Books by Walter Nicholls
Papers by Walter Nicholls
The British Journal of Sociology, 2008
As the title implies, the idea of this book is to explore the role of human reflexivity in relati... more As the title implies, the idea of this book is to explore the role of human reflexivity in relation to how we 'make our way through the world'. This book makes an important contribution to what is already known about being and becoming in the social world (of the northern hemisphere). Archer acknowledges that: 'It will not have escaped any reader's attention that the adjective 'reflexive' is in vogue for describing currently high, late or second-wave modernity' (p. 29). In this book, she takes reflexivity as the capacity to dialogue internally with oneself about one's life. This approach does not represent an attempt to jettison objective structural materiality, neither is it a desire to foreground unfettered agency. Rather, this book attempts to show how people 'mediate deliberatively' (p. 61) drawing on their structural settings in different ways in order to construct a life for themselves. Her point is that social mobility is a process, not a once and forever one-way activity, and thus, reflexivity, the capacity to deliberate, is itself differently articulated and rearticulated over time by different social actors. One of the most refreshing and innovative findings is the demonstration of the way in which reflexive identity work can sometimes take many years to result in any specific outcomes or changes. Although there are many books about social mobility and work, what makes this work distinctive is its concern with the ways in which we hold 'internal conversations' with ourselves. Archer has already made a distinguished contribution towards sociological analysis in her earlier work on culture, agency and internal conversation and this book is a synthesis of these critical concerns. This book draws on a study of a diverse group of 128 respondents who were asked questions about how they thought things over to themselves 'silently, in (their) heads' (p. 91). They were 'assured that far from everyone engaged in all of these inner activities and that people differed greatly in how much time, importance and value they attached to engaging in any of them' (p. 91). This book charts the various ways in which these inner dialogues can be categorized, and provides illustrations of how different groups of people talk to themselves about themselves and what this means in terms of inhibiting or facilitating social mobility. The book is divided into three parts. The first section contains a sociological analysis of the construct of reflexivity. It also explains how the qualitative research project that lies at the heart of this book was organized and conducted. An appendix is included in the book that details the sample construction as well as the methods related to accessing and categorizing different 'types' of internal thinking. While this is useful, I would have liked
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
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ABSTRACT
Theory and Society, 2014
Over the last 20 years, the global North has witnessed the growing prominence of immigrant rights... more Over the last 20 years, the global North has witnessed the growing prominence of immigrant rights movements. This article examines how this highly stigmatized population has achieved a certain degree of legitimacy in hostile political environments. The central claim of the article is that this kind of legitimacy is initially achieved through the efforts of activists to represent undocumented immigrants in ways that resonate with the normative values of the nation. The author examines how activist networks are formed to present their cases within national political fields and the effects of this process on the political identities of immigrants and their respective citizenship regimes. The process of gaining legitimacy is contradictory. It contributes to nationalizing the political identities of foreigners and reproducing the exclusionary logic of national citizenship regimes. But in doing this, it encourages those who cannot conform to national values to embrace more radical and universal conceptions of rights. The generation of competing discourses and notions of rights (national versus universal) therefore arises through struggles to make undocumented immigrants into legitimate political subjects.
In the early 1980s, urban researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and the Univ... more In the early 1980s, urban researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California embarked on a concerted effort to study and theorize the Los Angeles region. Their efforts resulted in a number of important theoretical and empirical writings that helped many rethink the ways in which contemporary cities work. Highlighting these contributions and examining how they inform our understandings of difference and the city, this article adopts a threefold approach. Firstly, it examines how the LA School integrated Marxist and poststructuralist theories to create a distinctive framework to interpret the sociospatial differences of the late-capitalist city. The article maintains that rather than being a mere exponent of 'postmodern'urbanism, the unique theoretical contribution of the school has been its attempt to weave two theoretical traditions into a new interpretive framework. Secondly, the article examines the processes highlighted by the LA School that fractured the city–region into innumerable sociospatial pieces. Lastly, the article suggests the emergence of a second generation of the LA School, a generation retaining an interest in the issue of difference but seeking to explore how differences shape the possibilities for reactionary and progressive urban politics. The article concludes with a speculative discussion of what will become of the LA School with the departure of its most important contributors from UCLA and USC.
The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, 2013
Critiques, Experiences, and Responses, 2013
Urban Studies, 2009
This book examines the forces that have given rise to 'advanced marginality&... more This book examines the forces that have given rise to 'advanced marginality'in postindustrial societies. Wacquant argues that generic macroeconomic forces have interacted with the particular race/class structures of cities and national state strategies to produce various modalities of advanced marginality in post-industrial societies. To 'test'this thesis, Wacquant compares the two most prominent variants of advanced marginality in the global North: the 'hyperghetto'of the US and the banlieues of France. Both countries have experienced ...
The British Journal of Sociology, 2008
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Dialogues in Human Geography, Jul 1, 2011
Remaking Urban Citizenship: Organizations, Institutions, and the Right to the City, Feb 28, 2012
How are cities strategic spaces through which immigrants struggle for general rights? We assert t... more How are cities strategic spaces through which immigrants struggle for general rights? We assert that immigrant struggles in cities are not necessarily about a" right to the city." Instead, battles over urban issues are often proxy battles for broader rights in the national society. As these battles are fought through urban policy areas like zoning, housing, and transit, immigrant activists must develop new alliances with organizations in possession of specialized resources and knowledge. Location in sizable cities with high organizational ...
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Books by Walter Nicholls
Papers by Walter Nicholls
shape changing social and political contexts. It is organized into three main sections: (1) Place, Space and Mobility: Sites of Mobilization and Regulation, (2) Scale and Territory: Structuring Collective Interests, Identities, and Resources, and (3) Networks: Connecting Actors and Resources across Space. It concludes by suggesting that different spatialities (place, scale, networks) interlink within one another in particular instances of collective action, playing distinctive yet complementary roles in shaping how these actions unfold in the political arena. By mapping state of the art conceptual and empirical terrain across Geography, Sociology, and Political Science, Spaces of Contention provides readers with a much needed guide to innovative research on the spatial constitution of social movements and how social movements tactically and strategically approach and produce space.