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Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order
TLDR
In this paper, three prominent social thinkers discuss the implications of "reflexive modernization" for social and cultural theory today, and the three authors offer critical appraisals of each other's viewpoints.Abstract:
The theme of reflexivity has come to be central to social analysis. In this book three prominent social thinkers discuss the implications of "reflexive modernization" for social and cultural theory today. Ulrich Beck's vision of the "risk society" has already become extraordinarily influential. Beck offers a new elaboration of his basic ideas, connecting reflexive modernization with new issues to do with the state and political organization. Giddens offers an in-depth examination of the connections between "institutional reflexivity" and the de-traditionalizing of the modern world. We are entering, he argues, a phase of the development of a global society. A "global society" is not a world society, but one with universalizing tendencies. Lash develops the theme of reflexive modernization in relation the aesthetics and the interpretation of culture. In this domain, he suggests, we need to look again at the conventional theories of postmodernism; "aesthetic modernization" has distinctive qualities that need to be uncovered and analyzed. In the concluding sections of the book, the three authors offer critical appraisals of each other's viewpoints, providing a synthetic conclusion to the work as a whole.read more
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Societas Ethica’s Annual Conference 2015: Globalisation and Global Justice, Lunnevads folkhögskola, Linköping, Sweden, August 20-23, 2015 : Societas Ethica Jahretagung 2015, Globalisierung und globale Gerechtigkeit
TL;DR: The proceedings from the Societas Ethica's annual conference 2015 look different than previous years as mentioned in this paper, and they do not publish the full papers this year. The reason for this change is that less and less...
Dissertation
Critical social theory and psychotherapy: an analysis of the moral ethos of contemporary psychotherapeutic theory and practice
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the moral ethos of contemporary psychotherapy as represented in the psychoanalytic and systemic therapeutic traditions, and present a detailed critique of the individualistic normative orientation of this debate; its peripheral status within the discourse of psychotherapy; its restrictive focus on professional micro ethics; and the eschewing of engagement with broader macro level moral themes and concerns.
Dissertation
Universities and culture
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that universities are still cultural sites and have more complex positions as to how they influence their surrounding cultures and how they are influenced by local and global cultures.
Journal ArticleDOI
‘Filial son’, the family and identity formation among male migrant workers in urban China
TL;DR: In this article, an ethnographic study of life histories of 28 rural-urban (internal) migrant men located within southern China is presented, with a particular focus on changing social relations within the family, from the perspective of migrant sons.
Journal ArticleDOI
From Malthus to sustainable energy—Theoretical orientations to reforming the energy sector
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider macro level theories for understanding the urge for reform as well as the process of societal change both in general terms, and more specifically within the energy sector.