Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@@The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.
TL;DR: Giddens as mentioned in this paper has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.
Abstract: Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In "The Constitution of Society" he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddens' concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. "The Constitution of Society" is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the role of institutions and modes of institutional change in path dependent processes of innovation, knowledge accumulation and competence building in innovation systems and argue that paths are not coherent in themselves.
Abstract: Path dependence and the co-evolution of technology and institutions is a key concept to understand the dynamics of structural change at the level of firms, sectors and multi-level spatial scales. The concept of path dependency is often used in economic geography to explain the economic specialisation and long-standing success as well as crises and economically unfavourable development of regions. The understanding of the institutional dynamics within a well-established technological and institutional development path of territorial settings is a central but to a large extent also an open issue. The paper focuses on the role of institutions and modes of institutional change in path dependent processes of innovation, knowledge accumulation and competence building in innovation systems. Processes of institutional change are mainly seen either as incremental, leading to continuity of the present technological path or as abrupt and disruptive, leading to the breakdown and replacement of institutional settings. By using the notion of 'path plasticity' the paper argues that paths are not coherent in themselves. There is 'path plasticity', which describes a broad range of possibilities for the creation of innovation within a dominant path of innovation systems. Plasticity results among others from the elastic stretch of institutions and institutional arrangements and their interpretative flexibility through actors. Associated with this approach, the paper takes a closer look at path plasticity, its relation to institutional change and the role of geography. Empirical evidence is provided by exploring the evolution of the German software industry. Although comparative disadvantages are caused by the established institutional setting of the national innovation system, a sub sector of this industry - customized business software - was able to become internationally competitive. The customized business software industry can be seen as an example of innovation and successful change in what is described as non- favourable institutional settings.
137 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Giddens (1984) points to this fact with the notion of ‘duality of...
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...Giddens (1984) points to this fact with the notion of ‘duality of structures’....
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TL;DR: The authors explored the roles that places play in institutional work and found that places played three key roles: places contained, mediated, and complicated institutional work, each of these roles was associated with a distinct ontology of place: places as social enclosures, as signifiers, and as practical objects.
Abstract: The places in which organizational life occurs can have profound impacts on actors, actions, and outcomes but are largely ignored in organizational research. Drawing on ideas from social geography, we explore the roles that places play in institutional work. The context for our study is the domain of housing for the hard-to-house, within which we conducted two qualitative case studies: the establishment of Canada’s first residential and day-care facility for people living with HIV/AIDS, and the creation of a municipal program to provide temporary overnight accommodation for homeless people in local churches. In examining these cases, we found that places played three key roles: places contained, mediated, and complicated institutional work. Each of these roles was associated with a distinct ontology of place: places as social enclosures, as signifiers, and as practical objects. Our findings have significant implications for how we understand the relationship between location and organizations and allow us to develop a process model of places, institutions, and institutional work.
137 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Institutional work is defined by its aims rather than its effects, as all human behavior has institutional effects, if only to reproduce existing institutions (Giddens, 1984)....
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TL;DR: This paper examined the production of new geographical scales of contract bargaining in the United States east coast longshore industry during the post-Second World War period and analyzed how the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents east coast waterfront workers, forged a national contract in response to political challenges by a rival union and economic challenges brought about by the introduction of new labor-saving technologies such as containerization.
137 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present data collected in individual case studies that aimed to investigate children and their families who succeeded against the usual "odds" of disadvantage, and argue that much of the popular criticism of state policies related to social exclusion fail to acknowledge the need to engage with the policy in action and in theory.
Abstract: This paper presents data collected in individual case studies that aimed to investigate children and their families who succeeded against the usual ‘odds’ of disadvantage. Funded as an extension of EPPE 3–11 by the Cabinet Office for the Equalities Review, the study focused particularly closely upon the performance of disadvantaged children from White and minority ethnic groups. The study found that disadvantaged families often have high aspirations for their children and provide significant educational support through ‘concerted cultivation’. The paper discusses the implications for policy and for practice and argues that much of the popular criticism of state policies related to social exclusion fail to acknowledge the need to engage with the policy in action as well as in theory. It is also argued that these policies offer significant and valuable contexts for supporting efforts on the part of families and individuals to achieve success in education ‘against the odds’.
137 citations
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