Contenu du sommaire

Noëlle Bisseret : Selection in the University and its Significance for the Study of Relations of Dominance. This is a study of the university careers of 6.919 students in letters. It shows some results of the selection at college level, and follows a former study, already published, on the factors of selection during the first year. It reveals the process by which concrete and symbolic elements (especially sex and social class) chararcterize the starting point of students in the hierarchical system. This difference in status determines the probabilities of orientation towards more prestigious fields of study and also determines the possibility for success in the university; moreover, the structure and functioning of the school system works towards the accomplishment of a goal which remains hidden from the « social actors » concerned. If the school system does not fulfill its theoretical function of equalizing opportunity, this is due to the close connection between the economic system and the school system. This connection is accepted with difficulty by reformers, who pay more attention to the internal analysis of the school system.

Maryvonné Bodiguel : Three Rural Communities : Three Different Patterns of change. Rural French communities are by and large still traditional ; since 1945, they are changing more and more rapidly. An extensive study of these processes of change shows a great deal of variety. Three villages, from regions very different in respect to agricultural economy and modes of life have been studied, (south of the Parisian basin, Britanny, and south-western France). In these three areas, a study was made of the diffusion of a technical innovation. Each area reveals a pattern of diffusion in which the original traits are related to the social structure of the local community : the process of change in each village has points in common with the other villages studied. In each case interpersonal relationships are more important than written information, nevertheless, each one keeps its original physiognomy. The explanation for this fact can be found in local history and in the social organization which is a result of this history. The adoption of an innovation in a rural setting is not just an individual undertaking, it is closely linked to the whole social system in which the agricultural practices have evolved. This close connection raises an important problem for the presentation and the popularization of new agricultural techniques.

Doris Bensimon-Donath : Development and Under-development in Israel : socio-cultural Aspects. In 1966, 46 % of the Jewish population in Israel were of African or Asian origin. The settling of this population from developing countries has involved a deep change in the social and cultural structure of the Jewish community in Israel. Consequently there is an important difference in social levels which is increased by ethnic differences: the poor are Orientals, the better-off are Westerners. In spite of the aspirations of the Orientals to raise their educational level and the efforts undertaken by the Israeli government to help them, the socio-cultural rise of the young Orientals is slow. Even before June 1967, two different groups existed in Israel, one culturally and economically underdeveloped and the other and developed.

Mattei Dogan : An analysis of covariance in electoral sociology. The purpose of this analysis of covariance is to analyse the influence of the social situation on the vote, while neutralizing the effect of the religious factor. The importance of the religious factor was emphasized by the author in a previous study of 2,477 cantons. In this new analysis, the role of the working class in the determination of the communist and socialist vote, becomes more apparent. Three graphics illustrate this « awakening » of social class. Given equal religious attitudes, variations in the vote between different levels of workers is accentuated. With the introduction of the « region » as a variable, the analysis of covariance takes on its full significance. The regional context is certainly determined by religion, but it is not limited to this factor alone.

Sigeki Nisihira : The social prestige of the various professions. Their evaluation by the people in Japan.