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Sociology pupils from Lower and Upper Sixth recently attended the Education in Action Sociology Conference. We watched as six prestigious sociologists discussed their field and their interests, which don’t necessarily come up in the specification we do at school. These topics ranged from celebrity culture to women in crime and the abolitionist futures. 

The conference was presented by Dr Rachel Seoighe, who then filled in as a speaker for Professor Jason Arday. Dr Rachel Seoighe is a criminologist who specialises in the justice system and the concern of state violence. She discussed abolitionist ideas about the necessity of punishments and could the abolition of institutions break the assumption that imprisonment is the normal response to crime. After the 30-minute talk, the audience then had 10 minutes to ask questions by either raising a hand or uploading questions on Slido.com. This allowed us to anonymously ask questions and the one with the most 'likes' were presented to the sociologist.

We then heard from Ellis Cashmore, who discussed celebrity culture, the media and consumerism. He argued that celebrity glamour encouraged consumerism and that parasocial relationships support this. ‘Buying’ a product is purchasing an object whereas ‘consuming’ a product is also consuming the lifestyle. He believes in ‘reflexivity’ when it comes to the media and the audience; by the media influencing the audience, the audience provides a platform and popularity for the media and this then becomes a cycle. His argument supported the idea that celebrity culture was now in control and penetrated fashion, religion, politics and lifestyles.

The third speaker was Dr Gemma Birkett, who discussed female crime and reflected on her experience in the criminology field. Her argument was that women are treated differently in the courtroom and discussed double deviance. Men and boys within crime are excused as ‘boys will be boys’ whereas women are punished twice; once for violating the law and again for the ‘betrayal’ of womanhood as it's not in a woman's nature to be violent. Birkett used historical examples such as Wayward Women and the statistics of women currently in imprisonment. Dr Gemma Birkett believed that the justice system is dominated and designed for the patriarchy. The audience then got a chance to ask questions, both on the Slido app and by putting our hands up.

Lauren Humbles spoke on exam success and how to achieve high grades in the social sciences. She explained that it's key to remember not just names but what those names did to benefit or impact society. She gave a clear understanding as to how and what to revise when preparing for exams. Her talk was 20 minutes but gave a detailed understanding of exam techniques.

Professor Danny Dorling, a geography professor, spoke about seven typical children in the UK today, these children being made up from social statistics. He wrote a book on his ideas and believed that it can potentially be determined how long each child will live based on jobs, lifestyle and health due to socioeconomic factors. His statistics were gathered from 2018 when the UK underwent peak inequality since the 1930's. Professor Dorling argued whether capitalism perpetuates inequality and supported his statements with statistics. His speciality in human geography allowed for his ideas to be substantiated with accurate statistics.

Last but not least was Ann Oakley, a sociologist, feminist and writer. She spoke about feminism, gender and society and how our identities are shaped by other dimensions. She discussed her background and being a woman during the 1960’s. Oakley’s key contribution refers to the expectations and behaviour that are considered appropriate for men and women in a given society. 

The conference allowed us to broaden our understandings of the different fields surrounding sociology, and not just from the courses we do in school. It was interesting to experience the different speakers and how they were immersed in their studies.

Elizabeth W, L6G