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Towards a Diagnosis of Our Times: A Sociological Approach to Global Trends (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by Nikolai GenovThis monograph offers a critical diagnosis of the current epoch marked by globalization, de-globalization and re-globalization. Arguing that the concept of society gives way to that of globalization as an explanatory core, the author shows how constructivist ideas open the way to four new conceptualizations of global trends: upgrading the rationality of organizations, individualization, spread of instrumental activism, and homogenization of culture (RISC).Each trend is presented by two explanatory models. The trend of upgrading rationality of organizations is exemplified by analyses of the volatile rationality of industrial organizations and the tensions of regional integration. Individualization is dealt with by comparing the development and impact of leaders in Asia and the individualization in the present-day war. Commercialization, together with consumerism, is analyzed as a component of the global trend of instrumental activism. The homogenization of culture is dealt with through discussions on the dynamic relations of values and norms and the controversial development of social science knowledge. The creative approach to global processes is finalized in a discussion on tensions and conflicts in each trend and in their interplay. As such, it develops a new analytical framework while identifying action fields and activities, which reproduce stability and change in contemporary global society.The intellectually refreshing, critical, and constructive ideas of this volume will attract researchers, lecturers, and upper-level students with interests in sociological theory, globalization, the sociology of culture, and the challenges facing contemporary civilization more broadly.
Towards a General Theory of Boredom: A Case Study of Anglo and Russian Society (Classical and Contemporary Social Theory)
by Elina TochilnikovaThrough comparative historical research, this book offers a novel theory explaining the emergence of boredom in modernity. Presenting a Durkheimian topology of cross-cultural boredom, it grounds the sociological cause of boredom in anomie and the perception of time, compares its development through case studies in Anglo and Russian society, and explains its minimal presence outside of the West. By way of illustrative examples, it includes archetypes of boredom in literature, art, film, and music, with a focus on the death of traditional art, and boredom in politics, including strategies enacted by Queer intellectuals. The author argues that boredom often results from the absence of a strong commitment to engaging with society, and extends Durkheim’s theory of suicide to boredom in order to consider whether an imbalance between social regulation and integration results in boredom. The first book to scientifically explain the historical emergence and epidemic of boredom while engaging with cutting edge political debates, Towards a General Theory of Boredom will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in social theory, social psychology, and sociology.
Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace: Navigating the Great Transition
by Deborah Guess Joseph CamilleriThis book addresses the need to develop a holistic approach to countering violence that integrates notions of peace, justice and care of the Earth. It is unique in that it does not stop with the move toward articulating ‘Just Peace’ as a human concern but probes the mindset needed for the shift to a ‘Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace’. It explores the values and principles that can guide this shift, theoretically and in practice. International in scope and grounded in the reality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific context, the book brings together important insights drawn from the Indigenous relationship to land, ecological feminism, ecological philosophy, the social sciences more generally, and a range of religious and non-religious cosmologies. Drawn from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the contributors in this book apply their combined professional expertise and active engagement to illuminate the difficult choices that lie ahead.
Towards a Malaysian Criminology: Conflict, Censure and Compromise (Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia)
by Muzammil QuraishiThis book provides a critical analysis of criminological scholarship in Malaysia, presenting a focused exploration of the key qualities and limitations to studies on crime, deviance, victimization and criminal justice in this country. This text connects contemporary crime problems with historical legacies such as the impact of colonialism and the influence of ethno-nationalism and authoritarianism in the region. Conflict and tension created by legal pluralism is illustrated via three case studies exploring apostasy, Islamic rehabilitation centres, and retention and use of the death penalty. In addition to a critique of contemporary Malaysian criminological scholarship, Towards a Malaysian Criminology suggests a composite, critical criminological approach to guide future research. This approach draws on theoretical traditions in critical race theory, critical realism, ultra-realism and the emerging field of Islamic critical realism. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the discipline, this text will appeal to scholars of criminology, sociology, law, politics and Islamic theology.
Towards a Measure of Man: The Frontiers of Normal Adjustment (International Library of Sociology)
by Paul HalmosFirst Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Towards a New Concept of the Political: A Defence of Universalism and Difference (Critiques and Alternatives to Capitalism)
by Giacomo MarramaoThis book addresses the current crisis of democratic politics and its phase of ‘interregnum’ – in which the past finds it hard to die and the future finds it difficult to be born – by proposing a radical redefinition of the concept of the Political. Drawing on the thoughts of Antonio Gramsci and Walter Benjamin among others, it explores the meaning of the lemma auctoritas – the opposition between authority and power – and offers a comparison of the Frankfurt School’s radical critique of power with Georges Bataille’s critique of political economy and consumerist productivism, demonstrating how the two ultimately converge. Based on an ontology of the present that is critical of ‘identity obsession’ and advances instead a universalism of difference, the author proposes a new understanding of politics founded not on ‘vertical’ domination but on a ‘horizontal’ recomposition of subjectivities, allowing interaction and acting-in-common between different forms of life. This book will therefore appeal to scholars of social and political theory.
Towards a New Industrial Democracy: Workers' Participation in Industry (Routledge Library Editions: Employee Ownership and Economic Democracy #8)
by Michael PooleThis title, originally published in 1986, explores the political and economic conditions of the 1980s, and reflects the world-wide interest in industrial democracy. Each chapter analyses the main adaptations in policy, theory and experimentation that have occurred in industrial democracy in the 1980s. In particular, the role of managers is examined in depth and detail, since these personnel have been responsible for a number of recent initiatives. The themes covered are vital for all those seeking new directions in the reform of modern industrial relations in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.
Towards a New Pedagogy for Teaching Foreign Language Politeness: Halliday’s Model and Approaches to Politeness (Routledge Research in Language Education)
by Gerrard MugfordThis book examines how foreign language speakers establish and maintain social and transactional relationships in their target language, and how pedagogic intervention can help learners implement practices that will allow them to participate and react in both socially acceptable and individualistically empowering ways. Arguing that ‘doing’ foreign-language politeness and culture does not simply involve the indiscriminate and uncritical adoption and implementation of target-language patterns and practices, the author advocates instead for active, judicious and even critical social action. As such, the book presents a dynamic and vibrant dimension to target language politeness and cultural practices, demonstrating that raising learners’ critical language awareness in identifying productive communicative resources and assets can lead to successful interpersonal and transactional communication. Building on this notion of a ‘positive’ pedagogy, Halliday’s model of ideational, interpersonal and textual is utilised as a framework for exploring how foreign language users can approach target language politeness in terms of prosocial, interpersonal and contested politeness, with reference to a study of Mexican speakers of English as a foreign language. Heightening awareness of foreign language politeness patterns and practices, as well as presenting knowledge and resources for overcoming challenges and accentuating benefits of a nuanced learning scheme for politeness in foreign language, this book will appeal to language educators, researchers and bilingual speakers. It will also benefit those working across pragmatics, sociolinguistics, TESOL, cultural studies.
Towards a New Science of Health
by Stephen Fulder Robert LafailleThe foundations of health sciences need rethinking. The mechanistic biomedical model, apparently so successful in the past, is now criticised for failing to explain what health is and how it can be preserved. The world's major health problems no longer seem so controllable. A new science of health is needed, a radical spirit of inquiry which draws on a broad knowledge base and a variety of approaches, a science which does not balk at reconceptualising health and building on innovative research. Towards a New Science of Health provides a radical alternative to current biomedical thinking. Presenting an overview of all major paradigms in the health sciences, their historical development, socio-cultural background and value, the book provides a framework for innovative thinking in health. Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives and focussing on a variety of approaches - systems theory, human experience and biography, the healing process and social relations - the authors aim to bridge the gap between personal experience and scientific knowledge.
Towards a Philosophy of Digital Media
by Alberto Romele Enrico TerroneThis book uses the conceptual tools of philosophy to shed light on digital media and on the way in which they bear upon our existence. At the turn of the century, the rise of digital media significantly changed our world. The digitizing of traditional media has extraordinarily increased the circulation of texts, sound, and images. Digital media have also widened our horizons and altered our relationship with others and with ourselves. Information production and communication are still undoubtedly significant aspects of digital media and life. Recently, however, recording, registration and keeping track have taken the upper hand in both online practices and the imaginaries related to them. The essays in this book therefore focus primarily on the idea that digital media involve a significant overlapping between communication and recording.
Towards a Philosophy of Narco Violence in Mexico
by Amalendu MisraThis book explores the politics of narco-killing and public attitudes to violence and death in the Mexican Drug War. It examines questions such as the culture of human sacrifice, the religious principles that sanction egregious violence and most importantly the society's complex response strategies towards such violence. Primarily a philosophical reflection, this study nonetheless uses anthropological, architectural and sociological methods to provide an interdisciplinary explanation to the visceral, commonplace violence taking place in contemporary Mexico.
Towards a Politics of the Rainbow: Self-Organization in the Trade Union Movement (Routledge Revivals)
by Jill C. HumphreyThis title was first published in 2002: The trade union movement in twentieth-century Britain has been a cornerstone for society’s marginalized members - women, disabled people, lesbians and gay men and people from black and ethnic minority communities. As these groups of workers self-organized to reform their unions, they built a bridge between the old social movement based around class position and labour identity and the new social movements based around civil rights and status stratifications. This book presents a detailed look at self-organization within public sector unions through the emergence of four self-organized groups within NALGO and later, UNISON. Drawing upon unique insider knowledge of the alliances and antipathies between the self-organized groups and the host union, the book also provides fascinating revelations of the tensions between self-organized groups themselves. This study will be essential reading for students of political sociology and industrial relations.
Towards a Post-Fordist Welfare State? (The\state Of Welfare Ser.)
by Roger Burrows Brian D LoaderThere is no doubt that significant socio-economic changes have occurred over the last twenty years in the UK and other advanced capitalist societies. Consequently, Fordism, a bureaucratic, hierarchical model of industrial development has matured into Post-Fordism, with its greater emphasis on the individual, freedom of choice and flexibility, generating fresh debate and analysis. Towards a Post-Fordist Welfare State represents leading authors from a number of disciplines - social policy, sociology, politics and geography - who have played a key role in promoting and criticising Post-Fordist theorising and presents a thorough examination of the implications of applying Post-Fordism to contemporary restructuring of the British welfare state. The work will appeal to a wide-ranging readership providing the first social policy text on Post-Fordism. It will be key reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and lecturers in social policy and administration, sociology, politics and public sector economics
Towards a Relational Theory of the Firm: Relational Governance, Cost and Stakeholder Business Models (Relational Economics and Organization Governance)
by Josef WielandThis book lays the groundwork for a relational theory of the firm as a network of stakeholder resources and interests. Drawing on the author’s earlier publications on relational economics as the political economy of a global cooperative economy or stakeholder capitalism, it explores the governance and managerial implications of a relational economy for firms, while also critically revisiting the traditional and resource-based view of the firm. In turn, it explains concepts such as relational governance, relational costs, relational spaces, rent from cooperation, and shared value creation, as well as a dynamic and process-oriented relational business model. The book discusses the epistemological and methodological prerequisites of a relational theory of the firm and addresses their theoretical taxonomy. A relational theory of the firm is a work in progress; the book represents an invitation to join this theoretical and empirical undertaking.
Towards a Sociology of Artisans: Continuities and Discontinuities in Comparative Perspective (Routledge Revivals Ser.)
by Sokratis M. KoniordosThis title was first published in 2001. A comparative sociological examination of artisans, exploring historical examples and theoretical references to the stratum. The book also investigates empirical case studies and analyzes the variegated careers of contemporary artisans.
Towards a Sociology of Hope: Looking Beyond (Classical and Contemporary Social Theory)
by Emiliana Mangone Guido GiliWhy does hope appear in certain epochs and places, only at other times to disappear from people’s lives and from society as a whole? This book addresses hope from a sociological perspective, offering a theoretical framework and a set of concepts to consider a range of questions. With attention to who the historical bearers of hope are, and which social groups are most inclined towards hope and why. It also considers the objects and goals towards which their hope is directed and the conditions under which hope is easier. An enquiry into the relationship between hope and social, cultural, economic and political conditions, this volume redirects the sociological gaze towards the discovery of social experiences in which hope resurrects and contributes to the imagination of a new social world. It will therefore appeal to scholars of sociology and social theory with interests in the emotions, social practices and social movements.
Towards a Sociology of Nursing
by Ricardo A. AyalaTowards a Sociology of Nursing offers fresh insights from recent research into the nursing profession. Nurses represent an important part of the professionally trained female workforce and, being a middle-class profession, changes in nursing reflect changes of many working women worldwide. Scholarship addressing these changes, however, often consists of narratives of nurses talking about themselves, which can be enriched by a sociological background that foregrounds hypotheses.In this book, Ricardo A. Ayala problematises the realities which inform, affect and shape nursing, offering new perspectives on the consequences of those social realities for the nursing profession and society more broadly. He draws on extensive field research with nurses in the workplace, spending time with them, interviewing key actors and reading and analysing documents critically through a distinctive sociological lens.
Towards a Sociology of Selfies: The Filtered Face (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by Maria-Carolina Cambre Christine LavrenceThis book examines selfies as a relational and processual networked social practice, performed between people within digital contexts and that involve online/offline intersections and tensions. It offers an analysis of selfies through a rich and interdisciplinary framework, that explores the ritualized and affective engagements selfies provoke from others. Given that selfies by definition are shared and posted through networked platforms, they complicate notions of traditional photographic self-portraiture. As such, this book explores how selfies invoke broader, stratified patterns of looking that are occluded in discourses of "empowerment" and "visibility", as well as the subjectivities these networked practices work to produce. Drawing on extensive qualitative research conducted over a period of three years, this book questions not only what selfies are but what they do, they worlds they create, the imaginaries that organize them, and the flows of desire, affect and normativity that underpin them, questions that can only be addressed through research that closely attends to the experience of selfie-takers. It will be of interest to those working in the fields of Sociology, Cultural studies, Communications, Visual Studies, Social Media studies, Feminist research and Affect Theory.
Towards a Sociology of the Cinema: A Comparative Essay On The Structure And Functioning Of A Major Entertainment Industry (International Library of Sociology)
by Ian Charles JarvieFirst published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Towards a Sociology of the Open Society: Critical Rationalism and the Open Society Volume 2 (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)
by Masoud Mohammadi AlamutiThis book applies the general theory of critical rationalism in order to develop a new sociology of the open society, in general, and a new analysis of the transition from a closed society to an open society in particular. It presents a criticism of Karl Popper’s analysis of human action for opening up a closed society, followed by a critical study of the mainstream sociology to show how justificational models of knowledge and rational action have prevented sociology from addressing the contribution of human action to social change. This book provides new sociologies of closed and open societies. It argues that in the closed society "a low level" of critical rationality is activated by people to define the meaning of the good life and social institutions of law, polity and economy. Masoud Mohammadi Alamuti proposes five mechanisms of opening up closed society through the model of social change, inspired by the philosophy of critical rationalism. This volume is "the first systematic attempt" to apply the philosophy of critical rationalism in order to present a "normative sociology of the open society". It will be of interest to postgraduate researchers and professional readers in philosophy, sociology, moral science, law, politics and economics. In addition, this book would benefit research centres, policymakers and civil society activists interested in the ideas of critical rationalism and the open society.
Towards a Theory of Educational Transmissions: Applied Studies Towards A Sociology Of Language (Class, Codes And Control Ser.)
by Basil BernsteinIllustrating the effect of class relationships upon the institutionalizing of elaborate codes in the school, the papers in this volume each develop from the previous one and demonstrate the evolution of the concepts discussed.
Towards a Theory of Planned Economy
by Branko HorvatThis title was first published in 1964: The purpose of the present study is to examine the issues involved in designing an efficient economic system in given historical circumstances.The author draws heavily on the experiences provided by the failures and successes of the postwar Yugoslav economy. The book is one of the first major studies, in English, of the theory of an economy of the Yugoslav type.
Towards a critique of Foucault: Foucault, Lacan and the question of ethics.
by Mike GaneThe work of Michel Foucault, one of the most influential of modern French social theorists and philosophers, has had a dramatic and far-reaching effect on many disciplines. The essays in this reissued collection, originally published in 1986, present Foucault's work as an important contribution to the theoretical analysis of history, language and power. They also represent a critical response to this contribution, encouraging readers not only to read Foucault for themselves, but to think about some new problems in a new way.
Towards a just climate change resilience: Developing resilient, anticipatory and inclusive community response (Palgrave Studies in Climate Resilient Societies)
by Pedro Henrique Campello Torres Pedro Roberto JacobiThis book provides an accessible overview of how efforts to combat climate change and social inequalities should be tackled simultaneously. In the context of the climate emergency, the impacts of extreme events can already be felt around the world. The book centres on five case studies from the Global South, Latin America, Pacific Islands, Africa, and Asia with each one focused on climate justice, resilience, and community responses towards a just transition. The book will be an invaluable reference for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in environmental studies, urban planning, geography, social science, international development, and disciplines that focus on the social dimensions of climate change.
Towards an Adventist Version of Communio Ecclesiology: Remnant in Koinonia (Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue)
by Tihomir LazićThis book explores how Seventh-day Adventists, like other Christians, can benefit from generating their own version of communio ecclesiology. It starts by offering a critical analysis of the status quo of the existing Adventist portrayal of church as remnant, and suggests potential ways of moving this tradition forward. To articulate a more rounded and comprehensive vision of the church’s rich and multifaceted relational nature, this book draws on the mainstream Christian koinonia-based framework. Consequently, it provides possible solutions to some of the most divisive ecclesial issues that Christian communities face today regarding church structure, ministry, mission, communal interpretation, and reform. As it sets on a new footing the conversation between Adventism and other mainstream Christian traditions, the methodology of this book serves as a pathway for any Christian community to use when revisiting and enhancing its own current theologies of the church.