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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01 Sep 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the advantages and limits of resilience are assessed in a critical manner, and it is shown that resilience is not a pro-poor concept, and the objective of poverty reduction cannot simply be substituted by resilience building.
Abstract: Resilience is becoming influential in development and vulnerability reduction sectors such as social protection, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Policy makers, donors and international development agencies are now increasingly referring to the term. In that context, the objective of this paper was to assess in a critical manner the advantages and limits of resilience. While the review highlights some positive elements –in particular the ability of the term to foster integrated approach across sectors– it also shows that resilience has important limitations. In particular it is not a pro-poor concept, and the objective of poverty reduction cannot simply be substituted by resilience building.
565 citations
TL;DR: Transnationalism as mentioned in this paper is a conceptual construct to account for new immigrant identities and communities, and it has been widely used in the study of immigration and ethnicity. But it suffers from ambiguity as a result of competing definitions that fail to specify the temporal and spatial parameters of the term and to adequately locate it vis-a-vis older concepts such as assimilation and cultural pluralism.
Abstract: During the past decade, transnationalism has entered the lexicon of migration scholars. As with other terms used in the study of immigration and ethnicity, this concept suffers from ambiguity as a result of competing definitions that fail to specify the temporal and spatial parameters of the term and to adequately locate it vis-a-vis older concepts such as assimilation and cultural pluralism. This article offers a review and critique of the ways the term has come to be employed at the hands of key spokespersons that have articulated the most sustained theoretical rationales to date for transnationalism as a conceptual construct to account for new immigrant identities and communities. The conclusion of the essay offers in schematic form an alternative assessment of transnationalism that locates it as one potential subset of assimilation theory, rather than as an alternative to it.
562 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Perhaps a more appropriate characterization would have been to speak of this as David Harvey (1989) has as ‘timespace compression’ or as Anthony Giddens (1984) has as ‘time-space distanciation’....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the major aim of sociological inquiry is to identify the mechanisms by which cause and effect relationships in the social world come about, and that sociologists have recently argued that a major objective of sociology is to find the mechanisms that make such relationships come about.
Abstract: Some sociologists have recently argued that a major aim of sociological inquiry is to identify the mechanisms by which cause and effect relationships in the social world come about. This article ar...
561 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Taylor et al. introduce the notion of self-organization, referring to initiatives that originate in civil society itself, via autonomous community-based networks of citizens outside government control which participate in developing the 'urban fabric' too.
Abstract: To date, participatory spatial planning has produced disappointing results. We argue that one reason is that time and again participatory planning proposals remain controlled by public government, and that public government seems not to be very adaptive to initiatives that emerge from the dynamics of civil society itself. To find out why and how citizens could and would be motivated to contribute out of their own motivation to urban development, we propose turning the focus outside-in, instead of inside-out. In this article, we therefore introduce the notion of self-organization, referring to initiatives that originate in civil society itself, via autonomous community-based networks of citizens outside government control which participate in developing the 'urban fabric' too. We discuss some examples of self-organization and draw preliminary conclusions of the concept's usefulness for the theory and practice of spatial planning. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.
561 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Moreover, post-structuralists believe that these struggles, forms of resistance, mutual alliances or domination are restricted not only to human actors and their regimes or agencies (see also Giddens 1984 ) but also to non-human actors and things (see also Law 2004 , Latour 2005 )....
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...Moreover, post-structuralists believe that these struggles, forms of resistance, mutual alliances or domination are restricted not only to human actors and their regimes or agencies (see also Giddens 1984) but also to non-human actors and things (see also Law 2004, Latour 2005)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify two archetypes in large Canadian law firms to show how ideas of professionalism and partnership are changing, due in part to shifts in discourses in the wider institutional context.
Abstract: This paper identifies two archetypes in large Canadian law firms to show how ideas of professionalism and partnership are changing, due in part to shifts in discourses in the wider institutional context. These changes in discourse themselves alter the interpretation of organizational structures and systems. This theme is explored through the concept of tracks and sedimentation. We explore the emergence of an organizational archetype that appears not to be secure, and which results in sedimented structures with competitive commit ments. The geological metaphor of sedimentation allows us to consider a dia lectical rather than a linear view of change. Case studies of two law firms show how one archetype is layered on the other, rather than representing a distinct transformation where one archetype sweeps away the residues of the other.
559 citations
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