016 British Journal of Sociology Annual Lecture at the London School of Economics. My lecture is based on ideas derived from my new book, The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology. In this essay I make three arguments. First, W.E.B. Du Bois and his Atlanta School of Sociology pioneered scientific sociology in the United States. Second, Du Bois pioneered a public sociology that creatively combined sociology and activism. Finally, Du Bois pioneered a politically engaged social science relevant for contemporary political struggles including the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement.

Rethinking the relationship between socio-economic status and health: Making the case for sociological theory in health inequality research.

AIM: The aim of this study is to analyse previous explanations of social inequality in health and argue for a closer integration of sociological theory into future empirical research. METHODS: We examine cultural-behavioural, materialist, psychosocial and life-course approaches, in addition to fundamental cause theory. Giddens' structuration theory and a neo-materialist approach, inspired by Bruno Latour, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, are proposed as ways of rethinking the causal relationship between socio-economic status and health. CONCLUSIONS: Much of the empirical research on health inequalities has tended to rely on explanations with a static and unidirectional view of the association between socio-economic status and health, assuming a unidirectional causal relationship between largely static categories. We argue for the use of sociological theory to develop more dynamic models that enhance the understanding of the complex pathways and mechanisms linking social structures to health.

The Relationship between Neutralization Techniques and Induced Abortion.

BACKGROUND: Induced abortion is not only a serious threat for women's health, but also a controversial topic for its ethical and moral problems. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between neutralization techniques and attempting to commit abortion in married women with unintended pregnancy. METHODS: After in-depth interviews with some women who had attempted abortion, neutralization themes were gathered. Next, to analyze the data quantitatively, a questionnaire was created including demographic and psychosocial variables specifically related to neutralization. The participants were divided into two groups (abortion and control) of unintended pregnancy and were then compared. RESULTS: Analysis of psychosocial variables revealed a significant difference in the two groups at neutralization, showing that neutralization in the control group (56.97±10.24) was higher than that in the abortion group (44.19±12.44). To evaluate the findings more accurately, we examined the causal factors behind the behaviors of the abortion group. Binary logistic regression showed that among psychosocial factors, neutralization significantly affected abortion (95% CI=1.07-1.35). CONCLUSION: Despite the network of many factors affecting induced abortion, neutralization plays an important role in reinforcing the tendency to attempt abortion. Furthermore, the decline of religious beliefs, as a result of the secular context of the modern world, seems to have an important role in neutralizing induced abortion.

A construção teórica na sociologia da saúde: uma reflexão sobre a sua trajetória / Theoretical construction in the sociology of health: a reflection on its trajectory

O objetivo deste artigo é estabelecer algumas reflexões sobre a construção teórica na constituição da sociologia da saúde, ainda denominada em alguns países de sociologia médica, baseadas em duas ideias: a interdisciplinaridade e o grau de articulação presente nos campos da medicina e da sociologia. Buscamos estabelecer um diálogo com algumas dimensões - macro/micro, estrutura/ação - que constituem as bases na compreensão da medicina/saúde em sua relação com o social/sociológico. Inicialmente apresentamos aspectos dessas dimensões; em seguida abordamos as duas sociologias médicas de Straus 2 e os impasses entre teoria/aplicação, assim como os dilemas do campo da sociologia da medicina dos anos 1960 e 1970. A partir dessas análises colocamos como contraponto a produção teórica anterior a 1970 e situamos a sociologia da saúde no cenário geral da sociologia, que a partir de 1970 sofre um processo de fragmentação com reflexos em todos os subcampos das ciências sociais. Esse processo é acompanhado de um repensar das questões teóricas num espectro ampliado de possibilidades. Destacamos a década de 80 quando se revigoram as questões teóricas da sociologia da saúde e concluímos retomando a questão da interdisciplinaridade.

The scope of this paper is to reflect on the theoretical construction in the constitution of the sociology of health, still called medical sociology in some countries. Two main ideas constitute the basis for this: interdisciplinarity and the degree of articulation in the fields of medicine and sociology. We sought to establish a dialogue with some dimensions - macro/micro, structure/action - that constitute the basis for understanding medicine/health in relation to the social/sociological dimension. The main aspects of these dimensions are initially presented. Straus' two medical sociologies and the theory/application impasses are then addressed, as well as the dilemmas of the sociology of medicine in the 1960s and 1970s. From these analyses the theoretical production before 1970 is placed as a counterpoint. Lastly, the sociology of health is seen in the general context of sociology, which underwent a fragmentation process from 1970 with effects in all subfields of the social sciences. This process involves a rethinking of the theoretical issues in a broadened spectrum of possibilities. The 1980s are highlighted when theoretical issues in the sociology of health are reinvigorated and the issue of interdisciplinarity is once again addressed.

The sociology of health in the United States: recent theoretical contributions / A sociologia da saúde nos Estados Unidos: contribuições teóricas recentes

This paper examines recent trends in theory in health sociology in the United States and finds that the use of theory is flourishing. The central thesis is that the field has reached a mature state and is in the early stage of a paradigm shift away from a past focus on methodological individualism (in which the individual is the primary unit of analysis) toward a growing utilization of theories with a structural orientation This outcome is materially aided by research methods (e.g. hierarchal linear modeling, biomarkers) providing measures of structural effects on the health of the individual that were often absent or underdeveloped in the past. Structure needs to be accounted for in any social endeavor and contemporary medical sociology appears to be doing precisely that as part of the next stage of its evolution. The recent contributions to theory in the sociology of health discussed in this paper are fundamental cause, medicalization, social capital, neighborhood disadvantage, and health lifestyle theories.

O artigo analisa as tendências teóricas recentes da sociologia da saúde nos Estados Unidos e revela que o uso destas está florescendo. A tese central é que o campo atingiu a sua maturidade e está na fase inicial de uma mudança de paradigma de um foco anterior no individualismo metodológico (em que o indivíduo é a unidade primária de análise) em direção a uma crescente utilização de teorias com orientação estrutural. Este resultado é objetivamente auxiliado por métodos de pesquisa (por exemplo, a modelagem linear hierárquica, biomarcadores) que fornecem as medidas de efeitos estruturais sobre a saúde do indivíduo, que muitas vezes eram ausentes ou não desenvolvidos no passado. A orientação estrutural precisa ser considerada em qualquer empreendimento social e a sociologia médica contemporânea parece estar fazendo exatamente isso, como parte da próxima fase de sua evolução. As recentes contribuições à teoria da sociologia da saúde discutidas neste trabalho são as seguintes: causa fundamental, medicalização, capital social, desvantagens locais, e as teorias de estilo de vida em saúde.

Aportes sociológicos para pensar la comunidad en prácticas de participación comunitaria en salud / Sociological contributions for thinking about the meanings of "community" in community participative practices in health

En políticas y prácticas comunitarias en salud existe un supuesto consenso sobre el significado del concepto de comunidad, bajo el que prol i fera una gran polisemia real. El objetivo del presente trabajo es describir algunos sentidos otorgados a la comunidad por los actores intervinientes en una experiencia de participación comunitaria en salud, y analizar las congruencias y concordancias con algunas formulaciones teóricas del campo de la sociología. Se trata de un estudio de caso de tipo exploratorio descriptivo, centrado en actividades participativas de promoción de salud realizadas por una red barrial en Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica en la teoría sociológica y una articulación con el material de campo. Se concluye que los sentidos otorgados a la comunidad por los actores que la habitan conforman un entramado complejo con un correlato teóricomsociológico en diferentes períodos históricos. Capas geológicas pueden rastrearse en los sentidos que circulan desde abajo, diferenciándose de aquellos otorgados gubernamentalmente.

In community health policies and practices there is a supposed consensus about the meaning of the community concept, under which proliferates a real great polysemy. The aim of this study is to describe some meanings given to the idea of community by the actors of a community participation experience in health, and analyze the congruences and concordances with some theoretical formulations of the sociology field. This is an exploratorymdescriptive case study, based on participatory activities of health promotion carried out by an institutional network in Buenos Aires City. A bibliographic review has been made in the sociological theory, and a joint with the field material. It concludes that the meanings given to the community by the actors that inhabit make up a complex network with a theoreticalmsociological counterpart in different historical periods. Geological layers can be traced back in the senses that circulate from the bottom, differing from those granted by governmental bodies.

Riesgo: teoría realidad: el caso de marmato, caldas / Risk: theoy and reality: the marmato, caldas csse

El concepto de "riesgo" es relativamente nuevo en la literatura sociológica, surge de manera más sistemática en la obra de Anthony Giddens y de Ulrich Beck, desarrollándose bajo otro tipo de conceptualización en diversos autores, de los cuales se rescata aquí a la ecofeminista Vandana Shiva. Este artículo busca establecer un lazo de comunicación entre los acercamientos de Beck y Shiva a los conflictos suscitados por la idea de riesgo en el caso de la minería del oro en Marmato, Caldas, a través de la especificación de los riesgos medioambientales producidos por las distintas formas de explotación de ese recurso y las posturas ideológicas de los actores en disputa.

The concept of "risk" is relatively new in sociological literature and arises in a more systematic way in Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck's works and it develops in alternative conceptualizations in various authors from which the ecofeminist , Vandana Shiva is recoverd here, . This article seeks to establish a link between Beck and Shiva's approaches to the conflicts arising from the idea of risk in the case of gold mining in Marmato, Caldas, through the specification of environmental risks produced by different ways of exploitation of that resource and the ideological positions of actors in the dispute.

Aportes sociológicos para pensar la comunidad en prácticas de participación comunitaria en salud / Sociological contributions for thinking about the meanings of "community" in community participative practices in health

En políticas y prácticas comunitarias en salud existe un supuesto consenso sobre el significado del concepto de comunidad, bajo el que prol i fera una gran polisemia real. El objetivo del presente trabajo es describir algunos sentidos otorgados a la comunidad por los actores intervinientes en una experiencia de participación comunitaria en salud, y analizar las congruencias y concordancias con algunas formulaciones teóricas del campo de la sociología. Se trata de un estudio de caso de tipo exploratorio descriptivo, centrado en actividades participativas de promoción de salud realizadas por una red barrial en Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica en la teoría sociológica y una articulación con el material de campo. Se concluye que los sentidos otorgados a la comunidad por los actores que la habitan conforman un entramado complejo con un correlato teóricomsociológico en diferentes períodos históricos. Capas geológicas pueden rastrearse en los sentidos que circulan desde abajo, diferenciándose de aquellos otorgados gubernamentalmente.(AU)

In community health policies and practices there is a supposed consensus about the meaning of the community concept, under which proliferates a real great polysemy. The aim of this study is to describe some meanings given to the idea of community by the actors of a community participation experience in health, and analyze the congruences and concordances with some theoretical formulations of the sociology field. This is an exploratorymdescriptive case study, based on participatory activities of health promotion carried out by an institutional network in Buenos Aires City. A bibliographic review has been made in the sociological theory, and a joint with the field material. It concludes that the meanings given to the community by the actors that inhabit make up a complex network with a theoreticalmsociological counterpart in different historical periods. Geological layers can be traced back in the senses that circulate from the bottom, differing from those granted by governmental bodies.(AU)