2009/2010 Joint Seminar Series |
| Understanding Individual and Social Change |
| For a list of seminars for semester 1 please click here |
| “ Comparative analysis using the European Social Survey ” |
Eric Harrison, City University, London 22nd September 2009 Abstract The recent rapid expansion of the European Union, and the current turbulent economic and political climate, mean there has never been a greater need for high quality comparative social science. This paper does three things: firstly it outlines the main pre-requisites for good comparative research; secondly it examines existing resources that are available for comparative researchers, focusing mainly though not exclusively on the European Social Survey; thirdly it illustrates the potential of cross-national survey resources by presenting a selection of empirical findings from work that has made use of the first three rounds of ESS. The paper concludes by examining some of the main threats and opportunites facing comparative researchers in the next decade. |
| “ Statistical inference for count time series data. ” |
Peter Neal, Mathematics, University of Manchester 29th September 2009 Abstract |
| “ The dynamic life of groups - some insights from simulation ” |
Bruce Edmonds Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University 6th October 2009 Abstract Some insights into how cooperative groups may form, grow and die are suggested by agent-based social simulation. In these the ability to distinguish social markers (or 'tags') are crucial to this process, even though such tags are not hard linked to any behavioural trait and can be "forged". Such group formation processes are deeply suggestive that groups can have a meaning in their own right - growing, dying and even maybe evolving. |
| “ On the idea of poverty traps ” |
Sir Partha DasGupta, University of Cambridge. 13th October 2009 Abstract Poverty traps are symptomatic of essential non-linearities in metabolic, environmental, and socio-economic processes. Although there is no single source of poverty traps, they possess a common structure. Lack of discussion on the pathways leading to poverty traps in contemporary development economics has been a factor behind policy failures. This lecture shall explore the underlying structure of processes that harbour poverty traps. |
| “ How self-immolation entered the repertoire of contention ” |
Michael Biggs, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford 20th October 2009 Abstract Protest by self-immolation—where an individual kills her or himself, without harming others, to advance a collective cause—was invented in response to two long-term transformations: the decline in public state violence and the growth of news media. Although there had been previous examples, the self-immolation of a Vietnamese monk in 1963 created a model that was adopted in many different countries, for various collective causes. Almost all subsequent acts of self-immolation constitute a lineage that can be traced back to this single invention. |
“ Do active labour market policies reduce the harmful effects of job insecurity? Evidence for flexicurity from the EWCS and ESS ” |
Brendan Burchell, University of Cambridge 27th October 2009 Abstract Flexicurity has been heralded as the solution to simultaneously maintaining wellbeing of employees through employment security whilst allowing employers to benefit from flexibility. This paper examines one of the claimed benefits, that countries with flexicurity policies will reduce the stress on employees who experience job insecurity. More specifically, it is argued that more generous unemployment benefits along with active labour market policies to facilitate rapid re-employment reduces the anxiety associated with job insecurity. Analyses of two international datasets found little evidence for this moderation of the link between insecurity and wellbeing in countries that are assumed to be exemplars of flexicurity. The economic rationality behind these claims is questioned, and a psychological approach to job insecurity is suggested as an alternative. |
| “ Immigrant political behaviour in Europe. ” |
Aida Paskeviciute Dept of Government, University of Essex 3rd November 2009 Abstract Although immigrants constitute an increasing share of the population in many established democracies, little is known about their political behaviour and thus how increasing flows of migration may transform the patterns of political engagement in contemporary democracies. This study develops a model of immigrant political action that connects individual motivations to become politically involved with the macro-social context in which participation takes place. Using survey data collected as part of the European Social Survey from 2002 to 2006 in 20 European democracies, our analyses reveal that a positive opinion climate increases immigrant political engagement and this effect is particularly strong among immigrants dissatisfied with the workings of the political system. The results also suggest that this effect is limited to uninstitutionalized political action and that the opinion climate has no observable impact on participation in institutionalized politics. |
| “ Civil societies in a European perspective ” |
Loek Halman & Paul Dekker. University of Tilburg, the Netherlands. 10th November 2009 Abstract Civil society has very different meanings and definitions range from various normative conceptions of a civilized, free and good society to various descriptions of typical organizations and parts of society. Starting with the latter, I compare national patterns of civil society in Europe and focus on differences in voluntary association membership, volunteering and scale and structure of the non-profit sector. Secondly, I focus on the limited and mixed empirical evidence of the alleged social and political benefits of activities in the sphere of civil society. Thirdly, I sketch a movement of dissolution of this sphere: blurring borders, the growth of hybrid organizations, and the spread of associational relationships on other spheres. Finally, we look at the consequences of this for the ideals of a ‘European civil society’. |
| " Ethnic integration and social fluidity in Britain and the US -- A study of tertiary education and labour market position of 2nd generation minority ethnic groups (1991-2001)" |
Professor Yaojun Li, Institute for Social Change 17th November 2009 Abstract |
| “ Work-life reconciliation in Europe: the relevance of work time for women. " |
Tracey Warren, University of Nottingham. 24th November 2009 Abstract |
| “ Accountability and representation: the voters' perspective. ” |
Stephen Fisher, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford. 1st December 2009 Abstract A commonly held view in the literature on elections is that majoritarian systems maximize accountability of the government while proportional systems facilitate ideological representation. Hence, it is assumed that citizens in majoritarian systems with higher clarity of responsibility use elections as sanctioning devices whereas voters in proportional systems see them as an opportunity to select candidates that best represent their views and interest. This paper tests these assumptions by addressing three main questions: Are citizens more likely to treat the election as a referendum on the government in systems with higher clarity of responsibility? Are citizens more likely to vote for a party that represents their views in a more proportional system? Is there a trade-off between voting for a party that represents your views and holding the government to account? Using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), we find that people are more likely to hold the government to account where there are fewer political parties and executive power is concentrated, but there is no sign that people are more likely to vote for the party that best represents their views in more proportional systems. We also find no evidence for a trade-off between accountability and representation in the way voters approach elections. |
“Recent developments in lantent variable modelling for extreme responses ” |
Irini Moustaki, London School of Economics 8th December 2009 Abstract |