Thinking Allowed

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Free Will Explored Apr 08, 2015

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Free will explored. Laurie Taylor talks to Julian Baggini, writer and Founding Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine, about his latest work which considers the concept of freedom. He argues against the idea that free will is an illusion due to a combination of genes, environment and personal history. Instead he posits a sliding scale of freedom which allows for the possibility of individual agency and responsibility. Also, pets as family: Nickie Charles, Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender at Warwick University, discusses her study of kinship across the species barrier.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Citizenship Ceremonies; Family Ties and Genetics Apr 01, 2015

Show notes

Making citizens: how countries make public rituals out of endowing new citizens with citizenship. Laurie Taylor talks to Bridget Byrne, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester, about her in-depth comparative study of citizenship ceremonies. In a mobile, transnational world passports and rights matter now more than ever. So how do states draw and establish the boundaries of citizenship? Using empirical research in the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ireland, Dr Byrne roots contemporary concepts of national belonging in colonial history.

Family ties in genes and stories: Janice McLaughlin, Professor of Sociology at Newcastle University, discusses her study of families referred to a paediatric genetic service. An increasing number of children are referred for genetic investigation due to physical & learning difficulties. This study found that the clinical discussions which ensue bring family histories to the fore in surprising and unpredictable ways. Sociologists have long recognised the importance of narrative to forming and maintaining family ties. But how are such stories altered as a result of geneticists' involvement in family relations? Which stories can and can't be told?

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Global Clothing and Poverty; Fur Inheritance in Poland Mar 25, 2015

Show notes

Jeans on a journey: Laurie Taylor talks to Andrew Brooks, Lecturer in Development Geography at Kings College London, about his study of the hidden world of fast fashion and second hand clothes. Following a pair of jeans in an around-the-world tour, this research reveals the commodity chains which perpetuate poverty - from Mozambican markets to London's vintage clothing scene.

Fur, family and inheritance. Siobhan Magee, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, discusses her research into the convention of passing down fur clothes from grandmother to granddaughter in the Polish middle class.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Love, Money and HIV in Kenya, Microbreweries Mar 18, 2015

Show notes

Love, Money and HIV in Kenya. Laurie Taylor talks to Sanyu Mojola, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, and author of a study exploring how modern women in developing countries experience sexuality and love. Drawing on a rich variety of interview, ethnographic and survey data from her native country of Kenya, she examines how young African women, who suffer disproportionate rates of HIV infection compared to young African men, navigate their relationships, schooling, employment and financial access in the context of a devastating HIV epidemic and economic inequality.

Also, Thomas Thurnell-Read, Lecturer in Sociology at Coventry University, discusses his study of microbreweries and the revival of traditional beer in the UK.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Biologising Parenthood - A Lost Avant-Garde, Mar 11, 2015

Show notes

A lost avant garde: Laurie Taylor examines the tension between art & money in the contemporary art museum. He talks to Matti Bunzl, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, and author of a study which takes a rare look behind the scenes of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. He found that a commitment to new and difficult work came into conflict with an imperative for growth, leading to an excessive focus on the entertaining and profitable.

Also, biologising parenthood: recent years have seen claims about children's brains becoming central to child health & welfare policies. Pam Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, Birmingham, argues that this has led to a simplistic construction of the child and one which claims parenting to be the main factor in child development.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Commercial Surrogacy in India, Money Mar 04, 2015

Show notes

Wombs for Sale: commercial surrogacy in India & beyond. Couples from all over the world can now hire Indian women to bear their children for a fraction of the cost of surrogacy elsewhere. Laurie Taylor talks to Amrita Pande, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cape Town, and author of a detailed study into a burgeoning business which has little or no government regulation. She talked to surrogates, their families, clients, doctors and brokers to capture the full mechanics of a labour regime rooted in global gender & economic inequality. They're joined by Michal Nahman, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of the West of England, who has studied reproductive tourism.

Also, the transformation of money in the post crisis world. Nigel Dodd, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, highlights the proliferation of new forms and systems of money, from local currencies and social lending to mobile money and Bitcoin. Why has our understanding of money failed to keep pace with these changes?

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

The British in South Africa - Romanian Economic Migrants in London Feb 25, 2015

Show notes

Migration: the complexities of transnational movement, identity and belonging. Laurie Taylor explores migration in contrasting contexts. He talks to Daniel Briggs, Professor of Criminology at the Universidad Europea, Madrid, about his study of Romanian economic migrants in Britain. Leaving behind the debt and corruption of their home in life in the hope of finding something better, what kinds of lives do they end up living in the UK? Also, Daniel Conway, Lecturer in Politics & International Studies at the Open University, discusses his research into the lives, histories and identities of white British-born immigrants in South Africa, twenty years after the post-apartheid Government took office.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Conservatism, Emotional Labour in a Care Home Feb 18, 2015

Show notes

Conservatism: Roger Scruton, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, talks to Laurie Taylor, about the intellectual roots of Conservative values and ideology.

Also, the emotional labour of care workers in a private residential care home. Eleanor Johnson, Researcher in Social Sciences at the University of Cardiff, talks about her case study of carer's practical and emotional work.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Harvard Business School – The Construction of Pain Feb 11, 2015

Show notes

Harvard Business School: Laurie Taylor takes a journey through the complex moral world of what many call the West Point of American Capitalism. Michel Anteby, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, describes his research into the inner workings, mores and rituals of this highly influential institution.They're joined by Professor Ken Starkey from the Nottingham University Business School.

Also, a cultural history of pain with Dr Louise Hide, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck. University of London.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Inside the Muslim Brotherhood Feb 04, 2015

Show notes

Inside the Muslim Brotherhood - The first in-depth study of the relationship between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own members. Laurie talks to Hazem Kandil, Lecturer in Political Sociology at Cambridge University, about his intimate portrayal of the organisation's recruitment, socialisation and ideology.

Privately educated girls - a 3 year study of 91 young women at 4 independent schools. Claire Maxwell, Reader in Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, finds that an elite education doesn't always guarantee class privilege.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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