http://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies Latest open access articles published in Societies at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/2/27 Sub-Saharan African migration towards the European Union (EU) belongs to one of the most stigmatized forms of migration of the 21st century. It is strongly characterized by EU’s restrictive migration policies. As a consequence, migrants who are aspiring to reach the EU often undertake fragmented and dangerous journeys to the North. This contribution attempts to gain more empirical insights into these migratory journeys. It is based on a ‘trajectory ethnography’ that combines in-depth interviews with sub-Saharan Africans, who are waiting in Morocco and Turkey to enter the EU, with a longitudinal strategy to follow some of these respondents over longer periods of time. With this longitudinal element I was in particular able to grasp expected steps and unexpected turns in individual migration trajectories. By discussing three main components (the motivation, facilitation and velocity) of journeys, this contribution puts into perspective the unidirectional and often frictionless metaphors of migration—as if migrants move like ‘flows’ and ‘waves’. http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/2/27 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CEST Societies 2012-04-17 2 2 Article 27 41 2075-4698 Turbulent Trajectories: African Migrants on Their Way to the European Union 2012-04-17 doi: 10.3390/soc2020027 Joris Schapendonk http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/1/14 Although sociology can be commonsensically and parsimoniously defined as the study of society, the problems of defining such terms as ‘society’, ‘the social’, and ‘the social system’ remain an ongoing irritant of sociological theory. In addition to these traditional conceptual problems, there is currently a strong sense that ‘society’ as an empirical reality and ‘society’ as a concept are in crisis. Given the contemporary view of ‘the end of the social’ there is also manifestly a potent and nostalgic interest in the past as a time of comforting solidarity and meaningfulness. To clarify this debate, we start by making a distinction between three approaches to society, namely structure, solidarity and creation. Nostalgia hinges around the certainties that followed from reliable social structures, and from the comfort of community. We illustrate these forms of nostalgia through an examination of the social philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre. Recognizing that his criticisms of the loss of virtue represent a powerful indictment of modernity, we argue that past societies were also fractured by moral discord. More importantly, MacIntyre rules out the possibility of moral re-invention by excluding the rise of human rights as a moral framework. In conclusion, the forms of social creativity may not enjoy the ‘sticky’ solidarity of the past, but they do testify Georg Simmel’s idea of the social (Vergesellschaftung). http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/1/14 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CET Societies 2012-03-22 2 1 Article 14 26 2075-4698 Debating "the Social": Towards a Critique of Sociological Nostalgia 2012-03-22 doi: 10.3390/soc2010014 Anthony Elliott Bryan S. Turner http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/1/1 By 2050, the world’s population of international migrants is estimated to top 400 million. A small but growing number of those migrants are leaving well-developed, affluent countries best known for receiving immigrants to settle in less well-developed countries better known for sending migrants. These migrants of relative privilege, many of them retirees, are motivated primarily by a desire to enhance their quality of life. Although this migratory flow receives much less attention than more familiar, and reverse, movements of laborers or refugees, its implications for the destination sites, sites of origin, and study of international migration generally are significant. This article will examine the contemporary border crossing of privileged migrants, the economic, political and cultural stakes for the countries and individuals involved, and the implications of incorporating privileged mobility into the study of global migration and transnationalism. http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/2/1/1 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CET Societies 2012-03-05 2 1 Article 1 13 2075-4698 Privileged Mobility in an Age of Globality 2012-03-05 doi: 10.3390/soc2010001 Sheila Croucher http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/1/1/3 The importance of community empowerment has been strongly emphasized in health promotion publications in Western societies. Only a few studies exist to highlight the empowerment processes in countries in transition in Eastern Europe. A multi-stage study was designed to develop a context-specific survey instrument appropriate for evaluating the changes in the community empowerment process within the context of health promotion programs in Rapla, Estonia. The current study comprises the first stage, which aims to identify and systematize empowering domains and activities perceived by community members during the empowerment evaluation process. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with sixteen participants from three health promotion programs. Purposive sampling was used, and data were analyzed using constant comparison. The findings suggest that there are four key organizational domains that characterize the community empowerment process in Rapla: activation of the community, competence development of the community, program management development, and creation of a supportive environment. http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/1/1/3 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 CEST Societies 2011-06-20 1 1 Article 3 29 2075-4698 Conceptualizing Organizational Domains of Community Empowerment through Empowerment Evaluation in Estonian Communities 2011-06-20 doi: 10.3390/soc1010003 Anu Kasmel Pernille Tanggaard http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/1/1/1 Scholars have long recognized the value of moving beyond their disciplinary silos to view the world from a variety of different perspectives. Our understanding of humanity and the world in which we live has been greatly enhanced by the insights produced by multidisciplinary research teams and the emergence of interdisciplinary programs within academia. Societies, the latest open access journal from MDPI, contributes to this thriving enterprise in three inter-related and unique ways. [...] http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/1/1/1 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 CET Societies 2011-02-17 1 1 Editorial 1 2 2075-4698 Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 2011-02-17 doi: 10.3390/soc1010001 Madine VanderPlaat