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 effect of the level of institutional development of host countries on the level and variation in foreign affiliate performance is investigated, and the results suggest that the level as determined by the Institutional Development Index (IDI), a new measurement developed in this study, has a strong negative curvilinear relationship with the variation in the foreign affiliate's performance and a negative effect on the overall performance of foreign affiliate.
Abstract: This article investigates the effect of the level of institutional development of host countries on the level of and variation in foreign affiliate performance. Institutional development is defined as the extent to which the economic, political, and social institutions in a host country are developed and are favorable for foreign affiliates. A longitudinal analysis of over 30,000 foreign affiliate-year cases that include 6,985 foreign affiliates in 38 host countries between 1996 and 2001 shows that foreign affiliate performance varies noticeably both across and within host countries. The results suggest that the level of institutional development, as determined by the Institutional Development Index (IDI), a new measurement developed in this study, has a strong negative curvilinear relationship with the variation in foreign affiliate performance and a negative effect on the level of foreign affiliate performance. The implications for future research, practice, and policymaking are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
340 citations
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...Social institutions derive from the members of a population associating and interacting extensively with one another to develop recursive practices (Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Giddens, 1984; March and Olsen, 1989; Scott, 1995; Searle, 1995)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the Capability Approach (CA), with its emphasis on freedoms and agency, is a suitable conceptual framework for self-help analysis, and they point out the limitations of the CA in capturing the interactive relationship between individual capabilities and social structures.
Abstract: This paper emphasizes the importance of collectivities for human capabilities. Using the example of self‐help, the paper demonstrates how the poor can act together to expand and exercise new ‘collective capabilities’. The paper argues that the Capability Approach (CA), with its emphasis on freedoms and agency, is a suitable — however insufficient — conceptual framework for self‐help analysis. It points out the limitations of the CA in capturing the interactive relationship between individual capabilities and social structures. To incorporate this ‘collective’ dimension within the CA, the paper re‐emphasizes the intrinsic and instrumental value of social structures, explores the concepts of collective freedoms and collective agency, and compliments the CA with the literature on collective action, institutions and social capital into an integrated analytical framework for ‘collective capabilities’. The paper finally operationalizes this framework through three case studies of self‐help initiatives among the...
340 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Individuals are knowledgeable agents who have a practical consciousness of their actions and reflexively think about their day-to-day activities (Giddens, 1984, p. 281)....
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TL;DR: The processes underlying the formation and maintenance of medical students’ professional identity are conceptualised drawing on concepts from social psychology, mainly social and relational in nature.
Abstract: Context: Medical education is about more than acquiring an appropriate level of knowledge and developing relevant skills. To practice medicine students need to develop a professional identity – ways of being and relating in professional contexts.Objectives: This article conceptualises the processes underlying the formation and maintenance of medical students’ professional identity drawing on concepts from social psychology.Implications: A multi-dimensional model of identity and identity formation, along with the concepts of identity capital and multiple identities, are presented. The implications for educators are discussed.Conclusions: Identity formation is mainly social and relational in nature. Educators, and the wider medical society, need to utilise and maximise the opportunities that exist in the various relational settings students experience. Education in its broadest sense is about the transformation of the self into new ways of thinking and relating. Helping students form, and successfully integ...
336 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...In this way social structure is reproduced, culture transmitted and social control mechanisms applied (Giddens 1984)....
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TL;DR: A postmodern deconstruction technique is used to discover a deferred concept: amethodical systems development, which contributes a deeper understanding of the concept of methodical information systems development.
335 citations
Cites background from "Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@..."
...Unlike structuration theory (Giddens 1979, 1984), which focuses on a structural duality, emergence theory is a complete alternative to the structure concept in science, grammar, and organizations....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the conceptualizations of the realm of the material or non-cultural in different versions of 20th-century cultural theory and propose a post-Wittgensteinian theory of social practices.
Abstract: The article compares the conceptualizations of the realm of the material or non-cultural in different versions of 20th-century cultural theory. It distinguishes between three phases of historical development: First, the classical sociology of knowledge-in the works of Mannheim and late Durkheim-understands the material as a separate realm of social structures, which acts as the foundation for the realm of symbolic orders. The instabilities of this theoretical option of a materialist-culturalist double are resolved in radical culturalism, which appears in different versions in (post-)structuralism, phenomenology, constructivism etc. and which interprets the non-cultural as objects of knowledge or symbolic objects. The problematic neo-Kantian subject-object-distinction in these approaches is the target of a third, novel culturalist option of dealing with material entities: In the work of Bruno Latour, these entities are rehabilitated as artefacts or things that are necessary, effective components of social practices or networks. Latour's approach should be embedded in the wider framework of a post-Wittgensteinian theory of social practices as it is formulated above all by Theodore Schatzki.
335 citations
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