Catherine Hakim (born 30 May 1948) ( ar, كاترين حكيم) is a British
sociologist who specialises in women's employment and women's issues. She is known for developing the
preference theory Preference theory is a multidisciplinary (mainly sociological) theory developed by Catherine Hakim. Republished in 2008, volume 2 pdf./ref> It seeks both to explain and predict women's choices regarding investment in productive or reproductive work ...
, for her work on
erotic capital
Sexual capital or erotic capital is the social power an individual or group accrues as a result of their sexual attractiveness and social charm. It enables social mobility independent of class origin because sexual capital is convertible, and may ...
and more recently for a sex-deficit theory.
She is currently a professorial research fellow at the
Institute for the Study of Civil Society (Civitas), and has formerly worked in British central government and been a senior research fellow at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
and the
Centre for Policy Studies
The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a think tank and pressure group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," low tax, national independe ...
. She has also been a visiting professor at the
Social Science Research Center Berlin
The WZB Berlin Social Science Center (german: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB), also known by its German initials WZB, is an internationally renowned research institute for the social sciences, the largest such institutio ...
.
Background
Born in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Hakim grew up in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and moved to the United Kingdom for
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
at age 16, around 1964.
She earned a B.A. at the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
in 1969 and a Ph.D. in sociology at the
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
in 1974. She worked in Caracas, Venezuela 1969–1972 and as a research officer with the
Tavistock Institute
The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British not-for-profit organisation that applies social science to contemporary issues and problems. It was initiated in 1946, when it developed from the Tavistock Clinic, and was formally establ ...
in London 1972–1974. She was a senior research officer with the British Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (now the
Office of National Statistics
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
) 1974–1978, and a principal research officer with the
Department of Employment
The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions ...
1978–1989. She was professor of sociology at the
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
and director of the
ESRC Data Archive 1989–1990. She was affiliated with the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
between 1993 and 2011; she became a Morris Ginsberg fellow in 1993 and was employed as a senior research fellow in the sociology department until 2003. From 2003 to 2011 she was affiliated with the LSE in a
visiting capacity; she maintained an office at the institution and was listed as a senior research fellow in the sociology department at the LSE website until 2011, when the arrangement came to an end amid public discussion of her book ''Honey Money''.
Since 2011 she has been a professorial research fellow at the
Centre for Policy Studies
The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a think tank and pressure group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," low tax, national independe ...
and the
Institute for the Study of Civil Society (Civitas), and a visiting professor at the
Social Science Research Center Berlin
The WZB Berlin Social Science Center (german: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB), also known by its German initials WZB, is an internationally renowned research institute for the social sciences, the largest such institutio ...
.
Career and work
Hakim has published extensively on labour market topics, women's employment, sex discrimination, social and family policy, as well as social statistics and research design. She has published over 100 articles in academic journals and edited collections, and over a dozen textbooks and research monographs. She is best known for developing
preference theory Preference theory is a multidisciplinary (mainly sociological) theory developed by Catherine Hakim. Republished in 2008, volume 2 pdf./ref> It seeks both to explain and predict women's choices regarding investment in productive or reproductive work ...
and her criticism of many
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
assumptions about women's employment. Her most recent books develop a theory of "
erotic capital
Sexual capital or erotic capital is the social power an individual or group accrues as a result of their sexual attractiveness and social charm. It enables social mobility independent of class origin because sexual capital is convertible, and may ...
"
and its power in all social interaction, in the workplace, politics and in public life generally as well as in the invisible negotiations of private relationships.
Hakim was a member of the editorial board of the ''
European Sociological Review
''European Sociological Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press focusing on all sociology fields. It is the official journal of the European Consortium for Sociological Research. The editor-in-c ...
'' and a former member of the editorial board of ''
International Sociology
''International Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of sociology. The editor-in-chief is Marta Soler Gallart (Universitat de Barcelona). It was established in 1986 and is published by SAGE Publications on behalf of th ...
''.
The idea of erotic capital
Catherine Hakim's perspective
Catherine Hakim states that erotic capital is an asset in many social and economic settings such as media and politics.
This theory added erotic as an additional form of capital to
Pierre Bourdieu's concept of society being run by four main types of capital - cultural, social, symbolic, and economic. Hakim defined erotic capital as the concept that an individual's beauty, sexual attractiveness, enhanced social interaction, liveliness, social presentation, sexuality, and fertility can provide opportunities to advance in life. According to Hakim, the most important and most controversial of these seven components would be sexual attractiveness, as her studies indicated that family men tend to crave sex more than women, a phenomenon she named the male sex deficit. She encouraged young women to use this asset to earn a more respectable position in society.
Hakim believes that erotic capital has gone unacknowledged for far too long and that the patriarchal society and moral constraints of conservative communities have caused the idea of beauty and attractiveness to stress the importance of personality, not giving enough credit to physique.
She does not encourage a society based on solely erotic capital but rather states that it plays a subconscious role in daily life decisions, such as career offerings, enrichment opportunities, and social networking.
For example, she places current dating apps and social media on the spotlight, stating that the internet has created somewhat of a digitized version of dating and that these markets will gain traction as time goes on. She strongly believes that these sites and the decision of marriage are driven by a woman's erotic capital and a man's economic capital.
Contradictions
Many groups such as
feminists
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
have actively rejected the idea of erotic capital by stating that the sex positive movement highlights the rights of women in only a manner that highlights advantages and ignores contradictory research that has shown that attractive women are less likely to receive a promotion.
Bourdieu's followers have asserted that he had developed the idea of 'body capital' long ago but refused to include it in his general capital because it was too intertwined with
economic capital
In finance, mainly for financial services firms, economic capital (ecap) is the amount of risk capital, assessed on a realistic basis, which a firm requires to cover the risks that it is running or collecting as a going concern, such as market r ...
. For example, if a woman from a high socioeconomic status could buy beauty products and afford body shaping surgeries, she would be able to change her body capital.
Sex deficit
In 2017, Hakim was accused of
misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
after publishing an article which critics claim suggested women are to blame for
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
. The article bases its argument on a research paper published in 2015 which evaluated 30 sex surveys globally and claimed that, since the
1960s sexual revolution, women's sexual motivation and interest in the developed world has decreased, causing what Hakim calls a "male sexual deficit". This, it is argued, can help explain why sexual harassment, sexual violence, rape, rising demand for commercial sexual services and other behaviours are almost exclusively male. She has argued that the ''sex deficit'' also derives from men naturally having a higher sex drive than women.
Publications
Selected books
*''Secondary analysis in social research'', London : Allen & Unwin, 1982, ,
*''Social Change and Innovation in the Labour Market: Evidence from the Census SARs on Occupational Segregation and Labour Mobility, Part-Time Work and Student Jobs, Homework and Self-Employment'' (
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1998).
*''Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century: Preference Theory'' (
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2000). With a Preface by
Anthony Giddens
Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is t ...
.
*''Research Design: Successful Designs for Social and Economic Research'' (
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
, 2000).
*''Models of the Family in Modern Societies: Ideals and Realities'' (
Ashgate
Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...
, 2003).
*''Key Issues in Women's Work'' (
Glasshouse Press, 1996, 2004).
*''Modelos de Familia en las Sociedades Modernas: Ideales y Realidades'' (
Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas
The Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas ("Centre for Sociological Research") or CIS is a Spanish public research institute. It was founded in 1963 as the Instituto de la Opinión Pública, and in 1977, after the Spanish general election in ...
, 2005).
*''Little Britons: Financing Childcare Choice'' (
Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange is a British conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washing ...
, 2008), with Karen Bradley, Emily Price and Louisa Mitchell.
*
Selected articles
*
*
*
Pdf.*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakim, Catherine
1948 births
Living people
British sociologists
Academics of the London School of Economics
British women sociologists