Black: the cultural and historical meaning of the darkest colour. From the 'little black dress' which epitomises chic, to its links to death, depression and evil, 'black' embodies many contrasting values. White Europeans exploited the negative associations of 'black' in enslaving millions of Africans whilst artists & designers have endlessly deployed the colour in their creative work. Laurie Taylor talks to John Harvey, Life Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, about his new book which exp...
Jul 22, 2015•28 min
Middle class drug dealers: Laurie Taylor discusses a study into suburban drug selling amongst well heeled teens in a wealthy suburb of Atlanta, USA. The author, Richard Wright, Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, reveals a world which provides a striking counterpoint to the devastation of the drug war in poor, minority communities. Instead, he found that middle class 'dealing' rarely disrupted conventional career...
Jul 15, 2015•28 min
Being Arab in London: diaspora and difference in the city. Laurie Taylor talks to Ramy M. K. Aly, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the American University in Cairo, about his seven year study of the everyday experiences of young, British-Arab people and the ways in which London has shaped and changed their ethnic identities. Also, British identity among migrant groups. Dr Saffron Karlsen, Senior Lecturer in Social Research, explores the degree to which ethnic and religious minorities feel ...
Jul 08, 2015•28 min
Factory music:the role that popular music plays in workers' culture. Marek Korczynski, Chair in Sociology of Work at the Nottingham University Business School, talks to Laurie Taylor about his study of a British factory that manufactures window blinds, revealing how pop music can enliven monotonous work, providing a sense of community as well as moments of resistance to the tyranny of the workplace. Also, volunteering in 'hard times': James Laurence ESRC Research Fellow at the University of Manc...
Jul 01, 2015•28 min
White, working class boys at school: Laurie Taylor talks to Garth Stahl. Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of South Australia, and author of a new study about boys' underachievement in Britain. Why do so many disengage from education? They're joined by Heather Mendick, Reader in Education at Brunel University. Also, the grand, French intellectual tradition. Dr Sudhir Hazareesingh, political scientist and writer, explores the prominence of thinkers in the life and history of F...
Jun 24, 2015•28 min
The 'Precariat': Laurie Taylor talks to Guy Standing, Professor in Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His highly influential 2011 book introduced the 'Precariat' as an emerging mass class, characterized by inequality and insecurity. Professor Standing argues that that the increasingly global nature of the Precariat is leading to the kind of social unrest which carries grave political risks. Marking the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, he...
Jun 17, 2015•28 min
Lesbian lives in Russia: Laurie Taylor talks to Francesca Stella, Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Glasgow, and author of a study which explores the changing nature of same sex relationships amongst women since the demise of state communism. From the metropolis to the provinces, she finds evidence of women negotiating visible, as well as closeted lives. Also, is 'big data' leading to the pervasive 24/7 surveillance of every moment of our lives? Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law a...
Jun 10, 2015•28 min
Anthropology: the future of the A level. Laurie Taylor talks to Joy Hendry, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, about the proposed cancellation of this course. At a time of global conflict, is it the right time to axe a discipline which allows insight into cultures and ideas very different from our own? Also, 'blame' in the criminal justice system. Tim Hillier, Associate Head of Leicester de Montfort Law School, De Montfort University, Leicester, explores the role an...
Jun 03, 2015•28 min
Poverty in Britain: Laurie Taylor talks to Joanna Mack, Learning and Teaching producer at the Open University, about the largest ever survey of UK levels of economic and social deprivation. Her co-authored book, 'Breadline Britain..' claims that poverty is at an all time high. Also, claimants who reject work. Andrew Dunn, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Lincoln University, has conducted research which suggests that some unemployed people turn down 'undesirable' work, thus choosing to remain ...
May 19, 2015•28 min
The gym: Laurie Taylor explores the social history of the gymnasium with the writer and sociologist, Eric Chaline. Although this 'temple of perfection' appears primarily as a site for producing the 'body beautiful', this study finds it has also been a battleground in political, sexual and cultural wars. They're joined by Louise Mansfield, Sociologist of Sport at Brunel University Also, tattoos at work: Andrew Timming, Reader in Management at the University of St Andrews, talks about prejudices t...
May 11, 2015•28 min
Gentrification: its impact on working class residents. Laurie Taylor talks to Kirsteen Paton, lecturer in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds, about her groundbreaking research in a neighbourhood undergoing urban renewal and improvement. Many such studies have focused on middle class lifestyles rather than the experience of less well off members of the community. Are working class residents inevitably displaced by gentrification and must traditional ways of life ...
May 05, 2015•28 min
Post traumatic stress in male combat veterans: Laurie Taylor talks to Nick Caddick, Research Assistant at Loughborough University, and co-author of a study exploring the relationship between masculinity, militarism and mental health. Do conventional notions of male bravery and resilience impede soldiers' ability to access to support? They're joined by Anthony King, Professor in Sociology at the University of Exeter. Also, managing beds in the NHS. Pressure on beds is an acute challenge to the he...
Apr 29, 2015•28 min
This year, the BBC's Thinking Allowed, in association with the British Sociological Association, launched the second year of its award for a study that has made a significant contribution to ethnography, the in-depth analysis of the everyday life of a culture or sub-culture. Laurie Taylor presents a special edition of Thinking Allowed to mark the announcement of the winner of the 2015 award. Laurie and a team of leading academics - Professor Beverley Skeggs, Professor Adam Kuper, Dr Coretta Phil...
Apr 22, 2015•28 min
The Ethnography award 'short list': Thinking Allowed, in association with the British Sociological Association, presents a special programme devoted to the academic research which has been short listed for our second annual award for a study that has made a significant contribution to ethnography, the in-depth analysis of the everyday life of a culture or sub culture. Laurie Taylor is joined by three of the judges: Professor Beverley Skeggs, Professor Adam Kuper and Dr Coretta Phillips. Producer...
Apr 15, 2015•28 min
Free will explored. Laurie Taylor talks to Julian Baggini, writer and Founding Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine, about his latest work which considers the concept of freedom. He argues against the idea that free will is an illusion due to a combination of genes, environment and personal history. Instead he posits a sliding scale of freedom which allows for the possibility of individual agency and responsibility. Also, pets as family: Nickie Charles, Professor and Director of the Centre for t...
Apr 08, 2015•28 min
Making citizens: how countries make public rituals out of endowing new citizens with citizenship. Laurie Taylor talks to Bridget Byrne, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester, about her in-depth comparative study of citizenship ceremonies. In a mobile, transnational world passports and rights matter now more than ever. So how do states draw and establish the boundaries of citizenship? Using empirical research in the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands,...
Apr 01, 2015•28 min
Jeans on a journey: Laurie Taylor talks to Andrew Brooks, Lecturer in Development Geography at Kings College London, about his study of the hidden world of fast fashion and second hand clothes. Following a pair of jeans in an around-the-world tour, this research reveals the commodity chains which perpetuate poverty - from Mozambican markets to London's vintage clothing scene. Fur, family and inheritance. Siobhan Magee, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, discusses her re...
Mar 25, 2015•28 min
Love, Money and HIV in Kenya. Laurie Taylor talks to Sanyu Mojola, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, and author of a study exploring how modern women in developing countries experience sexuality and love. Drawing on a rich variety of interview, ethnographic and survey data from her native country of Kenya, she examines how young African women, who suffer disproportionate rates of HIV infection compared to young African men, navigate their relationships, schooling, e...
Mar 18, 2015•28 min
A lost avant garde: Laurie Taylor examines the tension between art & money in the contemporary art museum. He talks to Matti Bunzl, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, and author of a study which takes a rare look behind the scenes of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. He found that a commitment to new and difficult work came into conflict with an imperative for growth, leading to an excessive focus on the entertaining and profitable. Also, biologising parenthood: rec...
Mar 11, 2015•28 min
Wombs for Sale: commercial surrogacy in India & beyond. Couples from all over the world can now hire Indian women to bear their children for a fraction of the cost of surrogacy elsewhere. Laurie Taylor talks to Amrita Pande, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cape Town, and author of a detailed study into a burgeoning business which has little or no government regulation. She talked to surrogates, their families, clients, doctors and brokers to capture the full mechanics of a ...
Mar 04, 2015•28 min
Migration: the complexities of transnational movement, identity and belonging. Laurie Taylor explores migration in contrasting contexts. He talks to Daniel Briggs, Professor of Criminology at the Universidad Europea, Madrid, about his study of Romanian economic migrants in Britain. Leaving behind the debt and corruption of their home in life in the hope of finding something better, what kinds of lives do they end up living in the UK? Also, Daniel Conway, Lecturer in Politics & International ...
Feb 25, 2015•28 min
Conservatism: Roger Scruton, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, talks to Laurie Taylor, about the intellectual roots of Conservative values and ideology. Also, the emotional labour of care workers in a private residential care home. Eleanor Johnson, Researcher in Social Sciences at the University of Cardiff, talks about her case study of carer's practical and emotional work. Producer: Jayne Egerton.
Feb 18, 2015•28 min
Harvard Business School: Laurie Taylor takes a journey through the complex moral world of what many call the West Point of American Capitalism. Michel Anteby, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, describes his research into the inner workings, mores and rituals of this highly influential institution.They're joined by Professor Ken Starkey from the Nottingham University Business School. Also, a cultural history of pain with Dr Louise Hide, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of ...
Feb 11, 2015•28 min
Inside the Muslim Brotherhood - The first in-depth study of the relationship between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own members. Laurie talks to Hazem Kandil, Lecturer in Political Sociology at Cambridge University, about his intimate portrayal of the organisation's recruitment, socialisation and ideology. Privately educated girls - a 3 year study of 91 young women at 4 independent schools. Claire Maxwell, Reader in Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, finds that an eli...
Feb 04, 2015•28 min
Migraine: a cultural history. How did a painful and disabling disorder come to be seen as a symptom of femininity? Laurie Taylor talks to Joanna Kempner, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, about her research into the gendered values which feed into our understanding of pain. Also, 'chavs' and 'pramfaces': Anoop Nayak, Professor in Social and Cultural Geography at Newcastle University, discusses a study into how marginalised young men and women resist the social stigma attach...
Jan 28, 2015•28 min
Dissident Irish Republicanism - Laurie Taylor talks to John Morrison, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of East London, about his in depth study into the recent intensification of rogue paramilitary activity, Can the upsurge in dissident Republican violence be explained by the history of splits within the Movement? He charts the rise of groups including the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and the newly emerging 'New IRA.' He's joined by Henry Mcdonald, Belfast correspondent at the Observ...
Jan 21, 2015•28 min
Grading universities - The rights and wrongs of the Research Excellence Framework. The REF is the most recent in a series of national assessments of research in British universities. But how reliable and fair are these assessments? Do they give the taxpayer value for money, as is hoped by their advocates? And will they lead to the best and most innovative research in the future? Laurie Taylor asks the questions. He's joined by the former Minister for Higher Education and Conservative MP, David W...
Jan 14, 2015•28 min
The militarisation of every day life. Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, talks to Laurie about the multiple ways in which military violence and war play invade our current lives, pervading language and entertainment. Are we irrevocably 'wounding the world'? Also, Richard Ocejo, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York, takes us on a mystery ride with teenage New Yorkers, showing the diverse ways in which people experience being stran...
Jan 07, 2015•28 min
Self-help & self-improvement. As thoughts turn to resolutions and making a fresh start in 2015, Laurie Taylor wonders if his scepticism about self-help books and self-improvement programmes is well founded. He goes for advice to Christine Whelan - Professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin and a self-help author. Further enlightenment is provided by Meg John Barker - Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University - who has studied self-help literature deali...
Dec 31, 2014•28 min
Customs at Christmas and beyond. It may be best not to invite a sociologist for Xmas - they're liable to spend their time chronicling, even questioning your seasonal rituals. In this festive programme, Laurie Taylor looks at the ever shifting nature of our habits, practices and customs; changes in our lives which have been detected and discussed in previous editions of Thinking Allowed. Is our concept of romantic love as timeless as we often presume? How did bathrooms evolve from luxurious Victo...
Dec 25, 2014•28 min
