Annette Miae Kim
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369397
- eISBN:
- 9780199871032
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369397.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
Why have some countries been able to escape the usual dead end of international development efforts and build explosively growing capitalist economies? Based on years of fieldwork, this book provides ...
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Why have some countries been able to escape the usual dead end of international development efforts and build explosively growing capitalist economies? Based on years of fieldwork, this book provides an account of the first generation of entrepreneurs in Vietnam in comparison to those in other transition countries. Focusing on the emergence of private land development firms in Ho Chi Minh City, this book shows how within seven years the private sector produced the majority of all new houses in the real estate market. This book demonstrates that capitalist entrepreneurialism was not the result of state initiative, properly incentivized policies, or individual personality traits. Rather, a society-wide reconstruction of cognitive paradigms enabled entrepreneurs to emerge and transform Vietnam from a poor, centrally planned economy into one of the fastest growing, market economies in the world.Less
Why have some countries been able to escape the usual dead end of international development efforts and build explosively growing capitalist economies? Based on years of fieldwork, this book provides an account of the first generation of entrepreneurs in Vietnam in comparison to those in other transition countries. Focusing on the emergence of private land development firms in Ho Chi Minh City, this book shows how within seven years the private sector produced the majority of all new houses in the real estate market. This book demonstrates that capitalist entrepreneurialism was not the result of state initiative, properly incentivized policies, or individual personality traits. Rather, a society-wide reconstruction of cognitive paradigms enabled entrepreneurs to emerge and transform Vietnam from a poor, centrally planned economy into one of the fastest growing, market economies in the world.
Diana G. Tumminia
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195176759
- eISBN:
- 9780199835720
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195176758.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. ...
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This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. From the theoretical perspective of the social construction of reality, it analyzes the way members create their own social world of contact with extraterrestrials. Based on lengthy field research, the everyday life and history of one of America’s oldest contactee groups is described. The text explicates the lives of the founders, Ernest and Ruth Norman, who claimed to be Space Brothers from higher realms of knowledge that offer a celestial science to Earth. Max Weber’s theory of charisma is used to analyze Ruth Norman, who led the group as Uriel the Archangel, Goddess of Love. Since Unarius had a failed millennial prophecy of spaceships landing in 2001, the author compares them to the group Leon Festinger studied in the 1950s. In looking at the interpretive methods Unarius used to explain success rather than failure, the text discusses the reasons why prophecies rarely fail in the eyes of believers.Less
This ethnography details the UFO religion, Unarius Academy of Science, and their belief system, which includes visions, channeling, dreams, myths, healing, past-life therapy, and recovered memories. From the theoretical perspective of the social construction of reality, it analyzes the way members create their own social world of contact with extraterrestrials. Based on lengthy field research, the everyday life and history of one of America’s oldest contactee groups is described. The text explicates the lives of the founders, Ernest and Ruth Norman, who claimed to be Space Brothers from higher realms of knowledge that offer a celestial science to Earth. Max Weber’s theory of charisma is used to analyze Ruth Norman, who led the group as Uriel the Archangel, Goddess of Love. Since Unarius had a failed millennial prophecy of spaceships landing in 2001, the author compares them to the group Leon Festinger studied in the 1950s. In looking at the interpretive methods Unarius used to explain success rather than failure, the text discusses the reasons why prophecies rarely fail in the eyes of believers.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242641
- eISBN:
- 9780191599255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924264X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This is the first of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. It ...
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This is the first of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. It looks at public policy and discourse analysis, and starts by defining discourse. The remaining sections of the chapter are: Discourse Analysis; Policy Discourse and Argumentative Struggle; Policy Storylines, which are the basic linguistic mechanism for creating and maintaining discursive order –– a generative sort of narrative that allows actors to draw upon various discursive categories to give meaning to specific or social phenomena (for example, ‘there is nothing we can do’ or ‘we must take immediate action’); and an appendix, Discourse and Social Change: Commodifying Educational Policy.Less
This is the first of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. It looks at public policy and discourse analysis, and starts by defining discourse. The remaining sections of the chapter are: Discourse Analysis; Policy Discourse and Argumentative Struggle; Policy Storylines, which are the basic linguistic mechanism for creating and maintaining discursive order –– a generative sort of narrative that allows actors to draw upon various discursive categories to give meaning to specific or social phenomena (for example, ‘there is nothing we can do’ or ‘we must take immediate action’); and an appendix, Discourse and Social Change: Commodifying Educational Policy.
James T. Richardson and Massimo Introvigne
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177299
- eISBN:
- 9780199785537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177299.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines the development of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in the West, as well as countermovements that were designed to exert control over such movements. Such opposing movements ...
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This chapter examines the development of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in the West, as well as countermovements that were designed to exert control over such movements. Such opposing movements included both counter-cult movements which focused on content of beliefs, and more secular anti-cult movements which attended more to behaviors, but also used the “brainwashing” myth as a major justification for intervention. The development of a major moral panic in the US and other countries concerning NRMs is described, as is the key role played by the media in conjunction with anti-cult organizations. Teaching exercises are recommended for helping students understand the phenomena being described.Less
This chapter examines the development of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in the West, as well as countermovements that were designed to exert control over such movements. Such opposing movements included both counter-cult movements which focused on content of beliefs, and more secular anti-cult movements which attended more to behaviors, but also used the “brainwashing” myth as a major justification for intervention. The development of a major moral panic in the US and other countries concerning NRMs is described, as is the key role played by the media in conjunction with anti-cult organizations. Teaching exercises are recommended for helping students understand the phenomena being described.
Laurence Whitehead
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253289
- eISBN:
- 9780191600326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253285.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This concluding chapter draws together the theoretical and methodological implications of viewing democratization as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process of social construction. This raises ...
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This concluding chapter draws together the theoretical and methodological implications of viewing democratization as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process of social construction. This raises questions of teleology, of the overlap between democratization and other comparable processes such as nation‐building, and of narrative construction. The chapter also reviews a selection of critical topics and exemplary cases selected to demonstrate the two‐way interaction between theoretical considerations and specific experiences. Most of these examples raise doubts about the permanence and centrality of the state in theories of democratization.Less
This concluding chapter draws together the theoretical and methodological implications of viewing democratization as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process of social construction. This raises questions of teleology, of the overlap between democratization and other comparable processes such as nation‐building, and of narrative construction. The chapter also reviews a selection of critical topics and exemplary cases selected to demonstrate the two‐way interaction between theoretical considerations and specific experiences. Most of these examples raise doubts about the permanence and centrality of the state in theories of democratization.
Laurence Whitehead
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253289
- eISBN:
- 9780191600326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253285.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Discusses these two key terms and the linkages between them, as they bear on contemporary experience. The key conclusions are that we need a ‘floating but anchored’ conception of democracy and that ...
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Discusses these two key terms and the linkages between them, as they bear on contemporary experience. The key conclusions are that we need a ‘floating but anchored’ conception of democracy and that democratization is best understood as a long‐term process of social construction. The chapter draws attention to the normative, transformative, and persuasive components of democratization, and to its reflexive and self‐directing characteristics.Less
Discusses these two key terms and the linkages between them, as they bear on contemporary experience. The key conclusions are that we need a ‘floating but anchored’ conception of democracy and that democratization is best understood as a long‐term process of social construction. The chapter draws attention to the normative, transformative, and persuasive components of democratization, and to its reflexive and self‐directing characteristics.
Miranda Fricker
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198237907
- eISBN:
- 9780191706844
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter identifies the second kind of epistemic injustice: hermeneutical injustice, wherein someone has a significant area of their social experience obscured from understanding owing to ...
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This chapter identifies the second kind of epistemic injustice: hermeneutical injustice, wherein someone has a significant area of their social experience obscured from understanding owing to prejudicial flaws in shared resources for social interpretation. Systematic and incidental cases are distinguished. The wrong is analysed in terms of a situated hermeneutical inequality: the prejudicial flaws in shared interpretive resources prevent the subject from making sense of an experience which it is strongly in her interests to render intelligible. Finally, the virtue of hermeneutical justice is analysed — a virtue on the part of the hearer that is such as to mitigate the effects of hermeneutical injustice on the speaker. Like the virtue of testimonial justice, this virtue is a hybrid ethical-intellectual virtue.Less
This chapter identifies the second kind of epistemic injustice: hermeneutical injustice, wherein someone has a significant area of their social experience obscured from understanding owing to prejudicial flaws in shared resources for social interpretation. Systematic and incidental cases are distinguished. The wrong is analysed in terms of a situated hermeneutical inequality: the prejudicial flaws in shared interpretive resources prevent the subject from making sense of an experience which it is strongly in her interests to render intelligible. Finally, the virtue of hermeneutical justice is analysed — a virtue on the part of the hearer that is such as to mitigate the effects of hermeneutical injustice on the speaker. Like the virtue of testimonial justice, this virtue is a hybrid ethical-intellectual virtue.
Laurence Whitehead
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253289
- eISBN:
- 9780191600326
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253285.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Argues that democratization is best understood as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process extending over generations. Standard models of causal explanation, therefore, need to be supplemented by ...
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Argues that democratization is best understood as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process extending over generations. Standard models of causal explanation, therefore, need to be supplemented by more interpretative approaches. Basic questions of citizen security, the nature of public accountability, and the role of money as a source of political power need reconsideration. The book proposes a range of new perspectives on the complex linkages between democratization and state formation, on the logic of paired comparisons and comparisons between large regions of the world, and on the relationship between democratic ideals and ‘really existing’ democratic outcomes.Less
Argues that democratization is best understood as a long‐term, dynamic, and open‐ended process extending over generations. Standard models of causal explanation, therefore, need to be supplemented by more interpretative approaches. Basic questions of citizen security, the nature of public accountability, and the role of money as a source of political power need reconsideration. The book proposes a range of new perspectives on the complex linkages between democratization and state formation, on the logic of paired comparisons and comparisons between large regions of the world, and on the relationship between democratic ideals and ‘really existing’ democratic outcomes.
Miranda Fricker
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198237907
- eISBN:
- 9780191706844
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter defends an account of stereotypes, according to which stereotypes are (reliable or unreliable) widely-held associations of an attribute(s) and a social group. A conception of prejudice ...
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This chapter defends an account of stereotypes, according to which stereotypes are (reliable or unreliable) widely-held associations of an attribute(s) and a social group. A conception of prejudice is advanced and put together with the foregoing to produce a definition of prejudicial stereotype. It is argued that (reliable) stereotypes are an essential heuristic in the making of credibility judgements in testimonial exchanges. There is, however, an ever-present risk that the stereotypes on which we rely are prejudicial, producing testimonial injustice. The wrong of testimonial injustice is analysed: someone is undermined in their capacity as a giver of knowledge.Less
This chapter defends an account of stereotypes, according to which stereotypes are (reliable or unreliable) widely-held associations of an attribute(s) and a social group. A conception of prejudice is advanced and put together with the foregoing to produce a definition of prejudicial stereotype. It is argued that (reliable) stereotypes are an essential heuristic in the making of credibility judgements in testimonial exchanges. There is, however, an ever-present risk that the stereotypes on which we rely are prejudicial, producing testimonial injustice. The wrong of testimonial injustice is analysed: someone is undermined in their capacity as a giver of knowledge.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Contemporary theorists use the term “social construction” with the aim of exposing how what's purportedly “natural” is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the ...
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Contemporary theorists use the term “social construction” with the aim of exposing how what's purportedly “natural” is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the social is politically significant. The chapters in this book draw on insights from feminist and critical race theory to develop the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations. On this interpretation, the point of saying that gender and race are socially constructed is not to make a causal claim about the origins of our concepts of gender and race, or to take a stand in the nature/nurture debate, but to locate these categories within a realist social ontology. This is politically important, for by theorizing how gender and race fit within different structures of social relations we are better able to identify and combat forms of systematic injustice. The central chapters of the book offer critical social realist accounts of gender and race. These accounts function as case studies for a broader approach that draws upon notions of ideology, practice, and social structure developed through interdisciplinary engagement with research in social science. Ideology, on the proposed view, is a relatively stable set of shared dispositions to respond to the world, often in ways that also shape the world to evoke those very dispositions. This looping of our dispositions through the material world enables the social to appear natural. Additional chapters in the book situate a critical realist approach in relation to philosophical methodology, and to debates in analytic metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language.Less
Contemporary theorists use the term “social construction” with the aim of exposing how what's purportedly “natural” is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the social is politically significant. The chapters in this book draw on insights from feminist and critical race theory to develop the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations. On this interpretation, the point of saying that gender and race are socially constructed is not to make a causal claim about the origins of our concepts of gender and race, or to take a stand in the nature/nurture debate, but to locate these categories within a realist social ontology. This is politically important, for by theorizing how gender and race fit within different structures of social relations we are better able to identify and combat forms of systematic injustice. The central chapters of the book offer critical social realist accounts of gender and race. These accounts function as case studies for a broader approach that draws upon notions of ideology, practice, and social structure developed through interdisciplinary engagement with research in social science. Ideology, on the proposed view, is a relatively stable set of shared dispositions to respond to the world, often in ways that also shape the world to evoke those very dispositions. This looping of our dispositions through the material world enables the social to appear natural. Additional chapters in the book situate a critical realist approach in relation to philosophical methodology, and to debates in analytic metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language.
Robin M. Leichenko and Karen L. O'Brien
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195177329
- eISBN:
- 9780199869800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177329.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter explores different understandings and interpretations of each process of global change. Drawing from discourse analysis and theories about the social construction of scientific ...
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This chapter explores different understandings and interpretations of each process of global change. Drawing from discourse analysis and theories about the social construction of scientific knowledge, it shows that understandings of global environmental change and globalization are each embedded in separated and often competing sets of discourses. As a result, critical linkages and interactions between the two processes often remain unrecognized The chapter also emphasizes that discourses carry political weight and reflect underlying power structures, which give currency and legitimacy to some voices over others, and maintain the interests of some over the well-being and security of others. Discourses about global change influence the research questions that are asked, and prioritize the level or scale of analysis, both of which have profound implications for strategies to address the two processes.Less
This chapter explores different understandings and interpretations of each process of global change. Drawing from discourse analysis and theories about the social construction of scientific knowledge, it shows that understandings of global environmental change and globalization are each embedded in separated and often competing sets of discourses. As a result, critical linkages and interactions between the two processes often remain unrecognized The chapter also emphasizes that discourses carry political weight and reflect underlying power structures, which give currency and legitimacy to some voices over others, and maintain the interests of some over the well-being and security of others. Discourses about global change influence the research questions that are asked, and prioritize the level or scale of analysis, both of which have profound implications for strategies to address the two processes.
Keith Robson and Joni Young
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199546350
- eISBN:
- 9780191720048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546350.003.0016
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter appraises the influence of Burchell et al. (1985) on interdisciplinary studies of accounting standardization and choice in financial reporting as social and organizational practices. It ...
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This chapter appraises the influence of Burchell et al. (1985) on interdisciplinary studies of accounting standardization and choice in financial reporting as social and organizational practices. It begins with a brief review of economics-based research streams including a priori accounting measurement theories and theorizations of accounting products as information commodities. These research paradigms provided few insights for understanding processes of accounting change. In contrast, Burchell et al. constructed a theoretically engaged analytical method to study financial accounting change that unpacked taken-for-granted assumptions and stimulated new research directions. Subsequent studies of financial accounting change are organized into three areas emphasized by Burchell et al. — accounting problematization, the social functioning of accounting and its articulation with other fields of action, and the unpacking of taken-for-granted assumptions and values contained within neo-classical economics perspectives on accounting regulation and change. The chapter concludes with suggested avenues for future research.Less
This chapter appraises the influence of Burchell et al. (1985) on interdisciplinary studies of accounting standardization and choice in financial reporting as social and organizational practices. It begins with a brief review of economics-based research streams including a priori accounting measurement theories and theorizations of accounting products as information commodities. These research paradigms provided few insights for understanding processes of accounting change. In contrast, Burchell et al. constructed a theoretically engaged analytical method to study financial accounting change that unpacked taken-for-granted assumptions and stimulated new research directions. Subsequent studies of financial accounting change are organized into three areas emphasized by Burchell et al. — accounting problematization, the social functioning of accounting and its articulation with other fields of action, and the unpacking of taken-for-granted assumptions and values contained within neo-classical economics perspectives on accounting regulation and change. The chapter concludes with suggested avenues for future research.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter explores the concept of social construction and to show how debates over such philosophical notions as “truth”, “knowledge,” and “reality”, can be relevant to feminist and anti-racist ...
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This chapter explores the concept of social construction and to show how debates over such philosophical notions as “truth”, “knowledge,” and “reality”, can be relevant to feminist and anti-racist politics: does it make sense to claim that there is a “male reality”? What would that mean? The chapter examines a strategy of argument claiming that because knowledge is socially constructed, there is no objective or independent reality. The chapter argues that this strategy does not force us into either scepticism or idealism, but there are implications for what it means to be real, and for conceiving an “independent” reality. The intention is not to offer an argument for an independent reality; rather, it is to understand and evaluate some of the arguments that seem to challenge such a commitment.Less
This chapter explores the concept of social construction and to show how debates over such philosophical notions as “truth”, “knowledge,” and “reality”, can be relevant to feminist and anti-racist politics: does it make sense to claim that there is a “male reality”? What would that mean? The chapter examines a strategy of argument claiming that because knowledge is socially constructed, there is no objective or independent reality. The chapter argues that this strategy does not force us into either scepticism or idealism, but there are implications for what it means to be real, and for conceiving an “independent” reality. The intention is not to offer an argument for an independent reality; rather, it is to understand and evaluate some of the arguments that seem to challenge such a commitment.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
In his book The Social Construction of What?, Ian Hacking offers a schema for understanding different social constructionist claims along with a framework for distinguishing kinds or degrees of ...
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In his book The Social Construction of What?, Ian Hacking offers a schema for understanding different social constructionist claims along with a framework for distinguishing kinds or degrees of constructionist projects. Hacking's efforts are useful, but his account leaves many of the philosophical aspects of social construction projects obscure, as are the connections, if any, with more mainstream analytic philosophy projects. This chapter aims to argue that although Hacking's approach to social construction is apt for some of those working on such projects, it does not adequately capture what's at issue for an important range of social constructionists, particularly many of us working on gender and race. Moreover, a different way of understanding social construction reveals interesting connections and conflicts with mainstream analytic projects.Less
In his book The Social Construction of What?, Ian Hacking offers a schema for understanding different social constructionist claims along with a framework for distinguishing kinds or degrees of constructionist projects. Hacking's efforts are useful, but his account leaves many of the philosophical aspects of social construction projects obscure, as are the connections, if any, with more mainstream analytic philosophy projects. This chapter aims to argue that although Hacking's approach to social construction is apt for some of those working on such projects, it does not adequately capture what's at issue for an important range of social constructionists, particularly many of us working on gender and race. Moreover, a different way of understanding social construction reveals interesting connections and conflicts with mainstream analytic projects.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242641
- eISBN:
- 9780191599255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924264X.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This is the second of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. ...
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This is the second of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. It looks at discourse versus advocacy coalitions. The first section of the chapter introduces the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) that was developed by Sabatier and his associates, and is perhaps the most widely discussed contribution to the field of policy studies in the past decade. Its aim is to explain policy change empirically through the interaction of competing advocacy coalitions. The next section of the chapter presents Hajer’s critique of the ACF, focusing on his model of discourse coalitions, which, like advocacy coalitions, are designed to explain policy changes generally. The last section looks at the concept of policy learning.Less
This is the second of two chapters that present a more detailed examination of the ways in which social constructions are produced and negotiated in public politics through the medium of discourse. It looks at discourse versus advocacy coalitions. The first section of the chapter introduces the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) that was developed by Sabatier and his associates, and is perhaps the most widely discussed contribution to the field of policy studies in the past decade. Its aim is to explain policy change empirically through the interaction of competing advocacy coalitions. The next section of the chapter presents Hajer’s critique of the ACF, focusing on his model of discourse coalitions, which, like advocacy coalitions, are designed to explain policy changes generally. The last section looks at the concept of policy learning.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter develops an account of social construction and defends a broad critical social realism according to which certain entities and kinds are socially constructed; however, the claim that ...
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This chapter develops an account of social construction and defends a broad critical social realism according to which certain entities and kinds are socially constructed; however, the claim that they are socially constructed, on this account, provides no basis for concluding that they are anything less than fully real. The question arises how to distinguish natural and social kinds, if not by their reality. The chapter argues for a broad naturalism and a minimalist notion of kind which together allow us to include the social within the natural world. The natural world is all there is and we are part of it.Less
This chapter develops an account of social construction and defends a broad critical social realism according to which certain entities and kinds are socially constructed; however, the claim that they are socially constructed, on this account, provides no basis for concluding that they are anything less than fully real. The question arises how to distinguish natural and social kinds, if not by their reality. The chapter argues for a broad naturalism and a minimalist notion of kind which together allow us to include the social within the natural world. The natural world is all there is and we are part of it.
Tony Atkinson, Bea Cantillon, Eric Marlier, and Brian Nolan
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253494
- eISBN:
- 9780191595882
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253498.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Social indicators are an important tool for evaluating a country's level of social development and for assessing the impact of policy. Such indicators are already in use in investigating poverty and ...
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Social indicators are an important tool for evaluating a country's level of social development and for assessing the impact of policy. Such indicators are already in use in investigating poverty and social exclusion in several European countries and have begun to play a significant role in advancing the social dimension of the EU as a whole. The purpose of this book is to make a scientific contribution to the development of social indicators for the purposes of European policy‐making. It considers the principles underlying the construction of policy‐relevant indicators, the definition of indicators, and the issues that arise in their implementation, including that of the statistical data required. It seeks to bring together theoretical and methodological methods in the measurement of poverty/social exclusion with the empirical practice of social policy. The experience of member states is reviewed, including an assessment of the National Action Plans on Social Inclusion submitted for the first time in June 2001 by the 15 EU governments. The key areas covered by the book are poverty, including its intensity and persistence, income inequality, non‐monetary deprivation, low educational attainment, unemployment, joblessness, poor health, poor housing and homelessness, functional illiteracy and innumeracy, and restricted social participation. In each case, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of different indicators relevant to social inclusion in the EU, and makes recommendations for the indicators to be employed. The book is based on a report prepared at the request of the Belgian government, as part of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2001, and presented at a conference on ‘Indicators for Social Inclusion: Making Common EU Objectives Work’ held at Antwerp on 14–15 Sept 2001.Less
Social indicators are an important tool for evaluating a country's level of social development and for assessing the impact of policy. Such indicators are already in use in investigating poverty and social exclusion in several European countries and have begun to play a significant role in advancing the social dimension of the EU as a whole. The purpose of this book is to make a scientific contribution to the development of social indicators for the purposes of European policy‐making. It considers the principles underlying the construction of policy‐relevant indicators, the definition of indicators, and the issues that arise in their implementation, including that of the statistical data required. It seeks to bring together theoretical and methodological methods in the measurement of poverty/social exclusion with the empirical practice of social policy. The experience of member states is reviewed, including an assessment of the National Action Plans on Social Inclusion submitted for the first time in June 2001 by the 15 EU governments. The key areas covered by the book are poverty, including its intensity and persistence, income inequality, non‐monetary deprivation, low educational attainment, unemployment, joblessness, poor health, poor housing and homelessness, functional illiteracy and innumeracy, and restricted social participation. In each case, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of different indicators relevant to social inclusion in the EU, and makes recommendations for the indicators to be employed. The book is based on a report prepared at the request of the Belgian government, as part of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2001, and presented at a conference on ‘Indicators for Social Inclusion: Making Common EU Objectives Work’ held at Antwerp on 14–15 Sept 2001.
Nicholas Garnham
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198742258
- eISBN:
- 9780191695001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198742258.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter presents a discussion of the audience or consumers of symbolic forms. It argues the underlying current debate about the audience and the effects of the media are debates, stemming from ...
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This chapter presents a discussion of the audience or consumers of symbolic forms. It argues the underlying current debate about the audience and the effects of the media are debates, stemming from the Enlightenment, concerning the relationship between learning, identity formation, and action. What is at stake is the relation between individual autonomy, and thus freedom and rational action, on the one hand and the social construction of identity and behaviour on the other. In particular, the argument rises against the current vogue for ethnographic studies of everyday life and the extreme particularism that results, and for the centrality of statistics and measurements of probability for producing real knowledge of the audience. At the same time, the counter-posing of an active audience to a passive audience is not the issue, but rather what, given a general social constructive approach, are the emancipatory consequences of different instances of audience- media interaction.Less
This chapter presents a discussion of the audience or consumers of symbolic forms. It argues the underlying current debate about the audience and the effects of the media are debates, stemming from the Enlightenment, concerning the relationship between learning, identity formation, and action. What is at stake is the relation between individual autonomy, and thus freedom and rational action, on the one hand and the social construction of identity and behaviour on the other. In particular, the argument rises against the current vogue for ethnographic studies of everyday life and the extreme particularism that results, and for the centrality of statistics and measurements of probability for producing real knowledge of the audience. At the same time, the counter-posing of an active audience to a passive audience is not the issue, but rather what, given a general social constructive approach, are the emancipatory consequences of different instances of audience- media interaction.
Tony Atkinson, Bea Cantillon, Eric Marlier, and Brian Nolan
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199253494
- eISBN:
- 9780191595882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199253498.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Begins with an examination of the principles underlying the construction of social indicators to be used for the express purpose of assessing performance in achieving the social agenda of the EU. The ...
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Begins with an examination of the principles underlying the construction of social indicators to be used for the express purpose of assessing performance in achieving the social agenda of the EU. The end product in this context is a portfolio of common indicators applied across the EU, and the principles involved in its construction may concern either the single indicators or the portfolio as a whole. Indicators can take different forms, and the second part of Ch. 2 considers indicator properties; since any portfolio of indicators involves selecting from a range of competing alternatives, it is essential to understand the full set of possibilities. Choice of indicators involves compromise over objectives, but will also be constrained by data limitations and by institutional differences across countries; these are the subjects of the third part of Ch. 2.Less
Begins with an examination of the principles underlying the construction of social indicators to be used for the express purpose of assessing performance in achieving the social agenda of the EU. The end product in this context is a portfolio of common indicators applied across the EU, and the principles involved in its construction may concern either the single indicators or the portfolio as a whole. Indicators can take different forms, and the second part of Ch. 2 considers indicator properties; since any portfolio of indicators involves selecting from a range of competing alternatives, it is essential to understand the full set of possibilities. Choice of indicators involves compromise over objectives, but will also be constrained by data limitations and by institutional differences across countries; these are the subjects of the third part of Ch. 2.
Peter J. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262863
- eISBN:
- 9780191734076
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262863.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Population and Demography
This chapter describes how the concept of geographical scale has been handled in British geography over the last century. With geography meaning, literally, ‘writing about the Earth’, it would seem ...
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This chapter describes how the concept of geographical scale has been handled in British geography over the last century. With geography meaning, literally, ‘writing about the Earth’, it would seem that the matter of scale should be largely settled: geographers are the ‘global scientists’. In practice this has not been the case and, in fact, the global has been a relatively neglected scale of geographical analysis. Most geographers have spent most of their time ‘writing about their country’ and those from Britain have been no exception. This chapter explores how and why this privileging of the national scale has operated in a century of British geography. It also discusses geographical scale as a social construction, commercial geography and political geography, geography for national and local planning, urban geography, glocalisation and world cities.Less
This chapter describes how the concept of geographical scale has been handled in British geography over the last century. With geography meaning, literally, ‘writing about the Earth’, it would seem that the matter of scale should be largely settled: geographers are the ‘global scientists’. In practice this has not been the case and, in fact, the global has been a relatively neglected scale of geographical analysis. Most geographers have spent most of their time ‘writing about their country’ and those from Britain have been no exception. This chapter explores how and why this privileging of the national scale has operated in a century of British geography. It also discusses geographical scale as a social construction, commercial geography and political geography, geography for national and local planning, urban geography, glocalisation and world cities.
