Thinking Allowed

Are we right to blame the parents? Is there anything they could do? Laurie Taylor speaks to two researchers behind a massive investigation into the families of British gang members. Judith Aldridge and Jon Shute tell him what they discovered about the lives and experience of families with children in gangs and whether it is possible to intervene. Also, Gordon Mathews, the author of a book about Chungking Mansions, the cheapest accommodation in Hong Kong, describes its multifarious residents. This ramshackle building in the heart of the tourist district is home to a polyethnic melting pot of people - from Pakistani phone stall operators to American backpackers and Indonesian sex workers.Producer: Charlie Taylor.

What role does the mobile phone have in showing off, hooking up and getting dumped? Laurie talks to Emma Bond about her new study into how young people use mobile phones in their intimate sexual relationships. Also on the programme the historian Teofilo Ruiz talks about the radical thesis of his book the Terrors of History: Is our struggle to find rational solutions to the fearful events of history entirely in vain? Is the idea of progress nothing more than a sweet lie? David Byrne also joins them to discuss whether anything can be done to address the cruel vicissitudes that history makes us suffer. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Laurie Taylor discusses the mummy's curse and other Oriental myths with Marina Warner and Roger Luckhurst. The Ancient Egyptians had no real concept of the curse; instead, Luckhurst argues, it was a product of the Victorian imagination, a result of British ambivalence about Egypt's increasing self-determination. The curse was part of a wider Western tradition of portraying the East as exotic and irrational, dominated by superstitions. That attitude is revealed in the British reaction to English language translations of The Arabian Nights, which played into Oriental stereotypes of barbarity, cruelty and unbridled sexuality. Marina Warner discusses the reasons why the stories of Aladdin et al are as popular as ever in modern, multi-cultural Britain. Author Audrey Linkman discusses the relationship between photography and death in her study of post-mortem portraits from the late 19th century to the modern day, and how they reflect contemporary attitudes towards mortality. Producer: Stephen Hughes.

Development of a country is conventionally measured by GDP, but that can mask a growing inequality in that nation and makes no reference to freedoms, rights or education. The philosopher Martha Nussbaum outlines her 'human capabilities' approach which she has developed with the Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen. She tells Laurie that her index can be applied around the world and across all cultures as an index which measures how populations are flourishing or flailing. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

What is personal, what is confidential and what is private? These are all questions which are addressed in a new sociological study of the nature of privacy. Christena Nippert-Eng claims that 'privacy violations' are particularly damaging because they go to the heart of our rights to determine ourselves as individuals. Her work brings precision to an analysis of current reactions to the unwarranted intrusions of the press. Also on the programme, how the millions of migrants from the Philippines attempt to parent their stay at home children by mobile phone. Do they think they are successful? Do their children agree? Mirca Madianou talks about her study of mothers in Britain and their children back home. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

30 years ago riots broke out in Liverpool which lead to 160 arrests and 258 police officers needing hospital treatment. The four days of street battles, arson and looting lead to violent disturbances in many other British cities and have changed community relations and disorder policing in the country forever. On today's Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor explores a study of first hand accounts of those tumultuous days, from police officers, rioters and residents. Richard Phillips and Diane Frost recreate the times. Also on the programme, what makes a child political? Dorothy Moss discusses research which reveals how engaged young children are in issues and social change. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

British comedy, from Music Hall to TV sitcom, was once a democratic medium. Humour united people otherwise divided by class and education. But new research finds that the Alternative Comedy Movement transformed comedy's place in our culture. It rejected the 'lowbrow' tone of earlier humour, creating the basis for comic taste to provide new forms of social distinction. The sociologist, Sam Friedman joins Laurie Taylor to debate comedy snobbery. Also, mobile communications have elided the distinction between work and home. The cultural studies lecturer, Melissa Gregg, and the Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, Rosalind Gill, ask if the lines between our personal and professional lives are increasingly blurred. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Have the working class in modern Britain become objects of fear, scorn and ridicule? That's the claim of Owen Jones who joins Laurie and Imogen Tyler on today's Thinking Allowed. He claims that the media and politicians alike dismiss as feckless, criminal and ignorant a vast, underprivileged section of society whose members have become stereotyped by one, disgust-filled word - 'chavs'. If this is true, then how has the reality of the working-class majority become regularly served up as a feral rump for our contempt and amusement? Also, what happens to Goths when they get old? Laurie talks to Paul Hodkinson about his study of members of that youth cult which used to be called Gothic Punk. How have they adapted their love of black clothes, multiple piercings, make up and androgyny to mortgages, children and the rites of passage incumbent upon middle age? Producer: Charlie Taylor.

One third of us now think we are sleep deprived. Why should that be? Who loses the most and how is society reacting? Laurie is joined by Stephen Williams to discuss a new area for sociology, the contested area of the 'politics of sleep'. Also, what happens when a woman commits murder? It is a very rare event and can challenge ingrained notions about the nature of femininity. Perhaps because of that, a new study finds that there are existing stereotypes which guide the reaction of both the media and the judiciary to women who kill. Lizzie Seal and Louise Westmarland join Laurie to discuss our attitudes towards women, murder and femininity Producer: Charlie Taylor.

HG Wells was so involved in establishing sociology in this country that he wrote to Prime Minister Balfour to ask for a special endowment so he could give up on his novels. His emphasis was on utopias, he felt that social science could only progress if an ideal version of society was created with which to compare our own. He lost his battle but the sociologist Ruth Levitas tells Laurie that sociology has become boring and that Wells was right! Also, some everyday things - keys, combs, glasses - have the ability to enchant or absorb. Laurie Taylor talks to Steven Connor and Michael Bywater about how paraphernalia can have an almost magical power. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Dirt is dust, soil, refuse, excrement, bacteria, filth, sleaze, slime, smut. How easily the word changes its meaning from the physical to the moral. It is this fascinating relationship and threat which dirt seems to pose that is explored in the Wellcome Collection's exhibition 'Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life'.In a special edition recorded with an audience of the public at Wellcome, Laurie Taylor and a panel of experts explore the meaning of dirt, its relationship to order and how hygiene and the mass generation of dirt have become such potent symbols of civilisation.He is joined by the anthropologist Adam Kuper, the writer and cartoonist Martin Rowson and the historian Amanda Vickery to discuss dirt and why it provokes such fear, loathing and occasionally desire.Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Hurricane Katrina led to the compulsory evacuation of all the residents of New Orleans. They were sent to shelters in distant destinations ranging from Houston to Tennessee. The scale of the disaster meant that most were unable to stay with or near family. But new research finds that this trauma was compounded by the authorities' failure to recognise the prevalence of extended families amongst the New Orleans poor. The trailers to which they re-located were set up for nuclear families as was the reconstructed housing to which they returned. The American social scientist Michael Rendall discusses post Katrina family breakdown with Laurie Taylor. Also, the process of remembering Communism in Central Eastern Europe. The historian James Mark's new book considers how countries come to terms with the legacies of the past. He joins the Psychology lecturer, Dr Jovan Byford, to question whether people's actual memories of the communist era at odds with officially imposed narratives?Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Carrie Pitzulo, the author of a new history of Playboy claims it has "a surprisingly strong record of support for women's rights and the modernisation of sexual and gender roles". Are Bunny Girls and Playmates of the Month really allies of the feminist cause? Laurie is joined by the author Carrie Pitzulo and the sociologist Angela McRobbie to discuss the secret and surprises of the bunny brand. Also, why do young people trust popular entertainers more than politicians? Sanna Inthorn discusses her new research into celebrity politics. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Cities are growing at an enormous rate all over the world. As they wrestle with overcrowding, pollution, resource vulnerability and an increasing gulf between the rich and poor what will be the dominant factor to define them? Which forces will shape the experience of urban life for the individual and will our imagination and creativity enable cities to survive into the future? The sociologist Sophie Watson and the geographer Matthew Gandy join Laurie Taylor to discuss the future of the city. Also, the taboo of the body in the cemetery. Kate Woodthorpe reveals her research into what remains unmentionable at the graveside. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Why is modern media teeming with vampires, witches, ghosts and ghouls? Laurie Taylor explores representations of the paranormal. Also, how Russia deals with criminal youngsters.

Gardening is the epitome of a peaceful pasttime, associated as it is with semi-somnolent suburban weekends, the sound of hedges being carefully clipped and the reassuring aroma of freshly mown grass. The notion of 'radical' gardening implies little more than a concerted attack on the mass of weeds accumulated in an herbaceous border or a garden makeover culminating in a fully decked patio. However, there is a radical history to gardening and it has been the site of protest and counterculture in Britain from the Levellers and the Diggers in the 17th century to today's so-called Guerrilla Gardeners. On today's Thinking Allowed Laurie is joined by George McKay and Tim Jordan to discuss the protest, politics and plots of the garden. Also on the programme, Tracy Shildrick on her illuminating study of the underprivileged of Teesside and why nobody describes themselves as poor. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Is DIY culture and home improvement linked to the ideals of John Ruskin? David Gauntlett, author of Making is Connecting believes it is and he contends that bloggers and online enthusiasts are the inheritors of Britain's creative culture - making communities through their craft in the same way that medieval stone masons used to do. But is posting a skate-boarding dog on YouTube really comparable to carving a gargoyle on a gothic cathedral? The sociologist Richard Sennett joins Laurie Taylor and David Gauntlett to discuss making things, creating communities and what counts as craftsmanship. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

A special edition marking the British Sociological Association's 60th anniversary. Laurie Taylor considers some of the seminal figures who've changed the face of sociology in the UK over more than half a century. He also highlights some of the most interesting research to emerge from this year's BSA conference, including Professor Valerie Walkerdine's study of the demise of breadwinning masculinity in a former South Wales steel town. How do men cope when few options are available other than 'women's work' in supermarkets and industrial cleaning? In addition, he hears about Dr Vicki Harman's exploration of ballroom dancing and traditional gender roles. Is it possible to be a feminist as well as being twirled around in a cloud of chiffon and sequins? Producer: Jayne Egerton.

In the wake of the murder of Ronan Kerr, a Catholic police officer in Omagh, Laurie talks to Dr Mary Gethins about her research into the Catholic police officers who have joined the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). She conducted a survey of 300 serving officers followed by in depth interviews with 70 current, trainee and officers and explored the rewards for doing a job which can isolate people from their communities, expose them to prejudice from colleagues and always carries the risk of violence from dissident republicans. Community policing is an enduring problem for the force with some Catholic communities utterly rejecting the legitimacy of the police. Will the PSNI eventually becoming an integrated force, respected by Catholics and Protestants alike? Perhaps the strong reaction against the murder of Ronan Kerr will help establish the authority of the police force across Northern Irish society.Also on Thinking Allowed, Facebook in Trinidad. Laurie talks to Danny Miller about his ethnographic st

In 1905 Russians gathered at 6 different points to march on the Winter Palace and the streetscape of St Petersburg contributed enormously to their success. The Russian poor were cheek by jowl with the rich and this inflamed a class consciousness which - despite industrialisation - the poor suburbs of Europe did much to dissapate. How does urban geography effect the way societies develop? What have streets given to politics? As street protests continue to challenge authority across the Middle East and violence characterises the marches in our own capital, Laurie is joined by Leif Jerram and John Clarke from the Open University to discuss the role the street in the history of politics. Also on the programme Jeffrey Alexander discusses how the revolution was 'performed' for Egypt and for the rest of the world from Cairo's central square. That compelling drama provided a powerful symbol which was enough to bring down the government. Producer: Charlie Taylor.