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Studying Local Solidarity

Studying Local Solidarity. Laurens Buijs, PhD Candidate Solidarity in the 21 st Century AIAS & AISSR University of Amsterdam www.solidariteit.info. Contents. General Project What is the research project Solidarity in the 21 st Century ? Qualitative Study

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Studying Local Solidarity

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  1. Studying Local Solidarity Laurens Buijs, PhD Candidate Solidarity in the 21st Century AIAS & AISSR University of Amsterdam www.solidariteit.info Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  2. Contents General Project • What is the research projectSolidarity in the 21st Century? Qualitative Study • What is relational sociology? • How do I conceptualize and operationalize local solidarity in relational terms? • What are my research design and field strategies? • What is my research question? Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  3. 1. Research ProjectSolidarity in the 21st Century • Effects of societal changes (such as migration and ageing) on both informal and formal forms of solidarity. • What kind of motives, conditions and circumstances are beneficial for the sustainment of solidarity between different groups in society? • Interdisciplinary approach: qualitative case-studies, statistical data analysis, economic experiments, media analysis. • www.solidariteit.info Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  4. 2. Relational SociologyThe social as dynamic assembly • Challenging the dominant ‘substantialist’ epistemology • From static substances to relational processes • Theoretical: Tarde, Elias, Emirbayer, Latour • Empirical: Science & Technology Studies (STS) Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  5. 2. Relational SociologyThe social as dynamic assembly Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  6. 2. Relational SociologyThe social as dynamic assembly • How to apply relational sociology to a study on local solidarity? Challenging three substantialist assumptions: • From heterogeneity to social distance • From motives to expressions • From spatial units to matters of concern Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  7. 3. Local Solidaritya) Heterogeneity > Social distance • Putnam’s social capital: ‘hunkering down’ in heterogeneous neighborhoods Dienst Onderzoek & Statistiek, gemeente Amsterdam (2009) Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  8. 3. Local Solidaritya) Heterogeneity > Social distance • Culturalization in a national network (Uitermark 2010). The dynamic production of social distance: consonance, resonance, and dissonance between logics Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  9. 3. Local Solidaritya) Heterogeneity > Social distance • Workings of inclusion and exclusion as dynamic: networks form around certain matters with actors who align themselves according to their interests through similar claims, statements, publications, positions, debates, myths, issues, etc. In this production of knowledge, logics (or discourses) form • Dynamic concepts: consonance, resonance, dissonance, networks, logics, social distance Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  10. 3. Local Solidarityb) Motives > Expressions • Homo economicus or homo empathicus? • Actors are not “made to fit” into groups; concepts like ‘heterogeneity’ and ‘motives’ assume a static view in group formation • “Relating to one group or another is an on-going process made up of uncertain, fragile, controversial, and ever-shifting ties” (Latour 2005: 28) Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  11. 3. Local Solidarityb) Motives > Expressions • How to study group formation? • Spokespersons • Anti-groups • Definitions Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  12. 3. Local Solidarityb) Motives > Expressions • Solidarity and the need to be social not as ‘motive’, but as human configuration that can have a range of cultural expressions (through mechanisms such as reciprocity). • Dynamic concepts:consonance, resonance, dissonance, networks, logics, social distance, spokespersons, anti-groups, expressions Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  13. 3. Local Solidarityc) Space > Matters of concern • Units of analysis generally selected in research on solidarity reveals substantialist perspective: static, bounded units of analysis • Matters of concern: objects of controversies around which actors in different positions align themselves, forming a network • Controversies as overflows: unforeseen effects, challenges established policy, institutional framework, knowledge and group delineations Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  14. 3. Local Solidarityc) Space > Matters of concern • Multiculturalism as overflow • Dynamic concepts: consonance, resonance, dissonance, networks, logics, social distance, spokespersons, anti-groups, expressions, matters of concern, overflows Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  15. 4. Research Design & Field StrategiesThe selection of neighborhoods • Starting point: increase of (relative) power of culturalization on the national level (Uitermark 2010) • Culturalization as hostile towards interethnic solidarity, but how do people relate to that on the local level? Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  16. 4. Research Design & Field StrategiesThe selection of neighborhoods • Neighborhoods as mere ‘finding spots’; empirical focus on matters of concern Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  17. 4. Research Design & Field StrategiesResearch methods • Interviews • Ethnographic research Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  18. 5. Research Question • What explains the dynamics between logics on the local level (formed around matters of concern) and the increasingly powerful culturalization logic on the national level, and how are these dynamics related to the production of social distance? Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  19. l.j.buijs@uva.nl Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  20. Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

  21. Solidarity in the 21th Century - Qualitative Study - Laurens Buijs

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