Wasi Anjum Mirza

Conceptions of youth deviance have multiple influences that help frame them as problematic. One such influence is the impact Music and its various forms have had on youth and their subcultures. Flowing from the rising popularity of American rock n’ roll in the late 1950s, systematic research into the relationship between music and youth gained traction to the point where ideas of youth expression through music became a cornerstone in sociological research concerning youth (Roe, 1999). Many genres of music since such as jazz and rock ‘n’ roll have continuously been regarded as “a corrosive influence on young and impressionable listeners” (Tanner, Asbridge, and Wortley, 2009:1) and public outcries over their influence have been a fixture in popular discourse.

According to Garland (1990), punishment is “the legal process whereby violators of criminal law are condemned and sanctioned in accordance with specified legal categories and procedures” (p. 17). While this process is an integral part of the Criminal Justice System (CJS), its operation is informed by the disciplines of criminology, sociology, and philosophy- all of which examine its nature through different viewpoints (Banks, 2017). While criminologists are concerned with the technical and penal procedures of punishment (Garland, 1990), and sociologists examines what punishment is ultimately intended for (the “is” of punishment) (Banks, 2017: 105), philosophy concerns itself with the purpose of punishment (i.e. why does society punish?). It is through the latter that theories denoting the rationale behind punishment and their success are identified. To that end, this essay examines those theories of Deterrence, Retribution, Incapacitation, Rehabilitation, and Restoration/Reparation in an effort to outline the role and importance each has in the practice of punishment.

The essence of how people structure themselves and regulate their behavior within society has been a constant fixture in academic research. The Nation-State is one such structure but to understand the effects of its existence on daily lives, its constituent parts i.e. Nation and State must first be examined and then adapted in the context of increasing Globalization.

The Communist Manifesto (Marx and Engels, 1969) encapsulates the building blocks of Marx’s Social theory (Marxism) and offers a road to achieving what he believed to be a just social order; one based on the ideas of Communism and Socialism. While the Manifesto was originally published in 1848, it was subsequently updated in response to political events of the time which spawned various editions in later decades. This essay covers two broad paradigms: the first is to examine the ideas contained within the Manifesto and contextualize them within Marx’s other works while further examining their usefulness within the broader scholarship. The second is to use the Manifesto’s socio-political premise as a starting tool to examine the motivations of Marx in elucidating these ideas.

There exists a dichotomous divide in social theory which seeks to explain the actions of individuals either as a result of pre-defined rules and structures (structuralism) or as an exposition of their own choice-laden actions (subjectivism). Bourdieu (1990b) examined this divide in the context of the diametrically opposing paradigms offered by Levi-Strauss and Sartre, the ideas of which he viewed holistically as the logic of theory that underpins the practice of Sociology. By outlining his critique of these theories, Bourdieu tried to overcome the dichotomies and in doing so posited his logic of practice- referring to the logic of the actions of social agents and how they are meant to be examined. This essay aims to illustrate his ideas on said nature of social theory and the underpinning logic of its development and then juxtaposes this with his logic of practice.