Publications

How far have social theorists in Russia engaged with the international academic world since the era dominated by Soviet-style historical materialism? Mainstream theories in sociology and ‘culturology’ use new vocabulary but remain loyal to ideological interpretations of society and culture. A minority of Russian sociologists have translated, adopted and critiqued Western ideas. Works by three…

Many European countries have experienced a high level of immigration from all parts of the world in the past two decades and the population of visible minority ethnic groups has grown rapidly. Neighbourhoods with a high percentage of minority ethnic groups are expected to be relatively disadvantaged in social and economic terms. The in-movement of…

Sustainable development is widely regarded as a necessary principle for the resilience of Europe’s rural regions. However, formulating a strategy for sustainable development involves the careful negotiation of multiple scales of environmental discourse, from the global down to the local. Global environmental issues such as climate change are instrumental in shaping the parameters of regional…

Recent initiatives for increasing participation in UK elections have yet to replace the traditional method of in-person voting at designated polling stations. Recent research has shown that voter turnout can be sensitive to geographical factors relating to the costs of voting, such as distance travelled to the polling station; government policy has stated that accessibility…

This paper seeks to understand the status of and changes in the Welsh automotive industry in the wake of globalization and the consequent structural challenges. Hailed as a budding leader in Europe in terms of auto-component production (where Wales purportedly boasts of supportive institutions, high quality infrastructure and flexible labour conditions), its ambition to maintain…

Aim – understand the characteristics and outcomes of those participating in ESF funded projects Methodology – telephone survey of people who were identified as having left an ESF project during 2009. – Details of 10,201 learners provided by WEFO – P2 and P3 projects only – and partial coverage Wave 1 conducted 17th Feb to…

Published as part of the Menai Papers, a series of working papers produced by Bangor WISERD on behalf of the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences at Bangor University.

The following review symposium, on Martyn Hammersley’s (2008) book may seem rather late. We decided in the Spring of 2010 that Qualitative Research had made a mistake in 2008, when we decided not to commission a review of the volume. In retrospect we realize now that should have devoted space to the book when it…

During the course of this paper we mobilise an ideal typical framework that identifies three waves of reduction within contemporary qualitative inquiry as they relate to key aspects of the sociological tradition. The paper begins with a consideration of one of sociology’s key questions; namely how is social organisation possible? The paper aims to demonstrate…

A significant volume of research demonstrates that out-of-school learning activities enhance student development in terms of cognitive, affective and social outcomes. However, there is also evidence that the opportunity to engage in these activities has been severely reduced in recent years. This paper explores the extent to which the provision of such opportunities is unevenly…