Events & Seminars 2013-14
23 Oct 2013: Devolving the Carceral State: Race, Reentry and the Micro-politics of Urban Poverty Management
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916 Building, Adam Smith Building
Presenter: Professor Reuben J Miller (University of Michigan)
This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of prisoner reentry programming in Chicago to better understand the strategies reentry organizations employ to rehabilitate prisoners and the ways in which those strategies articulate with larger social policy processes. Prisoner reentry is a hybrid welfare state-criminal justice institution. As the rehabilitative strategy of choice in the current age, the ascendance and proliferation of reentry services throughout low income communities of color represent the long standing collusion between social welfare and criminal justice actors to manage marginalized populations and a formal reconfiguration of the state, altering its scope, reach and consequence in the lives of the urban poor. I detail the experiences of former prisoners participating in reentry services and discuss the implications of reentry for race relations, punishment, and social welfare policy in the United States.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
20 Nov 2013: Digital Imagery and Child Embodiment in Paediatric Genetics: Sources and Relationships of Meaning
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916, Adam Smith Building
Presenter: Professor Janice McLaughlin (University of Newcastle)
Paediatric genetics involves multiple visually based diagnostic processes. While examining the external features of a child plays an important role, of increasing importance are biochemical analyses of blood, which produce digital diagrams that display variations in the shape and composition of chromosomes. The level of magnification and detail that can now be captured is allowing new patterns of variation to be 'seen' and possible diagnosis to be made, which were not possible before. However, this generates questions about whether these forms of genetic diagnosis and digital visualisation are increasing the scope of medicine to define the body as ill - regardless of whether symptoms are present. This article, drawing from research in a paediatric genetic service, cautions against giving too much power to digital imagery. It does so by arguing that the imagery is only one source of visualisation relevant to how the child's body is read and understood.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
15 Jan 2014: SCCJR Working Lunch: Sharing ideas and work in progress
Time: 12:30
Venue: ASRF Meeting Room, 66 Oakfield Ave
This is an opportunity for those at Ivy Lodge to share information on their current projects and research/teaching ideas for the future.
If you would like to present some work(-in-progress), would like to hear what others are working on, or are looking for a forum to host/sponsor discussion of ideas, the SCCJR Working Lunch series can help. Please get in touch with Marguerite (marguerite.schinkel@glasgow.ac.uk) to book a session.
22 Jan 2014: Double Estrangement, Embodying a Reflexive Habitus: The Experience of Minority Group Boys in Three Inner-City Primary Schools in Dublin
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916, Adam Smith Building
Presenter: Dr. Lindsey Garrett (Manchester and CoDE)
This paper introduces the concept of 'double estrangement' which is based within a somatic Bourdieusian framework and draws from DuBois 'double consciousness' and the work of Abdelmalek Sayad. Drawing on a large qualitative dataset I will argue that migrant group boys in Dublin's inner city tend to experience their bodies with unease, as somewhat problematic 'shameful bodies', through which they suffer from a break with their embodied selves and a disruption of their internal time as they are pushed between habitual and reflexive action. The dual elements of 'double estrangement' will be outlined, firstly, it will be contended that visible difference and dispositions of the body mark migrant boys out as not belonging and this provokes a tendency for them to feel constantly on display and judged through their bodies. Secondly, I will argue this has the effect of heightening a boy’s self-consciousness of their body as an object of value within peer interactions and this reflection estranges them from their habitual embodied being. This paper will conclude by illustrating how double estrangement acts as a form of symbolic violence within the ‘child world’ of the school, through the development of a ‘reflective habitus’ or habitual disposition to reflect on one’s body which estranges migrant origin boys from the embodied orthodoxy of the child world which in turn justifies inequalities between boys and disguises racism within encounters.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
5 Feb 2014: Refugee Integration Policy AND Rethinking the Sexuality of Migration
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916, Adam Smith Building
LKAS Postdoctoral Fellows Panel Session
Dr Gareth Mulvey
Refugee Integration Policy: The Effects of UK Policy-Making on Refugees in Scotland
While the concept of migrant integration is a contested one, national, sub-national and local governments over the past 40-50 years have professed support for integration in various forms. However, practical measures have been rare with broad race relations policies from the 1960s being the primary means of ‘inclusion’, alongside tight restrictions on migrant numbers. This dual system continued until the late 1990s. However, under New Labour, labour migration was opened up in order to satisfy strong employer demands while support for integration was questioned by a focus on community cohesion and a move away from multiculturalism. Simultaneously refugees, as opposed to asylum seekers, were identified as a migrant population with particular challenges and they have thus been the only group of new migrants subject to specific integration programmes. Nevertheless, policy and rhetoric about asylum seekers and refugees more generally have tended to operate against integration and have made it increasingly difficult for refugees to rebuild their lives. This paper examines refugee integration from the perspectives of refugees themselves. It suggests that the consequences of broader UK Government policy around asylum and refugee issues negates any positive support in the form of refugee integration programmes and actively inhibits integration.
Dr. Francesca Stella
Despite a growing body of empirical research focusing on migration and same-sex sexualities, this work has thus far mainly focussed on North America. Existing literature indicates that sexuality can be a key motive for both internal and international migration in the face of negative attitudes towards same-sex relations. Mobility and migration have been seen as key strategies enabling queer practices and subjectivities. This notion is embedded in widespread narratives of queer migration as a journey towards community and identity (typically towards ‘gay-friendly’ countries and towards metropolitan areas), which this paper problematises. The paper draws on a review of the literature and on the analysis of findings from a pilot study on East European LGB migrants in Scotland, UK (2013). To date, little empirical research has been conducted on queer migration from a European perspective, despite ongoing processes of European integration and very uneven levels of recognition of LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) rights across Europe. Findings from the pilot study point to the importance of considering the role of personal relations and emotions in migration research, rather than narrowing focusing on migration as a strategy for accessing rights and resources.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
5 Feb 2014: SCCJR Working Lunch: Exploring the effects of gender on victims' involvement with the criminal justice system
Time: 12:30
Venue: ASRF Meeting Room, 66 Oakfield Ave
Presenter: Stephanie Fohring (University of Edinburgh)
This talk will firstly cover some recent research findings suggesting differences in not only the rate of victimisation between men and women in Scotland, but also in their patterns of reporting crime, service use and satisfaction with support received. Discussion will then focus on possible theoretical explanations/implications of these findings.
If you would like to present some work(-in-progress), would like to hear what others are working on, or are looking for a forum to host/sponsor discussion of ideas, the SCCJR Working Lunch series can help.
12 Feb 2014: Frisby Memorial Lecture 2014: Behind Marx’s ‘hidden abode’: Toward an expanded conception of Capitalism
Time: 16:30
Venue: Boyd Orr Lecture Theatre 2, University of Glasgow
Presenter: Professor Nancy Fraser (Diane Middlebrook/Carl Djerassi Professor of Gender Studies, University of Cambridge and Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics, New School for Social Research)
The current sense of crisis - in economy, ecology, politics, and society - is prompting many critical theorists to revisit the problem of capitalism. I salute this return to core issues of social theory after a period of neglect. But received understandings of capitalism are not adequate to 21st century conditions. I propose, accordingly, to re-examine a basic theoretical question: How is capitalism best conceptualized: as an economic system, a form of ethical life, or an institutionalized social order? To answer this question, I will integrate some relatively familiar concepts from Marx with newer insights from feminist, ecological, and political theorizing. Whereas Marx sought the essence of capitalism by looking beneath the sphere of exchange to the ‘hidden abode’ of production, I shall look behind production to abodes that are more hidden still. The result will be an expanded conception of capitalism able better to accommodate the multiplicity of crisis tendencies and social struggles that characterize the 21st century.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
26 Feb 2014: SCCJR Working Lunch: Is there any point in security measures? The evaluation of 'the Security Hypothesis' in regards to the 1990s crime drop
Time: 12:30
Venue: ASRF Meeting Room, 66 Oakfield Ave
Presenter: Dainis Ignatans (University of Kent)
This talk will examine the Security Hypothesis, which holds that security measures strongly reduce crime and apply new analysis testing the theory. Points for discussion are: security measures as a visual deterrent or a physical barrier, do security measures create a false sense of safety and does this feeling of safety reduce crime rates?
If you would like to present some work(-in-progress), would like to hear what others are working on, or are looking for a forum to host/sponsor discussion of ideas, the SCCJR Working Lunch series can help. Please get in touch with Marguerite (marguerite.schinkel@glasgow.ac.uk) to book a session.
5 Mar 2014: Emotional Reflexivity in Distance Relationships
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916, Adam Smith Building
Presenter: Dr Mary Holmes (Edinburgh)
Emotional reflexivity is increasingly necessary within globalised conditions of intimate life. This paper briefly sets out a theoretical framework for understanding this emotionalization of reflexivity and illustrates it with the help of a small qualitative study of dual-career, dual-residence couples in distance relationships in the UK. It is argued that these couples provide a glimpse of the way in which such emotional reflexivity operates by taking account of structural constraints, the feelings of others, feelings about 'home' and about the future. Overall the aim is to use these insights to develop a more embodied, relational and emotional model of reflexivity, intimacy and of social life more broadly.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
19 Mar 2014: A Radical Humanist Ethic for Global Solidarity
Time: 16:00
Venue: Room 916, Adam Smith Building
Presenter: Professor Lawrence Wilde (Nottingham Trent)
Habermas once described solidarity as the ‘reverse side’ of justice, meaning that while justice required rules, principles and procedures, it also required social solidarity as a prerequisite for its achievement and sustenance. The normative goal of global solidarity envisages the achievement of justice on a global scale, and argues that the explicit ethical commitment is needed to apply the necessary pressure to overcome the social divisions that beset the global community. Radical humanism offers one such ethic. Drawing on the work of Marx and Fromm, it presents a form of virtue ethics based on a strong conception of human essence and human flourishing, in which the key potentials of rationality, compassion, productiveness, and cooperation are advocated as paths to solidarity to be developed by both individuals and societies. As an ethic, this radical humanism offers an alternative global imaginary to the free market fundamentalism of neoliberalism, the major ideological enemy of the principle of solidarity.
All welcome.
The Sociology Seminar Series is supported by the MacFie Bequest, named after Professor Alec MacFie, Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at the University from 1945 to 1958.
19 Mar 2014: SCCJR Working Lunch: Stalking in Scotland - What has feminism got to do with it?
Time: 12:30
Venue: ASRF Meeting Room, 66 Oakfield Ave
Presenter: Katy Proctor (Glasgow Caledonian University)
This talk will look at the nature, prevalence and victim impact of Stalking in Scotland from a feminist perspective and consider it's place on the continuum of gender based violence. Points for discussion will include 'Is there a need to class it as a gender based violence?' and 'Is all or just some stalking gender based?'
If you would like to present some work(-in-progress), would like to hear what others are working on, or are looking for a forum to host/sponsor discussion of ideas, the SCCJR Working Lunch series can help.
4 Apr 2014: (Re)turning point? Confinement, coping and change
Time: 14:00
Venue: Senate Room, Main Building, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ
What makes a prison sentence a turning point for some prisoners? What can be done to make this more common? And what needs to be in place for turning points to lead to a crime-free life after release? This talk addresses these questions, drawing on current research.
By examining prisoners’ views and experiences, it gives new insights into what it will take to unlock prisoners’ potential and change their lives. It should be of special interest to prison staff and those working in the community with (ex)prisoners, as well as to policy makers, students and academics.
Programme
- Introduction by Colin McConnell - Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service
- Doing well or just doing time? A qualitative study of psychological adjustment in prison. Dr Esther van Ginneken, Liverpool Hope University
- The impact of personal circumstances, the prison environment and obstacles after release on the transformative power of prison. Dr Marguerite Schinkel, University of Glasgow
- Response: How effective is research on prison effects? Professor Shadd Maruna, Queen’s University Belfast
- Q&A session chaired by Professor Fergus McNeill, University of Glasgow.
- Informal drinks reception
For more information see: www.researchunbound.org.uk/punishmentcareers/events-3
15 Apr 2014: Gender and Sexualities Forum: Disability and Domestic Violence
Time: 15:30
Venue: Room 133, Hetherington Building
Speaker: Dr. Sonali Shah (Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Fellow, Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research)
25 Apr 2014: Social Media Analysis: Methods and Ethics - conference
Venue: Room 1115 (Adam Smith Lecture Theatre), Adam Smith Building
For full details please visit the conference website: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/sociology/socialmediaanalysis/
7 May 2014: Gender and Sexualities Forum: Researching Asexuality
Time: 15:30
Venue: Room 133, Hetherington Building
Two researchers on asexuality discuss their work
Matt Dawson (Sociology, University of Glasgow)
Rethinking asexuality: a Symbolic Interactionist account
Based upon an article co-written with Susie Scott, this paper aims to contribute a Symbolic Interactionist approach to the study of asexuality. Previous research in psychology, sexology and sociology has had an individualised focus, which has downplayed the interactive and relational dimensions of asexual identities. In order to capture such elements we demonstrate the relevance of some key Symbolic Interactionist concepts: meaning, negotiation, social selfhood and trajectory. In doing so, we suggest it is possible to see asexual identity as a process of becoming within the context of negotiation with intimate others.
Karen Cuthbert (Sociology, University of Glasgow)
‘You have to be normal to be abnormal’: the intersection of asexuality and disability
Recent studies of asexuality have focussed on how individuals come to identify as asexual. It can be argued, however, that this research assumes a disembodied subject who is ‘free’ to claim an asexual self-identity. This paper complicates this by introducing a consideration of intersectionality into asexuality research, focusing specifically on the ways in which asexuality is imbricated with disability. Drawing on qualitative research with asexual-identified disabled persons, it examines how coming to identify as asexual is constrained when one is marked as ‘disabled’. The paper will also discuss the ways in which the asexual community itself is normatively constructed. Although figured as disabled-friendly, this is conditioned on the denial of any causal links between asexuality and disability. I discuss how this leads to the construction of the ‘gold star asexual’. However, I will also argue that the idea of ‘asexuality-as-transgressive’, dominant in the academic literature, also has a normative effect.
18 Jul 2014: LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth Conference
Time: 09:00
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Building, University of Glasgow
Conference partners include GHRN, Equality Network, Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow
A free one day conference being held in Glasgow five days before the opening of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The aims of the conference are to create a focus for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) human rights discussions in the run up to the games, providing a space to share ideas, practice and campaigns, engaging participants in global human rights issues and ensuring the visibility of Commonwealth LGBTI people and culture during the games.
The conference is being co-organised by Matthew Waites, Senior Lecturer in Sociology (www.gla.ac.uk/socialpolitical/staff/matthewwaites, Matthew.Waites@glasgow.ac.uk), of the GHRN in partnership with the Equality Network, Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow.
For full details and to register, please visit the Conference website: www.equality-network.org/event/conference/
5 Sep 2014: Racism: From the Labour Movement to the Far-Right
Venue: Western Infirmary Lecture Theatre
Conference website: http://racismconference14.wordpress.com
Taking two overlapping developments as its starting point - namely the continuing mutation and expansion of racism into new ‘cultural’ forms, above all in the form of a virulent Islamophobia; and the electoral consolidation of parties of the far-right, who are not always fascist, but committed to deeply reactionary positions on most social issues, above all in relation to migration - the scheduled papers will focus on such themes as:
- Race, gender and class in the neoliberal workplace
- The social basis of the populist far-right in Europe, including the racisms of such political formations
- Refugees, asylum and migration
- Racism, multiculturalism and citizenship in Europe, including the racialization of Muslims
- Imperialism and its legacies in Scotland; including anti-Irish racism and the employment inequalities faced by different racialized minority groups
- Theorizing racism and anti-racism including historical perspectives on the sometimes convoluted relationship between anti-racism and the socialist Left
We are delighted to announce that the keynote lecture will be given by Professor Floya Anthias (University of East London) on ‘Intersectionality and the Struggles against Racism’. Professor Anthias’ research explores different forms of stratification, social hierarchy and inequality, and how they interconnect, paying specific attention to racism, diaspora and hybridity, multiculturalism, gender and migration, labour market disadvantages and class position.
There are also two exhibitions planned for the conference. The first draws on work carried out by Dr Sundari Anitha (University of Lincoln) and Professor Ruth Pearson (University of Leeds) entitled Striking Women. This celebrates the catalytic role played by South Asian women in two industrial disputes in the Greater London area - the strike at Grunwick between 1976 and 1978 and the dispute at Gate Gourmet that erupted in 2005. Through images, text and interviews, the exhibition locates these disputes in the wider context of South Asian women’s activism in the workplace.A second display - prepared by Honor Hania, the Subject Librarian for Sociology at the University of Glasgow - will present documents outlining the role played by Scotland, and especially Glasgow, in the British Empire. This exhibition will include images and texts which highlight and demonstrate Scotland’s connections to the slave trade and anti-slavery movements, as well as the University’s historical connections to Africa and the Caribbean. The display will also feature materials from the Glasgow University Library’s Black History Month exhibition.
The first day will conclude with two book launches. Wilf Sullivan, Head, Race Equality at the TUC will discuss Satnam Virdee’s new book, Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider, while David Renton, Barrister at Garden Court Chambers will introduce Neil Davidson’s jointly edited collection, The Longue Duree of the Far-Right.