Sociology thesis and dissertation collection
Welcome to Sociology, part of the School of Social and Political Studies at the University of Edinburgh. The Department began in 1964 and remains one of the most eminent in the UK for research, undergraduate teaching and postgraduate research.
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Recent Submissions
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The Sociology of Sexual Polarity
(The University of Edinburgh, 1990)This thesis presents an attempt to create a general approach to the sexes in society through the sociology of Max Weber. This falls into three main sections: a consideration of methodological issues; a set of comparative ... -
Institutions in/cognito: the political constitution of agency
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-11-27)Operating at the boundaries of philosophy of mind, cognitive science, politics and social theory, this thesis aims to develop an interdisciplinary model of the relationship between agency and structure. This thesis ... -
Spirit of Caprera: an ethnographic analysis of sailing
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)The research investigates the Centro Velico Caprera (CVC), a sailing school located in the Mediterrean Sea, whose purpose is to replicate the lifestyle of a ship on land. This ambition creates an isolated environment ... -
Casting nets and framing films: an ethnography of networks of cultural production in Beirut
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-11-27)Filmmakers first received widespread academic attention as case studies into the increasing casualisation of labour in post-industrial economies. Their precarious existence in project-based labour markets provided much ... -
Taking the complexity turn to steer carbon reduction policy: applying practice theory, complexity theory and cultural practices to policies addressing climate change
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-11-27)Achieving the Scottish Government’s carbon reduction targets requires not only the decarbonisation of industry and electricity generation, which is now largely underway, but also significant changes in the actions and ... -
Who cares? Indian nurses ‘on the move’ and how their transnational migration for care work shapes their multigenerational relationships of familial care over time
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)This thesis explores how migration for care work shapes Indian nurses’ multigenerational relationships of familial care over time. Using qualitative research methods, it interrogates the intertwining of economic and ... -
Living the neoliberal global schooling project: an ethnography of childhood and everyday choices in Nepal
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-11-27)This research draws upon interdisciplinary studies of childhood and young people’s agency to present an ethnographic account of one group of young people in Nepal’s lived experience of ‘the global schooling project’, a ... -
Sylheti-heritage children in urban Scotland: challenging the deficit model through the lens of childhood in Sylhet
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)This thesis seeks to challenge deficit approaches to ‘different’ childhoods. It does this through documenting the everyday life experiences of Sylheti-heritage Muslim children in urban Scotland, and reading these childhoods ... -
Researching intimacy in family life: a mixed methods study of emotional closeness of grandparent-grandchild relationships in Scotland
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)This thesis aims to investigate how, and under what circumstances, intimacy in grandparent-grandchild relationships is enabled, enacted and sustained in the early years of grandchildren. Previous work on emotional closeness ... -
Performing remembrances of 9/11
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)The attacks of 11 September 2001 have had a profound impact for many, altering lives, perceptions, politics and policies. The last decade saw the construction of numerous memorials commemorating the events across the United ... -
Knowing and knowledge production: controversies in Eastern Tibetan villages
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)This thesis is a study of knowledge practices in contemporary eastern Tibetan villages, where indigenous knowledge, the modern state’s rationality and modern science intermingled. The place is rich in the interplay of ... -
Fighting with the senses: exploring the doing and undoing of gendered embodiment in karate
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-08)Karate is a sensuous martial art-come-sporting practice. Through a combinations of tacit exchanges of kicks and punches, sweaty touches, sweaty smells, aggressive shouts, communal laughs and helping tweaks of the body ... -
Darwinian social evolution as a theory of social change
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)This thesis investigates the use of a reconceptualised social evolutionary theory for understanding and explaining how and why societies change, specifically looking at this question through the frame of nationalism. The ... -
Third sector and the shaping of services for Huntington’s disease in Scotland: organisations, boundary work and expertise
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)Social science research on third sector organisations in the last two decades has emphasised their growing presence and importance in healthcare. This has occurred alongside significant reorganisation of health systems ... -
Technological field: technological innovation in the UK marine energy technology sector
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)The aim of this thesis is to develop an innovative theoretical understanding of technological innovation as a social phenomenon and to demonstrate the results of its application to the sector of UK's marine energy ... -
An American atra? Boundaries of diasporic nation-building amongst Assyrians and Chaldeans in the United States
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)Voluntary and forced migrations over the past century have given rise to the number of displaced peoples and nations who consider themselves diasporas. The resiliency of these extra-territorial nations after displacement ... -
Face to face - sociology looks at the art object: the case of portraiture
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)The thesis emerged from two streams. First, from an interest in portraiture. Both the portrait as an art object and portraiture as a social process are mediated by power relations, yet, despite this, it is a genre that ... -
Social statuses in later life: a study of the effect of retirement in Germany today
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)The thesis presents analysis on four types of social statuses (as defined by Linton and Merton), namely volunteer, carer for an adult, child carer, and friend, in the second half of life in Germany based on the German ... -
“But it comes with a price”: employment in social movement organizations
(The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-29)In recent decades, social movements in general and Social Movement Organisations (SMOs) in particular have been going through processes of professionalisation, adopting market goals and methods, and employing on a large ... -
Building blocks: a historical sociology of the innovation and regulation of exchange traded funds in the United States, 1970-2000
(The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-09)Between 1993 and 2016, the U.S. exchange traded fund (ETF) market has proliferated from one product worth $6.5 million USD to 1,455 products worth over $2 trillion USD. Despite its dramatic growth, the ETF market has yet ...
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