(2011). Researching the Third Sector through Time: Methods, Ethics and Insights, University of Leeds. third sector
method: longitudinal analysis
method: qualitative
Method: life histories
methodology
ethics
policy
the future
planning
social Change
history
causality
timescape
Relevance: 2
There is a growing interest in the use of qualitative longitudinal and life history methods in third sector research. Engaging qualitatively with time enables a more finely grained understanding of the dynamics of third sector organisations – their histories, their strategies for the future, and their journeys through a complex and rapidly changing policy landscape. This seminar will bring together a number of funded projects that are using such methods to produce distinctive forms of knowledge on the third sector. Some are using Qualitative longitudinal methods to chart and shed light on long term processes of support and transformation within the sector in times of increasing austerity and changes in public funding. These prospective tracking projects chart change in the making. They will be complemented with life history projects that look backwards in time, tracing changes historically and illustrating causality through the intersection of past and present.
The broad aims of the event are to enable a detailed sharing of methodological and ethical issues arising from a qualitative engagement with time in third sector research, to reflect and share insights that are emerging from these varied studies and to consider the possibilities for data sharing and comparative analysis across these and similar projects. Speakers include Victoria Bell (Teeside), Sue Bond (Edinburgh Napier), Irene Hardill (Northumberland), David Lewis (LSE), and Rob Macmillan (Birmingham) and Zoe Munby (Home Start). The event is being hosted by the Timescapes Qualitative Longitudinal Initiative, in collaboration with the Third Sector Research Centre, with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.
(2012). Solidarity, Memory and Identity: Interdisciplinary Conference, Gdańsk, Poland. Memory
solidarity
identity
Forgetting
Postcommunism
Poland
Relevance: 3
History
philosophy
sociology
What is the phenomenon of solidarity in the current world? What is the sense to talk about it with the increase of violence around the globe? What is its role in shaping identities – of cultures, nations, individuals? Is it born from memory or from oblivion? Questions such as these gave rise to the idea of our interdisciplinary conference. It is going to be devoted to solidarity in all its multiple aspects, in the broadest contexts possible – historical, cultural, artistic, psychological, philosophical. In the age of rapid socio-political changes, with deepening ethic and religious conflicts on one hand, and, on the other hand, a diminishing feeling of identification with the community, there seems to exist a strong necessity for a reflection on the idea of solidarity. It would be difficult to think of a more inspiring place for such a reflection than the city of Gdańsk. It was here that in the 1980 “Solidarity” was born: a social movement which, in less than a decade, brought about the fall of the communist regime in Poland and played an important part in the historic changes in Middle-Eastern Europe. Yet we do not want to make Polish “Solidarity” the dominating theme of the conference or privilege it in any way. On the contrary, we intend to present as fully as possible the broad spectrum of solidarity-related themes. Thus, we heartily invite academics from all sides of the world, representing various research fields: anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, psychology, cultural studies, literary studies, film studies, theater studies, memory studies, postcolonial studies, gender studies. Both experienced scholars and young academics at the start of their careers are most welcome. We also invite all persons interested in participating in the conference as listeners, without presenting their papers. We are sure that we will have important reflections and fruitful discussions about Solidarity, Memory and Identity.
Abbott, A. (2001). Time Matters: On Theory and Method. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.Sociology
History
methodology
Unpredictibility
events
causality
temporality of academic work
Relevance: 2
Turning points
assumptions about time obscuring x
Meaning
critique of discipline
What do variables really tell us? When exactly do inventions occur? Why do we always miss turning points as they transpire? When does what doesn't happen mean as much, if not more, than what does? Andrew Abbott considers these fascinating questions in Time Matters, a diverse series of essays that constitutes the most extensive analysis of temporality in social science today. Ranging from abstract theoretical reflection to pointed methodological critique, Abbott demonstrates the inevitably theoretical character of any methodology. Time Matters focuses particularly on questions of time, events, and causality. Abbott grounds each essay in straightforward examinations of actual social scientific analyses. Throughout, he demonstrates the crucial assumptions we make about causes and events, about actors and interaction and about time and meaning every time we employ methods of social analysis, whether in academic disciplines, market research, public opinion polling, or even evaluation research. Turning current assumptions on their heads, Abbott not only outlines the theoretical orthodoxies of empirical social science, he sketches new alternatives, laying down foundations for a new body of social theory.
see particularly see Chapter 7 Temporality and Process in Social Life
Abrahams, R. G. (1977). "Time and Village Structure in Northern Unyamwezi: An Examination of Social and Ecological Factors Affecting the Development and Decline of Local Communities." Africa: Journal of the International African Institute47(4): 372-385.Tanzania
Africa
Rural communities
Development
Method: dynamic rather than static
Anthropology
change over time
Relevance: 3
community development
Social structure
IN October 1974 I returned to the Kahama District of Tanzania for a further period of research in northern Unyamwezi where I had previously worked between late 1957 and early 1960. The present paper arises from a consideration of the implications of two facts which impressed me strongly on this second visit. The first of these was that a substantial number of the homestead heads who had been my neighbours in the village of Butumwa for the larger part of my first fieldwork were still alive though some of them had moved to other parts of the District and beyond. The second was that those who had remained, along with many others from surrounding villages, had been moved as part of the Tanzanian Government's national resettlement programme into a new large nucleated village shortly before my return there.2 These two facts have led me to pay further attention to the nature and functions of pre- I 974 settlement patterns and to examine the relation between these and the form of the new scheme. One of the main points which will emerge from my discussion is the need, in trying to understand these settlement patterns, to take careful account of how villages change and develop over time as part of a complex combination of social and ecological processes. This processual aspect of village organization in the area has, I may add, not previously received sufficient attention in my own and other accounts of the situation there.
Aching, G. (2010). "Carnival time versus modern social life: a false distinction." Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture16(4): 415-425.social time
events
break in time
modernity
temporal conflict
suspensions of everyday time
Dance
gender
Relevance: 2
temporal boundaries
carribean
mediation
Social coordination
Trinidad
Carribean
Closely examining the dance form of winin' ubiquitous in Trinidad and Tobago's carnival, this essay argues for the inextricability of carnival time and contemporary social life. In contrast to the notion that carnival constitutes interruptions or postponements of projects of modernity and, especially, that it invokes a temporality and social space where ideologies may be blissfully suspended, this study illustrates how this dance form articulates the status of and quest for personal freedoms in public spaces and contests a specific gender ideology. The essay describes and interrogates how winin', mediates the relationship between competing pleasures – those of the state and of the carnival reveller respectively – and illustrates the extent to which the dance form's exaggerated and hypervisible practices constitute a demand for social engagement.
Adam, B. (1989). "Feminist social theory needs time: Reflections on the relation between feminist thought, social theory and time as an important parameter in social analysis." Sociological Review37(3): 458-473.methodology
feminist theory
social time
sociology
Adam
gender
critical temporalities
relevance: 2
Multiple temporalities
women's time
philosophy
This paper explores the relation between feminist concerns, social theory and the multiple time aspects of social life. It is suggested that while feminist approaches have been located in classical political philosophy, the same imposed classification has not occurred with respect to social theory perspectives. Rather than seeing this as an academic gap that needs filling, it was taken as an opportunity to take note of the wide variety of feminist approaches to methodological and theoretical issues and to relate these to concerns arising from a focus on the time, temporality, and timing of social life. It is argued that a feminist social theory, as an understanding of the social world through the eyes of women, is not only complemented by such a focus on time but dependent on it for an opportunity to transcend the pervasive vision of the ‘founding fathers’.
Adam, B. (1994). Time and Social Theory. Cambridge, Polity.Adam
Social theory
Sociology
social time
methodology
Critical temporalities
Standardisation
technology
Relevance: 2
Assumptions about time obscuring x
time as missing element
Newton
critique of discipline
philosophy
Time is at the forefront of contemporary scholarly inquiry across the natural sciences and the humanities. Yet the social sciences have remained substantially isolated from time-related concerns. This book argues that time should be a key part of social theory and focuses concern upon issues which have emerged as central to an understanding of today's social world.Through her analysis of time Barbara Adam shows that our contemporary social theories are firmly embedded in Newtonian science and classical dualistic philosophy. She exposes these classical frameworks of thought as inadequate to the task of conceptualizing our contemporary world of standardized time, computers, nuclear power and global telecommunications.
Adam, B. (1995). Timewatch: The Social Analysis of Time. Cambridge, Polity Press.Social time
feminist theory
Adam
Social theory
sociology
methodology
embodiment
environment
experiential time
health
education
globalisation
Multiple temporalities
Critical temporalities
Relevance: 2
time as missing element
environment
Asynchrony
time as symbolic resource
time reckoning
Time forms such an important part of our lives that it is rarely thought about. In this book the author moves beyond the time of clocks and calendars in order to study time as embedded in social interactions, structures, practices and knowledge, in artefacts, in the body, and in the environment. The author looks at the many different ways in which time is experienced, in relation to the various contexts and institutions of social life. Among the topics discussed are time in the areas of health, education, work, globalization and environmental change. Through focusing on the complexities of social time she explores ways of keeping together what social science traditions have taken apart, namely, time with reference to the personal-public, local-global and natural-cultural dimensions of social life. Barbara Adam's time-based approach engages with, yet differs from postmodernist writings. It suggests ways not merely to deconstruct but to reconstruct both common-sense and social science understanding.This book will be of interest to undergraduates, graduates and academics in the areas of sociology, social theory environmental/green issues, feminist theory, cultural studies, philosophy, peace studies, education, social policy and anthropology.
Adam, B. (1996). "Beyond the Present: Nature, Technology and the Democratic Ideal " Time & Society5(3): 319-338.Technology
Nature
Democracy
Politics
Political time
Globalisation
environment
Multiple temporalities
temporal conflict
time scarcity
conceptions of time
critical temporalities
Economics
Responsibility
temporally extended responsibilities
Science
Relevance: 2
temporal complexity
political time
time as symbolic resource
industrialisation
coordinating between different times
changing perceptions of time
Adam
It is widely recognized that globalization, contemporary technologies and environmental hazards pose problems for the political ideal of democracy. An explicit focus on time gives us a new point of access to these debates. No longer understood in the singular as the implicit context within political processes take place, time in its complex, multiple expressions can serve as a tool for reconceptualization. In its single and conglomerate forms it is lived and negotiated in conflict. This is nowhere more apparent than in globalized socio-political processes with their varied ties to contemporary technology, most specifically when these are concerned with environmental hazards. In such situations the conflict is not merely between different scarcities of and needs for time, but between temporalities that operate to different principles: the variable. rhythmic temporality of nature and the cosmos, on the one hand, and the industrial times of the machine, the laboratory and economic considerations, on the other hand. It is between new configurations of actors past, present and future where concerns, rights and duties extend beyond the present to peoples long dead and those whose future present is constructed by our contemporary political and scientific actions. Together, these temporal features and complexities present crucial conceptual and political challenges for the next century.
Adam, B. (2010). "History of the future: Paradoxes and challenges." Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice14(3): 361 - 378.Future
Action
method: dynamic rather than static
History
Futurity
social theory
Relevance: 2
open future
open past
future orientation
imagined futures
Agency
time as missing element
Methodology
critique of discipline
Adam
what is not yet
Social action is performed in the temporal domain of open and fluid pasts and futures. It is both mindful of the recoverable and lived past and projectively oriented towards an intangible future. It sets processes in motion that ripple through the entire system, across space and time, to eventually emerge as facts. This futurity of action tends to get lost in analyses that concentrate primarily on empirically accessible, factual outcomes of plans, decisions, hopes and fears. To encompass this ‘not yet’ as the central component in the production of social facts requires historical knowledge of the future. The paper presents a broad-brush analysis of changing approaches to the future and ends with reflections on necessary changes to the logic of social inquiry in order that social futurity may be accorded its appropriate place in the study of social life.
Adam, B., C. Groves, et al. (2006). "In Pursuit of the Future." Retrieved 28th August 2011, 2011, from
Adam
future
imagined futures
Technology
long-term perspectives
Unpredictibility
temporally extended responsibilities
knowledge
ethics
Responsibility
future generations
generations
social time
philosophy
social theory
future orientation
environment
Relevance: 2
policy
The Project
::Creating Futures
Societies are developing and investing in technological and scientific innovations that have ever longer-term consequences for human and non-human life. Current future-producing practices include biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, and nuclear technologies. Such developments unleash futures that we cannot predict, and set in motion processes that will affect untold generations to come.
:: Knowing Futures
So there is a disjunction between what we do, and what we can know; while we design and implement new technologies, we cannot know their future consequences. Predictions and foresight methods used in formulating policy rely on scientific prediction, which builds up models of the future based on knowledge of the past. Where innovative technologies operating in contexts of complexity are concerned, this approach cannot help us.
::Minding Futures
This disjunction between knowing and doing creates a context for irresponsibility, in which all responsibility for that which cannot be seen, traced or detected in the present becomes displaced, and externalised for future generations to bear.
This project aims to address this contemporary disjunction between technological capacity and human understanding, together with the ethical problems it creates.
The research brings together isolated fields of enquiry in theory, practice, and ethics, and works towards a comprehensive, socially relevant theory of the future.
In its first, main phase, the project is primarily focused on theoretical matters, such as how the future is known, theorized, conceptualized and minded across diverse academic fields and sectors. Accordingly, the main sources are philosophy and social theory.
The first series of questions guiding our research are as follows:
How is the future theorised across diverse fields of knowledge?
What are present and past means to ‘know’ the future?
How is the future implicated in social science practice?
What ethical approaches to long-term responsibility for the outcomes of current actions are available?
In the project’s second phase, the focus shifts to more practical areas of inquiry. The second series of questions are as follows:
How is daily life oriented towards the future: economically, environmentally, scientifically, religiously and politically?
How are aspirations actualised?
How is the future produced in daily practice?
More specifically, the research focuses on socio-environmental matters and the increasing gulf between the capacity to create damaging long-term futures and the inability to predict long-term impacts. In this part of the research programme, we are concerned directly with practical matters of accountability and responsibility in contexts of uncertainty. Some overarching questions related to ethical responses to futures in the making are as follows: