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.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the ...
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This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the concept of social understanding. There are seven main sections: The Phenomenology of Social Action; The Social Construction of Reality; Politics in a World of Multiple Realities; The Political Spectacle as Hyperreality; The Social Meanings of Public Policies; Meaning Construction and the Policy Process: The Typologies of Public Policy; Policy Design: Constructing Target Populations.Less
This chapter aims to clarify the socially constructed nature of reality and the symbolic sides of public policy, as well as the discursive politics to which it gives rise. It concentrates on the concept of social understanding. There are seven main sections: The Phenomenology of Social Action; The Social Construction of Reality; Politics in a World of Multiple Realities; The Political Spectacle as Hyperreality; The Social Meanings of Public Policies; Meaning Construction and the Policy Process: The Typologies of Public Policy; Policy Design: Constructing Target Populations.
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.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This is the second of four chapters offering a postempiricist methodology for policy inquiry based on the logic of practical discourse, and explores the role of interpretation in policy analysis. ...
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This is the second of four chapters offering a postempiricist methodology for policy inquiry based on the logic of practical discourse, and explores the role of interpretation in policy analysis. While empiricists have sought to restrict the focus on meaning to the observable dimensions of social reality, the interpretive orientation requires the social scientist also to pursue the unobservable. Because language is able to carry and transmit meanings among people, access to the realm of meaning often can be gained through the study of communication (both spoken and written), but such meanings are generally only indirectly made available through such communications, so it is necessary for the analyst to move beyond empirical methods (such as content analysis) to an interpretive reconstruction of the situational logic of social action. This involves inferring other people’s meanings by identifying patterns that emerge through an examination of the verbal and non-verbal messages they give about their beliefs and experiences. Narratives, for example, are a way of making the subjective dimensions of verbal actions more accessible, and the social world is in significant part organized and interpreted through narrative exchanges in their various forms. The different sections of this chapter look at interpretative policy analysis, interpretative frames, methodological strategies, policy analysis as ‘thick description’ (an approach for exploring and discovering the meanings embedded in the language and actions of policy actors), the objectivity of interpretation, validity as credibility, and social meaning and the question of causality.Less
This is the second of four chapters offering a postempiricist methodology for policy inquiry based on the logic of practical discourse, and explores the role of interpretation in policy analysis. While empiricists have sought to restrict the focus on meaning to the observable dimensions of social reality, the interpretive orientation requires the social scientist also to pursue the unobservable. Because language is able to carry and transmit meanings among people, access to the realm of meaning often can be gained through the study of communication (both spoken and written), but such meanings are generally only indirectly made available through such communications, so it is necessary for the analyst to move beyond empirical methods (such as content analysis) to an interpretive reconstruction of the situational logic of social action. This involves inferring other people’s meanings by identifying patterns that emerge through an examination of the verbal and non-verbal messages they give about their beliefs and experiences. Narratives, for example, are a way of making the subjective dimensions of verbal actions more accessible, and the social world is in significant part organized and interpreted through narrative exchanges in their various forms. The different sections of this chapter look at interpretative policy analysis, interpretative frames, methodological strategies, policy analysis as ‘thick description’ (an approach for exploring and discovering the meanings embedded in the language and actions of policy actors), the objectivity of interpretation, validity as credibility, and social meaning and the question of causality.
Jeremy Waldron
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280088
- eISBN:
- 9780191599927
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280084.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Jeremy Waldron argues that Michael Walzer's theory of justice mischaracterizes money's influence on social meanings. Waldron argues that the correct conception of money reveals that Walzer is ...
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Jeremy Waldron argues that Michael Walzer's theory of justice mischaracterizes money's influence on social meanings. Waldron argues that the correct conception of money reveals that Walzer is mistaken in categorizing various social goods primarily in terms of their exchangeability or non‐exchangeability for money. Waldron offers an alternative explanation of why some monetary transactions are wrong. He argues that meanings of goods should be questioned and re‐examined.Less
Jeremy Waldron argues that Michael Walzer's theory of justice mischaracterizes money's influence on social meanings. Waldron argues that the correct conception of money reveals that Walzer is mistaken in categorizing various social goods primarily in terms of their exchangeability or non‐exchangeability for money. Waldron offers an alternative explanation of why some monetary transactions are wrong. He argues that meanings of goods should be questioned and re‐examined.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199282838
- eISBN:
- 9780191712487
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282838.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter emphasizes the relation of narration to practical reason and the giving of good reasons. Not only does the explication demonstrate how policy narratives relate to factual information, ...
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This chapter emphasizes the relation of narration to practical reason and the giving of good reasons. Not only does the explication demonstrate how policy narratives relate to factual information, but also to group identities and collective action. Offering an example of the use of narrative story-lines in climate change policy research, the chapter closes with a discussion of the concept of validity as understood in narrative analysis.Less
This chapter emphasizes the relation of narration to practical reason and the giving of good reasons. Not only does the explication demonstrate how policy narratives relate to factual information, but also to group identities and collective action. Offering an example of the use of narrative story-lines in climate change policy research, the chapter closes with a discussion of the concept of validity as understood in narrative analysis.
Nicholas Cook
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195170566
- eISBN:
- 9780199871216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195170566.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
Schenker's sometimes virulently conservative politics have been a major problem for later commentators, who have sought to minimize their relevance to his theory. Taking as its starting point his ...
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Schenker's sometimes virulently conservative politics have been a major problem for later commentators, who have sought to minimize their relevance to his theory. Taking as its starting point his essay “The mission of German genius” (1921), this chapter argues that while prompted by the experience of the First World War, Schenker's politics expressed an underlying cultural conservatism, with roots in the previous century, that is fundamental to his work. In early 20th-century Vienna, the collision between this conservative tradition and processes of modernization resulted in a perniciously binary pattern of thought that is reflected in Schenker's writings, but also prompted a desire for reconciliation heavily coloured by nostalgia. Both the desire and the nostalgia — which are shared with such disparate contemporaries as the piano manufacturer Ludwig Bösendorfer and T. W. Adorno — are central to Schenker's project, for which music is understood as always imbued with social meaning.Less
Schenker's sometimes virulently conservative politics have been a major problem for later commentators, who have sought to minimize their relevance to his theory. Taking as its starting point his essay “The mission of German genius” (1921), this chapter argues that while prompted by the experience of the First World War, Schenker's politics expressed an underlying cultural conservatism, with roots in the previous century, that is fundamental to his work. In early 20th-century Vienna, the collision between this conservative tradition and processes of modernization resulted in a perniciously binary pattern of thought that is reflected in Schenker's writings, but also prompted a desire for reconciliation heavily coloured by nostalgia. Both the desire and the nostalgia — which are shared with such disparate contemporaries as the piano manufacturer Ludwig Bösendorfer and T. W. Adorno — are central to Schenker's project, for which music is understood as always imbued with social meaning.
Michael Walzer
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198287971
- eISBN:
- 9780191596704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198287976.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Walzer defends a qualified form of relativism in which much attention is paid to the various forms of criticism and discontent that may arise in society. However inarticulate these dissenting voices ...
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Walzer defends a qualified form of relativism in which much attention is paid to the various forms of criticism and discontent that may arise in society. However inarticulate these dissenting voices may be, argues Walzer, they are to be taken as important data in understanding what a good life would be for society as a whole. Walzer stresses that even if no particular meaning was objectively true or right or necessary, it would still be the case that the construction of meaning is a real process, and ‘objectivity’ is tenable only to the extent that it hangs on the accommodation of the object or social meaning by a knowing, inquiring subject.Less
Walzer defends a qualified form of relativism in which much attention is paid to the various forms of criticism and discontent that may arise in society. However inarticulate these dissenting voices may be, argues Walzer, they are to be taken as important data in understanding what a good life would be for society as a whole. Walzer stresses that even if no particular meaning was objectively true or right or necessary, it would still be the case that the construction of meaning is a real process, and ‘objectivity’ is tenable only to the extent that it hangs on the accommodation of the object or social meaning by a knowing, inquiring subject.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and ...
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This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and criminal actions for “seduction.” The story here is tangled and complex; no one factor explains why these causes of action lost ground. But they are connected with the social meaning of marriage, and very notably, with one striking twentieth-century development: the sexual revolution—specifically, the end of the idea that only married people were entitled, legitimately, to have sexual intercourse. These causes of action lived in the shadow of traditional marriage, and depended for their validity on traditional marriage. As it declined, they too receded into history, although not entirely.Less
This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and criminal actions for “seduction.” The story here is tangled and complex; no one factor explains why these causes of action lost ground. But they are connected with the social meaning of marriage, and very notably, with one striking twentieth-century development: the sexual revolution—specifically, the end of the idea that only married people were entitled, legitimately, to have sexual intercourse. These causes of action lived in the shadow of traditional marriage, and depended for their validity on traditional marriage. As it declined, they too receded into history, although not entirely.
Michael Woolcock
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199557547
- eISBN:
- 9780191721083
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557547.003.0015
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter focuses on both expanding and refining the analytical scope of the ‘social’ (or non-economic) aspects of chronic poverty. The chapter is structured in six sections. Section 15.2 briefly ...
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This chapter focuses on both expanding and refining the analytical scope of the ‘social’ (or non-economic) aspects of chronic poverty. The chapter is structured in six sections. Section 15.2 briefly looks at how poverty generally, and chronic poverty in particular, is explained in the current policy literature, with a focus on ‘poverty traps’ and (more recently) ‘inequality traps’. It is argued that three strands of scholarship in the non-economic social sciences have exerted quite considerable influence at the level of contemporary policy discourse (and to a lesser extent, practice), and that critics, especially those within these disciplines, have been slow to recognize this fact. Section 15.3 argues that these successes cannot do the heavy intellectual lifting required for a more comprehensive social theory of chronic poverty, and that, as such, a new edifice must be constructed and negotiated for. Section 15.4 provides three brief case studies of selected aspects of chronic poverty to demonstrate both the influence and the limits of prevailing approaches. Section 15.5 provides a defence of three constituent realms of a broader social theory of chronic poverty, namely systems of social relations, rules, and meaning. Section 15.6 concludes.Less
This chapter focuses on both expanding and refining the analytical scope of the ‘social’ (or non-economic) aspects of chronic poverty. The chapter is structured in six sections. Section 15.2 briefly looks at how poverty generally, and chronic poverty in particular, is explained in the current policy literature, with a focus on ‘poverty traps’ and (more recently) ‘inequality traps’. It is argued that three strands of scholarship in the non-economic social sciences have exerted quite considerable influence at the level of contemporary policy discourse (and to a lesser extent, practice), and that critics, especially those within these disciplines, have been slow to recognize this fact. Section 15.3 argues that these successes cannot do the heavy intellectual lifting required for a more comprehensive social theory of chronic poverty, and that, as such, a new edifice must be constructed and negotiated for. Section 15.4 provides three brief case studies of selected aspects of chronic poverty to demonstrate both the influence and the limits of prevailing approaches. Section 15.5 provides a defence of three constituent realms of a broader social theory of chronic poverty, namely systems of social relations, rules, and meaning. Section 15.6 concludes.
Tim William Machan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282128
- eISBN:
- 9780191718991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282128.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes ...
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This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes their social meanings. It asks how the status of a language such as Middle English comes into being.Less
This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes their social meanings. It asks how the status of a language such as Middle English comes into being.
Steven Zohn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195169775
- eISBN:
- 9780199865536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169775.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Previous studies of Telemann’s style polonais have concerned themselves above all with defining the idiom, mostly in terms of rhythm and meter, and cataloging its occurrences in his works. This ...
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Previous studies of Telemann’s style polonais have concerned themselves above all with defining the idiom, mostly in terms of rhythm and meter, and cataloging its occurrences in his works. This chapter instead considers how the composer enlisted the style polonais to generate musical and social meanings for his audience. It shows that these meanings depended principally on a series of dichotomies that still resonate in the modern world: East versus West, high/urban versus low/rural, and serious versus comic.Less
Previous studies of Telemann’s style polonais have concerned themselves above all with defining the idiom, mostly in terms of rhythm and meter, and cataloging its occurrences in his works. This chapter instead considers how the composer enlisted the style polonais to generate musical and social meanings for his audience. It shows that these meanings depended principally on a series of dichotomies that still resonate in the modern world: East versus West, high/urban versus low/rural, and serious versus comic.
Geoffrey Brennan, Lina Eriksson, Robert E. Goodin, and Nicholas Southwood
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199654680
- eISBN:
- 9780191747960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654680.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of norms which tends not to play a central role in rational-choice approaches to the explanation of norms. That is norms' connection to social meaning — ...
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This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of norms which tends not to play a central role in rational-choice approaches to the explanation of norms. That is norms' connection to social meaning — to symbols, signals, social roles, and identities. How might these help to explain norms? It argues that sometimes norm emergence is explained by the norms' functions and purposes, sometimes not, or at least to a minimal extent. Sometimes norms that carry meaning and enable expressive action can be explained by the instrumental value of such norms, sometimes the norms are constitutive of identities and roles and cannot be separated from them in some instrumental relation, and sometimes these identities and symbolic meanings can be achieved only if the norms arise as a side effect of some other activity.Less
This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of norms which tends not to play a central role in rational-choice approaches to the explanation of norms. That is norms' connection to social meaning — to symbols, signals, social roles, and identities. How might these help to explain norms? It argues that sometimes norm emergence is explained by the norms' functions and purposes, sometimes not, or at least to a minimal extent. Sometimes norms that carry meaning and enable expressive action can be explained by the instrumental value of such norms, sometimes the norms are constitutive of identities and roles and cannot be separated from them in some instrumental relation, and sometimes these identities and symbolic meanings can be achieved only if the norms arise as a side effect of some other activity.
Ricca Edmondson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781847425935
- eISBN:
- 9781447311737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847425935.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
Making meaning is a socially and existentially significant activity. To ignore this opens the way to a view of life, including later life, in which work is the be-all and end-all of human existence, ...
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Making meaning is a socially and existentially significant activity. To ignore this opens the way to a view of life, including later life, in which work is the be-all and end-all of human existence, and those lacking paid work are valueless. The chapter therefore explores a range of more constructive approaches among gerontologists to what meaning and insight in later life involve. These gerontologists draw on discourses of religion and spirituality, of developmental or positive psychology, or of social and political crisis. They may stress how morality, and the meaning of the life-course, are constituted in large part by the practices of everyday life – albeit in ways that are responsive to political and economic pressures. Such gerontologists are able to explore the lived experience of meaning, resisting ideologies and stereotypes that obstruct taking meaning seriously for and from older people.Less
Making meaning is a socially and existentially significant activity. To ignore this opens the way to a view of life, including later life, in which work is the be-all and end-all of human existence, and those lacking paid work are valueless. The chapter therefore explores a range of more constructive approaches among gerontologists to what meaning and insight in later life involve. These gerontologists draw on discourses of religion and spirituality, of developmental or positive psychology, or of social and political crisis. They may stress how morality, and the meaning of the life-course, are constituted in large part by the practices of everyday life – albeit in ways that are responsive to political and economic pressures. Such gerontologists are able to explore the lived experience of meaning, resisting ideologies and stereotypes that obstruct taking meaning seriously for and from older people.
Samuel Martínez
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833452
- eISBN:
- 9781469604558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895344_baca.11
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on Sidney Mintz's recasting of widely accepted conceptual binaries between personal experience and social meaning, which is considered one of his fundamental but perhaps ...
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This chapter focuses on Sidney Mintz's recasting of widely accepted conceptual binaries between personal experience and social meaning, which is considered one of his fundamental but perhaps still-underappreciated theoretical-interpretive innovations within the anthropological study of consumption. In much prior social research, what people feel as they consume goods was conventionally ignored in favor of consideration of what they think of goods as a sign of social status or identity. Inexplicit urges to consume were tacitly relegated by social researchers to the level of hereditary predispositions or other, nontheorizable phenomena, much less readily cognizable as the desires inculcated in us by society—such as aspirations to emulate superiors or to build or block certain social ties through the medium of goods. Mintz chooses instead to work on the middle ground in between those biology-culture and self-society dualisms.Less
This chapter focuses on Sidney Mintz's recasting of widely accepted conceptual binaries between personal experience and social meaning, which is considered one of his fundamental but perhaps still-underappreciated theoretical-interpretive innovations within the anthropological study of consumption. In much prior social research, what people feel as they consume goods was conventionally ignored in favor of consideration of what they think of goods as a sign of social status or identity. Inexplicit urges to consume were tacitly relegated by social researchers to the level of hereditary predispositions or other, nontheorizable phenomena, much less readily cognizable as the desires inculcated in us by society—such as aspirations to emulate superiors or to build or block certain social ties through the medium of goods. Mintz chooses instead to work on the middle ground in between those biology-culture and self-society dualisms.
Sally Witcher
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781447300038
- eISBN:
- 9781447307730
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447300038.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
Arguments are explored concerning the need (or otherwise) of establishing an ideal just society and fair principles for distribution, along with differing theoretical approaches to those subjects, ...
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Arguments are explored concerning the need (or otherwise) of establishing an ideal just society and fair principles for distribution, along with differing theoretical approaches to those subjects, including perfecting institutions versus ‘social realisation’ and the case for ‘public reasoning’ (Sen 2010), Rawls’ (1973) ‘veil of ignorance’ and Walzer’s distributive spheres and case for complex equality. Approaches to understanding the social meaning of goods, their practical and symbolic roles, value and priority, are similarly discussed. An alternative paradigm based on ‘cultural recognition’ has been proposed by Fraser (1997) and other feminist authors, concerned with the construction and valuing of group as opposed to class) identities. Attitudes to difference assume importance as, it is argued, does the recognition of sameness. The meaning of cultural is explored, and a case made for recognition in a wider sense. Distributive and cultural recognition paradigms have generally been held to be separate, although various proposals have been made regarding their precedence and inter-relationship. The chapter concludes with the proposition that the inter-relationship can be conceived by deconstructing the components and stages of distributive processes and identifying where scope for misrecognition intervenes.Less
Arguments are explored concerning the need (or otherwise) of establishing an ideal just society and fair principles for distribution, along with differing theoretical approaches to those subjects, including perfecting institutions versus ‘social realisation’ and the case for ‘public reasoning’ (Sen 2010), Rawls’ (1973) ‘veil of ignorance’ and Walzer’s distributive spheres and case for complex equality. Approaches to understanding the social meaning of goods, their practical and symbolic roles, value and priority, are similarly discussed. An alternative paradigm based on ‘cultural recognition’ has been proposed by Fraser (1997) and other feminist authors, concerned with the construction and valuing of group as opposed to class) identities. Attitudes to difference assume importance as, it is argued, does the recognition of sameness. The meaning of cultural is explored, and a case made for recognition in a wider sense. Distributive and cultural recognition paradigms have generally been held to be separate, although various proposals have been made regarding their precedence and inter-relationship. The chapter concludes with the proposition that the inter-relationship can be conceived by deconstructing the components and stages of distributive processes and identifying where scope for misrecognition intervenes.
Ulrich Krotz and Joachim Schild
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199660087
- eISBN:
- 9780191751646
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199660087.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, International Relations and Politics
Chapter 3 explores the web of symbolic acts and practices that is part of the bilateral Franco-German reality, producing its own distinct meanings and political implications. It reconsiders the ...
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Chapter 3 explores the web of symbolic acts and practices that is part of the bilateral Franco-German reality, producing its own distinct meanings and political implications. It reconsiders the stirring gestures and speeches from 1958 to 1963, through which de Gaulle and Adenauer symbolically anchored a new era between France and Germany and traces the symbolic practices with which subsequent leaders have sustained this particular Carolingian social meaning and purpose. Some are recurrent—the various commemorations and celebrations of the Elysée Treaty or the first visits to the neighboring country after changes in key political positions. Others—, such as Kohl–Mitterrand’s holding hands at the cemetery at Verdun in 1984—are as single events meaningful threads in an overall fabric. This chapter provides a panoptic view of the entire set of symbolic actions spanning more than half a century of Franco-German relations, enabling us to grasp the social meaning and characteristic effects of these practices. Its conceptual contribution offers the means to make sense of manifold symbolic public actions, bringing them together into a coherent narrative of their history.Less
Chapter 3 explores the web of symbolic acts and practices that is part of the bilateral Franco-German reality, producing its own distinct meanings and political implications. It reconsiders the stirring gestures and speeches from 1958 to 1963, through which de Gaulle and Adenauer symbolically anchored a new era between France and Germany and traces the symbolic practices with which subsequent leaders have sustained this particular Carolingian social meaning and purpose. Some are recurrent—the various commemorations and celebrations of the Elysée Treaty or the first visits to the neighboring country after changes in key political positions. Others—, such as Kohl–Mitterrand’s holding hands at the cemetery at Verdun in 1984—are as single events meaningful threads in an overall fabric. This chapter provides a panoptic view of the entire set of symbolic actions spanning more than half a century of Franco-German relations, enabling us to grasp the social meaning and characteristic effects of these practices. Its conceptual contribution offers the means to make sense of manifold symbolic public actions, bringing them together into a coherent narrative of their history.
Bruce Jennings
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262019392
- eISBN:
- 9780262314961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262019392.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Bioethics
This chapter focuses on the moral and ethical reception of biotechnology in society and the contested cultural and social meanings of synthetic biology as well as concerns about it. As this chapter ...
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This chapter focuses on the moral and ethical reception of biotechnology in society and the contested cultural and social meanings of synthetic biology as well as concerns about it. As this chapter highlights, these factors play a key role in shaping science policy, as governance in a democracy is based not only on expert knowledge and opinion, but on broader public perception and legitimacy.Less
This chapter focuses on the moral and ethical reception of biotechnology in society and the contested cultural and social meanings of synthetic biology as well as concerns about it. As this chapter highlights, these factors play a key role in shaping science policy, as governance in a democracy is based not only on expert knowledge and opinion, but on broader public perception and legitimacy.
Nicholas Wolterstorff
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198747758
- eISBN:
- 9780191810671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747758.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
A second idea that is central in the alternative conceptual framework proposed for thinking about the art is the idea of the meaning of a work of the arts. The English word “meaning” is multivalent. ...
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A second idea that is central in the alternative conceptual framework proposed for thinking about the art is the idea of the meaning of a work of the arts. The English word “meaning” is multivalent. This chapter identifies and delineates what the author calls the social-practice meaning of a work of the arts and what he calls the maker meaning of a work of the arts; it is especially the former of these that is especially important for the subsequent discussion. The social-practice meaning of a work of the arts is the significance it has when engaged by the public in accord with some extant social practice; it is always relative to some particular social practice.Less
A second idea that is central in the alternative conceptual framework proposed for thinking about the art is the idea of the meaning of a work of the arts. The English word “meaning” is multivalent. This chapter identifies and delineates what the author calls the social-practice meaning of a work of the arts and what he calls the maker meaning of a work of the arts; it is especially the former of these that is especially important for the subsequent discussion. The social-practice meaning of a work of the arts is the significance it has when engaged by the public in accord with some extant social practice; it is always relative to some particular social practice.
Geoffrey G. McCafferty and Sharisse D. McCafferty
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033303
- eISBN:
- 9780813039350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033303.003.0007
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be ...
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In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be used as a means for deducing relevant information when adopting a diachronic point of view. Utilizing this approach proves to be effective in looking at the various aspects of body image from the Early Postclassic Sapoá phase site's material culture found in Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. The human body, according to Erica Reisher and Kathryn Koo's review article, served as an agent and as a symbol since it was recognized as a “conduit of social meaning.” A common symbol set is thus needed to decipher the meanings of a symbolic body. This chapter attempts to examine the various aspects of the “body beautiful” in skeletal remains, dress and adornment, and representational art.Less
In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be used as a means for deducing relevant information when adopting a diachronic point of view. Utilizing this approach proves to be effective in looking at the various aspects of body image from the Early Postclassic Sapoá phase site's material culture found in Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. The human body, according to Erica Reisher and Kathryn Koo's review article, served as an agent and as a symbol since it was recognized as a “conduit of social meaning.” A common symbol set is thus needed to decipher the meanings of a symbolic body. This chapter attempts to examine the various aspects of the “body beautiful” in skeletal remains, dress and adornment, and representational art.
Ralph Wedgwood
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190205072
- eISBN:
- 9780190205102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190205072.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, General
Some philosophers have suspected that the institution of civil marriage, in anything like its current form, is inconsistent with political liberalism—that is, with the principle that whenever the ...
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Some philosophers have suspected that the institution of civil marriage, in anything like its current form, is inconsistent with political liberalism—that is, with the principle that whenever the state exercises its coercive power, its exercise of that power must be justifiable from the standpoint of public reason, a standpoint that can be shared by all reasonable citizens, regardless of the comprehensive religious or philosophical doctrines that they accept. Indeed, some philosophers—most notably, Elizabeth Brake—have recently argued on the basis of such suspicions that the institution of civil marriage should be radically transformed or “minimized.” This chapter explains why these suspicions about marriage, and the arguments for radically reforming or “minimizing” marriage, are mistaken.Less
Some philosophers have suspected that the institution of civil marriage, in anything like its current form, is inconsistent with political liberalism—that is, with the principle that whenever the state exercises its coercive power, its exercise of that power must be justifiable from the standpoint of public reason, a standpoint that can be shared by all reasonable citizens, regardless of the comprehensive religious or philosophical doctrines that they accept. Indeed, some philosophers—most notably, Elizabeth Brake—have recently argued on the basis of such suspicions that the institution of civil marriage should be radically transformed or “minimized.” This chapter explains why these suspicions about marriage, and the arguments for radically reforming or “minimizing” marriage, are mistaken.
Nigel Dodd
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691168685
- eISBN:
- 9781400885268
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691168685.003.0015
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, there has been an explosion of interest in alternative and complementary currencies, by academics, governments, practitioners, and activists who are interested ...
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Since the 2008 global financial crisis, there has been an explosion of interest in alternative and complementary currencies, by academics, governments, practitioners, and activists who are interested in the social and political possibilities generated by money's myriad forms; and by everyday users of money who are coming face-to-face with new forms of payment such as Apple Pay and PayPal, novel modes of financing such as crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, and new digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Much of this interest has sought to reverse the conventional wisdom that money is a socially corrosive force. This chapter offers a survey and discussion of some of the most important developments in this field and argues that they all help to confirm the value and continuing relevance of Zelizer's pathbreaking analysis of the social meaning of money and, more recently, her work on the role of monetary media in the formation of circuits of commerce.Less
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, there has been an explosion of interest in alternative and complementary currencies, by academics, governments, practitioners, and activists who are interested in the social and political possibilities generated by money's myriad forms; and by everyday users of money who are coming face-to-face with new forms of payment such as Apple Pay and PayPal, novel modes of financing such as crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, and new digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Much of this interest has sought to reverse the conventional wisdom that money is a socially corrosive force. This chapter offers a survey and discussion of some of the most important developments in this field and argues that they all help to confirm the value and continuing relevance of Zelizer's pathbreaking analysis of the social meaning of money and, more recently, her work on the role of monetary media in the formation of circuits of commerce.
