Outline of a Theory of Practice.
About: This article is published in Contemporary Sociology.The article was published on 1980-03-01. It has received 14683 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Practice theory.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider what assemblage might offer a conception of the city and argue that it is particularly useful for conceiving the spatiality of a city as processual, relational, mobile, and unequal.
Abstract: In this paper I consider what ‘assemblage’ might offer a conception of the city. Although assemblage is gaining currency in geography and beyond, there has been little effort to consider how it might be conceptualised and what its specificity might be. In offering a conceptualisation of assemblage, I bring assemblage into conversation with particular debates around dwelling and argue, first, that assemblage provides a useful basis for thinking of the city as a dwelling process and, second, that it is particularly useful for conceiving the spatiality of the city as processual, relational, mobile, and unequal. Despite their distinct intellectual histories, I suggest there is a productive debate to be had by bringing assemblage and dwelling into dialogue. I examine some of the ways in which assemblage and dwelling might interact and reflect on particular moments of fieldwork conducted in Sao Paulo and Mumbai and on diverse examples ranging from ‘slum’ housing to urban policy and mobility.
457 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the use of computers in textual analysis and discuss some of the ways in which textual data can be formally analyzed in order to measure and visualize basic structures of meaning which operate in discourse.
Abstract: The goal of this seminar is to introduce you to the use of computers in textual analysis. This involves three things. First, we will spend time talking about how to acquire textual material in such a way that it can be made computer readable. We will talk about gathering textual material from web-pages, on-line chat rooms, CD-ROMS, as well as other paper-based sources that can be scanned. Here our goal will be to think about the range of materials that might be investigated in this manner and to discuss the ways in which computer assisted analysis of these data would facilitate the research process. Second, we will talk about how to use the computer to manage this information. For example, we will look very closely at a variety of approaches to content analysis, including recent developments in syntactic grammar analysis. As part of this effort, we will focus on learning how to use the statistical analysis software SAS as a basic tool for content analysis of textual data.
Third, we will discuss some of the ways in which textual data can be formally analyzed in order to measure and visualize basic structures of meaning which operate in discourse. This part of the course will lead us to explore questions such as what is meaning and how does interpretation operate? We will also focus here on a range of methods that can be used to study the relational patterns that are embedded within textual material. Included here are techniques such as factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, correspondence analysis, network analysis, lattice analysis and Boolean algebras.
457 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality and elaborate practical rationality as an alternative framework.
Abstract: There is an increasing concern that management theories are not relevant to practice. In this article we contend that the overall problem is that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality. We elaborate practical rationality as an alternative framework and show how it enables development of theories that grasp the logic of practice and, thus, are more relevant to management practice.
456 citations
TL;DR: Ilongots see commands as the exemplary act of speech, displaying less concern for the subjective meanings that an utterance conveys than for the social contexts in which utterances are heard as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: I begin by introducing the Ilongots and some of their attitudes toward speech. Whereas most modem theorists think of language as a tool designed primarily to “express” or to “refer,” Ilongots think of language first in terms of action. They see commands as the exemplary act of speech, displaying less concern for the subjective meanings that an utterance conveys than for the social contexts in which utterances are heard. An ethnographic sketch thus outlines how Ilongots think of words and how their thought relates to aspects of their practice – providing an external foil for theorists found closer to home. Speech Act Theory is discussed and questioned first on internal grounds, as an approach that recognizes but slights important situational and cultural constraints on forms of language use. A consideration of the application of Searle's taxonomy of acts of speech to Ilongot categories of language use then leads to a clarification of the individualistic and relatively asocial biases of his essentially intra-cultural account. Last, I return to Ilongot directives. A partial analysis of Ilongot acts of speech provides the basis for a statement of the ways in which indigenous categodes are related to the forms that actions take, as both of these, in turn, reflect the sociocultural ordering of local worlds. (Speech acts, philosophy and ethnography, ethnography of speaking, Ilongot [Philippines].)
452 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that this approach requires researchers to identify the domain of social interaction they are investigating, to understand that phenotypically similar behaviors may belong to different domains, and to acknowledge that caregivers who are effective in one type of interaction may not be effective in another.
Abstract: There are several different theoretical and research approaches to the study of socialization, characterized by frequently competing basic tenets and apparently contradictory evidence. As a way of integrating approaches and understanding discrepancies, it is proposed that socialization processes be viewed from a domain perspective, with each domain characterized by a particular form of social interaction between the object and agent of socialization and by specific socialization mechanisms and outcomes. It is argued that this approach requires researchers to identify the domain of social interaction they are investigating, to understand that phenotypically similar behaviors may belong to different domains, and to acknowledge that caregivers who are effective in one type of interaction may not be effective in another.
452 citations