Durkheim's sociology and theories of degeneration

This Paper explores the relationshipbetween theories of degeneracy inspired by medicine and psychiatry in the nineteenth century and the sociological theory of Emile Durkheim. After briefly reviewing the main themes of degeneracy theory, there follows an analysis of Durkheim's writings of the 1880s and 1890s and 1890s on crime, suicide and birth-rates. The paper argues, first, that Durkheim's relationship to degeneracy theory is considerably more complex than is generally portrayed in the secondary literature and undergoes considerable modification over time: second, that Durkheim's theoretical efforts were not only aimed at sociological as opposed to biological explanations of the phenomena studied by theorists of degeneration, but also grounded a new normative understanding of these phenomena that was consonant with the humanitarian ideals of ethical individualism.     

Long-Term Capital Management and the sociology of arbitrage

Arbitrage is a key process in the practice of financial markets and in their theoretical depiction: it allows markets to be posited as efficient without all investors being assumed to be rational. This article explores the sociology of arbitrage by means of an examination of the arbitrageurs, Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). LTCM's 1998 crisis is analysed using both qualitative, interview-based data and quantitative examination of price movements. It is suggested that the roots of the crisis lay in an unstable pattern of imitation that had developed in the markets within which LTCM operated. As the resulting 'superportfolio' began to unravel, arbitrageurs other than LTCM fled the market, even as arbitrage opportunities became more attractive, causing huge price movements against LTCM. Three features of the sociology of arbitrage are discussed: its conduct by people often personally known to each other; the possibility and consequences of imitation; and the limits on the capacity of arbitrage to close price discrepancies. It is suggested that by 1998 imitative arbitrage formed a 'global microstructure' in the sense of Knorr Cetina and Bruegger.     

“Selling out” and the sociology of knowledge

Personal experience suggests that it is a great oversimplification to assume that those analysts or scientists who work on government sponsored contracts are forced by their personal economic and power interests to make their work conform to the ideology of the military-industrial establishment. The sociology of knowledge on which this assumption is based must be supplemented by a culturology of knowledge. In terms of the latter an important obstacle to good policy analysis for government comes from the fact that most analysts are heavily influenced by a rather narrow academic and intellectual subculture that makes it difficult for them to understand with sufficient balance the problems that face decisionmakers in the real world.     

Ethics and the unintended consequences of social research: A perspective from the sociology of science

It is argued that successful social science requires the development of a social ethic or sense of research responsibility. An examination of impediments to ethical reflection in sociology suggests that an individualistic orientation is ineffective in coping with the unintended consequences of social research. Such consequences can be particularly harmful in the sociology of science where policy research and governmental support for its production often entails an indiscriminate advocacy of knowledge. Such advocacy raises anew questions of the power of scientific knowledge, the definition of client-professional relationships, and the collection of data which may not only violate the intent of individuals and groups supplying information, but may undermine the credibility of sociology itself.An early version of this paper was presented at the Sixth Annual Alpha Kappa Delta Sociological Research Symposium, Richmond, Virginia, February 19–21, 1976.     

浅谈知青文学的社会学意义

首先谈一下关于“知青文学”的定义。笔者不是专业的文学研究者,无力对此下精准的定义,只能根据经验性的理解,提出自己的看法：我认为,“知青文学”是特指反映“文革”时期置身于“上山下乡”运动中的一代知识青年的生活命运的文学作品（也延伸至“文革”结束以后的“后知青时代”及其子女的生活命运）,包括小说、诗歌、散文、报告文学等形式。其中有曾是知青身份的专业作家的知青文学作品,还有大量非专业作家的知青文学作品,这类“民间”知青文学作品主要以“知青网络文学”的形式出现。     

经济社会学中从制度到行动的理论架构

本文说明了经济社会学中,制度与行动关系的理论架构。首先,本文分析了社会学、经济学关于制度与行动关系的理论演进历史。说明了目前经济社会学关于制度与行动相互作用的二元框架:制度为行动提供目标、背景、手段,而行动者通过不断的选择,决定制度的有效性与发展方向。其次,本文介绍了制度与行动关系的分层结构,说明了制度关系架构中的地位和作用、制度的稳定性与多样性、制度的渊源、制度的有效性。最后,本文总结了制度与行动关系理论架构的作用。