Page 491 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

9781412934633-Chap-30.qxp 1/10/09 8:59 AM Page 462

462 THE ISA HANDBOOK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

and conflict, those submitting papers were sociological subfield. Among the articles in
free to choose their approaches to theory and Part 1, which presents general approaches to
research in the discipline of sociology. The research, for example, there is a clear division
result, as the organization of the Handbook between those that emphasize the concern
shows, was a highly diverse collection in with the theoretical framework of research
which we can see that the focal processes are and those that emphasize the concern with
valid for topics that can be aligned on a kind methods and practices. The chapters on
of continuum of substantive issues, from the alienation (Langman and Kalekin-Fishman)
general grasp of sociology as a science to and belonging (Yuval-Davis) emphasize pos-
evidence of how sociology can be used to itive and negative outcomes of structurally
describe and explain particular cases. A short embedded processes of conflict, competition
review of the materials in the successive parts and cooperation in their on-going dynamics.
of the Handbook will underline the ubiquity The chapter on socio-technics (Hogsbro,
of conflict, competition and cooperation Pruijt, Pokrovsky and Tsobanoglou) intro-
from every current vantage point for examin- duces the notion of the uses of sociology in
ing society, as well as disclosing how diverse social intervention, as a tool which is both
the approaches can be. practical and critically analytic. Banakar’s
Some contributors chose to present a chapter on socio-legal research, Reis’ chap-
general overview of the subfield of sociology ter, with its focus on the links between social
which is at the core of interest to the people transformations and changes in conceptual-
organized in a particular research committee. ization, and Jimenez’s chapter on the need to
From the overview, readers are able to derive involve concerned lay persons in research all
an understanding of how cooperation, com- blueprint designs for work that sociologists
petition and conflict have been absorbed into should be doing in light of how they view the
sociology as a discipline. Others, as we see in nature of society.
Part 2, chose to focus on the three ‘required’ Part 2, in which there are specifications of
processes in order to examine where and how how conflict, competition and cooperation
they figure in the various working concepts are treated in a selection of subfields, is also
and theories that concern their research characterized by several different percep-
group. Those whose articles appear in Part 3 tions. Chapters on the sociology of develop-
present investigations of how, from their ment (Schuerkens), on sociological theories
particular mode of conceptualization, con- of professions (Evetts, Gadea, S´anchez and
flict, competition and cooperation shed light S´aez), on the sociology of childhood (Van
on pressing social issues. In Part 4 the Krieken and Bühler-Niederberger), and on
researches presented zoom in on specific social mobility (Moulin and Bernard) focus
cases where one or the other of the processes for the most part on how re-conceptualizations
is a distinctive characteristic of the events of conflict and cooperation in their subfields
portrayed. are likely to improve the match of research
Within each part, however, there are and research findings to the realities of living
important differences among the articles as in each domain. Those on the sociology of
researchers offer what they perceive to be the the arts, the sociology of sport, and health
point of view of the research committee sociology, on the other hand, view the devel-
they represent, or, in the case of those not opments in their fields as expressions of
representing research committees, an impor- broader social trends. From evidence of the
tant perspective in the area within which impact of economic forces on what happens
they work. Thus every chapter relies on a the- in art, Marontate concludes that the art
oretical and a methodological apparatus world is governed by the same neo-capitalist
which has been developed in a recognized logic that characterizes a globalizing world.