Programme full

Wednesday 15 April 2015 16:00 - 17:30
PAPER SESSION 3
The paper also analyses voting trends and considers how the recent rise of a party with extreme neo-liberal policies
(such as privatising the health service) wins disproportionately high support amongst young voters.
Different Dimensions of Polish Transition: Biographical Perspective
Burski, J.
(University of Lodz)
Transformation which have started in 1989 is still ongoing process and has got enormous impact on everyday life of
Polish society. Social scientists are researching its aspects on many levels and fields. For years consequences of the
transformation were main research field- mainly for quantitative studies. After 25 years it is good time to apply other
ways of sociological research.
In the presentation I would like to focus on specific ethodological and theoretical perspective which can be used to
research mentioned topic. I would like to present research report from a study which has been conducted from March
2014 and will be continued till 2017. The project is based on biographical perspective, especially on works of Fritz
Schütze. It is directly focused on exploring ways of Polish transformation. Research team is going to interview
respondents who were born in following decades: 60', 70' and 80' – to collect narrations from individuals from three
different generations. Our concern is not restricted only to the time after 1989 – it is our main goal to work on broader
perspective which will based on understanding of social change as process.
Finally, results of the research will be taken into consideration. Till April 2015 half of 96 interviews should be already
collected and it will be possible to discuss first outcomes from empirical material. In this regard I would like to focus on
different dimensions of social change. Especially, I am keen on exploring problem of winners and losers of social
change.
Social Divisions/Social Identities 2
W702, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
Minority Language Policies in Wales and the Republic of Ireland: Empowerment or Co-optation?
McGirr, G.
(Ulster University)
The research addresses the role of civil society through community organizations in securing the future of minority
languages in the context of public policy, and adopts a comparative case study design to look at two minority
language communities in Ireland and Wales, where it is government policy to support the Irish and Welsh languages
using community organisations. This 'bottom-up' approach is expected to direct and inform policy and, perhaps more
critically, resources and expenditure.
The strength of Welsh and Irish as community languages in these heartland communities is coming under serious
pressure, with declines evidenced in these areas in recent census returns. Language policy experts and community
activists have pointed repeatedly to the importance of improving socio-economic infrastructure for these communities,
in addition to improvements to status needed for the two languages. Recent government strategies in policy to
stabilize the languages in these heartland areas include the incorporation of 'capacity-building' strategies, in the hope
that by increasing the organisational and institutional capacities of these communities, they can 'empower' these
heartland communities. It is unclear exactly what is meant or understood by empowerment in these new policy
documents-there is the possibility that the different stakeholders have different understandings of empowerment also.
The research is qualitative, using triangulated data, in three languages, collected from two rural case study areas – in
Wales and Ireland. It is intended that the research will assist in the evaluation and formulation of language policy, and
will contribute to an emerging Welsh/ Irish language comparative debate.
Defending Difference: Power and Resistance in the Cultural Politics of Young Adult Muslims in Britain
Mustafa, A.
(University of Nottingham)
In this paper I present findings from my doctoral research on the cultural politics of young adult Muslims engaged in
political and civic activism within British civil society. Based on ethnographic research in the Midlands area, it offers an
empirically informed understanding of how these forms of activism relate to themes of political participation,
democracy and citizenship in Britain today. This paper argues that the cultural politics of young adult Muslims is a
BSA Annual Conference 2015 132
Glasgow Caledonian University