Shopping cartComparative Sociology
For more content, see International Journal of Comparative Sociology.
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Race, Religion, and Caste: Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives
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Although race as a biological concept has no validity, racism persists. In spite of the fact that caste is a social construct caste discrimination continues. To understand the reason for this one must trace the career of these concepts. The biological category of race subsequently came to have linguistic/philological, ethnological/cultural and political/national connotations giving birth to Nazism and fascism. Similarly, caste carried a racial connotation in that its social construction can be traced to the Hindu Doctrine of Creation as Varna implied colour. Further, both orientalist scholars and Hindu nationalists used caste and race, race and nation and even religion and race interchangeably. The divide between the fair-skinned upper caste Aryan Hindus and the dark-skinned lower caste Dravidian Hindus also implied racial differences. Therefore, the mechanical insistence on semantic purity of race and caste would adversely affect one's comprehension of the nature of empirical reality in South Asia. While the tendency to equate caste and race in a neat and tidy vein is not sustainable, it is more difficult to eradicate caste discrimination as compared with racism not only because the two share several common characteristics, but also because caste discrimination is sanctioned by religion. Finally, it is important to remember that perceptions people hold about social reality are equally important as social fact, in successfully tackling social problems.
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Accelerated Decline of Religious Beliefs in Europe
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There is no filiation between the agnosticism of intellectual elites in previous centuries and today's decline of religious beliefs in the populace. The analysis is based on several international mass surveys concerning twenty European countries between 1980 and 2000. Religious beliefs are considered as observable social facts. Seven tables bring empirical evidence. The analysis of survey research are preceded by a review of the current sociological literature, particularly in France, on the "crisis of Catholicism", "dechristianisation", "paganisation", "apostasy", and of the papal encyclics and Episcopal declarations.
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The Transition to Capitalism in China and Russia
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At the end of the 1970s the per capita income ratio between the Soviet Union and China was 16 to 1. By now, the gap between Russia and China is closing rapidly. Although the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union contributed to this levelling of per capita incomes, domestic factors and improvements in China look more important: decollectivization of Chinese agriculture, the establishment of township village enterprises in China, economic openness and market-preserving federalism in China. In all these respects, even post-Soviet Russia continues to lag. Admittedly, Russia was faster than China in privatizing state owned enterprises but the preferential treatment of insiders and the weakness of the rule of law or functional substitutes for it neutralized this potential Russian advantage.
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Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration and Integration
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The effect of Italian colonialism on migration to Italy differed according to the pre-colonial social structure, a factor previously neglected by immigration theories. In Eritrea, precolonial Christianity, sharp class distinctions, and a strong state promoted interaction between colonizers and colonized. Eritrean nationalism emerged against Ethiopia; thus, no sharp break between Eritreans and Italians emerged. Two outgrowths of colonialism, the Eritrean national movement and religious ties, facilitate immigration and integration. In contrast, in Somalia, there was no strong state, few class differences, the dominant religion was Islam, and nationalists opposed Italian rule. Consequently, Somali developed few institutional ties to colonial authorities and few institutions provided resources to immigrants. Thus, Somali immigrants are few and are not well integrated into Italian society.
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"Spheres of Justice" in the Israeli Kibbutz and Urban Sectors: Adolescents' Views
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The current study suggests that, in order to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of the "local" system of distributive justice in the Israeli kibbutz, we need to examine its links to the broader society and its correspondent conceptions of justice. Following the notion of "spheres of justice" and using data gathered in 1986, prior to the accelerated de-communalization of the kibbutz, these dynamics are examined by comparing the social justice judgments of kibbutz and urban adolescents. This comparison unveiled a shared pattern in justice systems in which both kibbutz and urban adolescents favor differentiation of particularistic resources (prestige and power) more strongly than differentiation of universalistic resources (learning opportunities and money). At the same time, the comparison also highlighted the distinctive features of the kibbutz's local justice system of stronger differentiation of prestige, the most particularistic resource, and of economic equality, the most universalistic resource. The kibbutz's distinctive system of distributive justice can be attributed to its communal structure, which has been often characterized by the coexistence of egalitarian and equitarian distributive mechanisms.
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Book Reviews
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Notes on Contributors
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