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Science and Civil Society : Lessons from an Organization at the Borderland
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A case study of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) can be found in this paper where the authors explore the sorely overlooked role of science within the civil society.Abstract:
This article explores the sorely overlooked role of science within the civil
society scheme, subscribing a scientific sphere of influence according to the
minimalist civil society model It first introduces the relevance of this sphere to the
civil society project as a whole, and then provides a case study of one organization of
scientists, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), situated
on the border of the science and civil spheres The study reviews SPSSI’s successes
in advancing values today associated with civil society, and then examines more
closely the challenges that have been posed to such activities by the state, market,
science, and civil realms alike These challenges, it is argued, are a threat to all
organizations seeking to advance the values of civil society, and such organizations
would do well to prepare for the probable interference by each of these spheres as
SPSSI did not In addition, those aspects of SPSSI’s history unique to social scientific
endeavors can illuminate challenges which civil society researchers share as social
scientists with a particular social vision SPSSI’s perpetual negotiation of two sets of
tensions – that between elitism and democratic values; and that between scientific
neutralist and social engagement – reveal the paradoxes inherent in any social
scientific movement Finally, it is concluded that studies of “borderland” organizations
like SPSSI may provide a fruitful point of departure for further studies of science and
civil society
Der Beitrag untersucht die stark vernachlassigte Rolle der
Wissenschaften im ‚Projekt Zivilgesellschaft’ und skizziert die wissenschaftliche
Einflusssphare vor dem Hintergrund eines minimalistischen Zivilgesellschaftsmodells
Die Bedeutung dieser Sphare fur das ‚Projekt Zivilgesellschaft’ insgesamt wird
zunachst umrissen und sodann beispielhaft anhand einer Fallstudie uber die „Society
for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)“, einer wissenschaftlichen
Organisation an der Grenze zwischen Wissenschaft und der Sphare
burgerschaftlichen Engagements, vertieft Die Studie gibt einen Uberblick uber die
Erfolge, die SPSSI bei der Verbreitung von Werten hatte, die heute mit
‚Zivilgesellschaft’ verbunden werden, und untersucht dann naher die
Herausforderungen, denen diese Aktivitaten von seiten des Staates, des Marktes,
der Wissenschaft und der Bereiche zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements
gleichermasen ausgesetzt waren Diese Herausforderungen, so wird argumentiert,
stellen eine Bedrohung fur alle Organisationen dar, die versuchen,
zivilgesellschaftliche Werte voranzubringen, so dass diese, anders als SPSSI, gut
daran taten, sich auf mogliche Storungen aus jeder dieser Spharen vorzubereiten
Diese Aspekte der fur sozialwissenschaftliche Bestrebungen einzigartigen
Geschichte von SPSSI konnen daruber hinaus die Herausforderungen erhellen,
denen sich Forscher der Zivilgesellschaft als Sozialwissenschaftler mit einer
besonderen sozialen Vision gegenuber sehen Der standige Balanceakt von SPSSI
zwischen zwei Spannungsverhaltnissen – zum einen zwischen Elitismus und
demokratischen Werten, zum anderen zwischen wissenschaftlichem Neutralismus
und sozialem Engagement – enthullt die Widerspruche, die jeder
sozialwissenschaftlichen Bewegung innewohnen Daher konnen Studien uber
Organisationen „im Grenzgebiet“ wie SPSSI, so die Schlussfolgerung, einen
fruchtbaren Ausgangspunkt fur weitere Forschungen uber das Verhaltnis von
Wissenschaft und Zivilgesellschaft bietenread more
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References
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Handbook of social psychology
TL;DR: In this paper, Neuberg and Heine discuss the notion of belonging, acceptance, belonging, and belonging in the social world, and discuss the relationship between friendship, membership, status, power, and subordination.
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The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies
TL;DR: The authors argued that the ways in which knowledge is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century and that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies.
Journal Article
The structural transformation of the public sphere : an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society
Jürgen Habermas,Thomas Burgerm +1 more
TL;DR: A preliminary demarcation of a type of Bourgeois public sphere can be found in this article, where the authors remark on the type representative publicness on the genesis of the Bourgois Public Sphere.
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The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor
TL;DR: Through comparative and historical study of the professions in nineteenth- and twentieth-century England, France, and America, Andrew Abbott builds a general theory of how and why professionals evolve.
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