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Jack Barbalet
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Jack Barbalet was Foundation Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and previously Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester.
I am a sociologist interested in economic sociology. My current research is on Chinese Enterprise. I’m also interested in the theory of action, and associated questions of identity, interest and temporality. Previous areas of research interest, including citizenship and also the sociology of emotions, continue to hold my attention. I write mainly for an academic audience, broadly conceived. My concern with the social bases of market participation contributes to the intellectual ethos of CCPP.
The great Australian painter Brett Whiteley wrote: “Art is a way of getting into and out of life. The way the two meet is what we call individuality; how the two meet is what we call style; when the two meet is what we call history”. This is reminiscent of C. Wright Mills view of the sociological imagination as enabling us to grasp the intersection of biography and history. That’s why I love sociology, and art – they help us both join and reflect on individual as well as social life.
Sociology, and art – they help us both join and reflect on individual as well as social life
Area of expertise
theories of agency and power; classical social theory, especially Max Weber; issues in economic sociology; theories of entrepreneurship and markets; issues in Chinese economy, society and thought.
- Economic sociologist
- Sociological Theory
- Chinese economy and society
Noteworthy Publications
Weber, Passion and Profits: ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ in ContextCambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Emotion, Social Theory, and Social Structure: A Macrosociological ApproachCambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Emotions and SociologyOxford: Blackwell Publishing (Sociological Review Monograph Series), 2002.
Recent Publications (2009 - 2011)
Books2011. Religion and the State: From Deprivatisation to Securitization, and from Pietism to Consumerism. London: Anthem Press. [Edited with Adam Possamai and Bryan Turner] (in press).
Articles in refereed journals.
2011. ‘Self Interest and the Theory of Action’ [under review with American Journal of Economics and Sociology].
2011. ‘Market Relations as Wuwei: Traditional Concepts in Analysis of China’s Post-1978 Economy’. Asian Studies Review. [forthcoming].
2011. ‘Emotions beyond Regulation: Backgrounded Emotions in Science and Trust’. Emotion Review. 3(1): 36-43.
2010. ‘Citizenship in Max Weber’. Journal of Classical Sociology. 10(3): 201-16.
2009. ‘Action Theoretic Foundations of Economic Sociology’. Wirtschaftssoziologie. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. Sonderheft 49: 143-57.
2009. ‘A Characterization of Trust, and its Consequences’. Theory and Society. 38(4): 367-82.
2009. ‘Disinterestedness and Self Formation: Principles of Action in William Hazlitt’. European Journal of Social Theory. 12(2): 195-211.
Book Chapters:
2011. ‘Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments: A Foundational Text of Emotions Sociology’. Hauptwerke der Emotionssoziologie, edited by Konstanze Senge and Rainer Schützeichel. Berlin: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften (in press).
2011. ‘Chinese Religion, Market Society and the State’. Religion and the State, edited by Jack Barbalet, Adam Possamai and Bryan Turner. London: Anthem Press (in press).
2009. ‘Consciousness, Emotions, and Science’. Pp. 39-71 in Theorizing Emotions: Sociological Explorations and Applications, edited by Debra Hopkins, Jochen Kleres, Helena Flam and Helmut Kuzmics. Frankfurt/New York: Camus Verlag.
2009. ‘Pragmatism and Symbolic Interactionism’. Pp. 199-217 in New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, edited by Bryan Turner. London: Blackwell.
