Thinking Allowed

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Backpacking food tourist; Touring poverty Oct 02, 2013

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Slum Tourism - the transformation of impoverished neighbourhoods into attractions for international tourists. Laurie Taylor talks to the sociologist, Bianca Freire-Medeiros, about 'Touring Poverty', her study of Rocinha, a district in Rio de Janeiro which is advertised as "the largest favela in Latin America." She talked to tour operators, guides, tourists and residents to explore the ethical and political questions raised by selling a glimpse into other peoples' poverty. Professor of Tourism Mobilities, Kevin Hannam, joins the discussion. Also, 'eating the world' - the geographer, Emily Falconer, discusses her research into the food driven impulses of backpacking tourists.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Noodle narratives; British men dancing Capoeira Sep 25, 2013

Show notes

Noodle narratives - Laurie Taylor talks to US anthropologist, Deborah Gewertz, about the invention, production and consumption of instant ramen noodles. From their origins in Japan to their worldwide spread to markets as diverse as the USA and Papua New Guinea. As popular with the affluent as with the poor, they enable diverse populations to manage their lives. So how did noodles become one of the industrial food system's most successful achievements? And what can the humble noodle tell us about the history of food and the anthropology of globalisation? Also, British men dancing like Brazilians. Social scientist, Neil Stephens, discusses a study which finds that Capoeira challenges the traditional opposition between masculinity and dance. He's joined by Theresa Buckland, Professor of Dance History and Ethnography.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Holiday hedonism in Ibiza; White working class voters Sep 18, 2013

Show notes

Holiday hedonism - Laurie Taylor talks to the criminologist, Daniel Briggs, about his study into young British tourists' risk taking behaviour in Ibiza. From drug taking to prostitution, violence and injury. What leads these holidaymakers to engage in deviant, even dangerous behaviour when abroad? Also, Nathan Manning discusses his research into the meaning and causes of white, working class political disaffection. He interviewed low wage workers in Yorkshire and the NorthWest, areas where support for the far right British National Party and low voter turnout indicate alienation from mainstream politics. He's joined by Professor of Politics, Michael Kenny.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Bohemian Soho Sep 11, 2013

Show notes

Bohemian Soho - Laurie Taylor talks to the writer, Sophie Parkin, about her book on the Colony Room Club, a private members bar whose doors opened in 1948 and shut in 2008. The only criterion for membership was that you weren't dull. For 60 years it played host to an assortment of offbeat and colourful characters from the fashionable to the criminal: the artist, Francis Bacon, rubbed shoulders with the gangster Kray twins. Eccentrics and misfits congregated and drank in a smoky, shabby room with sticky carpets. But what place does the Colony Room have within a wider history of Bohemian life? Professor of Cultural Studies, Elizabeth Wilson, joins the discussion.

Also, Melissa Tyler discusses her study of sales workers in Soho sex shops. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Drug users and enforcement; 'Militant' Liverpool Aug 14, 2013

Show notes

Drug enforcement - does it change the drugs market? Laurie Taylor talks to Neil McKeganey about his research into police crackdowns on illegal drugs in 3 different areas of the UK. The researchers interviewed local heroin users to establish their views and experience of police activity. Although most had found raids to be shocking and distressing, this had little impact on the price or availability of illegal drugs locally. Also, the sociologist, Diana Frost, explores Militant Tendency's domination of Liverpool politics in the 1980s. Interviewing key protagonists of the time, she uncovers mixed memories of a 'city on the edge'.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

The Minutemen; 'Lay' Witnesses in Court Aug 07, 2013

Show notes

The Minutemen - who are they? Laurie Taylor talks to US sociologist, Harel Shapira about the right wing activists who patrol the US border in search of illegal immigrants. How should these men be characterised - as vigilantes, patriots or racists? Shapira met men who fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm and spoke of an America which no longer exists. Living alongside these men, he uncovered narratives of lost identity and community as well as extreme political convictions. Also, Nigel Fielding observed 65 crown court cases in England as part of his study into the effects of criminal trial procedures on 'lay' people, including victims, witnesses and defendants. His research highlights the confusion, anxiety and frustration which is often felt by the legally untrained in the face of courtroom convention.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

'Teddies' and 'Gollies'; Smart-casual dining Jul 31, 2013

Show notes

Smart/casual dining - Once fine dining meant chandeliers, white tablecloths, and suited waiters. Yet today many of us will queue up for a seat at a loud, crowded noodle bar or eagerly seek out street stalls where the burgers are organic. The US food writer, Alison Pearlman, talks to Laurie Taylor about the forms and flavours taken by this 'foodie' revolution. Through on-the-scene observation and interviews with major players and chefs, she explores the blurring of boundaries between high and low cuisine. She's joined by Alan Warde, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester.

'Teddies' and 'Gollies' - US English Professor, Rhoda Zuk, talks to Laurie about her historical study into the place and meaning of teddy bears and golliwogs in children's lives and books, as well as in the 'racist' imagination. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Food Work in Hospital Wards; The Bangladesh/India Border Jul 24, 2013

Show notes

The Bangladesh/India border - As India sets about constructing a metal curtain along the full length of its border with Bangladesh, Cambridge anthropologist, Delwar Hussain travelled to the remote village of Boropani, which straddles the frontier, to see how the lives of ordinary people are being affected by the tussle between Dhaka and its emerging superpower neighbour. He talks to Laurie Taylor about the social and intimate lives of the people he met and a cross border coal industry that has little respect for the past, people or the environment. By focusing on the peripheries, his research exposes the promise and danger at the heart of the globalised world.

'Dirty work', emotional labour and the professionalisation of nursing - a qualitative study of meal services for older people at 4 UK hospital sites. Around 60% of UK patients aged 65 or older are at risk of malnutrition while in hospital. Ben Heaven discusses timely research into 'food work' and feeding assistance on hospital wards.

Producer:Jayne Egerton.

Raising Middle-Class Black Children; Neon Jul 17, 2013

Show notes

Neon - Laurie Taylor discusses a history of the flickering light which illuminated the modern world. Professor of American Studies, Christoph Ribbat, charts the rise and fall of neon. From seedy back alleys to gaudy Las Vegas, its blinking presence has electrified the contemporary city. So why did the theorist, Theodor Adorno, so despise these glowing tubes? How did neon become such a recurrent metaphor for modernity in popular culture, ranging from the writings of Vladimir Nabokov to the art of Tracy Emin? And why has the gas which once lit up our lives begun to fade into oblivion? They're joined by the cultural critic, Matthew Sweet.

Also, the first dedicated UK study of black Caribbean middle-class families, and their strategies and priorities in relation to their children's education. The role of 'extra-curricular' activities in the process by which black middle-class parents seek to raise and develop their children.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Terrorism Studies Jul 10, 2013

Show notes

'Terrorism Studies' - how it emerged as a new academic field in the post 9/11 world. Laurie Taylor talks to Harvard social scientist, Lisa Stampinitzky, about the themes of her new book "Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented 'Terrorism' ". She argues that terrorists are now constructed as pathological and evil personalities who are beyond our understanding, unlike the pre 70s era when the acts of political violence, that we now call terrorism, were seen as the work of rational actors with strategic goals. This transformation of political violence into terrorism is held to have led to the current 'war on terror'. Drawing on archival research as well as interviews with terrorism experts, she traces the struggles through which experts made terrorism, and terrorism made experts. John Bew, a British expert on terrorism, considers and contests the arguments.

Also, Christine Fair discusses a groundbreaking study which finds that support for political violence in Pakistan is lower amongst the poor than the middle classes.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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