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Home , Dramaturgy (sociology), Erving Goffman, Florian Znaniecki

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BACK STAGE OR REGION In Erving the status quo. It is this aspect of his work Goffman’s , the back stage is con- that has most appealed to contemporary trasted with the front stage; it is the space in cultural commentators. which people can relax and drop their performance. In the example of a restaurant, BARTHES, ROLAND (1915–80) Barthes the kitchen is the back stage area in which was a key figure in the development of semi- waiters can joke, mock customers and toy otics, the study of signs, where he adapted with the food. When they come through the the linguistic arguments of Ferdinand de door into the restaurant’s front stage, they Saussure to apply to the analysis of are supposed to slip effortlessly into the con- and cultural . Saussure had empha- trolled performance of the attentive waiter. sised that words are arbitrary indicators of : there is nothing about the word BAKHTIN, MIKHAIL (1895–1975) A ‘snail’ that fits it to describe snails. Another Russian writer concerned with literature and word would do just as well. Barthes argued language, Bakhtin’s life was inextricably that cultural symbols are often just as arbi- caught up with the history of the Soviet trary: thus, a deerstalker and cape have come Union. Like many unorthodox intellectuals to stand for the garb of a detective. From this he was arrested in the late 1920s and was point it is a short step to suggest that the forced into internal exile. Later, one of his study of culture is fundamentally about read- books was destroyed at the publisher’s ing cultural signs. Barthes often distinguished premises during the attempted Nazi invasion between what something denotes (what it of the USSR; the book never appeared literally stands for or represents) and what because, though he had kept notes, he it connotes (what it implies or suggests). famously used up a large share of them as Cultural goods are often valued for what make-shift cigarette paper during the war. they connote as much as what they denote. Bakhtin was a pioneer in the socio-linguistic Thus, a ‘designer’ handbag often functions no analysis of fiction, particularly novels. He better as a handbag than would other makes, was also fascinated by the phenomenon of car- but is valued for what it connotes. nival, specifically in carnivals dating from the European Middle Ages during which grotesque and improper behaviour was encouraged and used the terms to express the relationship social hierarchies were disrupted. For Bakhtin, between the economy (the base) and other carnival indicated the widespread potential features of (the superstructure): for subverting established world-views and the nature of the economy and its level of 02-Bruce-3321-Ch.B.qxd 11/18/2005 3:21 PM Page 17

basic human needs bauman, zygmunt (1925–)

productivity is held to determine such other and have all claimed him as things as the political structure, the legal sys- a prophet of postmodernity. In the 1920s he tem, the nature of the state and so on. Marx was involved in surrealism, in the late 1930s recognised that the real world is not that in anti-fascist politics, and after the Second simple and that actual relationships may World War he founded and edited Critique,a often run in the other direction (for example, major influence on Foucault and Jean the ability of a state to maintain law-and- Baudrillard. order will have a major effect on economic development) but it is a defining characteristic of Marxist thought that, in the big picture, BAUDRILLARD, JEAN (1929–) Although the influence of the base on the superstruc- he is often classed with Lyotard and Derrida ture is greater than the latter’s effect on the as a postmodernist, French sociologist Jean former. Baudrillard is better described as a disap- pointed Marxist who, like the members of the Frankfurt School, turned his attention to BASIC HUMAN NEEDS Lay people and popular culture and the media in an attempt professional social scientists talk often of to explain the failure of the working class to basic human needs but it is not easy to find play its revolutionary role. He is best known agreement about just what they are once we for the argument that modern are so move beyond the purely biological needs of saturated by the that reality loses food and shelter. If we starve or freeze to its meaning. People are no longer participants death we are no longer human. But what in their own lives but observers of what the else is foundational? The list is commonly media has turned into ‘spectacles’. An exam- extended to take in what are thought to be ple is pornography, which ought to represent necessary preconditions for full participation unconstrained sexual excess but has been in social life. This raises the question of turned by the media into nothing; a symp- exactly which needs are given by our human tom of the dreary and relentless commodifi- constitutions and which are a result of social- cation of . Baudrillard can isation into a particular culture. For example, therefore be seen as proposing a peculiarly some sociologists of religion argue that radical form of ; in our ‘age of sim- almost all societies have religions because the ulacra’ there are only signs and representa- human condition creates a need for gods; tions. All prospect of access to real things has others counter that religions socialise people disappeared. This situation he terms hyper- into feeling the needs that religions can sat- reality. With his own flair for publicity, isfy. As is clear in his discussion of alienation, Baudrillard famously claimed that the 1991 Karl Marx supposes that the opportunity to Gulf War did not happen apart from its express oneself through creative work is a appearance on television. That said, it is clear basic human need. that the war actually took place, but its meaning and the details of what happened are inseparable from the televised coverage. BATAILLE, GEORGES (1897–1962) French Bataille lived a dual life. By day he was a respectable librarian at the BAUMAN, ZYGMUNT (1925–) His career Bibliothèque Nationale and philosopher; by began in his native at the University night he was a sadist and alcoholic who wrote of in the 1950s but when he became pornography. He is mentioned in disillusioned with Marxism he was encour- because Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, aged to emigrate to Israel. He then moved to

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beck, ulrich (1944–) behaviour

Leeds in northern England. He first came insure against such hazards. The handling to prominence with Modernity and the and regulation of such risks becomes so con- Holocaust (1989) in which he argued that sequential that it changes the character of the Holocaust was a particularly modern contemporary societies. Society is no longer phenomenon to be explained by modern primarily a class society, it is a risk society. technology, by modern bureaucratic methods Beck’s second claim is that, in risk soci- for handling large numbers of people, and eties, there are widespread difficulties with by the lack of responsibility that Bauman the generation of authoritative knowledge. regarded as a consequence of modernisation. On the face of it, this claim is similar to that He later became associated with various of postmodernism. However Beck argues aspects of postmodernism. that the problem confronting knowledge is really one of ‘reflexive modernisation’. In other words, in the face of the new risks, BECK, ULRICH (1944–) Ulrich Beck’s medical, scientific and technical knowledge work became widely known to an interna- is subjected to closer and closer scrutiny. tional audience in the early 1990s when his Faced with this relentless self-examination, book Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity expert knowledge becomes less certain and (1986) was first published in English transla- often more divided. Some experts speak in tion. Though the book is wide-ranging and favour of nuclear power, others against. The often surprisingly impassioned in its argu- authority of technical knowledge goes into ments, most readers agree that he makes two decline. novel claims. First, he proposes that contem- Beck’s work has become increasingly porary societies differ from their predeces- widely acknowledged largely because – sors because of the central importance of the unlike many sociological theorists – his ideas handling of risk. Of course, early modern appear to have been borne out in readily societies – in the 16th and 17th centuries for understandable ways. Following the publica- example – faced many threats. Bad weather tion of his book there were major risk prob- might ruin harvests, disease might strike lems surrounding ‘mad cow disease’ and the uncontrollably. Such risks were beyond planting of genetically modified crops. Beck’s human control. Subsequently, industrialisa- observations seemed to be bang on target. tion and the growth of medical and technical knowledge allowed people to exercise more control over their environments. Weather BECKER, HOWARD S. (1928–) Although forecasting diminished the threats to har- he made important contributions to the vests. There was less risk and people were study of professional socialisation with Boys optimistic that further risks would come in White: Student Culture in the Medical World under control. Insurance and compensation (1961) and to of music with his schemes allowed people to be indemnified studies of jazz musicians (he was an accom- against risk to a large extent. However, by the plished jazz pianist), Becker is best known final quarter of the 20th century risk had for his pioneering work on labelling theory re-emerged. This time the risks were typically and his insistence that -freedom was an of human creation. Societies are threatened obstacle to sociology’s mission to give a voice by the possibility of catastrophic nuclear to the underdog. power station failures or by climate changes caused by emissions into the atmosphere, and, unlike the case of typical industrial risks, BEHAVIOUR Although commonly used as it is hard to see how one could meaningfully a synonym for action or conduct, behaviour

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behaviourism benjamin, walter (1892–1940)

is usefully contrasted with action so that it special meals or a day out. A third form of refers to the automatic or reflex (such as behaviour modification is aversion therapy, jumping when stung) while action denotes which works by negative reinforcement. An intention, purpose and conscious thought. example is the implanting a chemical in the While there is little difficulty in distinguish- stomachs of alcoholics which causes vomit- ing extreme cases of both, much social con- ing when alcohol is drunk. duct falls into an ambiguous middle ground in that it is so much a product of effective BELIEF SYSTEM This denotes any com- socialisation that the actor would require a plex of interrelated propositions. The ‘sys- considerable effort of will to act otherwise. tem’ implies a degree of coherence and the presence of some integrating general princi- BEHAVIOURISM Strictly speaking a school ples. Christianity is an example of a belief within rather than sociology, system. used Weltanschauung or behaviourism was an attempt to set up a pro- worldview in the same way. Although there gramme to study behaviour scientifically. is no consensus about finer points of usage, Behaviourists argued that scientific analysis worldview suggests something broader, less depends on verifiable observations. But, since propositional and more taken for granted consciousness, meanings and motivations are than belief system. private, they cannot be observed. A scientific approach to human conduct must therefore BELL, DANIEL (1919–) This American depend on analysing connections between sociologist and essayist is best known for his observable inputs – stimuli – and observable argument in the End of Ideology (1960) that outputs – responses. The programme never antagonistic class ideologies had declined took off as a way of studying human conduct in industrial societies. The Coming of Post- since these ‘scientific’ interpretations of human Industrial Society (1973) was an attempt behaviour seemed much poorer than actors’ to depict the sort of society that had dis- own accounts or the accounts of novelists. placed the class-ridden societies which However, the behaviourists’ insistence on sociology had tried to comprehend. Also studying observable and verifiable aspects of influential was The Cultural Contradictions of human conduct has been echoed across the Capitalism (1976), which argued that the social (especially ). individualistic hedonistic culture, typical of advanced capitalist societies, was a threat BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION This denotes to the rationality required by the economic a variety of techniques for the deliberate system. reshaping of human behaviour based on structured learning. One such is systematic BENJAMIN, WALTER (1892–1940) Benjamin desensitisation: the treatment of phobias by was a German essayist and literary critic gradually introducing the sufferer to the allied to left-wing groups. During the 1920s feared object in a controlled setting. Another he became acquainted with members of the is the token economy favoured by some men- Frankfurt School and, like them, was inter- tal hospitals, schools and other : ested in the role of popular culture. For many individuals are awarded tokens when they years he was best known for an essay on ‘The perform some desired action (such as getting work of art in the age of mechanical repro- dressed or tidying up) and accumulated duction’ (1992), which analysed what would tokens are exchanged for rewards such as happen to ideas of elite cultural value and

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bentham, jeremy (1748–1832) bias

originality when artworks could be reproduced phenomenological approach to sociology pio- without the intervention of artists or skilled neered by Alfred Schutz. He also wrote exten- performers. As the Nazis rose to power, he sively on the (especially left Germany for . He later tried to on secularization and charisma). Because he flee France also but committed suicide in took the view that, in the context of liberal 1940 in the Spanish Pyrenees when his democratic societies, competing religious per- escape failed. Benjamin’s reputation rose at spectives must undermine the authority and the end of the 20th century when The Arcades plausibility of religion, he was initially a strong Project (1999) was published in full. This advocate of the secularisation paradigm but in ambitious work was an attempt to record an later work he argued that privatised relativistic alternative narrative of reality that ‘issued religion could survive. forth from unconscious collective memory’. With his wife Birgitte Berger, he wrote Benjamin collected thousands of snippets of War over the Family (1983): an attempt to observation from shopping arcades in , steer a middle-way between the growing body Berlin, Naples and Moscow: he noted street of feminist criticism of the family and func- fashions, postures, advertising texts and tionalist defences of the . images. He has come to be celebrated as a pio- He also made important contributions to neer in studies of of consumption. the sociology of development. His Pyramids of Sacrifice (1974) was a critique of both capitalist and communist approaches to the BENTHAM, JEREMY (1748–1832) The Third World but he later became convinced English political philosopher, jurist and social that capitalism offered the best opportunity reformer is best known to contemporary for economic and social advance. He thus set sociology for the use Michel Foucault makes himself against the popular dependency and of his prison reform schemes. It is unfor- world-systems theories. As a director of tunate that Foucault’s presentation of research programmes he was influential in Bentham’s design for the panopticon (a reviving the Weberian sociological concern shape of prison that would allow constant with the cultural conditions for economic surveillance of prisoners by guards) has led development. current students to regard him as a reac- tionary oppressor. In the context of the state of British prisons at the time, Bentham was a BERNSTEIN, BASIL (1924–2000) See progressive radical (something recognised by elaborated and restricted codes. his being made a citizen of France by the rev- olutionaries in 1792) who, among other good works, founded University College, London. BHASKAR, ROY (1944–) See critical He was a leading utilitarian and was respon- realism. sible for the dictum that the proper object of all government was ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’. BIAS In general usage this denotes the pre-supposition or preference that distorts our observations or conclusions. The term BERGER, PETER LUDWIG (1929–) Co- is also used by statisticians to refer to the written with Thomas Luckmann, Berger’s difference between the hypothetical ‘real’ The Social Construction of Reality (1967) distribution of some characteristic in a popu- was extremely influential in making widely lation and the extent of it in a particular known in the English-speaking world the sample; the difference is referred to as a

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birth rate blue-collar worker

‘sampling bias’. For example, if we know BLACK-COATED WORKER The term was from the census that the population of a par- coined by English sociologist David ticular town is 52 per cent female and find Lockwood to describe routine clerical and that in our postal only 45 per cent office workers in the days when a dark suit of respondents are female, we may multi- was required office wear. It was superseded ply the scores given to the answers from by ‘white-collar worker’ as suit cloth became women respondents to compensate for that more varied in colour, more women entered bias and give a proportionate weighting to the labour market, and offices became com- female responses. monly heated to a temperature where suit jackets were removed on arrival.

BIRTH RATE The birth rate for a society or population is normally the number of live BLACK ECONOMY See informal economy. births per 1000 people of all ages in one year.

BLAU, PETER (1918–2002) One of the BLACK Brief terms used to describe groups pioneers of detailed studies of bureaucracy, of people are always contentious, as are the Blau extended Max Weber’s work with an implied groupings of people so described. interest in the ‘informality’ that social inter- Even terms that are not intended to be insult- action adds to formal organisations and with ing may come to be seen as such and require attention to the dynamic aspects of organi- replacing by terms that have not yet acquired sations. He was also important in develop- derogatory connotations. Over the 20th cen- ing exchange theory (with its central place tury ‘Negro’ gave way to ‘coloured’ and then for rewards and penalties in shaping social to ‘black’; the favoured term of 1960s US interaction) to explain both the stability of activists. By the end of the century ‘black’ was social structures and . He was in turn giving way to ‘Afro-American’ and unusual among exchange theorists for his ‘people of African origin’. Asians often object stress on the constraints that social struc- to the use of ‘black’ or ‘non-white’ because it tures, though created by them, impose on treats as homogenous such various peoples as actors. Africans, West Indians, Pakistanis and Indians. On the other hand, some insist that a simple black/white dichotomy is useful because it BLOCH, MARC (1886–1944) A French reflects the reality of racial discrimination in medieval historian and co-founder of the many societies. Annales School of historical research, Bloch is Sociologists need to be alive to their choice best known to sociology for his Feudal Society of terms for ethnic groups both to avoid (1961): a magisterial study of feudal society offence and to tap the worldviews of those as a whole that greatly informed our under- who interest us. Surveys that use terms that standing of the differences between feudal do not correspond to respondents’ categories and capitalist societies. and experience will not generate useful data. In and small-scale surveys we can adopt the terms used by those we BLUE-COLLAR WORKER Usually part of a study. In large surveys (such as national cen- contrast pair with ‘white-collar worker’, this suses) researchers normally pilot a tentative is the preferred US term for an industrial classification in order to find the best combi- manual worker and often carries the implica- nation of brevity and effectiveness. tion of union membership.

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blumer, herbert (1900–87) bourdieu, pierre (1930–2002)

BLUMER, HERBERT (1900–87) Blumer An acknowledgement of the body has published relatively little. The collection of been important in a variety of fields beyond essays Symbolic : Perspective and those (such as the sociology of health) that Method (1969) is almost his entire corpus. are directly concerned with the body. Much But he exerted an enormous influence on US religion, for example, is concerned with the sociology from his position at the University management and discipline of the body. In of . He was very young, when on his the field of sociology of too, it has mentor’s sudden death, he was invited to been noted by Foucault and others how take over ’s lectures much punishment has focused on regulation on social psychology. He gradually moved of the offender’s body. Our understanding of Mead’s thought in an overtly sociological forms of social interaction such as conversa- direction and coined the term symbolic inter- tion are improved by noting the role of phys- actionism to describe the end result. ical gestures: ‘looking someone in the eye’ or Over a long career he made distinctive tilting the head to show that you are ready to contributions to the study of race relations receive . and collective behaviour but he is probably To date, much on the body has best known for his methodological critiques not gone beyond programmatic assertion and of . In the classic Chicago tradition there has been some difficulty (in discussions of preferring detailed to statis- of gender, for example) in reconciling the tical analysis of survey data, he was parti- claim that the body is a vital part of the cularly critical of what he saw as an human person with the sociological axiom inappropriate borrowing of the idea of the that social action is produced by culture variable from the natural sciences. However, interpretations of physical realities rather he also accepted the limitations of qualita- than directly by the realities themselves. tive research. In an important commentary on W.I. Thomas and ’s The See emotions, sociology of. Polish Peasant in Europe and America he conceded that the life-history data method of that study could not generate data that BODY LANGUAGE The term ‘body lan- would provide a decisive test of the interpre- guage’ has quickly passed into everyday use tations which the analysts made of the data. and has no strict technical usage in sociology. Generally, it refers to the idea that our bod- ies are expressive and that people give off BODY, SOCIOLOGY OF In the 1980s a signals that may or may not be in line with number of sociologists promoted an interest what they are consciously trying to commu- in the embodied nature of the human being as nicate. There are many lay-person’s guides to a counter to the over-intellectualised tradition body language that claim to be able to teach of sociology which tended to concentrate on you how to recognise when someone is the self as a mind with ideas, reasons and sexually attracted to you or lying, or both. motives., for example discusses Recently, analysis has turned the expressive, and affective aspects of more of its attention to the co-ordination of socialisation but gives pride of place to values talk and gesture, though to date, findings and to a social system based on . have been relatively limited. Obviously we inhabit bodies and that corpo- real existence produces an interest in sex, in food and in emotions; we take pleasure in the BOURDIEU, PIERRE (1930–2002) co-presence of other bodies. Probably the leading French sociologist of his

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bourgeoisie bureaucracy

day, Bourdieu contributed both to substantive worker and then a long career in Trotskyite and methodological debates. Though, like politics. many others, he wrestled with problems of and structure, his most influential work concerned the sociological significance BRICOLAGE This French term denotes the of culture and . He investi- process of transforming the meaning of sym- gated in considerable detail the ways in bols and objects through novel uses and which cultural attainments confer enduring unexpected arrangements of normally unre- socio-economic advantage and he high- lated things. The term was introduced to lighted the role of taste in entrenching and social by Claude Levi-Strauss’s The perpetuating social divisions. His empirical Savage Mind (1967) to describe the practice studies, for example in his book Distinction of creating objects out of whatever came to (1984), often focused on the meaning and hand where the structure and outcome were maintenance of high-brow/low-brow distinc- more important than the constituent ele- tions within various cultural fields. According ments. It later become common in cultural to Bourdieu, acquired patterns of taste, studies to refer to the way in which members accomplishment and ways of behaving make of particular social groups create a novel up one’s . style out of mundane items. An example is the 1980s punk use of safety pins and plastic bin liners in a novel dress style. BOURGEOISIE This French term is used by Marxists to denote the capitalist class: those who monopolise the ownership of the capi- BUREAUCRACY In general use this tal. Note that in this sense capital is not con- denotes a particular form of administration fined to ready money but means more generally but it was given a more specific meaning by the resources required for production. In more Max Weber. Weber’s ideal-type of bureau- general usage the term is a synonym for cracy was constituted by the following: a middle class. high degree of specialisation and a clearly defined division of labour so that for every See petite bourgeoisie. task there is clearly just one office responsi- ble; a hierarchical structure of authority with unambiguous lines of control but with that BOWLING ALONE See social capital. control clearly limited; a formal body of rules to govern the business; a clear separa- BRAINWASHING See conversion. tion between the resources of the organisa- tion and the private property of its officers; effective record-keeping; long-term employ- BRAVERMAN, HARRY (1920–76) Although ment; and promotion on the basis of merit or never a full-time academic, Braverman had a seniority. For Weber, the modern bureaucracy huge influence on the sociology of work. His had the advantages of efficiency, predictability Labor and Monopoly Capital (1974), which and equity. he described as an attempt to update Karl Subsequent work has added a number of Marx’s Capital, sold over 120,000 copies. His important observations. Robert K. Merton argument that the de-skilling of modern noted a potential inefficiency in bureaucracy. work was the result of a deliberate attempt When officials are too deeply socialised into by capitalists to weaken organised labour was the culture of bureaucracy, rule-following can a product of 14 years as a factory metal itself become the primary purpose and

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butler, judith (1956–) butler, judith (1956–)

officials may so lose sight of the goals of the choice of substitute charge was not the belief enterprise as inadvertently to subvert them. that the new offence had been committed Detailed studies of actual bureaucracies but the fact that it carried a sentence suffi- drew attention to the fact that bureaucrats ciently shorter than that which the offender could often be creative with the rules and would get for the original charge, to make the the structure of the organisation. William H. bargain attractive but not so much shorter Whyte’s (1956) seminal study Organization that the defender and judge would think an Man amply demonstrated that the formal injustice had been done. For example, the lines of command could often be by-passed standard substitute for certain kinds of sex by officials cultivating personal contacts out- offence was ‘loitering around a school yard’ side the work place, that individual interests even if, as was usually the case, the offence and personality could make a considerable took place nowhere near a school. Because difference to how the associated with public defenders and public prosecutors offices were actually performed, and that shared a common stock of practical knowl- for all the apparent formality, individuals edge, they were readily able to produce the remained creative. Studies of bureaucracy in required outcomes, by using ‘rules of thumb’, relatively poor countries have shown that even though achieving the desired end no number of rules prevents corruption. In required disregarding the penal codes. In effect, officials can threaten clients with a rit- effect, decisions were made and then the ualistic attitude to the task (your passport rules of the organisation were used to create application will take its proper place in an the appearance of formal rule-following. infinitely long queue) or you offer a bribe for As automation has removed many of the the official to expedite your case. more routine aspects of work, many business The third major development came from leaders have argued that the inefficiencies the work of scholars influenced by Harold of the large-scale bureaucracy outweigh its Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology. In Weber’s advantages and there has been a move to view and in the view of those who added smaller organisations with flatter structures qualifications about informality within formal that allow workers greater autonomy to be organisations, the rationality or formality of creative. However in public administration formal organisation was intrinsic: that is, it lay and government, the Weberian bureaucracy in the nature of the organisation itself. remains the preferred model mainly because Building on Garfinkel’s (1967) seminal ‘Good its insistence on rule-following and formality organisational reasons for “bad” clinic records’ is seen as a necessary protection against essay, a number of scholars argued that ratio- discrimination and prejudice. nality was actually a property, not of the organisation itself, but of the way that people in the organisation defended or accounted for BUTLER, JUDITH (1956–) Her (1990) their actions. David Sudnow’s (1965) classic Gender Trouble is a significant influence on essay ‘Normal crimes’ makes the point with a and on thinking about study of plea-bargaining in the California sexuality. It argues that feminism has made a court system. In order to keep the justice sys- major mistake in arguing that ‘women’ form tem working, offenders had to be persuaded a group with common characteristics and to accept a plea-bargain: to avoid trial, the interests and in viewing patriarchy in ways offender would plead guilty to a lesser which assumed that masculine and feminine offence than the one the police thought had cultures would inevitably be built on male been committed. What determined the and female bodies. For Butler, gender is not a

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butler, judith (1956–) butler, judith (1956–)

fixed attribute but an achievement. It is opaque, so much so that in 1998 she came a performance; what you do at particular first in a bad-writing contest run by the jour- times, rather than who you are. The cultural nal and Literature. Furthermore, configurations of gender with which we are she does not approach her studies as a social familiar can be disrupted by subversive scientist and, stimulating though her ideas action; by creating gender trouble through may be, they are not supported by any the proliferation of genders and the trans- systematic evidence. Like a lot of what gression of received gender conventions. passes for theory in cultural studies, her Butler is a professor of comparative liter- work is largely conjecture and flamboyant ature and . Her work is famously calls to action.

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