Programme full

Wednesday 15 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 2
ills engendered by capitalism. As such, within the field of early 20th Century British sociology what made Cole unique
was an attempt to bridge the gap between sociology and politics by uniting his sociological observations with a
normative political project: libertarian socialism. While this utopian vision alienated Cole from the sociological canon in
the discipline's early quest for scientific status it is, we argue, one of the key reasons why a return to his associational
sociology is such a rewarding experience.
Erich Fromm: Studies in Social Character
Durkin, K.
(University of Glasgow)
An early member of the Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung who went on to enjoy a career as a leading intellectual
figure in the mid-part of the last century, Erich Fromm is today largely forgotten. His theory of social character and
applied social-characterological case studies, which were groundbreaking contributions to twentieth century social
thought, have achieved an at best tentative assimilation into the sociological canon. In this paper, I will look at
Fromm's psychoanalytic social psychology and studies of social character within the context of the rise and
consolidation of sociology as a discipline. As part of this, I will discuss Fromm's largely under-acknowledged role in the
early phase of the Institut für Sozialforschung, in which he and Max Horkheimer were the main drivers of an
interdisciplinary programme which sought to unite the social sciences with philosophy in a long-lasting collaboration
aimed at lessening the arbitrary injustice of social life. In addition to this, I will discuss Fromm's relationship to
American sociology, and, in particular, to the 'culture and personality' tradition which flourished there during the 1930-
50s, as well as his break from the Institut and career as a 'public intellectual' following the publication of Escape from
Freedom. Finally, I will look respectively at Fromm's more or less forgotten empirical social-characterological case
studies of manual and white collar workers in Weimar Germany and of the inhabitants of a peasant village in Mexico.
Work, Employment and Economic Life
A005, GOVAN MBEKI BUILDING
Work, Time and Rhythms: A Comparative Study of Employees in the UK City of Oxford
Ashfold, T.
(University of Oxford)
My PhD research focuses on how and why experiences of working time and work-life balance vary amongst
individuals, with a particular focus on the UK city of Oxford. Here, 'working time' refers not only to the duration (i.e.
number of hours) of work, but also its timing (i.e. when it is conducted within the day) and tempo (i.e. speed or
intensity).
More specifically, the research involves a comparative study of University of Oxford employees working in two
settings: firstly within sections of the University's Information Technology department and secondly within various
constituent Colleges of the University. In terms of methodology it consists of 50 in-depth interviews, each of which is
structured around the co-production of a timeline of the participant's most recent working day.
I am now nearing the end of this data collection stage and will shortly begin the analysis phase of my research. Here,
intra- and inter-organisational comparisons will be made and intersections between class, gender and place explored.
I also intend to explore the analytic potential of Henri Lefebvre's 'rhythmanalysis', in which he conceives of the
individual as a 'bundle of rhythms'. Following a brief overview of the above, my oral paper will focus on some of my
initial findings and reflections in relation to these themes.
Explaining the Labour Market Disadvantage of Women in Britain?
Khattab, N.
(University of Bristol)
The literature suggests three possible explanations for the disadvantage of Muslim women in the labour market. 1.
The human capital approach posits low rate of labour market participation and greater risks of unemployment as a
result of low educational level and limited language skills, especially for the first generation. 2. Cultural explanations
focus on cultural values, norms and practices associated with religion or local and ethnic tradition (such as Izzat
honour, family structure and power relations) that discourage women from participating in the public sphere. 3.
BSA Annual Conference 2015 110
Glasgow Caledonian University