Sociological Perspectives

This paper identifies four distinct stages in the 20th century emergence of a new direction in Marxian theory. Called here “Semiotic Marxism,” its central assumption is a reversal of the classic base/superstructure logic of determinate relations between the economic base and the political and ideological superstructure. Each stage builds upon the theoretical reconstitutions of the previous stage. To illustrate this step-by-step transformation, the theoretical logic of a representative Marxist theorist is explicated. These four stages in the emergence of a Semiotic Marxism are: (1) the initial inversion of base/superstructure logic (Gramsci), (2) the expansion of the logic of the ideological downward to merge with the logic of the political (Althusser), (3) the further expansion downward of the logic of the now merged ideological/political sphere to absorb the logic of the economic sphere (Poulantzas), and finally, (4) the recasting of the once Marxian social formation comprised of social relations in production, into the new Semiotic Marxist “discursive formation” composed of linguistic relations between subject identities (Laclau and Mouffe).

Three epistemologies—pragmatism, positivism, and hermeneutics—are sociologically explained as the ideologies of different groups doing various kinds of scientific work. These ideologies are shaped by the material conditions and social structures of scientific work in different areas of the sciences. Pragmatism is the ideology of research fronts that constantly produce change and innovation; positivism is the ideology of normal science with its routinized practices and high task certainty; hermeneutics is the philosophy of choice in loosely coupled textual fields with a high level of decentralization.

Both historical analysis and data on university formation in Europe for the period 1200–1800 are used to introduce a perspective which links the organizational pattern of university foundings with the structure of political authority. Most theories of higher education cannot account for the pattern of university foundings. My political-institutional perspective interprets this pattern in the context of the relationship between knowledge and authority in Western history and connects the founding and control of a university to claims to political authority. Quantitative data suggest that universities are founded least where there is a central authority with relatively low levels of competing authority claims (e.g., England). They are founded most in highly decentralized regions characterized by many claims to sovereignty (e.g., Germany, Italy). Intermediate to high rates of foundings occur where a multiplicity of local and provincial claims to authority exist within a bureaucratic state (e.g., France, Spain).

Visual gender depictions in six trade publications are examined in decennial years from 1960 through 1990 to assess whether greater female participation in professional occupations and editorial staffs has helped reduce gender stereotyping of professional women. Greater relative numbers of women in the occupation over time and an increasing share of female editors result in more favorable portrayals of women as professional, confident, independent, and attractive. Although the positive portrayal of women by male-dominated professional journals increased over the last four decades, more male-oriented professional publications still display women less favorably than occurs in female-dominant trade journals. Separate analyses by visual type reveal that women are depicted in a less positive manner across advertisements than other visuals, probably because women have less control of ad content. Findings indicate the importance of agents who control visual depictions for the maintenance or reduction of gender stereotyping in the professions. Likely ramifications of such stereotypes for women professionals and for professional behavior in general are discussed.

Given the greater propensity of married women to choose a childless lifestyle in recent decades, it is important to understand what contributes to or deters this decision. This paper focuses on religious homogamy as a possible predictor. Data from the Canadian Fertility Survey (CFS) are used to examine the relationship between religious homogamy and voluntary childlessness in the context of several sociodemographic and economic controls. The results indicate that non-Catholic wives in homogamous marriages who attend church services frequently are less motivated to control fertility, regardless of their sociodemographic background. It may be argued that, unless more attention is devoted in the literature to various dimensions of religion, little consensus on the effect of religious factors on childlessness can be expected.