Social Theory Podcast

In this final episode of series 1 (we will be back next year) of the Social Theory Podcast I spoke to Morteza Hashemi about the great Arabic scholar Ibn Khaldun. See the end of this post for links to the episode. Khaldun was around in the 14th and 15th century and lived and  traveled across the Islamic world including Tunisia, Egypt and  Andalusia. Khaldun is a hugely important thinker who has sadly been  underappreciated in many parts of the world. The innovative critical and  philosophical approach to history he took revealed sociological  insights which would not be matched or built on for at least four  centuries. In this chat we focus on some of his most important analysis  which focuses on the movement from nomadic to settled communities and  how these different social forms produce different kinds of societies.  Morteza also  tells me about some of his own excellent work which has  applied Khaldun’s analysis to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs such as Mark  Zuckerberg. He suggests such tech giants might have become too  “settled” and might be leaving themselves open to becoming unseated by  more entrepreneurial upstarts. This article was published in The Sociological Review (also available open access). Probably Khaldun’s most influential work (and the one we mostly refer to) is The Muqaddimah or “The Introduction” which is available online. Below are some of the other books Morteza mentioned in the episode. The Orange Trees of Marrakesh by Stephen Dale Muslim Society by Ernest Gellner Applying Ibn Khaldun by Syed Farid Alatas Apologies, there are a few minor sound issues. Hopefully these aren’t too painful as they are just tiny cuts in the sound. Theme music is Wirklich Wichtig by Checkie Brown used on a Creative Commons license Incidental music is Disco Stomp by Jonas78 used on a Creative Commons license You can follow me on Twitter @chrishtill The Social Theory Podcast will be back in 2021!

In this episode I spoke with Hinnerk Freytag who is a PhD student at the European University Flensburg about the sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies. Tönnies is best known for the concepts Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft  which refer to two different kinds of societies each associated with  particular kinds of “social bonds”. Central to Tönnies’ analysis is that  modernity and urbanisation has loosened the previously strong, familial  and communal ties of communities. Modern society is, instead, more  individualised and our relationships with others are more anonymous and  contractual. While this analysis is quite well known among sociologists  much of the rest of his work is less so. We try to put these insights  into context of Tönnies other work around public opinion and custom. Sadly none of Tönnies work is freely available however this essay is a good introduction. Also, it is usually possible to pick up cheap second hand copies  (from sites such as Abe Books)  or if you have access to a good university library you should be able  to access his key works discussed on this episode such as Community & Society (Gemeinschaft & Gesselschaft) and Custom. Theme music is Wirklich Wichtig by Checkie Brown used on a Creative Commons license Incidental music is Disco Stomp by Jonas78 used on a Creative Commons license You can follow me on Twitter @chrishtill Podcast Links Anchor https://anchor.fm/chris-till Breaker https://www.breaker.audio/social-theory-podcast Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/social-theory-podcast/id1533951560 Pocket Casts https://pca.st/yueatxzh Radio Public https://radiopublic.com/social-theory-podcast-WoKrjx Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/0RBMehx0NHJKjEnySugQNn Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/chris-till/social-theory-podcast?refid=stpr

For episode 2 of the Social Theory Podcast I spoke to Dr Lisa Long about the monumentally important sociologist and activist WEB Du Bois. We had a really good chat about his work and its importance for sociology but it was also interesting to hear Lisa's take on his significance for criminology. It is hard to overstate what an incredible figure Du Bois was and we try to get our head around the range and importance of his insights, his mastery of, and innovation in, a range of research methods. We also try to highlight what he can tell us about racism today and what it means for how we do sociology and criminology and how university education should be structured to include black representation in all its forms. See the end of this post for links to the podcast. A great resource to for Du Bois's texts (and many other works out of copyright) is Project Gutenberg But one of his most important works, The Philadelphia Negro, isn't there although it is available on the Internet Archive We spent a lot of time talking about The Souls of Black Folk In the episode we touch on the significance of his essay 'The Souls of White Folk' which is part of his book Darkwater Lisa mentioned the Free Black University initiative which perhaps come out of a similar critique of the opportunities for progression for Black people in mainstream white educational institutions You can follow Chris on Twitter @chrishtill and read more on the podcast on his blog at thisisnotasociology.blog Theme music is Wirklich Wichtig by Checkie Brown and incidental music is Disco Stomp by Jonas78 both used on a Creative Commons license