Mark Elchardus
Biographic Data
| ID | 235853 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mark Elchardus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mark |
| FAMILY NAME | Elchardus |
| SIGNATURE | ELCHARDUS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Vrije Universiteit Brussel |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1355-8770 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 397 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Populism, Persistent Republicanism and Declinism: An Empirical Analysis of Populism as a Thin Ideology
Populism is usually studied by looking at the electoral and rhetorical strategies of parties considered to be populist. In contrast, this article attempts to measure the support for the core propositions of populism among voters and explain the social differences in that support. On the basis of a survey of the Dutch-speaking population of Belgium (N: 2,330) we find that this support for populism turns out not to be directly influenced by a weak …
Universalism and anti-Muslim sentiment
Republicanism in Mediated Society. A Comparative Analysis on Public and Private Evaluation Guided by the Theory of Symbolic Society
Keeping on track and growing apart: An empirical analysis of the role of education and media in attitude formation
The Acceptance of the Multicultural Society Among Young People. A Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Market-Driven Versus Publicly Regulated Educational Systems
This paper examines the impact of private, quasi-market versus public steering of educational systems on European youngsters ’ attitudes towards immigrants. There has recently been a drive for a quasi-market strategy in the provision of education, inspired by the hope that this will increase both quality and cost-effectiveness. However, research has shown that this policy leads to greater inequality between schools and individual pupils. In this …
Social control and institutional trust: Reconsidering the effect of modernity on social malaise
This paper uses data from the European Social Survey regarding 18 European countries to test the relationship between modernization and malaise. Trust in government institutes (TGI) is used as a proxy measure of malaise. The explanatory power of three theories explaining trust is compared to that of the theory of symbolic society. This theory sees detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control. From a situation in which the conduct…
The contemporary contradictions of egalitarianism: An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between the Old and New Left/Right Alignments
This paper deals with the often-observed complex relationship between the so-called old, ‘economic’ left/right alignment (egalitarianism) and the new, ‘cultural’ alignment. Many authors have observed that the less educated members of society occupy an apparently contradictory position, combining a leftist stand in favor of more equality and government intervention, with a rightist stand on minority rights, the treatment of criminals, and other as…
Are anti-Muslim feelings more widespread than anti-foreigner feelings? Evidence from two split-sample experiments
This article tests the claim that anti-Muslim feelings are more widespread than general anti-foreigner feelings. It reports on two split sample experiments, in which a randomly selected part of the respondents evaluated statements for which the target group was identified as ‘foreigners’ and the other part evaluated the identical statements but with the target group identified as ‘Muslims’. By using open-ended questions we are able to separate th…
Violence, fear of crime, and Islam scepticism
Many authors have raised the question whether Islam scepticism is different from more general expressions of xenophobia. This paper argues that in order to give the thesis of a differentiation between these attitudes a fair chance (1) it should be tested among the more highly educated part of the population, and (2) the analysis should include controls for determinants that might be specific to Islam scepticism. Therefore this contribution resear…
Narrating linguistic conflict: A storytelling analysis of the language conflict in Belgium
Few studies have addressed the question how the two main linguistic groups in Belgium (French and Flemish speakers) code each other. The research reported in this article is based on a storytelling forum of 56 persons that gathered five times. The storytelling sessions yielded 91 different stories about living in a bilingual society. These were analysed by two independent analysts, using the actantial scheme of Greimas. Five common scenarios were…
Classical republicanism and the contemporary voter: An empirical cultural sociology of the relationship between the private realm and the public sphere
First Names as Collective Identifiers: An Empirical Analysis of the Social Meanings of First Names
This article investigates the consequences of the detraditionalization of naming practices and the social meanings imputed to first names. It does so on the basis of an exploratory, qualitative study designed to investigate contemporary naming practices and the social meanings assigned to first names, as well as data taken from a representative quantitative study designed to test the relationships between social background and cultural practice a…
Institutionalizing the New Self
This paper maps the unequal development of detraditionalization in rich societies. It views detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control from reliance on scarcity, belief and ideology, self evident tradition and obedience, to self-control. Self-control is based upon belief in an autonomously choosing subject (individualism) and a set of institutional conditions able to guide the choices of the individuals (such as education, mass…
The Culture of Academic Disciplines and the Sociopolitical Attitudes of Students: A Test of Selection and Socialization Effects
Objective. Using cross‐sectional and panel data, this article estimates to what extent the association between students' choice of academic discipline and their sociopolitical attitudes is due to socialization and selection effects. Methods. This is done on the basis of seven incoming cohorts of students and one panel of students. Changes in the panel are controlled for contextual influences by comparing them to a control group. Results. Both sel…
Self-control as social control
Rational Fear or Represented Malaise: A Crucial Test of Two Paradigms Explaining Fear of Crime
In explanations offered for fear of crime, two different paradigms can be distinguished. The first considers fear of crime as a rational reaction to crime and victimization; the other views such fear as a representation of more general feelings of malaise. The paradigms suggest different research strategies and offer different explanations for the same empirical observations. The choice of paradigm therefore determines the meaning of the empirica…
The vanishing flexible: Ambition, self-realization and flexibility in the career perspectives of young Belgian adults
The cultural interpretation of career models, that links a preference for the flexible career to the quest for self-realization, and a preference for the linear, stable to the traditional work ethic, turns out to be empirically correct for the population considered in this analysis (inhabitants of Belgium, 19 to 36 years old). In contrast to what is posited by many authors, the traditional work ethic is, however, still quite strong. Moreover the …
Ethnocentrism, taste and symbolic boundaries
The Persistence of the Standardized Life Cycle
This article investigates to what degree the standardized life cycle has been replaced by an individualized life course, characterized by the absence of a strict sequence and timing of life's transitions. In order to measure the normative position of people, rather than the external conditions to which they are subject, the test is based on the ideal life course or life cycle as described by a purely random sample of 4666 inhabitants of Belgium, …
The Search for the Invisible 8 Hours: The Gendered use of Time in a Society with a High Labour Force Participation of Women
This paper investigates to what extent, and how, the use of time differs between men and women in a society and an age-group in which the gender gap in labour force participation is rapidly closing. It is found that the gender differences come about primarily through the division of labour. However, this gendered division of work, which co-exists with a high labour market participation, does not lead to a double workload for women. Different mech…
In praise of rigidity: On Temporal and Cultural Flexibility
Het collectief geheugen
Het boek La mémoire collective dat in 1950 bij de Presses Universitaires de France verscheen, bundelde de vier hoofdstukken die Maurice Halbwachs bij zijn overlijden in manuscriptvorm had achtergelaten. Zij waren reeds eerder, in 1948, door toedoen van Georges Gurvitch gepubliceerd onder de titel Mémoires et sociétés in de reeks van L'année sociologique (3e série, 1940-1948). In 1950 verschenen zij onder de naam, La mémoire collective, die Mauric…
Flexible men and women. The changing temporal organization of work and culture: An empirical analysis
A partir de donnees portant sur la population flamande de Belgique, l'A. etudie d'abord la flexibilite du temps de travail, puis le sens de la flexibilite culturelle definie comme la souplesse des engagements a court terme envers les autres et envers certaines institutions ou valeurs; enfin il etablit une relation entre les deux. Il conclut que la maitrise du temps de travail et l'experience quotidienne de l'autonomie dans le travail corresponden…
The Rediscovery of Chronos: The New Role of Time in Sociolocical Theory
This paper traces the new role of time in social theory, beyond the dissatisfaction with theories of change. This is done by identifying four developments: the clarification of historically independent processes, the new critique of positivism, the re-evaluation of `micro sociology' and the emphasis on self-reference. These are specified on the basis of the work of Giddens and Luhmann, and related to the concept of time used by these authors. I a…
Class Structuration and Achievement
Populism, Persistent Republicanism and Declinism: An Empirical Analysis of Populism as a Thin Ideology
Populism is usually studied by looking at the electoral and rhetorical strategies of parties considered to be populist. In contrast, this article attempts to measure the support for the core propositions of populism among voters and explain the social differences in that support. On the basis of a survey of the Dutch-speaking population of Belgium (N: 2,330) we find that this support for populism turns out not to be directly influenced by a weak …
Are anti-Muslim feelings more widespread than anti-foreigner feelings? Evidence from two split-sample experiments
This article tests the claim that anti-Muslim feelings are more widespread than general anti-foreigner feelings. It reports on two split sample experiments, in which a randomly selected part of the respondents evaluated statements for which the target group was identified as ‘foreigners’ and the other part evaluated the identical statements but with the target group identified as ‘Muslims’. By using open-ended questions we are able to separate th…
The contemporary contradictions of egalitarianism: An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between the Old and New Left/Right Alignments
This paper deals with the often-observed complex relationship between the so-called old, ‘economic’ left/right alignment (egalitarianism) and the new, ‘cultural’ alignment. Many authors have observed that the less educated members of society occupy an apparently contradictory position, combining a leftist stand in favor of more equality and government intervention, with a rightist stand on minority rights, the treatment of criminals, and other as…
The Persistence of the Standardized Life Cycle
This article investigates to what degree the standardized life cycle has been replaced by an individualized life course, characterized by the absence of a strict sequence and timing of life's transitions. In order to measure the normative position of people, rather than the external conditions to which they are subject, the test is based on the ideal life course or life cycle as described by a purely random sample of 4666 inhabitants of Belgium, …
The Culture of Academic Disciplines and the Sociopolitical Attitudes of Students: A Test of Selection and Socialization Effects
Objective. Using cross‐sectional and panel data, this article estimates to what extent the association between students' choice of academic discipline and their sociopolitical attitudes is due to socialization and selection effects. Methods. This is done on the basis of seven incoming cohorts of students and one panel of students. Changes in the panel are controlled for contextual influences by comparing them to a control group. Results. Both sel…
First Names as Collective Identifiers: An Empirical Analysis of the Social Meanings of First Names
This article investigates the consequences of the detraditionalization of naming practices and the social meanings imputed to first names. It does so on the basis of an exploratory, qualitative study designed to investigate contemporary naming practices and the social meanings assigned to first names, as well as data taken from a representative quantitative study designed to test the relationships between social background and cultural practice a…
The vanishing flexible: Ambition, self-realization and flexibility in the career perspectives of young Belgian adults
The cultural interpretation of career models, that links a preference for the flexible career to the quest for self-realization, and a preference for the linear, stable to the traditional work ethic, turns out to be empirically correct for the population considered in this analysis (inhabitants of Belgium, 19 to 36 years old). In contrast to what is posited by many authors, the traditional work ethic is, however, still quite strong. Moreover the …
Self-control as social control
Universalism and anti-Muslim sentiment
Institutionalizing the New Self
This paper maps the unequal development of detraditionalization in rich societies. It views detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control from reliance on scarcity, belief and ideology, self evident tradition and obedience, to self-control. Self-control is based upon belief in an autonomously choosing subject (individualism) and a set of institutional conditions able to guide the choices of the individuals (such as education, mass…
The Search for the Invisible 8 Hours: The Gendered use of Time in a Society with a High Labour Force Participation of Women
This paper investigates to what extent, and how, the use of time differs between men and women in a society and an age-group in which the gender gap in labour force participation is rapidly closing. It is found that the gender differences come about primarily through the division of labour. However, this gendered division of work, which co-exists with a high labour market participation, does not lead to a double workload for women. Different mech…
Social control and institutional trust: Reconsidering the effect of modernity on social malaise
This paper uses data from the European Social Survey regarding 18 European countries to test the relationship between modernization and malaise. Trust in government institutes (TGI) is used as a proxy measure of malaise. The explanatory power of three theories explaining trust is compared to that of the theory of symbolic society. This theory sees detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control. From a situation in which the conduct…
Rational Fear or Represented Malaise: A Crucial Test of Two Paradigms Explaining Fear of Crime
In explanations offered for fear of crime, two different paradigms can be distinguished. The first considers fear of crime as a rational reaction to crime and victimization; the other views such fear as a representation of more general feelings of malaise. The paradigms suggest different research strategies and offer different explanations for the same empirical observations. The choice of paradigm therefore determines the meaning of the empirica…
The Rediscovery of Chronos: The New Role of Time in Sociolocical Theory
This paper traces the new role of time in social theory, beyond the dissatisfaction with theories of change. This is done by identifying four developments: the clarification of historically independent processes, the new critique of positivism, the re-evaluation of `micro sociology' and the emphasis on self-reference. These are specified on the basis of the work of Giddens and Luhmann, and related to the concept of time used by these authors. I a…
Ethnocentrism, taste and symbolic boundaries
Classical republicanism and the contemporary voter: An empirical cultural sociology of the relationship between the private realm and the public sphere
In praise of rigidity: On Temporal and Cultural Flexibility
Republicanism in Mediated Society. A Comparative Analysis on Public and Private Evaluation Guided by the Theory of Symbolic Society
Keeping on track and growing apart: An empirical analysis of the role of education and media in attitude formation
Violence, fear of crime, and Islam scepticism
Many authors have raised the question whether Islam scepticism is different from more general expressions of xenophobia. This paper argues that in order to give the thesis of a differentiation between these attitudes a fair chance (1) it should be tested among the more highly educated part of the population, and (2) the analysis should include controls for determinants that might be specific to Islam scepticism. Therefore this contribution resear…
Class Structuration and Achievement
The Rediscovery of Chronos: The New Role of Time in Sociolocical Theory
This paper traces the new role of time in social theory, beyond the dissatisfaction with theories of change. This is done by identifying four developments: the clarification of historically independent processes, the new critique of positivism, the re-evaluation of `micro sociology' and the emphasis on self-reference. These are specified on the basis of the work of Giddens and Luhmann, and related to the concept of time used by these authors. I a…
Het collectief geheugen
Het boek La mémoire collective dat in 1950 bij de Presses Universitaires de France verscheen, bundelde de vier hoofdstukken die Maurice Halbwachs bij zijn overlijden in manuscriptvorm had achtergelaten. Zij waren reeds eerder, in 1948, door toedoen van Georges Gurvitch gepubliceerd onder de titel Mémoires et sociétés in de reeks van L'année sociologique (3e série, 1940-1948). In 1950 verschenen zij onder de naam, La mémoire collective, die Mauric…
Flexible men and women. The changing temporal organization of work and culture: An empirical analysis
A partir de donnees portant sur la population flamande de Belgique, l'A. etudie d'abord la flexibilite du temps de travail, puis le sens de la flexibilite culturelle definie comme la souplesse des engagements a court terme envers les autres et envers certaines institutions ou valeurs; enfin il etablit une relation entre les deux. Il conclut que la maitrise du temps de travail et l'experience quotidienne de l'autonomie dans le travail corresponden…
The Search for the Invisible 8 Hours: The Gendered use of Time in a Society with a High Labour Force Participation of Women
This paper investigates to what extent, and how, the use of time differs between men and women in a society and an age-group in which the gender gap in labour force participation is rapidly closing. It is found that the gender differences come about primarily through the division of labour. However, this gendered division of work, which co-exists with a high labour market participation, does not lead to a double workload for women. Different mech…
In praise of rigidity: On Temporal and Cultural Flexibility
The Persistence of the Standardized Life Cycle
This article investigates to what degree the standardized life cycle has been replaced by an individualized life course, characterized by the absence of a strict sequence and timing of life's transitions. In order to measure the normative position of people, rather than the external conditions to which they are subject, the test is based on the ideal life course or life cycle as described by a purely random sample of 4666 inhabitants of Belgium, …
Ethnocentrism, taste and symbolic boundaries
Rational Fear or Represented Malaise: A Crucial Test of Two Paradigms Explaining Fear of Crime
In explanations offered for fear of crime, two different paradigms can be distinguished. The first considers fear of crime as a rational reaction to crime and victimization; the other views such fear as a representation of more general feelings of malaise. The paradigms suggest different research strategies and offer different explanations for the same empirical observations. The choice of paradigm therefore determines the meaning of the empirica…
The vanishing flexible: Ambition, self-realization and flexibility in the career perspectives of young Belgian adults
The cultural interpretation of career models, that links a preference for the flexible career to the quest for self-realization, and a preference for the linear, stable to the traditional work ethic, turns out to be empirically correct for the population considered in this analysis (inhabitants of Belgium, 19 to 36 years old). In contrast to what is posited by many authors, the traditional work ethic is, however, still quite strong. Moreover the …
The Culture of Academic Disciplines and the Sociopolitical Attitudes of Students: A Test of Selection and Socialization Effects
Objective. Using cross‐sectional and panel data, this article estimates to what extent the association between students' choice of academic discipline and their sociopolitical attitudes is due to socialization and selection effects. Methods. This is done on the basis of seven incoming cohorts of students and one panel of students. Changes in the panel are controlled for contextual influences by comparing them to a control group. Results. Both sel…
Self-control as social control
Institutionalizing the New Self
This paper maps the unequal development of detraditionalization in rich societies. It views detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control from reliance on scarcity, belief and ideology, self evident tradition and obedience, to self-control. Self-control is based upon belief in an autonomously choosing subject (individualism) and a set of institutional conditions able to guide the choices of the individuals (such as education, mass…
Narrating linguistic conflict: A storytelling analysis of the language conflict in Belgium
Few studies have addressed the question how the two main linguistic groups in Belgium (French and Flemish speakers) code each other. The research reported in this article is based on a storytelling forum of 56 persons that gathered five times. The storytelling sessions yielded 91 different stories about living in a bilingual society. These were analysed by two independent analysts, using the actantial scheme of Greimas. Five common scenarios were…
Classical republicanism and the contemporary voter: An empirical cultural sociology of the relationship between the private realm and the public sphere
First Names as Collective Identifiers: An Empirical Analysis of the Social Meanings of First Names
This article investigates the consequences of the detraditionalization of naming practices and the social meanings imputed to first names. It does so on the basis of an exploratory, qualitative study designed to investigate contemporary naming practices and the social meanings assigned to first names, as well as data taken from a representative quantitative study designed to test the relationships between social background and cultural practice a…
Social control and institutional trust: Reconsidering the effect of modernity on social malaise
This paper uses data from the European Social Survey regarding 18 European countries to test the relationship between modernization and malaise. Trust in government institutes (TGI) is used as a proxy measure of malaise. The explanatory power of three theories explaining trust is compared to that of the theory of symbolic society. This theory sees detraditionalization as a shift in the mode of social control. From a situation in which the conduct…
The contemporary contradictions of egalitarianism: An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between the Old and New Left/Right Alignments
This paper deals with the often-observed complex relationship between the so-called old, ‘economic’ left/right alignment (egalitarianism) and the new, ‘cultural’ alignment. Many authors have observed that the less educated members of society occupy an apparently contradictory position, combining a leftist stand in favor of more equality and government intervention, with a rightist stand on minority rights, the treatment of criminals, and other as…
Are anti-Muslim feelings more widespread than anti-foreigner feelings? Evidence from two split-sample experiments
This article tests the claim that anti-Muslim feelings are more widespread than general anti-foreigner feelings. It reports on two split sample experiments, in which a randomly selected part of the respondents evaluated statements for which the target group was identified as ‘foreigners’ and the other part evaluated the identical statements but with the target group identified as ‘Muslims’. By using open-ended questions we are able to separate th…
Violence, fear of crime, and Islam scepticism
Many authors have raised the question whether Islam scepticism is different from more general expressions of xenophobia. This paper argues that in order to give the thesis of a differentiation between these attitudes a fair chance (1) it should be tested among the more highly educated part of the population, and (2) the analysis should include controls for determinants that might be specific to Islam scepticism. Therefore this contribution resear…
Republicanism in Mediated Society. A Comparative Analysis on Public and Private Evaluation Guided by the Theory of Symbolic Society
Keeping on track and growing apart: An empirical analysis of the role of education and media in attitude formation
The Acceptance of the Multicultural Society Among Young People. A Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Market-Driven Versus Publicly Regulated Educational Systems
This paper examines the impact of private, quasi-market versus public steering of educational systems on European youngsters ’ attitudes towards immigrants. There has recently been a drive for a quasi-market strategy in the provision of education, inspired by the hope that this will increase both quality and cost-effectiveness. However, research has shown that this policy leads to greater inequality between schools and individual pupils. In this …
Universalism and anti-Muslim sentiment
Populism, Persistent Republicanism and Declinism: An Empirical Analysis of Populism as a Thin Ideology
Populism is usually studied by looking at the electoral and rhetorical strategies of parties considered to be populist. In contrast, this article attempts to measure the support for the core propositions of populism among voters and explain the social differences in that support. On the basis of a survey of the Dutch-speaking population of Belgium (N: 2,330) we find that this support for populism turns out not to be directly influenced by a weak …
Sociology (22 works) · Psychology (19 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Social science (8 works) · Feeling (7 works)