Ann Nilsen

Individualisation, choice and structure: a discussion of current trends in sociological analysis

In this paper we seek to explore a tendency in current sociological thought to highlight notions of choice and autonomy in writings about contemporary Western societies. We wish to draw attention to some of the consequences of leaving out discussions of the structural aspects of societies and peoples lives, for individuals as well as for the development and application of sociological theory and its ability to understand the connection between history and individual biography. Our discussion is based on qualitative research that we have conducted in recent years, and draws on focus groups with young people in Norway and Britain. From this critique we seek to demonstrate how concepts that take account of context and structure as well individual subjectivities can create a better ‘fit’ with complex and diverse realties.

From fatherhood to fathering : Transmission and change among british fathers in four-generation families

Drawing upon biographical-narrative research involving case studies of British families in which four generations were alive at the same time, the article examines change and continuity among fathers and sons, focusing in detail upon one family.The article examines the scheduling of fatherhood in the life course of three generations; the ways in which they talked about ‘fathering’ and fatherhood when their children were young; and the transmission of fathering within families. The particular case, a family of low-skilled men, demonstrates how structural changes and cultural resources combine in the negotiation of a model of ‘hands-on fathering’ in the current father generation. The article draws out some theoretical aspects of the analysis; in particular, how structural and cultural changes and gender intersect differently for different social classes.The theoretical insights depend upon a biographical approach which emphasized the changing context and the ways in which each generation acted upon that context.

Young People,Time Horizons and Planning A Response to Anderson et al

In a recent article in Sociology, Anderson et al. (2005) explore the plans Scottish young adults formulated for their future lives, drawing largely on survey evidence. They do so in the context of taking issue with qualitative research conducted by Brannen and Nilsen (2002) concerning how British young people and young Norwegians think about the future.This article compares the respective studies in greater depth. First, it examines the different aims of the respective studies and their conceptualizations. Second, it looks at issues of methodological difference.

Where is the future? Time and space as categories in analyses of young people's images of the future

Abstract The article explores how thoughts about environmental problems facing the global community are embedded in and connected to the way young people envisage the future. It is based on analyses of in‐depth interviews with young Norwegian men and women about their expectations for the future. Current theoretical conceptualizations of time, and of time‐space are central in the discussions. In the analysis a distinction between the everyday terms plans, hopes, and dreams is made to conceptualize lime horizons on the personal level. This kind of perspective demonstrates how environmental issues related to on the personal level, can be understood and problematized with reference to the wider theoretical discussion within sociology in general and in environmental sociology in particular. Special emphasis is put on the perspectives developed by Ulrich Beck and his conceptualizations of risk and threat.

Comparative Biographies in Case-based Cross-national Research: Methodological Considerations

This article examines some methodological issues relating to an embedded case study design adopted in a comparative cross-national study of working parents covering three levels of social context: the macro level; the workplace level; and the individual level. It addresses issues of generalizability, in particular the importance of criteria for the selection of cases in the research design and analysis phases. To illustrate the benefits of the design the article focuses on the level of individual biographies. Three exemplars of biographical trajectories and experiences are presented and discussed. It is argued that a multi-tiered design and a comparative biographical approach can add to the understanding of individual experience by placing it in context and thus yield knowledge that is of general sociological relevance by demonstrating the interrelatedness of agency and structure.

A double blind study of single dose azithromycin and doxycycline in the treatment of chlamydial urethritis in males.

OBJECTIVE--To compare the efficacy and safety of azithromycin and doxycycline in the treatment of males with uncomplicated urethritis caused by chlamydia trachomatis. DESIGN--A multicentre, double-blind, randomised treatment study. SUBJECTS--130 male outpatients with clinical signs and symptoms of urethritis. SETTING--STD clinics at four Norwegian University Hospitals. METHODS--Patients were randomly allocated to 1000 mg azithromycin as single dose or doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days. Clinical, bacteriological and safety assessments were made at entry and after 1 and 2 weeks. Safety data were also repeated after 4 weeks. RESULTS--Demographic data were similar in both groups. At the week 1 assessment bacteriological eradication was achieved in 44 of 44 evaluable azithromycintreated patients and in 42 of 42 in the doxycycline group. At the week 2 assessment the corresponding figures were 35 of 35 and 34 of 34 respectively. CONCLUSION--Azithromycin 1000 mg single dose was as effective as doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days in male patients with chlamydial urethritis.

Longitudinal study of cytomegalovirus antibodies in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody profiles were studied in 25 HIV-infected patients over periods of up to 56 months. Specific antibodies against CMV antigen components were monitored by complement-fixation (CF) test, EIA, Western blot and a neutralization assay. Three subjects remained CMV seronegative throughout the study. Marked fluctuations were observed in anti-CMV antibodies assayed by the CF test as compared to a control group. Fluctuations on immunoblots of purified virion antigens were also observed in the HIV-infected patients; neutralizing antibodies and anti-CMV nucleocapsid antibodies showed less variability. Seven of 22 individuals exhibited an increase in CF-test titre of up to 64-fold without clinically apparent CMV disease. On Western-blot testing of IgG reactivity with disrupted virions, ten individuals exhibited increasing reactivity to pp65, and only three of these also showed a titre rise in the CF test. In contrast, 7 of 22 showed low reactivity to the pp28 antigen. The homosexual patient group exhibited the highest levels of anti-CMV antibody. In conclusion, many asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects showed fluctuations at different levels of their antibody response to CMV, thought to be indicative of CMV reactivation/reinfection. Western-blot findings indicated that some CMV antibodies increased in level while others were lost.

Stories of life Stories of living: Women’ narratives and feminist biography

Abstract Narrative structure in biographical accounts is currently a much debated theme. This article brings together methodological debates in life story research and discussions within feminism about womens narratives and feminist biography. Connections between gendered conceptions of time and structures in narrative accounts are explored, and seen in relation to the context of interviewing. The latter is problematized as a setting that affects both the form and content of the biographical accounts given by informants. From this approach the opportunity arises for illuminating connections between “private troubles” in peoples lives and “public issues” in society. An empirical discussion based on biographical interviews with white, Norwegian, middle‐class women, is carried out to illustrate the points made.

An intergenerational approach to transitions to adulthood: : the importance of history and biography.

In this paper we discuss the importance of taking an historical, intergenerational approach in sociological research. Lives need to be understood in the contexts of particular times and places. The backcloth to our discussion is the contemporary disruption of many young peoples life course transitions from education to work in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean countries but also among some young people in the UK, the main focus of the paper. We discuss two concepts and debates that have attracted attention in social science and the public domain. One concerns the designation of unemployed young people as a ‘lost generation’ and the other relates to assumptions about ‘intergenerational conflicts’. These concepts are prone to ignore the historical specificity of the contexts in which and to which they are applied. They also take those contexts as impervious to political intervention. In short they serve to uphold a rhetoric of inevitability about the present economic, political and public policies relating to young people and intergenerational relations. In order to demonstrate the importance of historical context on young peoples transitions to adulthood, using a life course biographical approach we analyse an empirical example of a father and son taken from an intergenerational family study conducted in the UK. In this case we also adopt an historical intergenerational lens to show how young peoples transitions are supported by other family generations and are thus not individualised pathways to adulthood.

WORK, LIFE COURSE, AND GENDER

Since Norwegian family-friendly policies are gender neutral while the division of labour in families is gendered, some argue that the generous state support for families may end up upholding the status quo; it may perpetuate the existing inequitable division of labour between mothers and fathers in the home and in the labour market in which some women take long maternity leave and work part-time. Since many gender equality measures are intended to increase the percentage of women in male-dominated occupations and positions, they are aimed at occupations with upwardly mobile trajectories. A typological distinction between ‘career’ and ‘non-career’ work is made in the analysis of biographical cases of men and women in two different organisational settings. Their thoughts and actions in relation to their occupational trajectories over the life course are examined in different layers of context in order to understand how a complex set of factors affects ways of adjusting to the phase of being parents of young children. The paper concludes that the relationship between gender equality measures and family-friendly policies is not necessarily characterised by tensions, but must rather be considered in relation to a complex set of circumstances in mens and womens life courses that include family, education, and occupation as well as organisational settings that for the many do not involve career jobs.