Two Hypotheses for Sociologists
Another quick blog addressed to sociologists. It raises a couple of issues, hypotheses of sorts. The first suggests that for all many of us are committed to the view that society is an ‘open system’ –...
View ArticleA Sociological Autobiography: 115 –‘Frail’? Qui Moi?
When I attended the celebration of Mike Bury’s career and writings last Thursday (3/9/26), there was much discussion of the concept of ‘frailty’. Dictionary definitions refer to physical weakness or a...
View ArticleChina: Capitalist vs Party Elites
This is my third blog on Branko Milanovic’s ‘The Global Transformation’, which suggests I’m both enjoying reading it and finding doing so challenging and rewarding. My first comments have to do with...
View ArticleMike Bury and Thoughts on the Sociology of Chronic Illness and Disability
It was a great pleasure today to attend and speak at a meeting in Senate House in London to celebrate the career and writings of Mike Bury. Not least of the day’s pleasures was reacquainting with...
View ArticleMilanovic and the New Chinese Elite
My last blog addressed Branko Milanovic’s evidence-based statement that the ruling class in countries like the USA has taken on a new look – a fusion of the professional-managerial class and the top...
View ArticleMilanovic, Homoploutia and Credentialism
This blog draws on Branko Milanovic’s new book entitled ‘The Great Global Transformation’, an impressive volume that offers an evidence-based assessment of the present state of geopolitics. My...
View ArticlePhilosophers: G.W.F Hegel
Like Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was a catalyst, a take-off point for many divergent thinkers. Left-Hegelians diverged one way, Right-Hegelians another. There is no one reading of...
View ArticlePhilosophers: Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the most influential of ‘modern’ philosophers, covering a lot of ground in an impeccably fine-tuned and systematic manner. Offering any kind of summary of his works...
View ArticleA Brief Intro to Habermas’ Critical Theory
1 An Introduction to Habermas Jurgen Habermas is less discussed than he was even a decade ago, but having written of the relevance of his work for health and health care I am still occasionally asked...
View ArticlePhilosophers: Martin Heidegger
Michael Worton, one time Professor of French Literature and a Vice-Provost at UCL, once told me Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was the most important philosopher of the 20th century. Against that I once...
View ArticleA Sociological Autobiography: 114 – Still Writing.
I’m reading a book on the working habits and outputs of the lately deceased David Hockney. I’m not a great fan of his paintings to be honest, although I can see his talent through his drawings. What...
View ArticleA Poem on Genocide
Zionism in Action Let’s call it out for what it is, this wilful destruction of all things Palestinian, this all-consuming genocide, this visiting of death on children cowering in tents. Let’s call...
View ArticlePhilosophers: Aristotle
Aristotle’s (384-322 BC) was a polymath who studied at Plato’s Academy. He came to differ significantly from Plato in his approach and subject matter however, attributing much more importance to the...
View ArticlePhilosophers: Plato
Graduating in 1971 I began a Ph.D in philosophy with David Hamlyn at Birkbeck College, University of London. I’d particularly enjoyed philosophy as an undergrad and this was a natural development....
View ArticleWriting, Cafes and a Trip to Sinalunga
So this is an astonishing 500th blog, which means around half a million words. I’ve relished the opportunity blogging allows for ‘thinking out loud’. In other words for experimenting with thoughts...
View ArticleThoughts on ‘Red Lines’
We hear often about ‘red lines’ that cannot, must not, be crossed. These are typically held to apply both to individuals and to organisation or collectivities. But it can be a complicated business...
View ArticleThree ‘Left’ Issues Around Transformatory Change
Social media is replete with left debate, at least on my timeline. Some of it is deeply philosophical or theoretical, and some more explicitly activist-oriented; and typically these comprise entirely...
View ArticleMetrics and Taming: Sociology and Academia
I have commented before about the entry of metric regimes into academia, invariably negatively. They are inimical to creative thinking and publishing and a tailor-made instrument of managerial control....
View ArticleThe Challenges of AI
At the conclusion of his introductory account of AI Toby Walsh (‘The Shortest History of AI’) poses a number of contemporary challenges facing us. These make immediate sense to me, carry the potential...
View ArticleCredo
I’ve long been fascinated by those ‘I believe’ collections of pieces from often-famous thinkers and writers. Sometimes I was informed, even pleased, by precis that captured my own predilections....
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