Dawson, M. (2012) Reviewing the critique of individualization: the embedded and disembedded theses. Acta Sociologica, 55(4), pp. 305-319. (doi: 10.1177/0001699312447634)
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Abstract
This paper is a review article of the substantial sociological literature on individualization. It is especially concerned with empirical research which questions the largely theoretical claims of Zygmunt Bauman, Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens. I argue this literature can be split into three camps: Modernist; Interactionist; Discourse. Although all three perspectives come to different conclusions, and use different methods to get there, a synthesis of their conclusions can give us a more empirically informed conception of individualization. This includes an increased focus on: inequality, collective identification, and the political nature of individualization. The paper concludes by suggesting that we can differentiate between a form of ‘disembedded’ individualization, which lacks empirical backing, and an ‘embedded’ conception, which does not.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Dawson, Professor Matt |
Authors: | Dawson, M. |
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
College/School: | College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences |
Journal Name: | Acta Sociologica |
ISSN: | 0001-6993 |
ISSN (Online): | 1502-3869 |
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