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Symbolic Universes in Time of: The Future of European Societies (Culture in Policy Making: The Symbolic Universes of Social Action)
by Sergio Salvatore Viviana Fini Terri Mannarini Jaan Valsiner Giuseppe Alessandro VeltriThis book investigates whether, how and where the cultural milieu of European societies has changed as a result of the socio-economics crisis. To do so, it adopts a psycho-cultural approach, which views the cultural milieu as a set of meanings, placing the generalized image social actors have of themselves, the world, events and their relationships in the context of the socio-political and institutional environment, including policies. By analyzing the changes in cultural milieu and social identity, the book develops strategic and methodological guidelines for the design of post-crisis policies, providing a concept of how the cultural dynamics are associated with certain individual characteristics and specific socio-economic phenomena.
Symbolisch prekär: Personale Identität in Selbsterzählungen armer Frauen (Kulturelle Figurationen: Artefakte, Praktiken, Fiktionen)
by Sonja TeupenIm Zentrum der mikrosoziologisch und kulturpsychologisch informierten Studie steht die Subjektposition der armen Frau. Im Unterschied zu anderen Subjektpositionen geht diese nicht mit einem Versprechen sozialer Anerkennung einher, sondern erfolgt vorrangig unter Bedingungen symbolischer Prekarität. Anhand von Selbsterzählungen von Frauen in Armutslagen in Deutschland und den USA wird untersucht, wie die Erzählerinnen ihr Subjektsein narrativ verhandeln und damit personale Identität konstituieren. Die Analyse im methodologischen Rahmen der relationalen Hermeneutik rekonstruiert zwei Ebenen des Gegenstandes: Thematisch plausibilisieren die Erzählerinnen ihr Armsein entlang der Topoi Krankheit, Trennung, Kindheit und Schicksal. Strukturell sind ihre Erzählungen aufgespannt zwischen den Punkten Widerfahrnis und Handlung, Identifikation und Differenz, Zurechnung und Autonomie.Der InhaltEinführungSozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Identitätsforschung im interpretativen ParadigmaPersonale IdentitätMethodik der Analyse personaler IdentitätFallvergleich und Typisierung: AnalyseTopik und Typologie: DiskussionSchlussDie AutorinDr. Sonja Teupen ist Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin für Qualitative Methoden am Deutschen Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Standort Witten. Im Kontext der Demenz-Versorgungsforschung arbeitet sie unter anderem zum Thema Selbst und Personsein in sozialen Beziehungen. Daneben ist sie Lehrbeauftragte des Instituts für Soziologie an der FernUniversität in Hagen.
Symbolische Ordnung und Flüchtlingsbewegungen in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft
by Emre Arslan Kemal BozayDas Thema der Flüchtlingsbewegungen ist in den letzten Jahren vielfach in den Fokus politischer, medialer und wissenschaftlicher Diskurse gerückt. Dabei geht es sowohl um eine globale Diskussion über die Fluchtthematik als solches als auch um die Lebensbedingungen von geflüchteten Menschen in der Aufnahmegesellschaft. Gegenwärtig kann beobachtet werden, dass die Willkommensstimmung gegenüber Geflüchteten größtenteils gekippt ist, und in der politischen, institutionellen und medialen Debatte über Geflüchtete eine Tendenz zur Kriminalisierung und Skandalisierung vorherrscht. Vielfältige aktuelle Forschungen haben sich interdisziplinär mit den unterschiedlichen Aspekten der Flüchtlingsbewegungen beschäftigt. Dieser Sammelband hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, den Bourdieuschen Diskurs zur „Symbolischen Ordnung“ auf das Themenfeld „Flüchtlingsbewegungen“ zu übertragen und zu diskutieren.
The Symbolism and Communicative Contents of Dreadlocks in Yorubaland
by Augustine AgwueleThisbook offers an interpretation of Yoruba people's affective responses to anadult Yoruba male with a 'deviant' hairstyle. The work, which views hairstylesas a form of symbolic communicative signal that encodes messages that areperceived and interpreted within a culture, provides an ontological andepistemological interpretation of Yoruba beliefs regarding dreadlocks withreal-life illustrations of their treatment of an adult male with what they termirun were (insane person's hairdo). Based on experiential observationsas well as socio-cultural and linguistic analyses, the book explores thedynamism of Yoruba worldview regarding head-hair within contemporary beliefsystems and discusses some of the factors that assure its continuity. Itconcludes with a cross-cultural comparison of the perceptions of dreadlocks,especially between Nigerian Yoruba people and African American Yorubapractitioners.
Symbolism and Regime Change in Russia
by Graeme GillDuring the Soviet period, political symbolism developed into a coherent narrative that underpinned Soviet political development. Following the collapse of the Soviet regime and its widespread rejection by the Russian people, a new form of narrative was needed, one which both explained the state of existing society and gave a sense of its direction. By examining the imagery contained in presidential addresses, the political system, the public sphere and the urban development of Moscow, Graeme Gill shows how no single coherent symbolic programme has emerged to replace that of the Soviet period. Laying particular emphasis on the Soviet legacy, and especially on the figure of Stalin, 'Symbolism and Regime Change in Russia' explains why it has been so difficult to generate a new set of symbols which could constitute a coherent narrative for the new Russia.
Symbols: Public and Private (Routledge Revivals)
by Raymond FirthThis book first published in 1973 offers a broad survey of the study of symbolic ideas and behaviour. The study of symbolism is popular nowadays and anthropologists have made substantial contributions to it. Raymond Firth has long been internationally known for his field research in the Solomons and Malaysia, and for his theoretical work on kinship, economics and religion. Here from a new angle, he has produced a broad survey of the study of symbolic ideas and behaviour. Professor Firth examines definitions of symbol. He traces the history of scientific inquiry into the symbolism of religious cults, mythology and dreams back into the eighteenth century. He compares some modern approaches to symbolism in art, literature and philosophy with those in social anthropology. He then cites examples in anthropological treatment of symbolic material from cultures of varying sophistication. Finally he offers dispassionate analyses of symbols used in contemporary Western situations - from hair-styles to the use and abuse of national flags; from cults of Black Jesus to the Eucharistic rite. In all this Professor Firth combines social and political topicality with a scholarly and provocative theoretical inquiry.
Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics
by Graeme GillSymbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics analyses the way in which Soviet symbolism and ritual changed from the regime's birth in 1917 to its fall in 1991. Graeme Gill focuses on the symbolism in party policy and leaders' speeches, artwork and political posters, and urban redevelopment, and on ritual in the political system. He shows how this symbolism and ritual were worked into a dominant metanarrative which underpinned Soviet political development. Gill also shows how, in each of these spheres, the images changed both over the life of the regime and during particular stages: the Leninist era metanarrative differed from that of the Stalin period, which differed from that of the Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods, which was, in turn, changed significantly under Gorbachev. In charting this development, the book lays bare the dynamics of the Soviet regime and a major reason for its fall.
Symbols in Art and Religion: The Indian and the Comparative Perspectives
by Karel WernerA thorough survey of great interest and value to scholars in this field. Contributions in this series stem from a Symposia on Indian Religions which took place over ten years (1975 to 1984). The Seventh Symposium housed in Oxford, UK in 1981 was concerned with the theme of symbolism in Indian religions and like its previous one-theme conference on mysticism, generated much interest and led to this publication.
Symbols of Canada
by Michael Dawson Catherine Gidney Donald WrightFrom Timbits to totem poles, Canada is boiled down to its syrupy core in symbolic forms that are reproduced not only on t-shirts, television ads, and tattoos but in classrooms, museums, and courtrooms too. They can be found in every home and in every public space. They come in many forms, from objects—like the red-uniformed Mountie, the maple leaf, and the beaver—to concepts—like free healthcare, peacekeeping, and saying “eh?”. But where did these symbols come from, what do they mean, and how have their meanings changed over time? Symbols of Canada gives us the real and surprising truth behind the most iconic Canadian symbols revealing their contentious and often contested histories. With over 100 images, this book thoroughly explores Canada’s true self while highlighting the unexpected twists and turns that have marked each symbol’s history.
Symbols of Defeat in the Construction of National Identity
by Steven J. MockIf nationalism is the assertion of legitimacy for a nation and its effectiveness as a political entity, why do many nations emphasize images of their own defeat in understanding their history? Using Israel, Serbia, France, Greece, and Ghana as examples, the author argues that this phenomenon exposes the ambivalence that lurks behind the passions nationalism evokes. Symbols of defeat glorify a nation's ancient past, while reenacting the destruction of that past as a necessary step in constructing a functioning modern society. As a result, these symbols often assume a foundational role in national mythology. Threats to such symbols are perceived as threats to the nation itself and consequently are met with desperation difficult for outsiders to understand.
Symbols of Freedom: Slavery and Resistance Before the Civil War
by Matthew J. ClavinHow American symbols inspired enslaved people and their allies to fight for true freedomIn the early United States, anthems, flags, holidays, monuments, and memorials were powerful symbols of an American identity that helped unify a divided people. A language of freedom played a similar role in shaping the new nation. The Declaration of Independence’s assertion “that all men are created equal,” Patrick Henry’s cry of “Give me liberty, or give me death!,” and Francis Scott Key’s “star-spangled banner” waving over “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” were anthemic celebrations of a newly free people. Resonating across the country, they encouraged the creation of a republic where the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was universal, natural, and inalienable.For enslaved people and their allies, the language and symbols that served as national touchstones made a mockery of freedom. Deriding the ideas that infused the republic’s founding, they encouraged an empty American culture that accepted the abstract notion of equality rather than the concrete idea. Yet, as award-winning author Matthew J. Clavin reveals, it was these powerful expressions of American nationalism that inspired forceful and even violent resistance to slavery.Symbols of Freedom is the surprising story of how enslaved people and their allies drew inspiration from the language and symbols of American freedom. Interpreting patriotic words, phrases, and iconography literally, they embraced a revolutionary nationalism that not only justified but generated open opposition. Mindful and proud that theirs was a nation born in blood, these disparate patriots fought to fulfill the republic’s promise by waging war against slavery.In a time when the US flag, the Fourth of July, and historical sites have never been more contested, this book reminds us that symbols are living artifacts whose power is derived from the meaning with which we imbue them.
The Symmetrical Family: A Study of Work and Leisure in the London Region (Routledge Revivals)
by Michael Young Peter WillmottFirst published in 1973, The Symmetrical Family combines evidence about the family of the past with information from a sociological survey in the London region and uses both as the basis for a speculative discussion about the future. The argument is that a new style of family life has emerged. Its basis is not equality between husbands and wives but at least something approaching symmetry: increasingly wives work outside the home and husbands inside it. The new family is itself under increasing pressure. Contrary to the popular view, there is yet no sign of a general increase in leisure. In some occupations work is dominant and becoming more so; at the same time the proportions of people in such jobs, though still in the minority, are expanding. The growing demand of wives for paid work outside the home means that in place of two jobs, one for the husband and one for the wife, there will often be four, with both working inside as well as outside the home. How long will people be able to bear the consequent strain? In a final chapter the authors discuss what they think will happen unless people decide quite deliberately, to reduce the pressure upon themselves and their children. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, health, social care, anthropology and public policy.
The Sympathetic Consumer: Moral Critique in Capitalist Culture (Culture and Economic Life)
by Tad SkotnickiWhen people encounter consumer goods—sugar, clothes, phones—they find little to no information about their origins. The goods will thus remain anonymous, and the labor that went into making them, the supply chain through which they traveled, will remain obscured. In this book, Tad Skotnicki argues that this encounter is an endemic feature of capitalist societies, and one with which consumers have struggled for centuries in the form of activist movements constructed around what he calls The Sympathetic Consumer. This book documents the uncanny similarities shared by such movements over the course of three centuries: the transatlantic abolitionist movement, US and English consumer movements around the turn of the twentieth century, and contemporary Fair Trade activism. Offering a comparative historical study of consumer activism the book shows, in vivid detail, how activists wrestled with the broader implications of commodity exchange. These activists arrived at a common understanding of the relationship between consumers, producers, and commodities, and concluded that consumers were responsible for sympathizing with invisible laborers. Ultimately, Skotnicki provides a framework to identify a capitalist culture by examining how people interpret everyday phenomena essential to it.
The Sympathetic State: Disaster Relief and the Origins of the American Welfare State
by Michele Landis DauberEven as unemployment rates soared during the Great Depression, FDR's relief and social security programs faced attacks in Congress and the courts on the legitimacy of federal aid to the growing population of poor. In response, New Dealers pointed to a long tradition--dating back to 1790 and now largely forgotten--of federal aid to victims of disaster. In The Sympathetic State, Michele Landis Dauber recovers this crucial aspect of American history, tracing the roots of the modern American welfare state beyond the New Deal and the Progressive Era back to the earliest days of the republic when relief was forthcoming for the victims of wars, fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Drawing on a variety of materials, including newspapers, legal briefs, political speeches, the art and literature of the time, and letters from thousands of ordinary Americans, Dauber shows that while this long history of government disaster relief has faded from our memory today, it was extremely well known to advocates for an expanded role for the national government in the 1930s, including the Social Security Act. Making this connection required framing the Great Depression as a disaster afflicting citizens though no fault of their own. Dauber argues that the disaster paradigm, though successful in defending the New Deal, would ultimately come back to haunt advocates for social welfare. By not making a more radical case for relief, proponents of the New Deal helped create the weak, uniquely American welfare state we have today--one torn between the desire to come to the aid of those suffering and the deeply rooted suspicion that those in need are responsible for their own deprivation. Contrary to conventional thought, the history of federal disaster relief is one of remarkable consistency, despite significant political and ideological change. Dauber's pathbreaking and highly readable book uncovers the historical origins of the modern American welfare state.
Sympathy and Science
by Regina Morantz-SanchezWhen first published in 1985, Sympathy and Science was hailed as a groundbreaking study of women in medicine. It remains the most comprehensive history of American women physicians available. Tracing the participation of women in the medical profession from the colonial period to the present, Regina Morantz-Sanchez examines women's roles as nurses, midwives, and practitioners of folk medicine in early America; recounts their successful struggles in the nineteenth century to enter medical schools and found their own institutions and organizations; and follows female physicians into the twentieth century, exploring their efforts to sustain significant and rewarding professional lives without sacrificing the other privileges and opportunities of womanhood. In a new preface, the author surveys recent scholarship and comments on the changing world of women in medicine over the past two decades. Despite extraordinary advances, she concludes, women physicians continue to grapple with many of the issues that troubled their predecessors.
The Symposion in Ancient Greek Society and Thought
by Fiona HobdenThe symposion was a key cultural phenomenon in ancient Greece. This book investigates its place in ancient Greek society and thought by exploring the rhetorical dynamics of its representations in literature and art. Across genres, individual Greeks constructed visions of the party and its performances that offered persuasive understandings of the event and its participants. Sympotic representations thus communicated ideas which, set within broader cultural conversations, could possess a discursive edge. Hence, at the symposion, sympotic styles and identities might be promoted, critiqued and challenged. In the public imagination, the ethics of Greeks and foreigners might be interrogated and political attitudes intimated. Symposia might be suborned into historical narratives about struggles for power. And for philosophers, writing a Symposium was itself a rhetorical act. Investigating the symposion's discursive potential enhances understanding of how the Greeks experienced and conceptualized the symposion and demonstrates its contribution to the Greek thought world.
Symposium: Annotated
by PlatoA fascinating discussion on sex, gender, and human instincts by one of history’s greatest philosophers. In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society, and basic human instincts. The debate precedes one great after another: Agathon, Aristodemus, Eryximachus, Pausanias, Aristophanes, and Socrates—all describing love in many possible permutations and combinations. The dialogue culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato’s mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love.
Symptoms of Modernity: Jews and Queers in Late Twentieth-century Vienna
by Matti BunzlThis book is an ethnography of Central European modernity in the form of a comparative study of Jews and queers in late twentieth-century Vienna.
Synagogue Life: A Study in Symbolic Interaction
by Samuel C. HeilmanVia a participant-observer approach, Synagogue Life analyzes the three essential dimensions of synagogue life: the houses of prayer, study, and assembly. In each Heilman documents the rich detail of the synagogue experience while articulating the social and cultural drama inherent in them. He illustrates how people come to the synagogue not only for spiritual purposes but also to find out where and how they fit into life in the neighborhood in which they share.In his new introduction, Heilman discusses what led him to write this book and the process of personal transformation through which he, as an Orthodox Jew, had to go in order to turn a disciplined eye on the world from which he came. Rather than using the stranger-as-native approach of classic anthropology, he had instead to begin as a native who discoverd how to look at a once-taken-for-granted synagogue life like a stranger. In the afterword, arguing for the efficacy of this approach, Heilman offers guidance on how natives can use their special familiarity and still be trained to distance themselves from their own group, making use of the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Synagogue Life offers a fascinating portrait that has something to say to social scientists as well as all those curious about what happens in the main arena of Orthodox Jewish community life.
The Synchronization of National Policies: Ethnography of the Global Tribe of Moderns (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by Pertti AlasuutariThe Synchronization of National Policies shows how it is possible that there is remarkable uniformity in the policies that the nation-states adopt, although there is no world government. Mainstream research attributes such global governance to the influence of leading countries, to functional requirements created by capitalism and technological development, or to international organizations. This book argues that to understand how national policies are synchronized we need to realize that the global population forms a single global tribe of moderns, divided into some 200 clans called nations. While previous research on the world culture of moderns has focused on the diffusion of ideas, this book concentrates on the active role of local actors, who introduce global models and domesticate them to nation-states. In national policymaking, actors justify new policies by international comparisons, by the successes and failures of models adopted in other countries, and by building and appealing to the authority of international organizations. Consequently, national policies are synchronized with each other. Yet, because of the way such domestication of global trends takes place, citizens retain and reproduce the understanding that they follow a sovereign national trajectory. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, world culture theory, globalization, international relations, and political science.
The Synchronized Society: Time and Control From Broadcasting to the Internet
by Randall PatnodeThe Synchronized Society traces the history of the synchronous broadcast experience of the twentieth century and the transition to the asynchronous media that dominate today. Broadcasting grew out of the latent desire by nineteenth-century industrialists, political thinkers, and social reformers to tame an unruly society by controlling how people used their time. The idea manifested itself in the form of the broadcast schedule, a managed flow of information and entertainment that required audiences to be in a particular place – usually the home – at a particular time and helped to create “water cooler” moments, as audiences reflected on their shared media texts. Audiences began disconnecting from the broadcast schedule at the end of the twentieth century, but promoters of social media and television services still kept audiences under control, replacing the schedule with surveillance of media use. Author Randall Patnode offers compelling new insights into the intermingled roles of broadcasting and industrial/post-industrial work and how Americans spend their time.
Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays
by Brendan BurfordThe stories in Syncopated challenge convention, provide perspective, and search out secret truths–all in the inviting, accessible form of comics. Syncopated will give you a daringly different view of the past–from the history of vintage postcards to the glory days of old Coney Island. It will immerse you in fascinating subcultures, from the secret world of graffiti artists to the chess champs of Greenwich Village. And it will open your eyes to pieces of forgotten history–for example, the Tulsa race riots of 1921–and to new perspectives on critical current events, such as the interrogation of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. These &“picto-essays&” encompass memoir, history, journalism, and biography in varied visual styles–each handpicked by Brendan Burford, one of America&’s top editors.Including:How and Why to Bale Hay by Nick Bertozzi Penny Sentiments by Rina Piccolo Boris Rose: Prisoner of Jazz by Brendan Burford and Jim Campbell Portfolio by Tricia Van den Bergh Father Figures by Josh Neufeld West Side Improvements by Alex Holden The Evening Hatch by Richard and Brian Haimes What We So Quietly Saw by Greg Cook &“Like Hell I Will&” by Nate Powell Welcome Home, Brave by Dave Kiersh The Sound of Jade by Sarah Glidden Subway Buskers by Victor Marchand Kerlow Erik Erikson by Paul Karasik Dvorak by Alec Longstreth A Coney Island Rumination by Paul Hoppe An Encounter with Richard Peterson by Brendan Burford
Syncretic Shrines and Pilgrimages: Dynamics of Indian Nationalism
by Karan SinghThis book looks at various syncretic traditions in India, such as Bhakti, Nath Yogi, Sufi, Imam Shahi, Ismailis, Khojas and others, and presents an elaborate picture of a redefined cultural space through them. It also investigates different syncretisms - Hindu-Muslim, Hindu-Muslim-Christian and Aboriginal-Ethnic - to understand diverse aspects of hybridity within the Indian nation space. It discusses how Indian nationalism was composed of different opinions from its inception, reflecting its rich diversity and pluralistic traditions. The book traces the emergence of multiple contours of Indian nationalism through the historical trajectory of religious diversity, lingering effects of colonialism, and experimentation with secularism. This volume caters to scholars and students interested in cultural studies, religion studies, pilgrimage studies, history, social anthropology, historical sociology, historical geography, religion and art history. It will also be of interest to political theorists and general readers.
The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th –18th Century)
by Hakim Sameer HamdaniThis book traces the historical identity of Kashmir within the context of Islamic religious architecture between early fourteenth and mid-eighteenth century. It presents a framework of syncretism within which the understanding of this architectural tradition acquires new dimensions and possibilities in the region. In a first, the volume provides a detailed overview of the origin and development of Islamic sacred architecture while contextualizing it within the history of Islam in Kashmir. Covering the entirety of Muslim rule in the region, the book throws light on Islamic religious architecture introduced with the establishment of the Muslim Sultanate in the early fourteenth century, and focuses on both monumental and vernacular architecture. It examines the establishment of new styles in architecture, including ideas, materials and crafts introduced by non-Kashmiri missionaries in the late-fourteenth to fifteenth century. Further, it discusses how the Mughals viewed Kashmir and embellished the land with their architectural undertakings, coupled with encounters between Kashmir’s native culture, with its identity and influences introduced by Sufis arriving from the medieval Persianate world. The book also highlights the transition of the traditional architecture to a pan-Islamic image in the post-Independence period. With its rich illustrations, photographs and drawings, this book will interest students, researchers, and professionals in architecture studies, cultural and heritage studies, visual and art history, religion, Islamic studies and South Asian studies. It will also be useful to professional architecture institutes, public libraries, museums, cultural and heritage bodies as well as the general reader interested in the architectural and cultural history of South Asia.
Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis (European Association of Social Anthropologists)
by Charles Stewart Rosalind ShawSyncretism - the synthesis of different religious - is a contentious word. Some regard it as a pejorative term, referring to local versions of notionally standard `world religions' which are deemed `inauthentic' because saturated with indigenous content. Syncretic versions of Christianity do not conform to `official' (read `European') models. In other contexts however, the syncretic amalgamation of religions may be validated as a mode of resistance to colonial hegemony, a sign of cultural survival, or as a means of authorising political dominance in a multicultural state. In Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism the contributors explore the issues of agency and power which are integral to the very process of syncretism and to the competing discourses surrounding the term.