Search results

Sociology is about society, but what about people? The person in the sight of sociology is all too often a matchstick being. In this original and stimulating book the person is characterized by what is inherent in a social being, and the result is a rich narrative, the story of the person told through events in life. The author holds that for sociological purposes, the person must be seen as perfect: perfectible, perfecting and perfect. He outlines the 'trialectical' nature of such a theory, offers a test of it in the making of madness and claims that such a change in vision is appropriate for

Taken as a whole, this paper is an exercise in critical sociology. The history of the sociology of housing is briefly assessed. It is then argued that to make sense of the subject matter a conception of domestic property is needed. Domestic property is defined by the ownership and control of the means and relations of life-support. Sketches of hierarchical aspects of the phenomenon are given. Neo-feudalism is said to be the cultural characteristic of domestic property and it indicates initial weaknesses in the concept. Further the concept is judged to be poor in the light of alternative perspectives on its features: income sources; property extensiveness and property rights. Nevertheless the concept is held to be useful because it cuts across the politics of self interest to which housing is currently subject. Finally the concept suggests an alternative approach to such politics, advocating that there be a guaranteed right to life-support.

Replication is not an automatic activity. Any replication involves decisions on the concepts, relationships, and contexts of the original and its re-examination. Two quotients can relate the two researches: a replicability quotient which considers the quality of the original and a generalizability quotient which focuses upon the replication. An account is given of a replication of Gouldner's cosmopolitanism thesis that illustrates the decisions entailed and suggests the important features of the two quotients.

On dit que l'argument d'autorité n'a pas sa place dans la science moderne, pourtant il est assez rare de voir de grandes études, tenues pour classiques, refaites et leurs résultats discutés à la lumière des comparaisons possibles entre l'original et la réplique. C'est ce que l'auteur tente de faire ici, à partir des deux études qui ont rendu célèbre l'opposition entre «cosmopolitisme » et «orientation locale ». C'est d'abord le problème de l'unidimensionnalité du concept qui est discuté, avant que ne soient envisagées les hypothèses qu'il permet de faire sur les voies et les modalités de la socialisation dans les organisations.