One dimensional man
About: This article is published in Philosophical Books.The article was published on 1965-05-01. It has received 2842 citations till now.
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TL;DR: In this article, a case study of Whole Foods Market (WFM), a corporation frequently touted as an ethical market actor, is used to investigate the relationship between consumerism and citizenship.
Abstract: Ethical consumer discourse is organized around the idea that shopping, and particularly food shopping, is a way to create progressive social change. A key component of this discourse is the “citizen-consumer” hybrid, found in both activist and academic writing on ethical consumption. The hybrid concept implies a social practice – “voting with your dollar” – that can satisfy competing ideologies of consumerism (an idea rooted in individual self-interest) and citizenship (an ideal rooted in collective responsibility to a social and ecological commons). While a hopeful sign, this hybrid concept needs to be theoretically unpacked, and empirically explored. This article has two purposes. First, it is a theory-building project that unpacks the citizen-consumer concept, and investigates underlying ideological tensions and contradictions. The second purpose of the paper is to relate theory to an empirical case-study of the citizen-consumer in practice. Using the case-study of Whole Foods Market (WFM), a corporation frequently touted as an ethical market actor, I ask: (1) how does WFM frame the citizen-consumer hybrid, and (2) what ideological tensions between consumer and citizen ideals are present in the framing? Are both ideals coexisting and balanced in the citizen-consumer hybrid, or is this construct used to disguise underlying ideological inconsistencies? Rather than meeting the requirements of consumerism and citizenship equally, the case of WFM suggests that the citizen-consumer hybrid provides superficial attention to citizenship goals in order to serve three consumerist interests better: consumer choice, status distinction, and ecological cornucopianism. I argue that a true “citizen-consumer” hybrid is not only difficult to achieve, but may be internally inconsistent in a growth-oriented corporate setting.
429 citations
TL;DR: Action research remains an umbrella term for a host of activities intended to foster change on the group, organizational, and even individual level as discussed by the authors, and it has been used for a variety of purposes.
Abstract: Fifty years after Kurt Lewin invented the idea of action research, action research remains an umbrella term for a host of activities intended to foster change on the group, organizational, and even...
415 citations
TL;DR: Critical theory is presented as an interdisciplinary approach to seeking knowledge about consumers as discussed by the authors, which holds that social problems often result from groups in society being constrained by social structures and processes that they themselves construct and maintain.
Abstract: Critical theory is presented as an interdisciplinary approach to seeking knowledge about consumers. Critical theory holds that social problems often result from groups in society being constrained by social structures and processes that they themselves construct and maintain. Critical research involves grasping both the intersubjective understandings of the groups involved and the historical-empirical understanding of the potentially constraining objective social conditions. Contradictions that are discovered provide the stimuli for change. Through the process of critique and dialogue, the critical researcher tries to help people imagine alternative social organizations that facilitate the development of human potential free from constraints.
389 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the sociological context of self-construction, the social resources employed in the construction process, and the growing importance of nonhuman objects in selfconstruction and provided a pragmatic foundation for understanding agency and political action missing from much of the new scholarship.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract An emerging sociological approach to the self reflects new emphases on power, reflexivity, and social constructionism. The significance of power in shaping the self is central to a new scholarship associated with Foucault. This body of work offers an important corrective to traditional sociological orientations associated with Mead and symbolic interactionism. The principle of reflexivity is at the core of the Meadian tradition and provides a pragmatic foundation for understanding agency and political action missing from much of the new scholarship. The principle of social construction is common to both new and traditional sociological approaches to the self and guides most recent empirical analyses. Promising avenues of research are evident in work that explores the sociological context of self-construction, the social resources employed in the construction process, and the growing importance of nonhuman objects in self-construction. The limitation of scholarship that overemphasizes the psycho...
378 citations
Cites background from "One dimensional man"
...Notable sociological statements include The Lonely Crowd (Riesman 1950), The Organization Man (Whyte 1956), One Dimensional Man (Marcuse 1964), The Pursuit of Loneliness (Slater 1970), The Fall of Public Man (Sennet 1977), The Culture of Narcissism (Lasch 1979), Habits of the Heart (Bellah et al. 1985), and The Saturated Self (Gergen 1991)....
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...Notable sociological statements include The Lonely Crowd (Riesman 1950), The Organization Man (Whyte 1956), One Dimensional Man (Marcuse 1964), The Pursuit of Loneliness (Slater 1970), The Fall of Public Man (Sennet 1977), The Culture of Narcissism (Lasch 1979), Habits of the Heart (Bellah et al....
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...Notable sociological statements include The Lonely Crowd (Riesman 1950), The Organization Man (Whyte 1956), One Dimensional Man (Marcuse 1964), The Pursuit of Loneliness (Slater 1970), The Fall of Public Man (Sennet 1977), The Culture of Narcissism (Lasch 1979), Habits of the Heart (Bellah et al.…...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that accounting systems in organisational contexts are more than technical phenomena and that to understand and change these technical elements the social roots must also be both understood and changed.
Abstract: This paper starts from the view that accounting systems in organisational contexts are more than technical phenomena and that to understand and change these technical elements the social roots must also be both understood and changed. To develop these insights, it is argued, requires major changes in the methodologies we adopt. This paper is addressed to arguing a case for a methodological approach to further these purposes which is derived from a German philosophical school of thought called “critical theory” — more specifically from Jurgen Habermas' interpretation of this thinking which gives particular emphasis to the social and technical aspects of societal phenomena which includes accounting systems.
365 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined accounts of travelers in terms of Erving Goffman's front versus back distinction and found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences.
Abstract: The problem of false consciousness and its relationship to the social structure of tourist establishments is analyzed. Accounts of travelers are examined in terms of Erving Goffman's front versus back distinction. It is found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences. It is also found that tourist settings are arrenged to produce the impression that a back region has been entered even when this is not the case. In tourist settings, between the front and the back there is a series of special spaces designed to accommodate tourists and to support their beliefs in the authenticity of their experiences. Goffman's front-back dichotomy is shown to be ideal poles of a continuum, or a variable.
2,627 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: Casey as discussed by the authors explored the effects of contemporary practices of work on the self and found that changes currently occuring in the world of work are part of the vast social and cultural changes that are challenging the meta trends of modern industrialism.
Abstract: Despite recent interest in the effects of restructuring and redesigning the work place, the link between individual identity and structural change has usually been asserted rather than demonstrated. Through an extensive review of data from field work in a multi-national corporation Catherine Casey changes this. She knows that changes currently occuring in the world of work are part of the vast social and cultural changes that are challenging the meta trends of modern industrialism. These events affect what people do everyday, and they are altering relations among ourselves and with the physical world. This valuable book is not only a critical analysis of the transformations occurring in the world of work, but an exploration of the effects of contemporary practices of work on the self.
540 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors interpret critical urban theory with reference to four mutually interconnected elements: its theoretical character; its reflexivity; its critique of instrumental reason; and its emphasis on the disjuncture between the actual and the possible.
Abstract: What is critical urban theory? While this phrase is often used in a descriptive sense, to characterize the tradition of post‐1968 leftist or radical urban studies, I argue that it also has determinate social–theoretical content. To this end, building on the work of several Frankfurt School social philosophers, this paper interprets critical theory with reference to four, mutually interconnected elements—its theoretical character; its reflexivity; its critique of instrumental reason; and its emphasis on the disjuncture between the actual and the possible. On this basis, a brief concluding section considers the status of urban questions within critical social theory. In the early 21st century, I argue, each of the four key elements within critical social theory requires sustained engagement with contemporary patterns of capitalist urbanization. Under conditions of increasingly generalized, worldwide urbanization, the project of critical social theory and that of critical urban theory have been intertwined a...
356 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide an overview of the key images of identity in organizations found in the research literature, including self-doubters, strugglers, surfers, storytellers, strategists, stencils and soldiers.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the key images of identity in organizations found in the research literature. Image refers to the overall idea or conceptualization, capturing how researchers relate to — and shape — a phenomenon. Seven images are suggested: self-doubters, strugglers, surfers, storytellers, strategists, stencils and soldiers. These refer to how the individual is metaphorically understood in terms of identity, that is, how the researcher (research text) captures the individual producing a sense of self. The article aims to facilitate orientation — or encourage productive confusion — within the field, encourage reflexivity and sharpen analytic choices through awareness of options for how to conceptualize self-identity constructions.
289 citations