Bryan S. Turner

From Plato’s Noble Lie to Machiavelli’s cynicism to modern day populism, lying in politics has been seen as a threat to social life. Opinions obviously vary from Augustin’s view that all forms of mendacity are evil to Kant’s universal principles. However, Hannah Arendt argued that telling the truth in politics has never been seen as a political virtue. From a sociological perspective, it could be argued that lying is always corrosive of trust and a threat to ‘social capital’. There is some general agreement though that lying (the ‘white lie’ for example) is acceptable if it has beneficial outcomes. This position is known in philosophy as ‘consequentialism’. As a result, truth testing becomes the basic practical problem. This study of lying and truth testing starts with a consideration of the role of the oath and the confession in legal proceedings. The oath, especially sworn over a bible, was a traditional instrument of truth telling. Many legal experts, such as Jeremy Bentham, dismissed the oath as unreliable. With the secularization of society, the traditional oath has all but disappeared. The confession, if given with copious signs of remorse, was welcomed by judges as a sign of a reliable witness. Lie detectors have been introduced to test confessional claims to truth, but these are also unreliable. AI may be the next stage. Despite Arendt’s depressing observation about politics and lies, lying is now seen to be a major problem in modern political life. There has been growing public concern about political issues that are closely associated with populism and the Presidency of Donald Trump. Similar problems had attended the Presidencies of both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Faced with the challenge of public lies and fake news, many observers have concluded we are in the age of Post-Truth.

The Rise and Fall of Citizenship brings together many of Turner’s publications on the topic of citizenship and includes three new chapters reflecting upon conceptions of citizenship today.The collection begins with a newly written overview of the rise of social citizenship (with particular reference to the UK and the US from 1945 to the 1980s) which charts the experiences of the ‘Baby Boomers’ that benefited from the creation of welfare states, post- war reconstruction, and the commitment to full employment. The core chapters are based on previously published articles, primarily from Taylor & Francis’ Citizenship Studies journal. These chapters examine and critique various sociological and political theories of citizenship and social rights as expounded in the works of R.H. Tawney, J.M. Keynes, T.H. Marshall, Ralf Dahrendorf, Judith Shklar, Peter Townsend, Bernard Crick, and Jüergen Habermas, among others.Later chapters bring the concept of citizenship up to date. Since the 1980s, the UK and the US have been radically altered by neoliberal economic policies involving the deindustrialization of capitalism and an emphasis on financial institutions, which have given rise to new patterns of inequality and changing labour markets. In describing where we are now, Turner argues that new forms of employment instability and uncertainty are captured by the idea of ‘the precariat’ and that citizens now experience their social world as if they were denizens. Turner also considers the impact of demographic changes and increased immigration, widely opposed by populist parties, on conceptions of citizenship. Migration and membership are also examined with reference to issues of dual citizenship, permanent residence, and ‘citizenship for cash’. The final chapter considers the ongoing relevance of the ancient law of hospitality, positing how the migrant can be considered as an asset rather than a threat.This wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection will be of interest to scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences with a focus on citizenship and rights.

Sociology has developed theories of social change in the fields of evolution, conflict and modernization, viewing modern society as essentially unstable and conflict driven. However, it has not seriously studied catastrophe. A Theory of Catastrophe develops a sociology of catastrophes, comparing natural, social and political causes and consequences, and the social theories that might offer explanations. A catastrophe is a general and systematic breakdown of social and political institutions resulting, among other things, in what we could call a catastrophe consciousness. The Greek ‘cata-strophe’ formed the conclusion to a dramatic sequence of strophes. The cata-strophe was the final act of a drama, namely its denouement. Catastrophic denouements are without hope: genocides, military occupations, plagues, famines and earthquakes. A Theory of Catastrophe analyzes Pompeii, the Black Death, colonial genocide in North America, WWI and the Spanish Flu, and Nazi Germany and finally this century: terrorism, new wars, climate change and pandemics. As a study of sociological theory, Bryan Turner discusses Spengler’s Decline of the West, Marxism as a theory of catastrophic capitalism, messianic movements, Weber on modernity, and risk society. He concludes by comparing optimism and pessimism, and the idea of inter-generational justice.

The Rise and Fall of Citizenship brings together many of Turner’s publications on the topic of citizenship and includes three new chapters reflecting upon conceptions of citizenship today.The collection begins with a newly written overview of the rise of social citizenship (with particular reference to the UK and the US from 1945 to the 1980s) which charts the experiences of the ‘Baby Boomers’ that benefited from the creation of welfare states, post- war reconstruction, and the commitment to full employment. The core chapters are based on previously published articles, primarily from Taylor & Francis’ Citizenship Studies journal. These chapters examine and critique various sociological and political theories of citizenship and social rights as expounded in the works of R.H. Tawney, J.M. Keynes, T.H. Marshall, Ralf Dahrendorf, Judith Shklar, Peter Townsend, Bernard Crick, and Jüergen Habermas, among others.Later chapters bring the concept of citizenship up to date. Since the 1980s, the UK and the US have been radically altered by neoliberal economic policies involving the deindustrialization of capitalism and an emphasis on financial institutions, which have given rise to new patterns of inequality and changing labour markets. In describing where we are now, Turner argues that new forms of employment instability and uncertainty are captured by the idea of ‘the precariat’ and that citizens now experience their social world as if they were denizens. Turner also considers the impact of demographic changes and increased immigration, widely opposed by populist parties, on conceptions of citizenship. Migration and membership are also examined with reference to issues of dual citizenship, permanent residence, and ‘citizenship for cash’. The final chapter considers the ongoing relevance of the ancient law of hospitality, positing how the migrant can be considered as an asset rather than a threat.This wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection will be of interest to scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences with a focus on citizenship and rights.

Sociology has developed theories of social change in the fields of evolution, conflict and modernization, viewing modern society as essentially unstable and conflict driven. However, it has not seriously studied catastrophe. A Theory of Catastrophe develops a sociology of catastrophes, comparing natural, social and political causes and consequences, and the social theories that might offer explanations. A catastrophe is a general and systematic breakdown of social and political institutions resulting, among other things, in what we could call a catastrophe consciousness. The Greek ‘cata-strophe’ formed the conclusion to a dramatic sequence of strophes. The cata-strophe was the final act of a drama, namely its denouement. Catastrophic denouements are without hope: genocides, military occupations, plagues, famines and earthquakes. A Theory of Catastrophe analyzes Pompeii, the Black Death, colonial genocide in North America, WWI and the Spanish Flu, and Nazi Germany and finally this century: terrorism, new wars, climate change and pandemics. As a study of sociological theory, Bryan Turner discusses Spengler’s Decline of the West, Marxism as a theory of catastrophic capitalism, messianic movements, Weber on modernity, and risk society. He concludes by comparing optimism and pessimism, and the idea of inter-generational justice.

In recent years there has been growing debate among sociologists about the concept of class and its relevance to the highly industrialised world of the late twentieth century. This book makes available in a single volume all of the key contributions to this debate and takes it a step further with a number of specially commissioned pieces. An editorial introduction which sets the main arguments in context, additional commentary and two alternative conclusions help to make this a unique text for a subject that remains crucial yet highly contentious.

In this study of politics in capitalist society Bryan Turner explores the development of citizenship as a way of demonstrating the effective use of political institutions by the working class and other subordinate groups to promote their interests. Marxist criticisms of reformism are rejected; it is shown that subordinate groups can achieve significant advances in social and economic rights, and that democracy is not a sham but a necessary mechanism for the pursuit of interests.

In this sequel to their acclaimed The Dominant Ideology Thesis, the authors develop their analysis of the social and cultural underpinnings of modern capitalism. They confront a central assumption of western culture: namely, that the individual is sovereign, and that capitalism above all other economic forms depends on individualism. These ideas have an unbroken history from Alexis de Tocqueville to Milton Friedman. The paradox of the modern world is that the moral emphasis on the individual is contradicted by the actual organization of economy and society.The authors suggest that individualism and capitalism have no enduring or necessary relationship. Their linkage is entirely accidental and was confined to one particular historical period in the West. Against the background of what they term the Discovery of the Individual, the authors show how individualism gave capitalism a particular shape, and capitalism in turn highlighted the possessive features of the individual. Oriental capitalism and late capitalism in the West bear no particular relationship to individualism; indeed, they flourish best in the absence of individualistic culture. Collectivism increasingly dominates both economic and social life. These issues once informed the sociological enterprise, but have not been systematically addressed in recent times. This book revives the classical tradition of the historical and comparative analysis of culture and economy in capitalist society, in the context of the late twentieth-century world.

As a radical critique of theoretical sociological orthodoxy, The Dominant Ideology Thesis has generated controversy since first publication. It has also been widely accepted, however, as a major critical appraisal of one central theoretical concern within modern Marxism and an important contribution to the current debate about the functions of ideology in social life.

'In this remarkable collection of essays, Holton and Turner demonstrate that Parsonian sociology addresses the most central problems of our time – issues of sickness and health, power and inequality, the nature of capitalism and its possible alternatives. They develop a mature and original perspective on Parsons as the only classical theorist who avoided crippling nostalgia. Holton and Turner not only talk about Parsonian sociology in a profound and insightful way, they do it, and do it well. As sociology moves away from the rigid dichotomies of earlier debate, this book will help point the way.' – Jeffrey Alexander, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, UCLA

In this volume leading international scholars elaborate upon the central issues of the analysis of ideology: the nature of dominant ideologies. The ways in which ideologies are transmitted; their effects on dominant and subordinate social classes in different societies; the contrast between individualistic and collectivist belief systems; and the diversity of cultural forms that coexist within the capitalist form of economic organization.This book is distinctive in its empirical and comparative approach to the study of the economic and cultural basis of social order, and in the wide range of societies that it covers. Japan, Germany and the USA constitute the core of the modern global economy, and have widely differing historical roots and cultural traditions. Argentina and Australia are white settler societies on the periphery of the capitalist world-system and as a result have certain common features, that are cut across in turn by social and political developments peculiar to each. Britain after a decade of Thatcherism is an interesting test of the efficacy of an ideological project designed to change the cultural values of a population. Poland shows the limitations of the imposition of a state socialist ideology, and the cultural complexities that result.

As a radical critique of theoretical sociological orthodoxy, The Dominant Ideology Thesis has generated controversy since first publication. It has also been widely accepted, however, as a major critical appraisal of one central theoretical concern within modern Marxism and an important contribution to the current debate about the functions of ideology in social life.

In this sequel to their acclaimed The Dominant Ideology Thesis, the authors develop their analysis of the social and cultural underpinnings of modern capitalism. They confront a central assumption of western culture: namely, that the individual is sovereign, and that capitalism above all other economic forms depends on individualism. These ideas have an unbroken history from Alexis de Tocqueville to Milton Friedman. The paradox of the modern world is that the moral emphasis on the individual is contradicted by the actual organization of economy and society.The authors suggest that individualism and capitalism have no enduring or necessary relationship. Their linkage is entirely accidental and was confined to one particular historical period in the West. Against the background of what they term the Discovery of the Individual, the authors show how individualism gave capitalism a particular shape, and capitalism in turn highlighted the possessive features of the individual. Oriental capitalism and late capitalism in the West bear no particular relationship to individualism; indeed, they flourish best in the absence of individualistic culture. Collectivism increasingly dominates both economic and social life. These issues once informed the sociological enterprise, but have not been systematically addressed in recent times. This book revives the classical tradition of the historical and comparative analysis of culture and economy in capitalist society, in the context of the late twentieth-century world.

'In this remarkable collection of essays, Holton and Turner demonstrate that Parsonian sociology addresses the most central problems of our time – issues of sickness and health, power and inequality, the nature of capitalism and its possible alternatives. They develop a mature and original perspective on Parsons as the only classical theorist who avoided crippling nostalgia. Holton and Turner not only talk about Parsonian sociology in a profound and insightful way, they do it, and do it well. As sociology moves away from the rigid dichotomies of earlier debate, this book will help point the way.' – Jeffrey Alexander, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, UCLA

In this study of politics in capitalist society Bryan Turner explores the development of citizenship as a way of demonstrating the effective use of political institutions by the working class and other subordinate groups to promote their interests. Marxist criticisms of reformism are rejected; it is shown that subordinate groups can achieve significant advances in social and economic rights, and that democracy is not a sham but a necessary mechanism for the pursuit of interests.

In this volume leading international scholars elaborate upon the central issues of the analysis of ideology: the nature of dominant ideologies. The ways in which ideologies are transmitted; their effects on dominant and subordinate social classes in different societies; the contrast between individualistic and collectivist belief systems; and the diversity of cultural forms that coexist within the capitalist form of economic organization.This book is distinctive in its empirical and comparative approach to the study of the economic and cultural basis of social order, and in the wide range of societies that it covers. Japan, Germany and the USA constitute the core of the modern global economy, and have widely differing historical roots and cultural traditions. Argentina and Australia are white settler societies on the periphery of the capitalist world-system and as a result have certain common features, that are cut across in turn by social and political developments peculiar to each. Britain after a decade of Thatcherism is an interesting test of the efficacy of an ideological project designed to change the cultural values of a population. Poland shows the limitations of the imposition of a state socialist ideology, and the cultural complexities that result.

Singapore, like many other advanced economies, has a relatively low, and declining, birth-rate. One consequence of this, and a consequence also of the successful economy, is that migrants are being drawn in, and are becoming an increasing proportion of the overall population. This book examines this crucial development, and assesses its likely impact on Singapore society, politics and the state. It shows that, although Singapore is a multi-ethnic society, migration and the changing ethnic mix are causing increasing strains, putting new demands on housing, education and social welfare, and changing the make-up of the workforce, where the government is responding with policies designed to attract the right sort of talent. The book discusses the growing opposition to migration, and explores how the factors which have underpinned Singapore’s success over recent decades, including a cohesive elite, with a clearly focused ideology, a tightly controlled political system and strong continuity of government, are at risk of being undermined by the population changes and their effects. The book also compares the position in Singapore with other East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, which are also experiencing population changes with potentially far-reaching consequences.

This volume contributes to the modern study of Islam and provides a full-length review of Weber's sociology of Islam. It examines modern scholarship which questions the relevance of Weber to the contemporary role of Islam in global politics. It is useful for students of the sociology of religion.

While the relationships between ethics and religion, and violence and politics, are of enduring interest, the interface between religion and violence is one of the most problematic features of the contemporary world. Following in the tradition of Max Weber's historical and comparative study of religions, this book explores the many ways in which religion and politics are both combined and separated across different world religions and societies. Through a variety of case studies including the monarchy, marriage, law and conversion, Bryan S. Turner explores different manifestations of secularization, and how the separation of church and state is either compromised or abandoned. He considers how different states manage religion in culturally and religiously diverse societies and concludes with a discussion of the contemporary problems facing the liberal theory of freedom of religion. The underlying theoretical issue is the conditions for legitimacy of rule in modern societies experiencing global changes.