Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sociology and political economy'

The exploration of this thesis on public finance proceeds on two axes. First, it aims at developing an ontological perspective to public finance. Accordingly, public finance is defined to be the concrete political relation between the state and society. The thesis that presents a political and historical evaluation of public finance from a critical sociological and political economy approach associates the components of this definition such as public, the political etc. with the relevant debates in social and political theory. In line with this, the traditional harmony-perspective of neoclassical public finance theories, which is ignorant of the political, is criticized, calling it as &lsquo
police finance&rsquo
instead of &lsquo
public finance&rsquo
. Secondly, the thesis explores the history of fiscal thought between the 15th-19th centuries with special reference to the Ottoman Empire. All in all, with these topics this thesis aims at making a contribution to the field of &ldquo
fiscal sociology&rdquo
from a critical sociological and political economy approach.

This dissertation uses mixed methods to examine the role of the coal industry in the reproduction of Central Appalachia as an internal periphery within the United States and the economic, ecological, and human inequalities this entails. It also analyzes the related political economy and power structure of coal in a national context. Particularly important for analysis of the region's underdevelopment are the class relations involved in unequal ecological exchange and the establishment of successive "modes of extraction." I employ a historical comparative analysis of Appalachia to evaluate Bunker's thesis that resource dependent peripheries often become locked into a "mode of extraction" (with aspects parallel to Marxist concepts of mode of production) triggering economic and ecological path dependencies leading to underdevelopment. This historical comparative analysis establishes the background for a closer examination of the political economy of the modern US coal industry. After sketching the changes in the structure of monopoly and competition in the coal industry I employ network analysis of the directorate interlocks of the top twenty coal firms in the US within the larger energy policy-planning network to examine their connections with key institutions of the policy formation network of think tanks and business groups. My findings show the importance of the capacities of fossil fuel fractions of the capitalist class in formulating energy policy around issues such as the 2009 climate legislation. As a contribution to the growing literature applying the concept of metabolism as link between contemporary and classical theory, I examine the conflict at Coal River Mountain from the vantage points of ecology, political economy, and human development in dialectical rotation. Utilizing Marx's method of successive abstractions, the mountain is presented as a nexus of metabolic rifts in the human relationship to the earth's natural systems and an impediment to genuine human development. Finally, I conclude with some implications of this analysis for building a critical environmental sociology of extractive economies. This dissertation includes previously published materials.
2016-09-29

Cross-national comparative approaches have yielded a rich set of insights about the diversity of national forms of contemporary capitalism, including the ways in which the organization of work and employment differs across countries. At the same time, the cross-national framework has also functioned in certain respects as a conceptual straitjacket, preventing us from recognizing alternative structuring principles in the macro context, and the existence of patterns that cut across national boundaries. The five papers that comprise this dissertation together seek to advance a dual agenda for advancing the macro-comparative study of work and employment, one that recognizes both the strengths and limitations of the cross-national framework. Looking at different sets of high- and middle-income countries, the papers use various statistical methods (including OLS and cross-classified multilevel regression models) to consider outcomes ranging from union organization to unemployment to non-standard working arrangements. On the one hand, this project offers new insights into the cross-national diversity of systems of work and employment. For example, one paper adds to our understanding of why rates of temporary employment vary so widely across national varieties of capitalism, and the reasons why increases in temporary employment have been so high in Continental European countries. On the other hand, the project also shows that certain features of work organization are structured more by occupational as opposed national distinctions, with particular occupational patterns extending across countries. Indeed, one paper demonstrates that patterns of "voluntary" as well as "involuntary" part-time employment vary much more along occupational as opposed to national lines, and that rates of part-time employment are not just high but remarkably uniform across countries for certain kinds of service workers. These and other findings from this dissertation add to our understanding of how national boundaries structure the landscape of work and employment, while also being cross-cut in important ways by other types of organizing logics. More broadly, they contribute to the development of a productive middle ground between perspectives that emphasize the persistence of cross-national differences in the organization of contemporary capitalism, and those stress similarities and shared trends.

This thesis is a theoretical exercise which relies on the Strategic Relational Approach to analyze the broad social processes of change and to deliver a critical account of the contingent contemporary transformations in Mexico. By engaging in an exercise of process-tracing, this thesis aims to examine critically key features of social change, challenging economic deterministic accounts, and ignoring social and political circumstances. Its focus is on the application of theories of change to illuminate broad trajectories of reform. By presenting a theoretically informed empirical narrative of contemporary transformations in Mexico, it is possible to enhance the insight into the particular processes of commodification, democratization and integration. Moreover, the varied and combined paces, depths and strengths of these transformations provide an excellent opportunity to understand and assess the importance of tendencies and countertendencies in play. By referring to the analytical tools of structure and agency, material and ideational elements, all within specific locations of time and space the contingency of processes of change is recognized. The restoration of agency is a crucial element for an analysis of the socially embedded processes of commodification, democratization and integration. By relying on the accounts of political economists and economic sociologists, it can be shown that the processes are deeply political and non-determinate. Therefore, alongside constraints, they also offer windows of opportunity which encompass a broader social and political spectrum and possibilities of transformation. Since different modes of governance are not necessarily incompatible with each other, the account offered here focuses on the state, the market and networking, as well as their complementary roles, which are not reducible to determinisms or inevitability of any sort.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Dept. of Political Science, 2006.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1506. Adviser: Elinor S. Ostrom. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 19, 2007)."

L'économie politique est l'une des sous-disciplines de la littérature économique. Les économistes politiques étudient les effets des facteurs politiques sur les résultats économiques. Les institutions et l'influence de différentes structures institutionnelles sur les marchés sont parmi les principaux domaines de recherche de l'économie politique. Dans la littérature existante, le nombre d'analyses empiriques portant sur les déterminants des institutions est faible par rapport aux études qui se concentrent sur les effets des institutions sur les performances économiques. De plus, les analyses qui examinent l’impact de la culture, en particulier de la religion, sur les institutions sont rares. Sans aucun doute, la religion peut avoir des effets dramatiques sur les variables sociales et économiques. L’objectif de ce travail est donc d’examiner les effets de la religion et de la religiosité sur la corruption, le bonheur des individus et le comportement électoral. Nous contribuons à la littérature existante en fournissant de nouvelles preuves et en nous concentrant sur les pays non analysés dans les études précédentes. [...]
Political economy is one of the sub-diciplines of economics literature. Political economists investigate the effects of political factors on economic outcomes. Institutions and the influence of different institutional structures on markets are among the main research areas of political economy. In the existing literature, the number of empirical analyses which investigate the determinants of institutions is low in comparison to the studies that focus on the effects of institutions on economic performance. Moreover, the analyses which examine the impact of culture, specifically religion, on institutions are scarce. Without doubt, religion can have dramatic effects on social and economic variables. Hence, the aim of this work is to investigate the effects of religion and religiosity on corruption, individuals’ happiness and voting behaviour. We contribute to the existing literature by providing new evidence and by focusing on the countries which are not analysed in the previous studies. [...]

This dissertation proposes an approach to energy that transcends the focus on energy as a mere technical economic or engineering problem, is connected to sociological theory as a whole, and takes issues of equality and ecology as theoretical starting points. In doing so, the work presented here puts ecological and environmental sociological theory, and the work of environmental justice scholars, feminist ecologists, and energy scholars, in a context in which they may complement one another to broaden the theoretical basis of the current sociology of energy. This theoretical integration provides an approach to energy focused on energy justice. Understanding energy and society in the terms outlined here makes visible energy injustice, or the interface between social inequalities and ecological depredations accumulating as the social and ecological debts of the modern energy regime. Systems ecology is brought into this framework as a means for understanding unequal exchange, energy injustice more generally, and the requirements for long-term social and ecological reproduction in ecological terms. Energy developments in Ecuador and Cuba are used here as case studies in order to further develop the idea of energy justice and the theory of unequal ecological exchange. The point is to broaden the framework of the contemporary critical sociology of energy, putting energy justice at its heart. This dissertation contains previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

Between the 1970s and 2000, the U.S. imprisonment rate increased by 700% (e.g., Beck and Harrison 2001). During the same time period, technological advancements and the decline of manufacturing production in urban areas eliminated many of the higher-paying blue collar job opportunities previously available to workers without college educations (e.g., Morris and Western 1999). The simultaneous large changes in imprisonment and labor markets are striking and the co-occurrence of these events suggests a possible connection between increasingly insecure employment conditions and rising imprisonment rates. Further, policies targeting the poor population (including criminal justice) became more punitive since the 1970s. This co-occurred with a resurgence of Republican Party popularity and overall imprisonment rates subsequently increased (e.g., Beckett and Sasson 2004). Understanding the association between labor market conditions and imprisonment may be especially important for historically disadvantaged minority groups. Research has yet to consider how specific labor market shifts (e.g., restricted blue collar opportunities) may influence imprisonment rates. It is unknown whether such labor market dynamics may better explain the exposure of historically disadvantaged racial minorities to criminal justice system control. This project examines the issues raised in the foregoing discussion using a unique dataset created for this purpose. Data at the local-level are combined from two primary sources: the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics1989 and 1999), and Integrated Public Use Micro Sample (IPUMS) data (1990 and 2000) (Ruggles, Alexander, Genadek, Goeken, Schroeder, and Sobek 2010). This project also draws from two general election studies, "General Election Data for the United States" (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research 1995) and American University Federal Elections Project data (Lublin and Voss 2001), and controls for criminal justice system characteristics using the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) (U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation 1988, 1989, 1998, 1999) and The Book of the States (1990 and 2000). Findings suggest that the percentage of men without college education and restricted blue collar employment rates for unskilled workers are positively associated with prison admission rates within the corresponding local areas. In addition, the local percentage voting for Republican presidential candidates is positively associated with prison admission rates. Further, concentrated disadvantage among local African American populations is significantly and positively associated with prison admission rates for this group. Conversely, concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage among Whites is significantly and negatively associated with prison admission rates for African Americans. In addition, the local percentage of unskilled African Americans is significantly and positively associated with prison admission rates for African Americans and Whites. Finally, the percentage of unskilled workers employed in blue collar industries is significantly and negatively associated with African American and not significantly associated with White prison admission rates.

The core of my thesis is to present a Marxist interpretation of the process of industrialisation in South Africa. I do so with the view that previous discussions on the process of industrialisation and its effects on the South African political economy have tended to obscure class relations in favour of race relations. The reason that this has occurred is that the dominant tradition in Marxist studies on South Africa has been located within a structuralist framework derived essentially from the French school of Marxism. The methodology of the structuralist Marxists has been such that it has led them to develop analytical tools that have focused on race rather than class as the predominant contradiction within South African society. An inadequate application and interpretation of Marx's labour theory of value has led Wolpe to develop his cheap labour thesis which has proven to be both problematic and inadequate as an aid to understanding the particular form of industrialisation in South Africa. Despite criticisms of this theory it has continued to be reproduced uncritically within South African acadentia leading to the development of further analytical tools such as racial capitalism and racial fordism that have proven to be inadequate in interpreting industrialisation. These concepts, moving even further away from Marx 's labour theory of value, tended to focus on the superficial aspects of racism rather than on class exploitation. The effect has been that an eclecticism has developed within the structuralist Marxist's analysis leading to an interpretation that seemed no different from the neoclassical and liberal schools of thought. A more serious implication of the structuralist Marxist's methodology has been the effect that it has had on the liberation movements and trade unions in South Africa. These theories played an important influential role in the strategic thinking of the liberation organisations leading them to direct working class struggles against a dominant racism rather than against a dominant racism and capitalism. These studies have implied that the post-apartheid state would be a reformist capitalist state rather than a revolutionary socialist state. While emanating from Marxism the structuralist Marxists have in actual fact been promoting a reformist capitalism. With these criticisms in mind I attempt to develop an interpretation of industrialisation that moves away from the structuralist methodology by anchoring my analysis within Marx's labour theory of value and class struggle. Furthermore, using the methodological approach of Geoffrey Kay I locate South Africa's process of industrialisation within the framework of colonialism and changing forms of imperialism. In order to understand South Africa's industrialisation (and that of many other former colonies) one has to develop an understanding of the changing forms of international capital and the effects that this had on development in various parts of the world. This interpretation essentially locates development and industrialisation within the process of capital accumulation and class struggle but also allows for an understanding often emergence of racism within this dynamic. The peculiarities of racism are located within this changing form of imperial dontination. While racism plays an important part in the dynamics of capital accumulation it is not tlle dontinant contradiction of South African society, which should be located within capitalist accumulation and changing forms of imperialism. Crises which emerge within this context are thus not crises of racism or crises in the economy but crises in the process of accumulation as a direct result of class struggle and affect both state and capital in a very serious way. The outcome of the crises can lead to reform or revolution. The post apartheid state has clearly adopted a reformist approach and for the structuralist Marxists tltis does not seem to be a problem, with many Marxists now seeing themselves as fonner Marxists.

Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco-catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of eco-catastrophe. In line with this approach, economic ideology is the strongest predictor of attitudes about eco-catastrophe, and its influence is conditioned by political identity. There is also significant patterning in these perceptions based on gender, race, education, and religion, but the influence of social characteristics is primarily indirect—mediated by economic ideology and political identity. These results provide useful information for addressing environmental problems in public discourse and bridging policy divides.

Le travail de thèse s’articule autour de trois chapitres.Le premier chapitre « Electoral Institutions and Political Polarization: An Experiment on Approval Voting in Benin » s’intéresse au rôle des institutions politiques dans la division des sociétés africaines. L’idée principale étant que les institutions politiques pourraient influencer la formation des groupes à l’intérieur des sociétés. Certains systèmes de vote (pluralité, système majoritaire) par leur règle tendent à forcer les électeurs à choisir un camp et pourraient potentiellement conduire à des divisions sociales, ethniques ou religieuses. Les autres règles de vote qui permettent aux électeurs de voter plusieurs candidats à la fois, devraient en théorie éviter ces inconvénients, et ainsi aboutir à une moins grande polarisation politique. Ce chapitre fournit des preuves expérimentales de cette théorie. Nos données proviennent d'une expérience sur le vote d'approbation qui a eu lieu lors de l'élection présidentielle de 2011 au Bénin, un pays démocratique d’Afrique occidentale, multi-ethnique avec un paysage politique caractérisé par une forte fracture nord-sud au niveau sociale et politique. En parallèle au vote officiel (scrutin majoritaire), nous avons proposé le vote par approbation aux électeurs, dont règle leur permet de voter pour plusieurs candidats à la fois. Les résultats montrent que ce système de vote augmente le score de plusieurs candidats consensuels. Nous avons également trouvé que le vote ethnique ne disparait pas et pourrait même augmenter. Dans le chapitre 2 « L’impact du clientélisme électoral: Analyse d’une expérience de laboratoire », nous nous intéressons au clientélisme, son lien avec la modernisation et son impact sur les résultats des élections. Nous avons effectués des expériences de laboratoires dans deux endroits différents (France et Burkina Faso). Les résultats obtenus montrent un effet significatif des campagnes d’achat de vote et de promesses électorales sur le score des candidats dans les deux pays. Mais les campagnes clientélistes sont plus efficaces en Afrique car ils permettent l’élection du candidat clientéliste. Le troisième et dernier chapitre « Quels sont les facteurs qui influencent le consentement à l’impôt en Afrique du Sud Sahara : Une analyse empirique avec des données d’enquêtes d’opinion», fournit une analyse des facteurs déterminant le consentement à payer la taxe des citoyens en Afrique du sud Sahara. En utilisant les données de 29 pays, nous avons montré que la qualité des services publiques, le milieu de résidence, le niveau d’éducation, la confiance aux institutions, la transparence du système fiscal sont des facteurs important dans les décisions des citoyens de consentir à payer la taxe. Nous avions également montré que la présence de ressources naturelle dans un pays, ainsi que le nombre d’habitant dans un pays jouent un rôle dans le consentement à payer la taxes des citoyens. Aussi l’importance accordé aux facteurs déterminant est différent selon la particularité des pays (peuplé ou pas, possédant ou pas des ressources naturelles)
This work is organized in three (3) chapters. the first chapter, « Electoral Institutions and Political Polarization: An Experiment on Approval Voting in Benin » coauthored with J-F Laslier, K.Van Der Straten and L. Wantchekon, focus on the institutions ‘s goal in the division of societies. The main idea is that political institutions can shape political preferences and influence the formation of groups within societies. Some system such Simple plurality and runoff majoritarian voting systems tend to force voters to “choose sides,” potentially exacerbating political, social, ethnic, or religious divisions. Voting rules that allow voters to simultaneously select several candidates should, in theory, avoid these drawbacks, and might thus lead to less polarized political outcomes. This chapter provides experimental evidence in support of this insight. Our data originates from an experiment on Approval Voting that took place during the 2011 presidential election in Benin, a democratic, multi-ethnic country in western Africa, with a political landscape characterized by a strong social and political north-south divide. In contrast to the official runoff rule used in Benin for this presidential election, we proposed Approval Voting to voters, whereby they can vote simultaneously for several candidates. We find that this electoral institution leads to an increase in the overall support for more consensual candidates. We also find that, under Approval Voting, like under Proportional Representation systems, ethnic voting does not disappear, and might even increase. The second chapter continue in the logic of voting motivation by doing some laboratory experiment about electoral clientelism. We focus on the vote buying and electoral promises. We wanted to show the impact on electoral clientelism on the election outcome in one way and in the second way, see if there is a link between modernization and clientelism. We did experiment in two different places (Burkina Faso and France) show that the impact of electoral clientelism is more relevant in Africa countries than in developed countries. The third chapter investigates on tax compliance in Africa by using data from about 29 African countries. The goal is to analyze the citizens’s behaviors when they have to contribute to public funding by paying tax. We want to know which factors may motivate people have a compliance attitude with tax. The main contribution of this research is the effect of country population and the existence of natural resources. We found that citizens living in countries with natural resources are less willing to pay taxes than citizens living in countries without natural resources. Also, we showed that the population matters. Indeed, in the most populated countries, fraud is higher than less popular countries. We then establish for each group of countries the factors for which they should act to have a tax compliance of their citizens. This can help countries to have a great public finance and become more independent from foreign aid

Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Sociology, 2009.
"May, 2009." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 11/25/2009) Advisor, Kathryn M. Feltey; Committee members, Joanna Dreby, Rudy Fenwick, Baffour Takyi, Peggy Stephens; Department Chair, John F. Zipp; Dean of the College, Chand Midha; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

The principal analytical objective of this dissertation is the assessment of changes in the political economy of food production during the transition from socialism to capitalism in Russia and China. The dissertation is equally interested in the consequences of this transition for human welfare resulting from changes in the availability of food. As a conditio sine qua non for human survival, food serves as an objective yardstick for human welfare. By studying changes in the political economy of food production it is therefore possible to draw general inferences regarding the welfare implications of the transition to capitalism in Russia and China. This dissertation uses a combination of classical political economy and comparative institutional analysis: The three empirical chapters show how changes in state objectives result in the formulation of economic policies that in turn shape the organization of food production - with momentous consequences for the Russian and Chinese people. Both countries achieved a significant increase in the output and variety of food, yet new problems concerning the availability, quality, and safety of food products have resulted from the introduction of markets. These problems are not externalities, but rather constitute a necessary consequence of the establishment of a market economy in which profit-oriented actors engage in competitive exchange without regard for human welfare. As a result, both countries are compelled to balance their desire for economic growth with the provision of sufficient and adequate food to their populations. An in-depth comparison of the development trajectories of two agro-industrial sectors (wheat and pig production) moreover reveals a convergence in government policy and economic institutions, indicating that Russia and China no longer represent alternative transition models. Following the reassertion of state authority during the first Putin presidency, the Russian government adopted an extensive agricultural modernization program, which strongly resembled China's existing state-guided reform strategy. Recently, both governments have taken active steps towards increasing the global competitiveness of their food economies, while intervening in markets as needed to ensure domestic food security. This demonstrates the centrality of the state in establishing and administering a capitalist economy.
Sociology

Mestrado em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações
O objectivo central deste trabalho é analisar a obra económica do jurista e professor de Economia e Direito na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra, J. F. MARNOCO e SOUSA (1869-1916), do ponto de vista da Sociologia Económica. Partindo da sua vida e da sua obra, procuramos em primeiro lugar delinear o estado do ensino das Ciências Sociais na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra naquela época, para em seguida pesquisar a influência que Marnoco e Sousa teria sofrido, do ponto de vista metodológico e doutrinal do seu tempo. Partimos da ideia central da sua obra: "não pode haver ciência económica sem sociologia económica", e da análise sociológica muito aprofundada que faz ao "fenómeno económico", para analisarmos a troca em Marnoco e Sousa do ponto de vista sociológico.
The main objective of this thesis is an analysis of the economic work of the jurist and professor of Economics and Law in Law School of Coimbra University, J. F. MARNOCO e SOUSA (1869-1916), under an Economic Sociological point of view. Taking up his life and work, we search first the state of Social Sciences teaching in Law School of Coimbra University at his time; second we look at his methodological and doctrinal influence. Departing from SOUSA's central idea: "there is no economic science without economic sociology", and his deep study of "economic phenomenon", we analyse the economic trade in Marnoco e Sousa's work from a sociological perspective.

Sofosbuvir-based medicines, approved in late 2013, offer a long-sought after cure for patients with hepatitis C, a virus that disproportionately affects marginalized populations around the world. But the prices set by its manufacturer at approximately $90,000 for a three- month regimen intensified a global debate about the pricing of breakthrough medicines. The dominant economic explanations for pricing have centered on ‘risk’, with prices representing the costly and failure-ridden process of drug development, and ‘value’, with higher prices said to reflect improvements in patient health as well as savings from averted downstream medical expenses. These economic explanations are limited, however, by their focus on prices at the point of exchange between drug manufacturers and public health systems. Instead, I took a historical view, using the case of sofosbuvir to trace the political- economic dynamics and organizational relations of power across the innovation process – from early stage science to deployment. Data from documentary sources, semi-structured interviews, databases, and observations at meetings allowed me to build an account of the sofosbuvir case. Combining this data with sociological and political economy literatures on the roles of an entrepreneurial state, the rise of financial capital, and the pricing and valuation strategies used by businesses, I argue that sofosbuvir’s prices did not represent the tangible costs of innovation or the health value for patients. Rather, the prices were a product of financialization: a pattern of accumulation in which growth was pursued through the capitalization and control of intangible hepatitis C assets in financial markets. As part of this pattern, I map the mobilization of speculative capitals behind Pharmasset, a small biotechnology company that emerged from public investments to develop the compound sofosbuvir, as well as the extractive logics driving the shareholders of Gilead Sciences, a large publicly traded pharmaceutical company that ultimately acquired Pharmasset and then set the prices for the therapy. I demonstrate that though an entrepreneurial state shaped the direction of the innovation process towards a curative therapy, the processes of financialization disconnected the distribution of risks and rewards, undermined the sustainability of future innovation, and diminished patient and public health outcomes. I conclude by responding to dominant economic answers on drug pricing in light of the evidence on financialization.

This thesis aims to evaluate the Turkish Labour Law on the basis of a new approach to legal studies that follow the internal tendency of legal science to resolve its own problem, which is that of convincingly defining the point of contact between norm and fact (form and content), materially connecting the juridical organisation of power with the social structuring of power, while avoiding both formalist and positivist deviations. Against this background, the thesis aims to assess the correlation between the recent changes in the international division of labour and the structural forms, on the axis of which the Turkish legal system functions. This endeavour includes an attempt to view law in its location as a component to a general and persistent process of social regulation that secures general patterns of social domination. This study argues that the role of the collective labour law over the stabilisation of wage relations is increasingly deteriorated by the changing nature of the state and of work, including the new institutionality and the increasing influence of business over labour politics. After the &lsquo
discovery&rsquo
of the importance of the universal principle of the freedom of contract in labour law, the regulatory powers of individual labour law have extended to the realm of capital-labour relations having an impact over the social division of labour and have acquired a relative dominance.

The thesis takes up debates about emerging ‘cultural class conflicts’ between workers and a left-liberal new middle class. Such conflicts are said to be fought over issues like migration and diversity, law-and-order, or cultural liberalization; and to be rooted in diverging lifestyles and moral intuitions of communitarian, ‘down-to-earth’ workers and cosmopolitan middle class ‘frequent travelers’ (Calhoun 2002). Influential diagnoses describe the conflict of these worldviews as one that pits large sociopolitical groups against one another, not only in the form of ideologically polarized camps, but also on the deeper, more visceral level of social identities. The study interrogates this diagnosis empirically, centering on Germany and using a mixed-method interview- and survey-based design. It reconstructs the contours and sociostructural roots of key ideological divides in the German population, and explores to what extent the social identities of crucial class fractions can be said to polarize along a new set of divides. Guiding the analysis is the analytically most advanced scientific formulation of some of the core assumptions behind the ‘new cultural class conflict’ discourse: scholarship on the rise of a new cleavage of universalism and particularism (Häusermann and Kriesi 2015). This research tradition centers on a divide over transnationalization, authoritarianism, and welfare deservingness, articulated by New Left and Radical Right parties, whose class bases are said to be found among middle class sociocultural professionals on the one hand, and production workers on the other. The study contextualizes the diagnosis of a new cleavage as one attempt of coming to grips with the reordering of class and politics in postindustrial societies. That problematic is shared by a second tradition drawn on here, Bourdieusian research on new forms of “classed politics” (Jarness, Flemmen, and Rosenlund 2019). Both approaches see a continued salience of social structure in postindustrial ideological alignments, which they identify with similar, multi-dimensional understandings of class. Further, both approaches focalize the mediating position of social identities between social structure and political alignments (Bornschier et al. 2021). In a two-step empirical study, neo-Bourdieusian and cleavage approaches are brought into conversation on two levels. The first is the spatial reconstruction of correspondences between social structure and ideological polarities. This forms the object of the first part of the analysis, which develops a geometrical reconstruction of the German sociopolitical space, analyzing data from the 2018 General Population Survey ALLBUS, using the technique of Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA). The goal is a holistic reconstruction of the contemporary linkages between social structure and ideological divides, or what I call the class-political constellation. This reconstruction also serves to interrogate the idea of a rift sorting classes and class fractions into opposing ideological camps. Results confirm that the German political space is “classed”, with considerable correspondences between ideological positionings and social positions. A cartwheel-shaped constellation of four divides – between redistribution and property, universalism and particularism, left and right, and anti-populist ‘high’ and populist ‘low’ politics – structures the German political space. This constellation corresponds to vertical and horizontal social divides based on the volume and composition of capitals. Issues of universalism-particularism form a central divide that separates workers and sociocultural professionals, among other groups, confirming findings of the new cleavage literature. Putting this framework in dialogue with Bourdieusian political sociology, the MCA also reveals that the class-political constellation does not take the form of Manichaean political camps, but that of a gradational space. Instead of coherent and polarized camps, cleavage poles describe loose clusters connected by family resemblances. Coherent universalists and particularists are minorities, the majority stands in between. Overall, the polarization of the space is limited and there is an ideological center encompassing positions on which very large majorities concur. Sociopolitical divides that are salient are multidimensional and do not align on a single line of conflict. Further, the political space is not only structured by differences in political opinions but also by degrees of exclusion from politics altogether, with lower strata, particularly workers, on the excluded side. This first step of the analysis paints a nuanced picture that refutes central assumptions of ‘cultural class conflict’ discourses, while upholding the centrality of class and inequality for political and ideological alignments. It also sets the stage for the second, more extensive part of the study, which centers on classed forms of social identity. In cleavage theory, speaking of a full-blown cleavage requires not only the coincidence of social bases and voting tendencies, but also the formation of distinct group identities and modes of normative integration. This sociocultural or identity level of cleavages has largely been neglected in past cleavage scholarship or treated in a reductionist way. The second part of the study aims at this gap, and digs into the pre-political realm of identification and social morality, below and beyond the sphere of party competition. It asks whether and how the divide of universalism-particularism rests on deeper pre-political bases of classed identification, zooming in on the class fractions most distant on the universalism-particularism divide in the quantative analysis: production workers and middle class sociocultural professionals. Theoretically, this part draws on Bourdieusian cultural class analysis (Savage 2012). It unpacks the elusive concept of identity into three more specific relational components (Brubaker and Cooper 2000). These are a) self-understandings embedded in a sense of social location, expressed relationally through symbolic boundaries; b) moral boundaries and moral economies; and c) relations to politics, i.e. what “politics” is to people and how it relates to who they are. Against intellectualist understandings of public opinion, this approach highlights the non-ideological and pre-reflexive articulation of positionings through embodied, intuitive schemes of categorization which Bourdieu calls habitus. The basic idea is that the regularities of political positionings among ordinary, i.e. non-expert citizens generally do not spring from coherent ideological orientations regarding political conflict, but from basic practical schemes and modes of thought embedded in wider forms of life. Empirically, this part draws on 50 in-depth interviews with Millenial cohort production workers and sociocultural professionals in Germany. Interviews centered on self-understandings, asking respondents to describe “the type of person you are”. The line of questioning was deliberately kept open, leaving the respondents a lot of space to focalize elements of their self-understanding they wanted to highlight. Cleavage-related issues, and political positionings overall, were deliberately not prompted, leaving open whether they were salient or not. Similarly, the analysis of the interviews, based on techniques of the Documentary Method, reconstructed classed forms of social self-location, morality, and relations to politics in a holistic way, and only then asked for the role that cleavage-related identification played in them. The results of this second step of the analysis are in-depth portraits of six diverse clusters of sociomoral identities and relations to politics found in the two class fractions. Workers clusters include rural, status quo- and respectability-oriented Working Class Conservatives; Social Populists negotiating a perceived loss of status as manual workers by sharp boundary drawing against both those above and those below; individualized Pragmatic Privatists living by a creed of ‘live and let live’; as well as Alternative Workers whose activism leads them to a disidentication from the working class. Among the sociocultural professionals sample, a cluster of caring, recognition-focused Social Therapists is distinguished from an expertise-centered and socially distinctive cluster of High Liberals. Each of these clusters stands for common entanglements of social location, identity, and morality, entanglements that are also reflected in specific relations to politics and political positionings. What emerges is a panorama of diverse social identities within the two classes, directly mirroring findings of the quantative analysis. The core of each of the social identity clusters is situated in a specific moral project. These are captured e.g. as the pursuit of embeddedness among Working Class Conservatives, of deservingness among Social Populists, of autonomy among Pragmatic Privatists, of solidarity among Alternative Workers; flourishing among Social Therapists, and expertise among High Liberals. Each moral project is anchored in a specific sense of social location which respondents seek to revaluate. Doing so, they each draw on a specific set of identity categories, demarcations from specific others, distinct forms of occupational and gendered ethos, as well as invocations of implicit social contracts inscribed in the wider moral economy. These pre-political constellations furnish the central categories also for political positionings, and thus mediate between social structure and political ideology. In this way, the study paints a rich picture of social identity processes among two classes central for recent debates of realignment. It is shown that the coherent, ideological, conflictual, and dualistic picture of cleavage conflict does not describe the vernacular in which most people develop their views in everyday life. Instead, the politics of ordinary people is an appendix of pre-political moral projects situated in social structure. To understand the pre-political realm, we need a different vocabulary than that suggested by diagnoses of ideological conflict and ‘culture wars’. Yet, there are specific instances and dynamics by which pre-political identity constellations do provide openings for the formation of a new cleavage. These give important insights into potentials for future realignment. In this sense, the findings of this part of the study are two-fold. On the one hand, it identifies some crucial sites and dynamics by which classed social identities provide a “mobilization potential” for a deeper politicization of the universalism-particularism divide. But at the same time, it shows that as a diagnosis of an existing state of social division, the geological imaginary of a new cleavage rift running through all of the social sphere is misleading. While discourses about a ‘new cultural class conflict’ are thus rejected, the diagnosis of a new cleavage is confirmed as a description of the structural underpinnings of an important pattern of partisan alignment and, to some degree, partisan identification. The diagnosis is shown to be much less accurate in the realm of pre-political identities, where a new cleavage only exists as a set of more or less diffuse potentials. Is German society ripped into antagonistic halves or thirds by the cultural conflict of a high education, frequent-flying universalist new middle class looking down on a rooted and traditional particularist working class which resents them? The answer this study gives is: no, not really. But political actors who want to make such a conflict reality could draw on a range of distinct potentials and openings.

The following study is concerned with the problems posed by contemporary unemployment--especially the U.S. but also globally to some extent. The most immediate problem is the dominance of neoclassical models, which routinely neglect the deeper issues raised by contemporary mass unemployment. To go beyond these inadequacies, the study also assesses the performance of sociological interpretations. One key finding is that sociological analyses also largely fail to provide a compelling theory of unemployment and, moreover, that most perspectives implicitly adopt problematic assumptions from neoclassical economics. This highlights the dual nature of the problems posed by unemployment: on one hand, it is an urgent social issue; and, on the other hand, it exemplifies significant weakness within most sociological paradigms. In order to address the challenges posed by unemployment, the narrative centers on the resolution of three key anomalies of unemployment: 1) persistent unemployment; 2) so-called "jobless recoveries;" and 3) the rise of worker precariousness. The anomalies are taken as evidence of paradigmatic contradictions within neoclassical economics and, to some extent, sociology. The main theoretical contribution of the study is a careful reconstruction of Marx's classical theory of the reserve army of labor (part of "The General Law of Accumulation"), which has inspired all critical sociological perspectives on labor markets to date. The investigation highlights distinctive characteristics of "political-economic sociology," a term that refers to economic sociologists who draw heavily on notions of class and power reminiscent of classical political economy and classical sociology, forming an important bridge with heterodox economic approaches. The theory of the reserve army is in need of "renewal," however, because even political-economic sociologist have failed to carry the analysis forward and build upon the firm foundation provided by Marx. The study's conclusion is that the reserve army framework has enormous potential to strengthen existing work within political-economic sociology.

This doctoral thesis seeks to explore the socio-political economy of antiretroviral treatment (ART) as an HIV prevention strategy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and, specifically, in Mozambique. We begin with a look at the social construction of HIV in SSA as a ‘sexually transmitted disease’ despite its very low transmission efficiency through heterosexual sex. This inordinate focus on sexual transmission in SSA to the exclusion of other routes of transmission (i.e.: blood-borne transmission) not only allows new infections to continue to occur in areas that do not receive attention, but also has both fed and been fed by a political and social climate that paints an extraordinarily negative picture of those who are infected with HIV. Alternatives to the ineffective and misguided sexual behavior prevention paradigm are introduced to conclude Chapter 1. Chapter 2 then explores, in depth, the most efficacious form of HIV prevention currently in existence: antiretroviral treatment (ART) for infected persons. ART for an infected partner is 96% effective at preventing transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner. Due to this startlingly high efficacy and recent increases in coverage, we may be preventing more new cases of HIV annually through ART than through the use of condoms and abstinence combined in Mozambique. The financial implications of a paradigmatic shift to explicitly considering ART as a prevention strategy are discussed, particularly as they relate to PEPFAR's very specific regulations for the allocation of funds. As PEPFAR funding constitutes over 95% of Mozambique's HIV-specific funding, these regulations and earmarks have created deep path dependence and whittled away at national and local ownership of policy. The third chapter of this thesis then focuses on Mozambique's severe human resources for health constraints and current efforts in health systems strengthening. These strategies include task shifting and human resources scale-up, issues which, while being general to the health system, are also inordinately important for continued ART scale-up. The fourth and final chapter contains the case study in Maputo, Mozambique. This qualitative study attempts to examine the effects of the sexual behavior prevention paradigm on people living with HIV and receiving ART. As these patients are our best hope for halting the HIV epidemic, it will be important for us to view our decades-old prevention messages from their point of view and understand how these messages may also affect their adherence as well as their willingness to be tested initially and to enroll in treatment. The interviews were carried out with patients, guardians of pediatric patients and clinicians at two health facilities in Maputo. Analysis of these interviews supports the hypothesis that traditional prevention messages found in public health campaigns, the media and in health facilities themselves, may be creating and exacerbating stigma that discourages people living with HIV to be tested and treated.

This doctoral thesis seeks to explore the socio-political economy of antiretroviral treatment (ART) as an HIV prevention strategy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and, specifically, in Mozambique. We begin with a look at the social construction of HIV in SSA as a ‘sexually transmitted disease’ despite its very low transmission efficiency through heterosexual sex. This inordinate focus on sexual transmission in SSA to the exclusion of other routes of transmission (i.e.: blood-borne transmission) not only allows new infections to continue to occur in areas that do not receive attention, but also has both fed and been fed by a political and social climate that paints an extraordinarily negative picture of those who are infected with HIV. Alternatives to the ineffective and misguided sexual behavior prevention paradigm are introduced to conclude Chapter 1. Chapter 2 then explores, in depth, the most efficacious form of HIV prevention currently in existence: antiretroviral treatment (ART) for infected persons. ART for an infected partner is 96% effective at preventing transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner. Due to this startlingly high efficacy and recent increases in coverage, we may be preventing more new cases of HIV annually through ART than through the use of condoms and abstinence combined in Mozambique. The financial implications of a paradigmatic shift to explicitly considering ART as a prevention strategy are discussed, particularly as they relate to PEPFAR's very specific regulations for the allocation of funds. As PEPFAR funding constitutes over 95% of Mozambique's HIV-specific funding, these regulations and earmarks have created deep path dependence and whittled away at national and local ownership of policy. The third chapter of this thesis then focuses on Mozambique's severe human resources for health constraints and current efforts in health systems strengthening. These strategies include task shifting and human resources scale-up, issues which, while being general to the health system, are also inordinately important for continued ART scale-up. The fourth and final chapter contains the case study in Maputo, Mozambique. This qualitative study attempts to examine the effects of the sexual behavior prevention paradigm on people living with HIV and receiving ART. As these patients are our best hope for halting the HIV epidemic, it will be important for us to view our decades-old prevention messages from their point of view and understand how these messages may also affect their adherence as well as their willingness to be tested initially and to enroll in treatment. The interviews were carried out with patients, guardians of pediatric patients and clinicians at two health facilities in Maputo. Analysis of these interviews supports the hypothesis that traditional prevention messages found in public health campaigns, the media and in health facilities themselves, may be creating and exacerbating stigma that discourages people living with HIV to be tested and treated.

Relocating health behaviors within a political-economic framework, this article utilizes health behavior and health insurance governance perspectives to showcase the complexities of cultural and economic factors (e.g., job lock, wage differentials, social location, and health insurance status) that influence choices in efforts to mitigate the financial burden of health risk. By exploring the financial links to health behaviors that emerged through ethnographic participant observation and semistructured interviews with community and union members of the United Steelworkers and Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union in a metropolitan Central Appalachian community in 2007–8, this article argues for expanding the health behaviors concept to include a broader array of actions individuals and families take to better their health and well-being in the context of neoliberal shifting of risk management to individuals through increased consumer market-based cost-sharing health insurance disincentives. In so doing, this article argues for the importance of social and political-economic context in health behaviors and in evaluating health policy, including the Affordable Care Act.

xi, 295 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
The Satellite-Cable Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) is the only television outlet in the U.S. providing Congressional coverage. Scholars have studied the network's public affairs content and unedited "gavel-to-gavel" style of production that distinguish it from other television channels. However, the network's ownership structure and funding, which are also unique, have not been systematically analyzed. This study fills a gap in C-SPAN scholarship by providing a structural analysis of the network. C-SPAN was founded and is sponsored by the U.S. cable industry. The industry insists its support for the network is based on public service. However, this study reveals that C-SPAN affords the cable industry a number of substantial political economic benefits: a political lever in Washington and with local franchise authorities, a risk-free testing ground for new products and services, and assistance in selling subscriptions for other fee-based services. This study argues that these material benefits are the motivation for the cable industry's support, not public service. It also is argued that C-SPAN can only be comprehensively understood through its relationship to the capitalist political economy of the U.S. To contextualize this relationship, the study provides a history of Congressional television, the cable industry, and satellite technology. These circumstances reveal that the network was less an act of individual cable executives' selfless altruism than a product of political pressures, economic realities, and technological breakthroughs. The study also discusses the implications of a private public affairs network. C-SPAN is a perfect case study of what has been labeled "neoliberalism," or the form of global capitalism based on privatizing social services and regulating industry using rules favorable to the needs of capital, not civil, society. At a social level, the network enables the accumulation of wealth for a select few, enabling these private interests to gain social power. The study concludes that C-SPAN may serve the public, but it is not a public service.
Committee in charge: Janet Wasko, Chairperson, Journalism and Communication; Carl Bybee, Member, Journalism and Communication; Gabriela Martinez, Member, Journalism and Communication; John Foster, Outside Member, Sociology

No plano teórico, ao problematizar a rígida sepação entre meios e fins, liberdade e necessidade, esta dissertação interroga sobre as possibilidades e os entraves à criação democrática no interior de relações de produção, que estão submetidas aos imperativos da esfera da reprodução. No plano empírico, as empresas de trabalhadores autogeridas, que surgiram a partir das transformações no mundo do trabalho no Brasil da década de 90, introduzem de forma contraditória elementos da ordem moral no seio das relações de trabalho. O que emerge do conflito entre a lógica gestionária e a lógica política? Quais são os dilemas que estão postos por essas experiências? Essas questões são analisadas em três dimensões: as relações de produção, os trabalhadores e o contexto socioeconômico em que as empresas autogeridas estão inseridas. Partindo das contradições (internas e externas) vividas pelas empresas autogeridas a discussão evidencia a própria constituição sócio-política do campo econômico e das condições de eficiência. Na parte final, o texto questiona a emergência das empresas autogeridas e da Economia Solidária a partir das seguintes encruzilhadas: a relação entre a criação de espaços democráticos e o processo de desregulamentação das relações de trabalho; a relação entre teoria e instituição do real; entre técnica e política, e ainda, entre ação de sobrevivência e ação criativa. A dissertação conclui afirmando que é justamente o fato das empresas autogeridas introduzirem uma descontinuidade na ordem gestionária da vida (não-política e não-humana), que cria a possibilidade de constituição de um espaço potencialmente democrático que pode ou não se realizar.
From a theoretical perspective, throughout a reflection on the rigid separation between ends and means, freedom and necessity, the following thesis intends to investigate the possibilities and the limits for democratic creation inside productive relations that are under the rules of the reproduction sphere. From the empirical perspective, the worker´s self-management enterprises - that arose from the 90´s Brazilian labor´s world transformation context – introduce moral elements into the labor relation in a contradictory way. What does come out of conflict between the management and political logics? What are the dilemmas posed by those experiences? Those questions are analysed in three dimensions: production relations; workers, and the socioeconomic context that selfmanagment enterprises are embeded in. As the discussion departes from the contradictions (internal and external) lived by the self-management enterprises, it shows the economic field and the conditions of efficiency as a socio-political construction.The last part of the text interrogates self-management enterprises and Solidary Economy emergence from the following crossroads: the relation between the creation of democratic spaces and the labor relations de-regulation process; theory and reality construction; technique and politic, and between survival and creative actions. To conclude, the thesis proposes that is the very fact that self-management enterprises introduces a discontinuity into the lives´ management order (non-political, non-human) that creates the potential to constitute democratic spaces that might, or might not, be accomplished.

Some 5 million people were classified as internally displaced in Colombia at the end of 2012, which represented about 10 per cent of the population and the highest number in the world at the time. Colombia differs from other countries with high levels of displacement in that it is comparatively politically stable, has effective national institutions, a relatively strong formal economy, and can by no means be described as a ‘failed’ or ‘failing’ state. The displacement literature tends to characterise the phenomenon as a humanitarian crisis and a side effect of the long-running civil war. But Colombians continue to be displaced in very large numbers despite the formal demobilization of the paramilitaries in 2006 and the diminished military capacity and engagement of the guerrillas since about the same period: the same groups that are widely regarded as being the main perpetrators of displacement. This thesis contends that displacement of the civilian population in Colombia is frequently not a consequence of violence, but rather the primary objective, where violence plays a facilitatory role. Moreover, the thesis asserts that these massive levels of displacement are substantively linked to predominantly economically-motivated logics and are regionally specific. By examining an agricultural commodity that has significantly expanded relatively recently in Colombia - African palm oil - this research examines if and how expanded cultivation may be linked to displacement. Using a political economy framework of analysis combined with empirical fieldwork, it explores the ‘localised displacement logics’ whereby land is coercively acquired by powerful local groups. The thesis concludes that the abandonment and dispossession of land from poor and marginalised groups constitutes part of an ongoing process of capitalist expansion and statebuilding in Colombia. Contrary to assertions that it is the intra-state conflict that constitutes the central obstacle to development, Colombia’s current trajectory of capitalist development may actually be a central obstacle to sustainable peace and not lead to an end to displacement.

The curriculum for civics studies presents the three disciplines political science, political economy and sociology as the three pillar-stones for civics studies. Previous research shows that political science and political economy are the most prominent disciplines and therefore the sociology are at risk to be neglected in civics studies education. In a world where we struggle with many social issues and where the globalisation and digitizing gives us new challenges which we are unfamiliar with, it may be more important than ever that we are provided with tools that can help us understand ourselves and other people around us. The sociological discipline may work as a tool in civics studies to help promote this understanding. The purpose with this study is to investigate what perception of the sociological discipline teachers in civics studies has and how they say that they implement the sociology in their own civics studies education. To reach this purpose five interviews were made with civics studies teachers in upper secondary school. The material from these interviews were then analysed in relation to classical sociological theories in an attempt to compare these to the teacher’s perception of the sociological discipline. Some conclusions that can be drawn from this study is that there’s a rather big variety between the teachers when it comes to their perception of the sociological discipline. Furthermore the teacher’s answers regarding sociology were rather diffuse which can be interpreted as the result of a lack of knowledge regarding the sociological discipline. The answers that involved sociology with concrete examples of the relation and influence between individuals and social structures shows most resemblance to the classical sociological theories. These perspectives are only present in three of the five teacher’s perceptions and only in limited parts of the interviews. The vagueness in curriculum for civics studies along with the tradition to favour political science and political economy is pointed out as explanations to why there’s such a variety and vagueness in the perceptions of the sociological discipline in civics studies.
I styrdokumenten för samhällskunskapsämnet presenteras de tre disciplinerna statsvetenskap, nationalekonomi och sociologi som ämnets främsta utgångspunkter. Tidigare forskning visar på att statsvetenskap och nationalekonomi är de discipliner som prioriteras högst och den sociologiska disciplinen riskerar därför att hamna i skymundan i samhällskunskapsundervisningen. I en värld där vi brottas med många samhällsproblem och där globaliseringen och digitaliseringen ger oss nya utmaningar som vi inte varit med om tidigare kan det vara viktigare än någonsin att vi får redskap för att lära oss förstå oss själva och våra medmänniskor. Den sociologiska disciplinen kan fungera som ett verktyg i samhällskunskapsundervisningen för att främja denna förståelse hos våra elever. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken uppfattning samhällskunskapslärare på gymnasiet har om den sociologiska disciplinen i samhällskunskapsundervisningen samt hur de beskriver att de arbetar med den sociologiska disciplinen i sin egen undervisning. För att nå detta syfte genomfördes fem kvalitativa intervjuer med samhällskunskapslärare på gymnasiet. Empirin från dessa intervjuer relaterades sedan till klassiska sociologiska teorier för att undersöka om lärarnas uppfattning om och beskrivning av arbetet med den sociologiska disciplinen överensstämmer med de klassiska sociologiska teorierna samt om, och på vilka sätt, lärarnas svar skiljer sig från dessa. Några slutsatser som kan dras är att det finns en relativt stor variation i lärarnas uppfattningar om och beskrivning av arbetet med den sociologiska disciplinen. Ytterligare en slutsats som kan dras är att lärarnas svar över lag är relativt diffusa vilket skulle kunna tolkas som att det saknas kunskaper kring vad den sociologiska disciplinen faktiskt innebär. De uttalanden som handlar om sociologi utifrån konkreta exempel på samspelet och påverkansfaktorerna mellan individ och samhälle ligger närmast de klassiska sociologiska teorierna. Dessa resonemang finns dock endast hos tre av de fem respondenterna och endast i vissa uttalanden. Styrdokumentens öppna formuleringar kring den sociologiska disciplinen i kombination med en ämnestradition som premierat disciplinerna statsvetenskap och nationalekonomi framför den sociologiska disciplinen pekas ut som förklaringar till de diffusa och varierande uppfattningar som finns gällande den sociologiska disciplinen i samhällskunskapsundervisningen.

This thesis is concerned with the rise of independent booksellers in China since the late 2000s. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative study I conducted with 55 independent booksellers between 2014 and 2015, I argue that independent bookselling in China is an economic activity politicized, and the emergence and development of independent booksellers has been a process shaped by both economic and socio-political factors stemming from both inside and outside the book industry. Studying independent bookselling, a significant change in the Chinese book industry in recent years, my thesis advances our understanding of the transformation of the book industry in China. The notion of ‘politicization’ provides a useful analytical framework for understanding bookselling and publishing in parallel contexts. Finally, by elucidating the distinctive relationship between the evolution of the book industry and some wider social, political and economic processes in China, my thesis adds to the political economy of the media industry in non-Western societies and contributes to the de-Westernization of this long-dominant and yet problematic approach to the study of the media and media industries.

The climate change counter movement (CCCM) has been the focus of social scientists and environmental activists for several years (e.g. Greenpeace). The movement is made up of an organised group of actors that have campaigned, distorted and minimised the impacts of climate change, and criticised domestic and international level policy to remedy climate change. The purpose of this study is to add to this area of investigation having located 465 CCCM organisations across the globe. To examine the CCCM I adopt a two-part theoretical framework synthesising a perspective from the political economic and sociology of crime and deviance literatures. First, I propose that the operation of CCCM organisations can be explained through a Gramscian lens of Hegemony. Second, I propose the messages adopted by CCCM organisation can be understood through a crime and deviance lens. Specifically, I propose these messages can be rebranded as CCCM neutralisation techniques. I conducted a content analysis of 805 documents taken from these organisations to see if CCCM organisations adopted messages that could be rebranded as techniques of neutralisation. I then conducted a cross-national analysis to (1) predict the number of organisations, and (2) predict the use of neutralisation techniques across countries. A series of negative binomial regression and ordinary least squared regression equations to test whether political, economic, and ecological factors can explain the number of CCCM organisations across countries and the messages they adopt. These results reveal strong support for the notion that CCCM organisations operate and use CCCM neutralisation techniques to protect fossil fuel hegemony against climate action. Several techniques of neutralisation are used to justify the continued use of fossil fuels and rationalise the ecological consequences to help sustain support for the hegemonic global capitalist economy. Moreover, CCCM organisations operate to challenge the rise of environmentalism.

Cet écrit s'intéresse au rôle de l'économie politique dans les mobilisations rurales contemporaines. En mettant l'accent sur les récentes luttes pour l'eau en Turquie, contre les centrales hydroélectriques « au fil de l'eau (SHP). La recherche creuse principalement les facteurs sociétaux et économiques qui rendent possible ou empêchent l'émergence de mobilisations fortes, à travers la comparaison des réactions contre les projets SHP dans quatre localités de la région de l'est de la mer Noire - Kavak (Arhavi) et Aralik (Borcka)- et son arrière pays Tortum (villages de Pehlivanli et Bagbasi).La logique principale derrière cette comparaison croisée est de déterminer si il y a une relation entre les formes de vies rurales, principalement définies en termes de productions, marché, place dans le système économique général, migrations et viabilité des espaces, et des mobilisations politiques contre les constructions de SHP combinées avec d'autres raisons existantes pouvant mener à une agitation ou des conflits. Dans ce contexte, j'appuierai la thèse que Kavak (Arhavi) et Aralik (Borçka) sont devenus des espaces péri-urbains à travers la transformation particulière par laquelle ils sont passés. Le caractère péri-urbain a facilité le voyage des idées et des schémas de politisations urbaines dans les villes natales des citadins. Dans le cas particulier d’ Arhavi, l'effet de la ville dans la mobilisation anti-SHP est évident. Un groupe de personnes originaires d'Arhavi qui peuvent être qualifiés de nouvelle classe moyenne ont été pionniers de la résistance. Ils ont rendu possible des alliances plus larges et ont contribué au renforcement d'une résistance carnivalesque avec des rituels, une réinvention des traditions et des micro-identités. A Aralik par contre, malgré toutes les tentatives, un modèle similaire n'a pas pu être atteint. Le modèle de migration rurale-urbaine a laissé un espace socio-économique viable dans la ville de Arhavi alors que celle de Aralik a été négativement impactée par ces migrations rurales-urbaines, ce qui peut alors être considéré comme un facteur de non-viabilité. Au contraire des petits villages de l'est de la Mer Noire producteurs de petites marchandises, les vallées arides de Tortum abritent des maisons de paysans, qui pratiquent une agriculture de subsistance. Ce type d'habitat a pu continuer à être viable malgré un statut socio-économique peu élevé. Le niveau de la population rurale est resté à peu près stable jusqu'au débit des années 2000. Comme la production est dépendante de l'irrigation, les SHP posent une menace sérieuse sur les moyens d'existence et cela a violemment mobilisé une population auparavant renfermée et docile. Cependant, le discours, le cadre, l'amplitude et les techniques de mobilisation sont complètement différents de ceux des espaces péri-urbains de la Mer Noire. L'amplitude de la mobilisation est directement reliée à celle de la menace sur les moyens de subsistance de la population à Bagbasi et Pehlivanli. Quand la menace est élevée, comme à Bagbasi, la mobilisation est forte. Inversement, quand la menace est faible, comme à Pehlivanli, et qu'il existe des opportunités amenées par la compagnie construisant les SHP qui permettent d'atténuer les effets sur les ressources, une mobilisation est peu susceptible d'arriver. De cela, j'affirme que les transformations spatio-économiques des localités qui transforment de manière inégale les configurations rurales en termes d'activités de production et de consommation ont un impact sur les schémas, discours et des modes des mobilisations rurales contemporaines. De ce fait, la thèse plaide pour un besoin de théorisation des mobilisations agraires contemporaines depuis cette perspective en mettant l'accent sur les transformations des moyens d'existence, les transformations et la viabilité de l'espace, la commercialisation de la production et la différenciation entre la paysannerie
This dissertation examines role of political economy in contemporary agrarian mobilizations. By focusing on recent water struggles in Turkey against the run-of-the-river hydropower plants (SHP’s); the research digs into the societal and economic factors that enable or inhibit the emergence of strong mobilizations through a comparison of reactions against SHP projects in four localities of Eastern Black Sea region- Kavak (Arhavi) and Aralik (Borcka)- and its hinterland Tortum (Pehlivanli and Bagbasi villages)The main logic behind the cross comparison is to find out if there is a relationship between the forms of rural livelihoods; mostly defined in terms of production, marketing, place in the general economic system, migration and viability of space; and political mobilization against SHP construction combined with the other possible reasons leading to an unrest and contention. The research revealed that prior transformation of the rural spaces affects the ways, means and discourses of the local struggles. In this context, I would argue that Kavak (Arhavi) and Aralik (Borçka) have become peri-urban spaces through the specific transformation that they have gone through. The peri-urban character eased the travel of ideas and city-based politicization patterns into the hometown. In the specificity of Arhavi, the city-effect in the anti-SHP mobilization is evident which gives a particular framing and discourse to the mobilization. A group of people that can be classified as new middle class who are from Arhavi but lived and worked in the big cities pioneered in the resistance. They enabled broader alliances and contributed to the strengthening of a carnivalesque resistance with rituals, reinvented traditions and micro-identities. However in Aralik, despite all the attempts, similar pattern could not be reached. The difference can be traced in the arguments of the viability of the space. The rural-urban migration pattern kept the town of Arhavi as a viable socio-economic space whereas; the town of Aralik has been adversely affected from the rural-urban migration that can be regarded as non-viability.Contrary to commercialized petty-commodity producing villages of Eastern Black Sea, the arid valleys of Tortum sheltered peasant households, which endure on subsistence farming. Viability of these societal settings well continued, despite the low socio-economic status. Rural population levels remained almost stable until the beginning of 2000s. Since the production is dependent on irrigation, the SHP posed a serious threat on the livelihood and this has fiercely mobilized previously closed and docile population. However, the discourse, framing and extent and techniques of mobilization is completely different from the peri-urban contexts of coastal Black Sea. The extent of mobilization is directly related to the extent of threat on the livelihood in Bagbasi and Pehlivanli. When the threat is high, as in Bagbasi, the mobilization is strong. However, when the threat is low, as in Pehlivanli, and there are opportunities provided by the company that would ease the livelihood pressures, non-mobilization is more likely.Hence, I argue that spatio-economic transformation of the localities that unevenly transform rural settings in terms of production and consumption activities have impact on the patterns, discourses and agency in the contemporary ‘rural’ mobilizations. Therefore, the dissertation advocates for a need for theorisation of contemporary agrarian mobilization from this perspective by putting the emphasis on the livelihood transformations, transformation and viability of space, commercialization of production and differentiation within the peasantry and the agency

This study uses qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to examine the basis of industry political power by assessing conditions of economic interdependence and political action associated with the passage of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA), and the significant reduction in effective tax rates for eight of eighteen U.S. industries. Past research has focused on the simple passage of "pro-business" legislation, failing to provide adequate evidence as to who benefits or how they benefit from the legislation. The Boolean analysis used in this study indicates that a distinct combination of both political action and economic factors present a clear pattern of causal conditions associated with both tax winners and losers. Using three separate analyses, the theoretically exclusive explanations offered by both class dominance and structural theories fail to provide any clear explanations. Tax policy is associated with a set of conditions that are conjunctural in nature, supporting a combined model. Strong PAC contributions, number of registered lobbyists, and outside lobby firms in association with a strong federal relationship, and either total economic strength or strong inter-industry relations produced the specific conjunctural patterns associated with "winning' industries. Lack of significant PAC contributions to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees insured an industries failure to benefit from the legislative change. The results from this study indicate that a new theoretical model is needed that incorporates the complexity of the interdependent-relationships of political and economic conditions. Evolving from the mutually exclusive theoretical explanations of the past, class segmentation, political dominance, and structural economic explanations are brought back together in a manner that exposes the complexity of the relationships resulted in tangible benefits from the passage of ERTA.

The commodification of culture, space, and resources is incentivized by neoliberal urbanism. In response, we have seen an attempt to develop collectively organized, oppositional spaces within urban places. The tensions that arise when considering the production of commons in the development of the neoliberal city are the central focus of this paper. As I will observe, these spaces are subjected to commodification as they become increasingly de-politicized through neoliberal ideologies. In order to theorize about these contradictory elements, I observe a makerspace in Richmond, Virginia called HackRVA. Specifically, I consider HackRVA as an urban commons. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, I consider how HackRVA engages with the neoliberal city of Richmond and how the organization and maintenance of their space and their community reflects commoning as social reproduction. I find that HackRVA’s relationship to the city is complicated as the community within the space both contests and assimilates to the creative economy.

Increased use of renewable energy sources in the generation of electricity isa crucial component of transitioning to a less polluting energy system in the United States. Technologies like solar photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are being deployed at a rapid rate around the country, which means that an increasing portion of the public is becoming aware of renewable energy systems. The construction of these new industrial facilities has resulted in a variety of public reactions, positive and negative. Citizen opposition has been widely observed toward a variety of renewable energy facilities, and citizen groups can influence policy-making at the national, state,and local levels. Further research is needed to understand under what circumstances the public may take oppositional stances. To examine this topic, I analyze public perceptions of renewable energy using three different datasets. First, I used data from a survey conducted in 2014 in five communities in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho experiencing renewable energy development(n=906). This dataset allowed me to untangle what factors help explain both individual as well as community-level variation in support for renewable energy. Second, I employed nationally representative survey data (n=13, 322)collected from 2008 to 2015 to examine the influence of a number of factors hypothesized to shape individuals’ level of support for renewable energy policies including socio-demographic characteristics, political beliefs, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and nearby extractive industry activities. Last, I analyzed discourse about renewable energy in sixty-one semi-structured interviews with individuals representing various community sectors in three energy-producing rural communities in Utah. My research findings, on a whole, suggest that several place-based factors are significant in shaping public opinion about renewable energy, including community experience with renewable energy and local economic reliance on extractive industries. I also find pervasive climate skepticism across study sites. These findings indicate the need for broad-based and non-partisan discursive frames for renewable energy. Last, these findings speak to the importance of the ‘just transitions’ concepts, and the need to incorporate those communities most marginalized by the current system of fossil fuels extraction and production as society moves forward toward a cleaner energy economy.

The local food movement has become a prominent force in the U.S. food market, as represented by the explosive expansion of direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketplaces across the country. Concurrent with the expansion of these DTC marketplaces has been the development of the social ideal of localism: a political and ethical paradigm that valorizes artisanal production and smallness, vilifies globalization, and seeks to recapture a sense of place and community that has been lost under the alienating conditions of capitalism’s gigantism. Supporters of localism understand the movement to be a substantial political and economic threat to global capitalism, and ascribe distinct, counter-hegemonic attributes to localized consumption and production. However, critics argue that localism lacks the political imagination and economic power to meaningfully challenge global capitalism, and that it merely represents an elite form of petite bourgeois consumption. While scholars have debated this issue feverishly, there is a dearth of empirical cases measuring whether or not actual local consumers understand their local consumption within the political and ethical frame of localism, leaving much of the discussion in the realm of esoteric theorizing. This study seeks to uncover whether or not local consumers interpret their local consumption habits within localism’s moral framework by using an original survey instrument to gather primary data, and conducting an exploratory quantitative inquiry.

xvii, 330 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
This dissertation is a sociological study of the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery. It will examine the social and ecological transformation of this fishery during the modern era. This will be analyzed utilizing a sociological framework that draws on theory from environmental sociology. The Sicilian fishery has been exploited for its abundant tuna for over a millennium, providing a major source of protein for Mediterranean civilizations. However, within the last half century there has been exponential expansion of industrialized methods of production and increasing capture efforts. This has culminated in the development of bluefin tuna "ranches," which have become a highly controversial method for supplying global markets. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social concerns, including pushing this important fishery to the brink of collapse. Using a combination of primary and secondary source data such as interviews with local fishers and those in the tuna ranching sector, data compiled by international agencies such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as well as archival data on the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery, I will employ sociological methods and analyze the recent changes in social life and the environment in Sicilian fishing communities. Subsequently, this project will shed light on the globalized and industrialized nature of the modern agri-food system and lead to a better understanding of its social and environmental impacts.
Committee in charge: Richard York, Chairperson, Sociology; John Foster, Member, Sociology; Yvonne Braun, Member, Sociology; Joseph Fracchia, Outside Member, Honors College

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2005.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-08, Section: A, page: 3111. Adviser: Arthur S. Alderson. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 5, 2006).