Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in Capitalist Society.
About: This article is published in History of Political Economy.The article was published on 1978-09-01. It has received 242 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Alienation.
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01 Oct 1999TL;DR: Wendt as discussed by the authors describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.
Abstract: Drawing upon philosophy and social theory, Social Theory of International Politics develops a theory of the international system as a social construction. Alexander Wendt clarifies the central claims of the constructivist approach, presenting a structural and idealist worldview which contrasts with the individualism and materialism which underpins much mainstream international relations theory. He builds a cultural theory of international politics, which takes whether states view each other as enemies, rivals or friends as a fundamental determinant. Wendt characterises these roles as 'cultures of anarchy', described as Hobbesian, Lockean and Kantian respectively. These cultures are shared ideas which help shape state interests and capabilities, and generate tendencies in the international system. The book describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.
4,573 citations
TL;DR: Adaptive structuration theory (AST) as mentioned in this paper examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies.
Abstract: The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that use sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizations for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inconsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viable approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the principles of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDS...
3,756 citations
Cites background from "Alienation: Marx's Conception of Ma..."
...We will call the immediate, visible actions that evidence deeper structuration processes appropriations of the technology (Ollman 1971)....
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...The central concepts of AST, structuration (Bourdieu 1978, Giddens 1979) and appropriation (Ollman 1971), provide a dynamic picture of the process by which people incorporate advanced technologies into their work practices....
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TL;DR: Sociologists today are faced with a fundamental dilemma: whether to conceive of the social world as consisting primarily in substances or processes, in static "things" or in dynamic, unfolding rela...
Abstract: Sociologists today are faced with a fundamental dilemma: whether to conceive of the social world as consisting primarily in substances or processes, in static "things" or in dynamic, unfolding rela...
2,515 citations
Cites background from "Alienation: Marx's Conception of Ma..."
...…for instance (as the earlier quotations from him suggest), was a profoundly relational thinker; this is clear from his early analyses of alienation (Ollman 1971), his discussion of commodity fetishism, his keen insights into the internal relations among production, distribution, exchange, and…...
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TL;DR: In a more sober tone, Wolf as mentioned in this paper suggested that the field of anthropology is coming apart, that sub-fields (and sub-sub-fields) are increasingly pursuing their specialized interests, losing contact with each other and with the whole.
Abstract: Every year, around the time of the meetings of the American Anthropological Association, the New York Times asks a Big Name anthropologist to contribute an op-ed piece on the state of the field. These pieces tend to take a rather gloomy view. A few years ago, for example, Marvin Harris suggested that anthropology was being taken over by mystics, religious fanatics, and California cultists; that the meetings were dominated by panels on shamanism, witchcraft, and “abnormal phenomena”; and that “scientific papers based on empirical studies” had been willfully excluded from the program (Harris 1978). More recently, in a more sober tone, Eric Wolf suggested that the field of anthropology is coming apart. The sub-fields (and sub-sub-fields) are increasingly pursuing their specialized interests, losing contact with each other and with the whole. There is no longer a shared discourse, a shared set of terms to which all practitioners address themselves, a shared language we all, however idiosyncratically, speak (Wolf 1980).
2,246 citations
TL;DR: The concept of edgework highlights the most sociologically relevant features of voluntary risk taking, while the connections between various aspects of risk-taking behaviour and structural characteristic of modern American society at both the micro and macro levels as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: While there seems to be general agreement among members of contemporary American society about the value of reducing threats to individual well-being, there are may who actively seek experiences that involve a high potential for personal injury or death. High-risk sports such as hang gliding, skydiving, scuba diving, rock climbing, and the like have enjoyed unprecedented growth in the past several decades even as political institutions in Western societies have sought to reduce the risks of injury in the workplace and elsewhere. The contradiction between the public agenda to reduce the risk of injury and death and the private agenda to increase such risks deserves th attention of sociologists. A literature review is presented that points to a number of shortcomings in existing studies, most of which are associated with the psychological reductionism that predominates in this area of study. An effort is made to provide a sociological account of voluntary risk taking by (1) introducing a new classifying concept- edgework-based on numerous themes emerging from primary and secondary data on risk taking and (2) explaining edgework in terms of the newly emerging social psychological perspective produced from the synthesis of the Marxian and Meadian frameworks. The concept of edgework highlights the most sociologically relevant features of voluntary risk taking, while the connections between various aspects of risk-taking behaviour and structural characteristic of modern American society at both the micro and macro levels. This approach ties together such factors as political economic variables, at one end of the continuum, and individual sensations and feelings, at the other end.
1,064 citations
Cites background or methods from "Alienation: Marx's Conception of Ma..."
...This kind of action appears phenomenally as "conscious, "purposive," "concentrated," physically and mentally flexible," "social," "skillful," and "rational" (Ollman 1971, p. 120)....
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...No other activity demands as much" (Ollman 1971, pp. 100-101)....
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...…requires not only that the artificial barriers to the mutual involvement of people be torn down, particularly the barriers of class structure (Ollman 1971, p. 118); it also requires the fostering of those structural conditions that facilitate the formation of a "me" capable of taking the…...
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...…arises only under " In his exploration of the concepts of activity, work, and creativity, Marx employs the "relational" method of analysis (see Ollman 1971), in which he first establishes an identity among these three concepts (at some points using these terms interchangeably) and then later…...
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...This apparent inconsistency is a crucial analytical device: Marx uses each term to bring out "certain aspects of what is essentially the same interaction between man and nature" (Ollman 1971, p. 104)....
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References
More filters
Book•
01 Oct 1999TL;DR: Wendt as discussed by the authors describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.
Abstract: Drawing upon philosophy and social theory, Social Theory of International Politics develops a theory of the international system as a social construction. Alexander Wendt clarifies the central claims of the constructivist approach, presenting a structural and idealist worldview which contrasts with the individualism and materialism which underpins much mainstream international relations theory. He builds a cultural theory of international politics, which takes whether states view each other as enemies, rivals or friends as a fundamental determinant. Wendt characterises these roles as 'cultures of anarchy', described as Hobbesian, Lockean and Kantian respectively. These cultures are shared ideas which help shape state interests and capabilities, and generate tendencies in the international system. The book describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.
4,573 citations
TL;DR: Adaptive structuration theory (AST) as mentioned in this paper examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies.
Abstract: The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that use sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizations for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inconsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viable approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the principles of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDS...
3,756 citations
TL;DR: Sociologists today are faced with a fundamental dilemma: whether to conceive of the social world as consisting primarily in substances or processes, in static "things" or in dynamic, unfolding rela...
Abstract: Sociologists today are faced with a fundamental dilemma: whether to conceive of the social world as consisting primarily in substances or processes, in static "things" or in dynamic, unfolding rela...
2,515 citations
TL;DR: The concept of edgework highlights the most sociologically relevant features of voluntary risk taking, while the connections between various aspects of risk-taking behaviour and structural characteristic of modern American society at both the micro and macro levels as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: While there seems to be general agreement among members of contemporary American society about the value of reducing threats to individual well-being, there are may who actively seek experiences that involve a high potential for personal injury or death. High-risk sports such as hang gliding, skydiving, scuba diving, rock climbing, and the like have enjoyed unprecedented growth in the past several decades even as political institutions in Western societies have sought to reduce the risks of injury in the workplace and elsewhere. The contradiction between the public agenda to reduce the risk of injury and death and the private agenda to increase such risks deserves th attention of sociologists. A literature review is presented that points to a number of shortcomings in existing studies, most of which are associated with the psychological reductionism that predominates in this area of study. An effort is made to provide a sociological account of voluntary risk taking by (1) introducing a new classifying concept- edgework-based on numerous themes emerging from primary and secondary data on risk taking and (2) explaining edgework in terms of the newly emerging social psychological perspective produced from the synthesis of the Marxian and Meadian frameworks. The concept of edgework highlights the most sociologically relevant features of voluntary risk taking, while the connections between various aspects of risk-taking behaviour and structural characteristic of modern American society at both the micro and macro levels. This approach ties together such factors as political economic variables, at one end of the continuum, and individual sensations and feelings, at the other end.
1,064 citations
TL;DR: Work is the social process of shaping and transforming the material and social worlds, creating people as social beings as they create value It is that activity by which people become who they are Class is its structure, production its consequence, capital its congealed form as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Sexuality is to feminism what work is to marxism: that which is most one's own, yet most taken away Marxist theory argues that society is fundamentally constructed of the relations people form as they do and make things needed to survive humanly Work is the social process of shaping and transforming the material and social worlds, creating people as social beings as they create value It is that activity by which people become who they are Class is its structure, production its consequence, capital its congealed form, and control its issue
737 citations