Within sociology, technology is not a common subject for sociological analysis; technology is often treated as if it were no more than an asocial physical product. The argument of this thesis is that technology is as available for sociological analysis as any other social phenomenon. In popular representation, technology is treated as if it were special, and this treatment has had particular consequences for sociological analysis. This thesis attempts to put this special, deferential, attitude to technology aside, and to reveal technology as an unexceptional topic for sociological investigation. Stated baldly, two ideas are demonstrated in this thesis. The first of these is: The way that technology is constructed as a category in sociological literature makes the topic technology resistant to sociological analysis. The second idea follows from this: It is possible to develop a sociological account of technology by reference to a reconceptualised notion of work. The thesis considers those sociological approaches which appear to offer some potential for an elaborated sociology of technology. These move from conventionally academic discussions of a sociology of technology through marxian, culturalist and feminist accounts of work and of technology, to a consideration of the views of technology embodied in particular instances of policy and local action. A view of technology emerges which draws on the divergent traditions of marxian political economy and marxian cultural studies. The thesis concludes with an attempt to embrace both these perspectives in the development of a sociology of technology.

This project seeks to bring a critical utopian methodology to bear upon the institution of citizenship in the hope of imagining a theoretical formulation that could encourage active, anti-hierarchical, participatory and empowering practices. The critical utopian approach disrupts conventional disciplinary boundaries, and allows theories and practices that would not normally be associated with citizenship to be brought into dialogue with the concept in thought and imagination, as part of a strategic intervention. This produces a perspective that is simultaneously estranging and creative, deconstructive and experimental. The body of the work considers three themes in particular: territory, authority and rights, which are frequently posited as foundational for politics and citizenship, and proceeds to deconstruct their dominant formulations by imagining an infinitely critical utopian ‘outside’. Diverse bodies of theory including post-structuralism, anarchism, post-structural and post-left anarchisms, ecology, critical geography and feminism are drawn upon to articulate critical utopias of space without territory, decision-making without authority and ethics without rights. The project then brings another ‘outside’ into dialogue with the theory: practices in what are termed ‘autonomous utopian communities’; including intentional communities, autonomous social centres, housing co-operatives and eco-villages. The aim of the project is to use a dialogue between critically resistant theories and practices to expose the obscured normative and indeed utopian foundations of many dominant theories of citizenship, and to consider the ethical and practical effects of hegemonic and truth-claiming discourses. The project also posits something different: a contingent and open-ended critical utopian citizenship that favours perspectival multiplicity, process over closure, and contingency over certainty, that can be engaged in by citizens and non-citizens in everyday life.

This thesis attempts to provide a comprehensive review of the teaching of sociology in universities and colleges in the United states in tne nineteenth century. (The primary sources are the catalogues and various other publications, such as presidential reports and alumni yearbooks, of 663 institutions from their foundings until the end of the academic year 1900-01). Evidence of the teaching of courses in sociology, or in some closely related study such as social science or social problems, was found in 227 of the total number of institutions. After some introductory observations on the extensive inclusion of sociology in American university curricula, the first chapter goes on to describe the nature of the sources used and to comment upon previous studies of a similar type, none of which have provided the sort of complete historical documentation of the rise of sociology teaching as the present study sets out to do. This specific development is set in the general context of higher education in the nineteenth century which saw a decline of older methods based upon the recitation system in favour of a more liberal attitude to teaching and research. The Land Grant College Act of 1862, with its particular encouragement of scientific training, and the influence of German ideals in higher education are singled out as movements of great importance for the changing conception of higher education. The second chapter contains a discussion of some of the first attempts at sociological writing in the United States, mostly before the Civil War. The largely Aristotelian and conservative views of the southern writers are contrasted with those of the Utopian social thinkers of the North. Here, as throughout the thesis, emphasis is placed upon the relationship between the attempts at sociological theory and the social context in which they arose. Chapter III describes in some detail the beginnings of sociology teaching in universities and colleges from the 1860's, witn some reference to instruction in social matters before this time. For the first years after its introduction attention is paid to each institution which offered sociology; for the later years particular institutions are singled out for special comment where noteworthy new departures were made. Chapter IV describes the regional development of sociology teaching from its beginnings in Eastern institutions. Graphic illustration of its spread is provided in a chronological series of maps. The second part of the chapter relates the development of sociology to contemporary movements in theology, particularly the ideas of Social Christianity and the Social Gospel. The extreme involvement of sociologists in these movements, and the encouragement given to sociology in certain denominations which were also prominent in the Social Gospel, are used as facts to support the contention that the outlooks upon society of sociologists and Social Gospel theologians were not only parallel but often so closely interwoven as to be inseparable. Chapter V goes into greater detail concerning the nature of the sociology being taught by describing various representative courses, with much illustrative material drawn from catalogue summaries of such courses. In the second part of the chapter some of the most popular textbooks for sociology courses are described. Chapter VI is concerned with those who taught sociology; four cases of opposition on the part of university authorities to certain aspects of the teaching of sociology are discussed. The education of sociology teachers is outlined with special reference to the influence which German higher education exercised over many of the most prominent American sociologists. Chapter VII documents the rise of sociology as a subject for graduate study in American universities and colleges, and includes lists of doctorates submitted in sociology and in sociological topics up to 1900. The subsequent careers of graduate students in sociology are briefly summarized. In the concluding chapter emphasis is placed upon the essentially American nature of sociology in the United States, its peculiar importance lying in its early and generally enthusiastic inclusion in the curricula of institutions of higher learning. Some contrasts are made in this respect with its position in Europe in the same period. Its popularity as a university subject is contrasted with the ill-developed nature of sociological theory in America at the time; some attempt is made to characterize such theory. A series of appendices is included to provide full documentation of the colleges and universities under review, a complete catalogue of courses in sociology, a bibliography of textbooks recommended in course descriptions together with writers cited without reference to particular works in such descriptions, chronological lists of the founding of departments of sociology and social science, a list of appointments in sociology and social science, and a catalogue of teachers of courses in sociology, outlining the institutions at which they taught, up to 1901.

Critical reflection is increasingly regarded as a necessary requirement of professional practice. Yet there are many differing perspectives on what it is, and how it should be taught in professional education, and it is not easy to see how they all relate. This is often confusing for students and educators. This potentially leads to poor standards of reflection, and little rigorous research or development of critical reflection. This thesis aims to address this problem by developing an integrated understanding of critical reflection. It draws together the different perspectives on critical reflection (including reflective practice, the concept of reflexivity, postmodernism and critical perspectives), and shows how these different understandings can be integrated under the rubric of learning from experience. Although the idea of learning from experience in fact underpins early understandings of critical reflection, this thesis demonstrates how later formulations add to and develop this conception. In doing this, the thesis traces the practical and theoretical development of critical reflection into a framework which might be used as a basis for researching professional practice experience. The thesis begins with an introduction which outlines the context of my thinking about social work knowledge, in which my thinking about critical reflection is located. The body of the thesis traces how I have developed these frameworks, from a mix of practical experience, theorizing from different perspectives, and reviews of literature, into the potential for its use as a research method. The concluding section of the thesis returns to the original outline of social work knowledge, and shows how this integrated understanding of critical reflection is also congruent with basic principles of social work. In this sense, the development of thinking about critical reflection is also a contribution to the development of social work knowledge.

We might wonder, after two centuries of economic science and thousands of articles and books written by economists, if something new can still be said about 'markets'. Today, what new contribution could still be given to a so fundamental concept in economics? This thesis builds on the main legacy of Veblen, Polanyi and Hayek's Institutionalism: the distinction between the 'interactional' level of human sociality and the 'structural' level of society that Veblen named 'institutions'. The three authors tentatively formulated an original idea: the two levels of sociocultural reality are interdependent and mutually constitutive. This is a proto-emergentist ontology of institutions that makes the starting point of the thesis. Convergent results of different disciplines are explored in order to develop such ontology. It is argued that sociocultural systems have properties that make them specific, namely the human capacity to interact in multiple scales of time-space using human language. Sociocultural research cannot be guided by conceptual schemes abstracted from other levels of Nature. This is the bedrock of a Naturalist Institutionalism. To understand institutions we need to discuss meanings and culture; we need to enter the semiotic of Peirce, the founder of Pragmatism. The foregoing implies the distinction of three types of inter-dependent processes in sociocultural systems: the cultural ('norms'); the social (networks, organisations); the material reality. This analytical move enables a redefinition of 'institution': a sociocultural system emergent from inter-related organisations, networks, norms and material reality, which structure individuals and organisations and serves a societal function. In this sense, the 'economy' is a macro-institution and markets are sub-systems of the 'economy', meso-institutions. Thus, a market is a self-organizing, complex, and open system endowed with structural levels emergent from persons' interactions-communications participating in the transformation processes of production, distribution, appropriation and consumption, using matter-energy and symbolic tools. Finally, it is argued that the evolutionary process of markets has a specific sociocultural nature that goes by the name of 'history'. Their motion is discussed with recourse to a model that highlights the interactions of markets with science, state and culture to solve problems of uncertainty and coordination in the processes of competition, cooperation and valuation.

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The research presented in this thesis aims to explore the lived experience of participating in consensual bondage, discipline, dominance & submission and sadism & masochism (BDSM). Traditionally, psychologists have researched this phenomenon from an external perspective, conceptualising it as pathological. By employing a phenomenological approach, I aim to understand this multifaceted phenomenon from the inside, by listening to the voices of those who engage in BDSM. The research is separated into two stages. For the first stage of empirical work I interviewed five practitioners of consensual BDSM about their experiences. This stage was designed to be particularly broad and exploratory with the aim of understanding more about the subcultures associated with BDSM, and also to inform the second, more focused stage of research. The findings were analysed using the descriptive phenomenological approach. The subsequent stage involved interviews with nine practitioners; including four that were previously interviewed for stage one. The aim here was to elucidate the specific constituents of BDSM that held erotic significance for participants. The template approach was utilised as the method of analysis. The complexity of BDSM is illustrated by the subtle variations in the erotic scripts of participants. The co-creation of fantasy was of central importance to the experience, as were measures employed in order to maintain the fantasy and ensure its success. The notion of authenticity was fundamental to the experience, which ensured all participants were invested in the erotic scene and allowed immersion into the bubble of fantasy and the exclusion of the ‘real’ world. A sense of care, trust and partnership were vital in order to achieve the erotic atmosphere, concepts that appear contrary to the kinds of sexual activities involved. This research presents an exciting account of the lived experience of BDSM, illuminating the erotic diversities and nuances related to this phenomenon. It is also the aim that this research contributes to the increasing body of work that investigates and reports BDSM from non-pathologising perspectives.

Social studies of technology and particularly the sociology of technology have long explored the reticulations between technology and social life. More specifically, the sociology of technology has contributed numerous studies addressing the relationship between technological artefacts and the social order. Following this tradition, feminist studies of technology have developed robust analyses of technology and subjectivity, with particular attention given to questions of gender identity. Additionally, recent work in technology studies has engaged with the problem of embodiment, both in terms of technological practice and with regard to the body as a consequential phenomenon in sociological enquiry. This thesis aims to further develop the sociological study of technological artefacts, subjects, and bodies through sociophilosophical analysis. By bringing to bear sociological methodology and theory upon fundamental questions in the philosophy of technology, this research elucidates and resolves problems relevant to both the philosophy and sociology of technology. Specifically, this thesis interrogates the manners and modalities in which technological artefacts, subjects, and bodies are rendered intelligible in social life. In doing so, it develops a symmetrical sociological analysis of these three phenomena and posits a robust solution to the question concerning ontology within the philosophy of technology. Here, I posit a conceptualization of technological artefacts, subjects, and bodies as artificial kinds entities underdetermined by materiality and ontologically dependent upon self referential social practice. I argue that in using Kusch’s concept of artificial kinds, we gain a useful perspective with which to discern the relationships between the ontological constitution of artefacts, the development of subject positions, and the social ‘situatedness’ of bodies and embodied practice. I also develop the concept of entangled ontologies, an analytic lens that highlights the dependence and interrelation that characterize the ontological constitution of artefacts, subjects, and bodies in social life. My analysis re-frames critical questions of technological ontology and illustrates the importance of fundamental philosophical problems to the sociological study of technology. In doing so, I am extending and amending the Performative Theory of Social Institutions - the social theory of the Strong Programme in the sociology of scientific knowledge. My theoretical project is supported by robust empirical work, which focuses on technological experience and motorcycling in Latin America. I carried out 36 in-depth qualitative interviews with a varied sample of motorcyclists in Costa Rica, and supplemented these with ethnographic observation. This empirical work contributed substantially to the development of my theoretical argument, and constitutes a considerable portion of the argument contained within this thesis. The three primary chapters - concerned with artefacts, subjects, and bodies, respectively - make substantial use of my empirical work throughout their analytic arguments, and each chapter contains an empirical component consisting of consolidated case material. The first - on artefacts - addresses heteronormativity in the constitution of artefact ontologies. The second - on subjects - discusses the role of age and ageing in the articulation of motorcycling subject positions. Last, the empirical material on bodies addresses the role of machinic and corporeal practices in the classification and ontological constitution of bodies. All three of these components represent original contributions to technology studies. Notably, sexuality and ageing arguably remain invisible phenomena to sociologists of technology. The empirical and analytic work contained within this thesis contributes substantially to a variety of fields. As I discuss in detail in my concluding chapter, my use of symmetrical sociophilosophical analysis presents feminist technology studies with new avenues for research, as well as new analytic tools with which to address questions of paramount importance. My use of Kusch’s artificial kinds allows for a reconsideration of constructivism in technology studies, and provides a resolution to the Woolgar, Grint, & Kling debate of the early 1990s. Finally, this research presents the philosophy of technology with a new approach to the question of technological ontology, and contributes meaningfully to contemporary efforts to develop a synergetic sociological-philosophical analysis of technology.

While much research has established that gender has undesirable effects, and some has even concluded that subjective and social life would be preferable without it, there has been limited extension of these claims to the corollary of exploring how it might be eradicated and what could replace it. This thesis considers if and how this could be done. It provides a practicable elaboration of an alternative way of being to that of sex/gender difference by developing theory that argues that the eradication of sexual difference is possible and desirable, and presenting various practices that demonstrate this. Drawing on gender theory and feminist science, the durability of gender is traced back to its anterior spectre of an assumed stable and immutable sex, and specifically compulsory sexual difference. Also, drawing on philosophy and empirical sociological studies, it argues that this is not ontologically tied to the nature of sexual difference, but to socially and intersubjectively constituted and enacted factors, and therefore that social life without sexual difference is an ontological possibility and other ways of being and relating are possible. The normative argument that the existence of sexual difference is undesirable is made by appealing to an ideal of “autonomy,” which sexual difference serves to limit. Simone de Beauvoir’s ethical philosophy is drawn on to develop an ontological ethics that posits freedom or autonomy as a collective situated “doing” which sexual difference limits by presenting oppositional antagonism as universal. A more preferable (and practically possible) situated way of “doing” that maximises “autonomy” would be that of reciprocity. In elaborating the principle of reciprocity as a replacement for sexual difference and considering its practicability, it is evaluated in terms of the normative precepts that the thesis takes off from in order to consider its robustness and to avoid accidentally replicating the restriction on, or “violence” towards autonomy that it is intended to replace. Potential antinomies in realising such an ethic, specifically in “impure” real-world contexts are considered. Also, specific features to ensure and maintain reciprocity are developed, by treating the “androgyny” that I argue is inherent to reciprocity as a transcendence, and not combination or collapse, of the oppositional nature of sexual difference. These constitute a specific way of relating to others that is both specific to them individually and also encompasses the universal ethic of reciprocity. In making this ethic practicable, the thesis considers some possible means or strategies through which a reciprocal (in the specific sense developed) ethic could be fostered so that subjects could understand themselves and others without presumptions of sexual difference. It offers some illustrations of ways of perceiving and treating the self and others (and learning how to do so) that are reciprocal, drawing on real-world queer, anarchist and pedagogical practices that are compatible with the ontological, normative and practical precepts of the ethic of reciprocity. It also considers what the consequences for the eradication of sexual difference might be for “sexuality” and desire. My distinctive contribution to knowledge lies in taking critical, deconstructive theoretical work around gender that is often construed as abstract and impracticable, and attempting to render it socially relevant and utilisable, without undermining its antiuniversalising impulses. I have done this by teasing out the practical implications of such theoretical insights and by drawing on non-traditional sources of ideas / theory. Knitting divergent theories together in an original way, I have contributed to making such theories useful for social change by crafting what I argue is a thorough workable re-constructive ethic that is compatible with the impulses of deconstruction.

This thesis explores the relationship between social and individual forms of ordering social life on one hand, and the emergence of a number of ‘spheres’ of disorder in the experience of life on the other. In modern society such evidence of disorder can only be characterised in terms that reinforce the negative or formless experience of the human confrontations with disorder. Manifestations of radical contingency (taken as the cognitive residue of such disorder) in experience are thus contrasted with the progress and limits of reason and desire (which create the ‘valuable’ part of life), and these are further examined within a language of being that establishes the discordant nature of the relationship. It is argued that reason and desire, in creating value, always construct an edifice of social and personal expectation that is justified on the basis of the reliability of causal relations between phenomena in lived experience, and in so doing ‘make’ an objective and orderly social world. Several notions central to an understanding of the accumulation of categories of being in modern society are examined as the positive expression of the conditions of autonomous action, and thus as crucial determinants of value and identity. The central relationship is further investigated through the elaboration of three negative categories of experience, which are seen to contain individual and social forms of action that forcefully remove, or contradict order and autonomous freedom as it is here defined. The thesis is therefore divided into three parts. Part 1 examines the loss of autonomy through gambling, and specifically through the singular experience of the wager, which is seen to be an intensification of the motion that constitutes life, but that boldly refuses to be contained, as rational autonomy would dictate. Part 2 deals with the atomisation of knowledge and experience in modern society, looking specifically at instances of ‘non-representational’ art of the twentieth century as the residue of developments that had as a positive aim the refinement of experience. Part 3 deals with the material exclusion of various kinds of garbage resulting from both social and technological progress, and from the emergence of a multiplicity of opportunities for the establishment of self-identity that are seen as both a product of dividing the world of experience into ever smaller categories (i.e., the refinement of the ‘objective’ world) and of the subjective relationship between the individual in modern society and the world of objects.