Page 34 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

9781412934633-Chap-01 1/10/09 8:39 AM Page 5

INTRODUCTION 5

from the global South as well as from the Pruijt, Pokrovsky, and Tsobanoglou,
global North were able to provide integrative ‘Sociological Practice and the Socio-
descriptions of theoretical orientations, Technics of Governance’), and in the devel-
salient subfields of sociology, and sociologi- opment of appropriate methodologies in a
cal interpretations of general and specific specific field (Banakar, ‘Law through
social problems. Thus the collection intro- Sociology’s Looking Glass’). Further permu-
duces readers to ways in which the focal con- tations of the three processes can be seen to
cepts are used in diverse fields of sociology characterize developments in the analysis of
and how they are applied to research by community organizations (Reis, ‘New Ways
scholars from different national traditions of Relating Authority and Solidarity’) as well
working within the same discipline. The as in ‘New Collaborative Forms of Doing
material covered is of interest to researchers Research’ (Jimenez).
and practitioners in anthropology, psychol- With the complexification of the social
ogy, economics, political science as well as world, sociology has responded by making
in sociology. Both experts in the subfields room for subfields each of which focuses on
and those with a more general interest in a different domain. Thus, in Part 2 of the
them will find the chapters informative and Handbook (‘Trends in Conceptualizing
engaging. Because the chapters all deal with Conflict, Competition, and Cooperation in
issues that are relevant to contemporary reality, Subfields of Sociology’), the seven chapters
the Handbook is appropriate for university sketch how conflict, competition, and
use, especially for graduate seminar courses cooperation are theorized and underlie
but also for advanced undergraduate courses research in the sociology of development and
that focus on research, analysis, and application. social transformations (Schuerkens), health
Following this Introduction, the chapters sociology (Riska, Annandale, and Dingwall),
have been divided into four main sections: sociology of the professions (Evetts, Gadea,
(1) ‘Analyses of Approaches to Research’; Sanchez, and Saez), sociology of sport (Ohl),
(2) ‘Trends in Conceptualizing Conflict, sociology of the arts (Marontate), sociology
Competition, and Cooperation in Subfields of of childhood (Van Krieken and Bühler-
Sociology’; (3) ‘Research on Social Issues – Niederberger) and the study of social mobility
Interweaving Processes’; (4) ‘Illustrative Case (Moulin and Bernard). Although the articles
Studies’. The concluding chapter highlights make no pretense to being exhaustive, the
the commonalities, divergences, insights, and subfields described in this section provide
challenges which have been presented. insights into the range of interests that soci-
The six papers in Part 1 (‘Analyses of ologists deal with as well as into the diverse
Approaches to Research’) provide a discipli- ways in which an orientation to processes can
nary overview of how conflict, competition, be adapted to different aspects of social life.
and cooperation figure in broad orientations Part 3 of the Handbook (‘Research on
to sociology. Their dialectical inter-relation- Social Issues – Interweaving Processes’)
ship is evident on the macro, meso, and is devoted to discussions of some of the
micro levels when examined through the lens problems – and betimes to the types of solu-
of theories of alienation (Langman and tions – that can be better understood with the
Kalekin-Fishman, ‘Alienation: Critique and help of theories of conflict and/or competi-
Alternative Futures’), and when considering tion and/or cooperation. In the seven articles,
the concept of belonging (Yuval-Davis, researchers present sociological approaches
‘Identity, Citizenship and Contemporary, to problems that arise in health, illness
Secure, Gendered Politics of Belonging’). and mortality in Less Developed Countries
They show that the processes can be traced in (Ram and Ram) and in Military Peacekeeping
research that focuses on the level of wide- Operations (Segal, Dandeker, and Whitestone).
ranging governmental practices (Hogsbro, They also look at how reductions of social