Research Profile
Prof Ralph Fevre
Telephone:+44 (0)29 208 74086
Fax:+44 (0)29 208 74175
Extension:74086
Additional
contact info:
Address:2.04, Glamorgan Building
Research Interests
Ralph Fevre has been Professor of Social Research in the Cardiff School of Social Sciences since 1995. He is currently directing a three-year ESRC project on Workplace Bullying And Harassment In Britain With Special Reference To Race And Ethnicity.
His most recent book, The New Sociology of Economic Behaviour (Sage 2003) argues that the sociology of economic behaviour was hijacked by the economic sociology which grew out of Parsons' interpretation of Weber and seeks to revitalize the classical approach to develop critiques of current economic arrangements. His previous books include The Demoralization of Western Culture (Continuum 2000) which argues that contemporary confusion and uncertainty about morality arises from the popularity of a particular sort of reasoning, a sub-category of rationality called ‘common sense’ which came to dominate our thinking during the twentieth century. Earlier books include Wales is Closed (1989), The Sociology of Labour Markets (1992) and (edited with Andrew Thompson) Nation, Identity and Social Theory (1999). Together with Paul Chaney, he is currently writing a book on Civil Society, Morality and Social Theory. He is Founding Editor of the Politics and Society in Wales Series published by the University of Wales Press
LATEST NEWS: Published in March 2010 by Palgrave
DEAD WHITE MEN AND OTHER IMPORTANT PEOPLE: SOCIOLOGY’S BIG IDEAS Ralph Fevre and Angus Bancroft
“Even if sociology had some big ideas, Mila knew that she would have a fundamental problem in recognising them because she was so lacking in confidence about her intellectual abilities and motivation… She would find out whether something really was a big idea by explaining it to other people. If they were suitably impressed or, at least, were not able to undermine her faith in the idea, then that would make it big enough and important enough to count.”
This is a textbook with a twist. Written as a novel, it follows the story of Mila, a new sociology student who is grappling with social theory for the first time. Making it her mission to find out what makes sociology so important, Mila tries out theoretical ideas by chatting with her new university friends and family back at home. As she begins to understand how social theory can be applied to everyday experiences, she starts to look at the world around her in a new light.
Thinkers: Blumer • Bourdieu • Butler • Chomsky • Cicourel • Comte • Collins • Connell • Cooley • Engels • Durkheim • Garfinkel • Goffman • Fanon • Foucault • Hall • Marx • Mead • Parsons • Peirce • Schutz • Simmel • Weber
Themes: body • capitalism • colonialism • division of labour • emotions • the Enlightenment • ethnomethodology • feminism • feudalism • functionalism • gender • industrialism • inequality • liberalism • love • modernity • morality • nationality • popular culture • post-colonialism • power • science and knowledge • social bonds • class • social constructionism • society • state • symbolic interactionism •
Additional Information
One of Ralph Fevre’s recent publications was a paper in the journal Work, Employment and Society which asks why so many respected social theorists have been mislead by the idea of an age of insecure employment. The paper suggests that data from the countries which social theorists had in mind when they elaborated the idea of a new age of employment insecurity do not support their theories. If the age of insecurity is dawning anywhere, it is in Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Turkey, Finland and Poland. It is not plausible that these examples inspired Beck, Giddens and Sennett. The causes of the different trends revealed by international comparison are more likely to be found in complex, multi-factoral explanations rather than in an age of insecure employment. The theorists became wedded to their diagnosis because of the problems they encountered in doing theory after the demise of Marxism and the post-modern turn made their critiques insecure. Their need for legitimation made their theorising vulnerable to co-option in dystopian nightmares that served powerful interests.