Bo Isenberg
Lund University, Department of Sociology, Faculty Member
The paper discusses the general relation between sociology and literature and argues that the former has not only a lot in common with the latter, but also things to include and elaborate on. The paper uses as examples a number of... more
The paper discusses the general relation between sociology and literature and argues that the former has not only a lot in common with the latter, but also things to include and elaborate on. The paper uses as examples a number of sociologists and novelists and compares their ways of interpreting modern society and modern man.
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Essan diskuterar forfattaren Kristian Lundbergs skildringar av det samtida arbetslivet med utgangspunkt i olika centrala sociologiska begrepp och problemstallningar. Essan slar fast att Lundberg skonlitterart ger gestalt at flera viktiga... more
Essan diskuterar forfattaren Kristian Lundbergs skildringar av det samtida arbetslivet med utgangspunkt i olika centrala sociologiska begrepp och problemstallningar. Essan slar fast att Lundberg skonlitterart ger gestalt at flera viktiga och aterkommande erfarenheter for det som kommit att kallas prekariatet, en ny, uppkommande, sammansatt social klass vars liv kannetecknas av ovisshet, utsatthet, underordning. Diskussionen refererar till saval klassiska som samtida sociologiska forfattare – Marx, Weber, Simmel, Durkheim, Tonnies, Benjamin, Standing, Ehrenreich, Hochschild, Southwood, Sennett.
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Recension av Magnus Linton, Text & Stil. Om konsten att berätta med vetenskap. Bedömningen är avgjort positiv. Linton har skrivit en träffande, relevant, adekvat bok för alla som skriver sakprosa – samhälls- och kulturvetare, humanister,... more
Recension av Magnus Linton, Text & Stil. Om konsten att berätta med vetenskap. Bedömningen är avgjort positiv. Linton har skrivit en träffande, relevant, adekvat bok för alla som skriver sakprosa – samhälls- och kulturvetare, humanister, essäister. Boken är full av exempel och mindre full av goda råd. Den är därtill mycket välskriven och välkomponerad
Joseph Roths klassiska essa "Judar pa vandring" publicerades 1927 i forlagsserien ”Berattelser ur verkligheten”. Verkligheten ar den osteuropeiska judendomen – de kringvandrande handlarna, fromheten, festerna, misaren,... more
Joseph Roths klassiska essa "Judar pa vandring" publicerades 1927 i forlagsserien ”Berattelser ur verkligheten”. Verkligheten ar den osteuropeiska judendomen – de kringvandrande handlarna, fromheten, festerna, misaren, drommarna, de oden som vantade de miljoner som begav sig mot Amerika, undan progromerna i ost och senare nationalsocialismen. Roth forenar akribiska skildringar med svepande omdomen, han ar karleksfull och uppriktig, spraket ar poetiskt och anda sakligt. Judar pa vandring ar ett dokument over en forsvunnen verklighet, liksom en reflexion over Roths eget liv – assimilerad, pa vandring, exilen hans hem. Essan ar kanske ocksa en bild av den moderna existensen over huvud. Joseph Roth, fodd i Galizien 1894, dod i Paris 1939, var en av samtidens mest betydande tysksprakiga skriftstallare. Oversattning och forord av Bo Isenberg
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Joseph Roths klassiska essa "Judar pa vandring" publicerades 1927 i forlagsserien ”Berattelser ur verkligheten”. Verkligheten ar den osteuropeiska judendomen – de kringvandrande handlarna, fromheten, festerna, misaren,... more
Joseph Roths klassiska essa "Judar pa vandring" publicerades 1927 i forlagsserien ”Berattelser ur verkligheten”. Verkligheten ar den osteuropeiska judendomen – de kringvandrande handlarna, fromheten, festerna, misaren, drommarna, de oden som vantade de miljoner som begav sig mot Amerika, undan progromerna i ost och senare nationalsocialismen. Roth forenar akribiska skildringar med svepande omdomen, han ar karleksfull och uppriktig, spraket ar poetiskt och anda sakligt. Judar pa vandring ar ett dokument over en forsvunnen verklighet, liksom en reflexion over Roths eget liv – assimilerad, pa vandring, exilen hans hem. Essan ar kanske ocksa en bild av den moderna existensen over huvud. Joseph Roth, fodd i Galizien 1894, dod i Paris 1939, var en av samtidens mest betydande tysksprakiga skriftstallare. Oversattning och forord av Bo Isenberg
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This paper will discuss, in general terms yet from some distinct theoretical perspectives, the relation between supervisor and doctoral student. The general perspective or proposition would be that the supervisory relation may be... more
This paper will discuss, in general terms yet from some distinct theoretical perspectives, the relation between supervisor and doctoral student. The general perspective or proposition would be that the supervisory relation may be understood as relational supervision. Supervision is not about one party giving and demanding and the other taking and implementing. I will relate the discussion to issues like autonomy, critique and conventions (or traditions).
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Research Interests: Sociology and Res Publica
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The paper discusses the emergence and constitution of modernity as cultural and mental disposition with regard to notions like contingency, crisis, and critique. It refers to authors like Koselleck, Foucault, Makropoulos, Blumenberg, Musil.
Research Interests: Sociology and Contingency
Boken inehaller fem langre uppsatser som kretsar kring det sociologiska begreppet livsforing. Begreppet diskuteras historiskt, teoretiskt och empiriskt, och visas ha en given betydelse i den sociologiska och kulturteoretiska analysen av... more
Boken inehaller fem langre uppsatser som kretsar kring det sociologiska begreppet livsforing. Begreppet diskuteras historiskt, teoretiskt och empiriskt, och visas ha en given betydelse i den sociologiska och kulturteoretiska analysen av var samtid.
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The paper discusses the nature and development of sociology. In particular, it problematizes some aspects of sociology today - sociology in a post disciplinary age and its relate to the novel and the essay as styles of thought. The... more
The paper discusses the nature and development of sociology. In particular, it problematizes some aspects of sociology today - sociology in a post disciplinary age and its relate to the novel and the essay as styles of thought. The discussion refers to classical sociology and its provisional, indeed pre disciplinary constitution.
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This essay attempts at a general understanding of contemporary capitalism and some of its social and mental consequences. It works through combinations and variations of concepts from classical and contemporary social theory. Some key... more
This essay attempts at a general understanding of contemporary capitalism and some of its social and mental consequences. It works through combinations and variations of concepts from classical and contemporary social theory. Some key concepts are Mammonism, acceleration, ubiquity, self-dynamics, precariat, inertia, conformity, flexibility, specter of uselessness. The text refers to classical modern thinkers like Marx, Simmel, Musil, Benjamin, and to contemporary ideas in the works of Deleuze, Rosa, Crouch, Illouz, Standing, Hochschild. It is summoned up by asking some important, complex questions that regard democracy, community and autonomy.
The Öresund Region is a historical cross border region working over the national borders of Sweden and Denmark. The regional administration, the Öresund Committee, is the only political forum that encompasses the whole region and serves... more
The Öresund Region is a historical cross border region working over the national borders of Sweden and Denmark. The regional administration, the Öresund Committee, is the only political forum that encompasses the whole region and serves its interests collectively. Not only is it cooperating with the national governments but also has a close relationship with the Nordic Council and especially with the European Union. According to a method developed by Liesbet Hooghe, Gary Marks and Arjan H. Schakel, it is possible to retrieve a Regional Authority Index which mirrors the formal authority of a region. The method is evaluated in accordance to the complications of the Öresund Region’s dual nationality and finds that the Öresund Committee has a rather concealed role with greater indirect impact than it is given credit for. However, in terms of formal authority, the Öresund Committee has a weak position and shares no rule with higher political entities, such as the Danish, Swedish and European central administrations.
Recension av: The dialogical turn : new roles for sociology in the postdisciplinary age : essays in honor of Donald N. Levine / edited by Charles Camic and Hans Joas, 2004, ISBN 0-7425-2711-5
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This volume contains reflections by four leading sociologists on the state of the discipline in a rapidly changing world. Essays by Michael Mann, Chantal Mouffe, Goran Therborn, and Bryan S. Turner.
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The transition to modernity signifies a fundamental change in European culture and conduct of life. Alfred Weber speaks of ”the most profound crisis that the Occidental world had experienced so far”. Crisis is the existential... more
The transition to modernity signifies a fundamental change in European culture and conduct of life. Alfred Weber speaks of ”the most profound crisis that the Occidental world had experienced so far”. Crisis is the existential manifestation of modernity's constituting and regulating characteristic: contingency. Contingency means that nothing has to be the way it is, but could be otherwise as well; and everything could be interpreted (treated) in different ways, at the same time. Contingency constitutes the core conception to classical modern thinking and its variations, including classical sociology. Against this conceptual background, he paper establishes a conceptual social and cultural framework for those specific and significant modern, ever emerging practices which from the late 19th century has modulated mans genetic underpinnings as ”the plenitude of the possible” (Foucault), e. g. eugenics, racial hygiene, genetics. Formulated in the opposite way, it articulates the manif...
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Essan diskuterar den grundlaggande fragan hur man kan och bor leva i en varld dar inget ar nodvandigt och allt ter sig mojligt – saledes i en samtida, modern varld. Detta existentiella, sociala och politiska problem blev ocksa en gang... more
Essan diskuterar den grundlaggande fragan hur man kan och bor leva i en varld dar inget ar nodvandigt och allt ter sig mojligt – saledes i en samtida, modern varld. Detta existentiella, sociala och politiska problem blev ocksa en gang sociologins fundamentala fragestallning. Foljaktligen har disciplinen utvecklats som en standigt varierad diskussion om forhallandet mellan kontingens och livsforing. Kapitlet behandlar ett antal sociologiska standpunkter infor den moderna varianten av den sokratiska fragan (”Hur bor jag leva?”) med hansyn till teoretiska, empiriska, ideologiska och moraliska aspekter. Framstallningen ar ordnad i tre diskurser eller tankestilar, vilka analyserar olika problem och tidsepoker: klassiska moderna moralister, Nya varldens moralister och globala moralister. Samtliga behandlade forfattare, vasentligen sociologer, kan rubriceras som moderna moralister: de kombinerar samhallsanalys med moraliska omdomen pa ett satt som sammanfor dem med den klassiska moralistik...
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Det ar hundra ar sedan Georg Simmel gick bort. Ett portratt av den kanske mest infalls- och perspektivrika sociologen – biografiskt, intellektuellt, kulturellt.
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The paper discusses the modern metropolis as modernity in nucleo. Thereby it refers to notions like state of emergency, provisional realities, crisis, contingency, complexity. Recurrent references include Simmel, Blumenberg, Musil, Park.
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Papret diskuterar vad vi kallar profilerade livsforingsgrupper i 20-30-arsaldern i Sverige idag. Narmare bestamt handlar det om att forsta de specifika mojligheter och svarigheter som ar knutna till mening, varde och identitet under de... more
Papret diskuterar vad vi kallar profilerade livsforingsgrupper i 20-30-arsaldern i Sverige idag. Narmare bestamt handlar det om att forsta de specifika mojligheter och svarigheter som ar knutna till mening, varde och identitet under de kulturella och sociala villkor som praglar vad man kan kalla det senmoderna samhallet. Centrala begrepp ar livsforing respektive livsforingsmodeller. Livsforing var ett centralt begrepp redan i den klassiska sociologin. Hos Weber ar det helt avgorande. Hos Simmel finns sakerligen en forestallning likasa. Skrider vi fram till var egen samtid, eller nastan, sa utgor Foucaults senare studier likasa diskussioner om livsforing. I samtliga fall kan man knyta begrppet till olika forestallningar om etik, samhalle, kultur. Primart ar begreppet livsforing handlingsteoretiskt. Det betecknar ett medvetet valt och aktivt satt att gestalta sitt liv. En livsforing - konsekvent, kontinuerlig - skanker orientering och mening. Begreppet ar intimt knutet till begrepp so...
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The paper discusses different notions of social reality in cultural theory, social theory and literature, for instance in th work of Gottfried Benn, Hans Blumenberg, Michel Foucault, Robert Musil, and Paul Valery.
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Artikeln diskuterar en vasentligen nordamerikansk tanketradition som explicit eller implicit framstaller den centrala antika filosofiska fragan – ”hur bor jag leva?” – som sin fragehorisont, och som gor det saval teoretiskt, empiriskt som... more
Artikeln diskuterar en vasentligen nordamerikansk tanketradition som explicit eller implicit framstaller den centrala antika filosofiska fragan – ”hur bor jag leva?” – som sin fragehorisont, och som gor det saval teoretiskt, empiriskt som normativt. Det handlar om sociologer och andra samhallsvetare, men ocksa om litteraturvetare och kulturkritiker, essaister och skonlitterara forfattare. Artikeln gestaltar dem som ”moralister” med foregangare i den klassiska moderna sociologin. Som ”moralister” manifesterar de en ”tankestil”. Inledningsvis behandlas tva centrala och komplementara begrepp for amerikanska moralister: ”karaktar” och ”kultur” och varianter av dessa. Begreppen manifesterar den moralistiska fragehorisonten, men uttrycker aven en for sociologin grundlaggande problematik. Artikeln fortsatter med en diskussion kring den tidigmoderna intellektuella stromning som gick under namnet ”moralistiken” och som exempelvis Montaigne tillhorde. Den klassiska moralistiken ar av betydels...
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Recension av Magnus Linton, Text & Stil. Om konsten att beratta med vetenskap. Bedomningen ar avgjort positiv. Linton har skrivit en traffande, relevant, adekvat bok for alla som skriver sakprosa – samhalls- och kulturvetare, humanister,... more
Recension av Magnus Linton, Text & Stil. Om konsten att beratta med vetenskap. Bedomningen ar avgjort positiv. Linton har skrivit en traffande, relevant, adekvat bok for alla som skriver sakprosa – samhalls- och kulturvetare, humanister, essaister. Boken ar full av exempel och mindre full av goda rad. Den ar dartill mycket valskriven och valkomponerad.
Artikeln diskuterar moderniteten, samtiden, sociologin och forhallandet dem emellan samt hur samtiden betingar vetandet om denna samtid, och hur vetandet om samtiden gestaltas. Den epistemologiska konstellation som framkallas forstar jag... more
Artikeln diskuterar moderniteten, samtiden, sociologin och forhallandet dem emellan samt hur samtiden betingar vetandet om denna samtid, och hur vetandet om samtiden gestaltas. Den epistemologiska konstellation som framkallas forstar jag som sociologisk samtidshermeneutik, eller samtidshermeneutisk sociologi. Dess grundantagande ar: ju mer en kultur karakteriseras av kontingens (komplexitet, transition, abundans), desto mer analys blir nodvandig – och mojlig. Det ar en grundsats som gallde ocksa for den klassiska moderna sociologin. Allt sedan den var klassisk, har sociologin formulerat sig pa nytt – som den alltsa korresponderar med modernitetens forvandlingar. Var samtid pakallar och mojliggor nya sociologiska variationer. Sociologen verkar med andra ord i rummet mellan nodvandigheten och friheten. Artikeln behandlar ett antal element (ansatser, fragor, predikament, optioner, nodvandigheter) som ar adekvata i en forstaelse av samtiden, vare sig det handlar om begransade utsnitt av...
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Joseph Roth was a wanderer. Born in a Galizian shtetl, in the periphery of the Danube Monarchy, he went to Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, became socialist, monarchist, European, cosmopolitan. And yet remained East European Jew. Relentlessly... more
Joseph Roth was a wanderer. Born in a Galizian shtetl, in the periphery of the Danube Monarchy, he went to Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, became socialist, monarchist, European, cosmopolitan. And yet remained East European Jew. Relentlessly on the move, and the embodiment of a Jewish and a modern destiny, Roth travelled through Europe and lived and wrote his novels and feuilletons in hotels and cafes, his very habitat, a microcosmos of European cosmopolitanism, of intellectual, psychic and cultural movement and exchange. This paper attempts to explore the life and work of Joseph Roth between realities. Roth experienced assimilitis when transgressing realities. Assimilitis also was what he lived off. It characterised his mental disposition, his very conduct of life, his essence. Conceptually, the interpretation refers to the works of Gottfried Benn (grimaces of reality), Hans Blumenberg (the problem of reality), Sigmund Freud (cultural discontent), Georg von Lukacs (transcendental homele...
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The paper discusses the general relation between sociology and literature and argues that the former has not only a lot in common with the latter, but also things to include and elaborate on. The paper uses as examples a number of... more
The paper discusses the general relation between sociology and literature and argues that the former has not only a lot in common with the latter, but also things to include and elaborate on. The paper uses as examples a number of sociologists and novelists and compares their ways of interpreting modern society and modern man.
Forord till Elliott, Anthony & Bryan S. Turner, Om samhallet (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2016). Sammanfattar, diskuterar och kontextualiserar bokens teser och karaktar.
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This essay attempts at a general understanding of contemporary capitalism and some of its social and mental consequences. It works through combinations and variations of concepts from classical and contemporary social theory. Some key... more
This essay attempts at a general understanding of contemporary capitalism and some of its social and mental consequences. It works through combinations and variations of concepts from classical and contemporary social theory. Some key concepts are Mammonism, acceleration, ubiquity, self-dynamics, precariat, inertia, conformity, flexibility, specter of uselessness. The text refers to classical modern thinkers like Marx, Simmel, Musil, Benjamin, and to contemporary ideas in the works of Deleuze, Rosa, Crouch, Illouz, Standing, Hochschild. It is summoned up by asking some important, complex questions that regard democracy, community and autonomy.
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The writings of the Austrian novelist and essayist Robert Musil provide sociology with vital problems and reflections. Indeed, Musil introduces discussions that extend conventional understanding of modernity – sociology’s general object... more
The writings of the Austrian novelist and essayist Robert Musil provide sociology with vital problems and reflections. Indeed, Musil introduces discussions that extend conventional understanding of modernity – sociology’s general object of analysis. The article focuses on two major sets of questions in Musil’s work: the shapelessness of man and the relation between reason and sentiments. Both problems are essential in that genuine twentieth-century experience which Musil calls functional stupidity: the functionalisation of the mind to collective demands of the party, the race and the nation. The article discusses Musil’s arguments by relating them to central propositions in classical sociology (Simmel, Weber, Kracauer, Tönnies, Park). Classical sociology, in turn, is defined as a sub-discourse of classical modern reflection.