The Human Condition.
TL;DR: In some religious traditions, the myth of the ‘Fall from the Garden of Eden’ symbolizes the loss of the primordial state through the veiling of higher consciousness.
Abstract: Human beings are described by many spiritual traditions as ‘blind’ or ‘asleep’ or ‘in a dream.’ These terms refers to the limited attenuated state of consciousness of most human beings caught up in patterns of conditioned thought, feeling and perception, which prevent the development of our latent, higher spiritual possibilities. In the words of Idries Shah: “Man, like a sleepwalker who suddenly ‘comes to’ on some lonely road has in general no correct idea as to his origins or his destiny.” In some religious traditions, such as Christianity and Islam, the myth of the ‘Fall from the Garden of Eden’ symbolizes the loss of the primordial state through the veiling of higher consciousness. Other traditions use similar metaphors to describe the spiritual condition of humanity:
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27 Mar 2015
TL;DR: In this article, a series of meditations on life, ground, weather, walking, imagination and what it means to be human are presented, with a focus on the life of lines.
Abstract: To live, every being must put out a line, and in life these lines tangle with one another. This book is a study of the life of lines. Following on from Tim Ingold's groundbreaking work Lines: A Brief History, it offers a wholly original series of meditations on life, ground, weather, walking, imagination and what it means to be human.
In the first part, Ingold argues that a world of life is woven from knots, and not built from blocks as commonly thought. He shows how the principle of knotting underwrites both the way things join with one another, in walls, buildings and bodies, and the composition of the ground and the knowledge we find there.
In the second part, Ingold argues that to study living lines, we must also study the weather. To complement a linealogy that asks what is common to walking, weaving, observing, singing, storytelling and writing, he develops a meteorology that seeks the common denominator of breath, time, mood, sound, memory, colour and the sky. This denominator is the atmosphere.
In the third part, Ingold carries the line into the domain of human life. He shows that for life to continue, the things we do must be framed within the lives we undergo. In continually answering to one another, these lives enact a principle of correspondence that is fundamentally social.
This compelling volume brings our thinking about the material world refreshingly back to life. While anchored in anthropology, the book ranges widely over an interdisciplinary terrain that includes philosophy, geography, sociology, art and architecture.
410 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the fact that gender equality and women empowerment have been eviscerated of conceptual and political bite compromises their use as the primary frame through which to demand rights and justice.
Abstract: The language of ‘gender equality’ and ‘women’s empowerment’ was mobilised by feminists in the 1980s and 1990s as a way of getting women’s rights onto the international development agenda. Their efforts can be declared a resounding success. The international development industry has fully embraced these terms. From international NGOs to donor governments to multilateral agencies the language of gender equality and women’s empowerment is a pervasive presence and takes pride of place among their major development priorities. And yet, this article argues, the fact that these terms have been eviscerated of conceptual and political bite compromises their use as the primary frame through which to demand rights and justice. Critically examining the trajectories of these terms in development, the article suggests that if the promise of the post-2015 agenda is to deliver on gender justice, new frames are needed, which can connect with and contribute to a broader movement for global justice.
271 citations
TL;DR: A network simulation model used to study a possible relationship between echo chambers and the viral spread of misinformation finds an “echo chamber effect”: the presence of an opinion and network polarized cluster of nodes in a network contributes to the diffusion of complex contagions.
Abstract: The viral spread of digital misinformation has become so severe that the World Economic Forum considers it among the main threats to human society This spread have been suggested to be related to the similarly problematized phenomenon of “echo chambers”, but the causal nature of this relationship has proven difficult to disentangle due to the connected nature of social media, whose causality is characterized by complexity, non-linearity and emergence This paper uses a network simulation model to study a possible relationship between echo chambers and the viral spread of misinformation It finds an “echo chamber effect”: the presence of an opinion and network polarized cluster of nodes in a network contributes to the diffusion of complex contagions, and there is a synergetic effect between opinion and network polarization on the virality of misinformation The echo chambers effect likely comes from that they form the initial bandwagon for diffusion These findings have implication for the study of the media logic of new social media
223 citations
Cites background from "The Human Condition."
...The disappearance of media intermediation seems not to have, as was believed, fostered a space for direct meetings in a sort of online Habermasian public sphere, but rather to have implied that the “world between them has lost its power to gather them together, to relate and to separate them” [6] (p....
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...But despite early optimism about this ostensibly decentralized and democratic meetingplace, the online world seems less and less like a common “table” that “gathers us together” [6] (p....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a mediation model to explain the relationship between CEO humility and firm performance and found that when a more humble CEO leads a firm, its top management team is more likely to collaborate, share information, jointly make decisions, and possess a shared vision.
215 citations
Cites background from "The Human Condition."
...Drawing on the communal power perspective (Arendt, 1958), we propose that humble CEOs do not stress power over other TMT members but, instead, have power to pursue goals for collective interest with the TMTs....
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...In this sense, humble CEOs exercise power in a way that diverts from an interpersonal power perspective (Sturm & Antonakis, 2015) and complies with a communal power perspective (Arendt, 1958)....
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TL;DR: The turn to the study of antibiotic resistance in microbiology and medicine is examined, focusing on the realization that individual therapies targeted at single pathogens in individual bodies are environmental events affecting bacterial evolution far beyond bodies.
Abstract: Beginning in the 1940s, mass production of antibiotics involved the industrialscale growth of microorganisms to harvest their metabolic products. Unfortunately, the use of antibiotics selects for resistance at answering scale. The turn to the study of antibiotic resistance in microbiology and medicine is examined, focusing on the realization that individual therapies targeted at single pathogens in individual bodies are environmental events affecting bacterial evolution far beyond bodies. In turning to biological manifestations of antibiotic use, sciences fathom material outcomes of their own previous concepts. Archival work with stored soil and clinical samples produces a record described here as ‘the biology of history’: the physical registration of human history in bacterial life. This account thus foregrounds the importance of understanding both the materiality of history and the historicity of matter in theories and concepts of life today.
204 citations
References
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TL;DR: The authors argue that the meaning of work is being constructed as an object of consumption on a British university campus and suggest that this indicates a significant shift in the social construction of orientations to work towards what they term "consumption of work".
Abstract: This paper focuses on representations of the nexus of work, meaning and consumption as experienced by university students. We develop an empirically based argument that the meaning of work is being constructed as an object of consumption on a British university campus. We suggest that this indicates two key changes in representations of the meaning of work. First, there is a significant shift in the social construction of orientations to work towards what we term ‘consumption of work’. Second, we argue that this new social construction is made up of three dimensions: consumption of an idealised image of work, consumption through specific work processes and consumption of self-development opportunities at work. We conclude by suggesting ways in which this argument could be researched further.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the historical, social and political concept of Meydan, a term which has mostly applied for the Iranian and Islamic public squares, and propose a new paradigm for analyzing the square beyond an architectural element in the city, but weaves this blank slate, with its contemporary socio political atmosphere as a new paradigmatic paradigm.
Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the square beyond an architectural element in the city, but weaves this blank slate, with its contemporary socio political atmosphere as a new paradigm. As a result, this research investigates the historical, social and political concept of Meydan – a term which has mostly applied for the Iranian and Islamic public squares. This interpretation, suggested the idea of Meydan as the core of the projects in the city, which historically exposed in formalization of power relations and religious ideologies. In this sense, studying the spatial transformation of Iranian public squares introduces the framework, which is adaptable to contemporary urban context.
11 citations
TL;DR: The distinction between the aristocratic principle and the democratic principle for education will centre on conceptions of violence and non-violence, in accordance with Judith Butler and Franco «Bifo» Berardi's analyses as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: espanolEste articulo explorara una tradicion sofista de pensamiento educativo, que se ocupa del mundo y no de una esfera de ideas distinta del mundo, y sugerira algunas distinciones y conceptos centrales que se derivan de dicha tradicion en la actualidad. Las distinciones que se discuten son entre: crianza, escolarizacion y educacion; prin- cipio de educacion aristocratico versus democratico; concepcion aristocratica versus democratica de la naturaleza; y cultura como estatica versus cultura como praxis . La igualdad se destaca en el documento como un concepto central para la democracia y la educacion, y se discute a traves de Jacques Ranciere. Las distinciones establecidas tambien dejaran claro lo que esta en juego si consideramos el pensamiento educativo como condicion para la democracia y para una vida digna para todos. El contraste entre el principio aristocratico y el principio democratico de la educacion se centrara en las concepciones de violencia y no-violencia, de acuerdo con los analisis de Judith Butler y Franco «Bifo» Berardi. En un parrafo final, el documento analiza como se desa- rrolla la igualdad en relacion con la ensenanza, y la discusion se amplia explorando la concepcion de Judith Butler de « grievability ». El articulo concluye sugiriendo que la educacion es el potencial etico-politico de un nuevo comienzo dentro del actual orden de cosas y, por tanto, es la praxis misma del cambio, siendo asi tambien lo que hace posible la paideia en primer lugar. EnglishThis paper will explore a Sophist tradition of educational thought, which is concerned with the world and not a sphere of ideas as distinct from the world, and to suggest some central distinctions and concepts following from such tradition today. The distinctions which are discussed are between; upbringing, schooling and educa- tion; aristocratic versus democratic principle of education; aristocratic versus demo- cratic conception of nature; and, culture as static versus culture as praxis. Equality is highlighted in the paper as a central concept for democracy as well as education and are discussed through Jacques Ranciere. The distinctions established will also make clear what is at stake if we consider educational thought as conditional for democracy and a liveable life for anyone. The contrast between the aristocratic principle and the democratic principle for education will centre on conceptions of violence and nonviolence, in accordance with Judith Butler and Franco «Bifo» Berardi’s analyses. In a final paragraph the paper discusses how equality play out in relation to teaching, and the discussion is extended by exploring Judith Butler’s conception of ‘grievability’. The paper concludes by suggesting that education is the ethical-political potentiality of a new beginning within the present order of things, and therefore the very praxis of change of this order, and therefore what makes paideia possible in the first place.
11 citations
30 Nov 2018
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal and multi-scalar investigation of public discourse and stakeholders' perspectives on energy policies and technologies in the Marche region (Italy) by connecting public and institutional arenas is presented.
Abstract: The transition towards distributed low-carbon energy systems coincides with the introduction and materialization of renewable energy technologies (RETs) and associated infrastructures at the local level and implies a complex re-organization of the territories and a careful consideration of the relationship between energy sources and technologies and the local scale. Indeed, the design and effective implementation of energy policies and technologies require engaging multiple actors across scales in identifying measures ideally fitting with the given political, socio-cultural, economic and territorial contexts, building the acceptability and support of diverse publics.
Social research on social acceptance of RETs and associated infrastructures has grown in the last decades proposing several conceptual frameworks. However, this literature still presents some limitations, such as the scarcity of studies on social acceptance of the whole energy system change instead of single technologies/projects. Moreover, studies often rely and focus only on a single level or dimension of social acceptance, notably community acceptance at the local level, or political and socio-economic acceptance at the national level. Thus, studies integrating market, socio-political and community aspects or triangulating/combining findings from different levels are limited.
This thesis presents a longitudinal and multi-scalar investigation of public discourse and stakeholders’ perspectives on energy policies and technologies in the Marche region (Italy) by connecting public and institutional arenas. The research adopts Social Representations, Justice and Identity Theories and a discursive analytical approach to investigate public engagement and social acceptability in energy system change. The research consists of three studies: a longitudinal discourse analysis of the public sphere (2011-2017), involving document materials and naturalistic data (i.e. local media, political and public debates) to examine the historicity and territorialisation of RETs and related people’s responses; an analysis of public consultations and environmental assessments' reports (2015-2016) regarding the regional energy plan 2020 and twenty-two narrative interviews (2017-2018) with key informants and actors operating at different scales (i.e. policy, market, expert and civil society actors).
The first study shows that people opposition to the territorialisation of RETs were motivated by different factors involving procedural (engagement, authorisation, regulation, guidelines, and assessment in RET deployment), distributional (environmental and social impacts, fit with place materiality and symbolic meanings, distribution of costs and benefits between places and actors) and recognition elements of justice (recognition and treatment of local communities and authorities).
Moreover, the study found that different RETs are conceptualized as strongly intertwined, considering the distributed generation of RETs as a physical aggression and multiplication of impacts devastating the territory. Territorial features and memories of unsustainable economies (overbuilding and soil consumption, widespread industries and pollution, landscape disruption) played a great role in public conceptualization of and responses to RETs considered as aggravating environmental criticalities, putting at risk local economies based on agriculture and tourism and reinforcing distrust toward firms and politics.
To face this situation, the Regional Government started a re-configuration process with the elaboration of energy and environmental policies by means of preliminary and inclusive participation. Despite the institutional participatory pathways have addressed many critical issues, enhancing the timely recognition and inclusion of different normative appraisals in planning and decision-making, and enhancing the overall quality and legitimacy of the plan, this remains constrained by different factors constraining the potential for a sustainable and effective implementation of the strategy and undermining socio-political, economic, and community acceptance.
The findings are discussed in light of the theoretical, methodological and applied (policy) implications of the research on social acceptance and deliberative governance.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between deliberative democracy, the Internet, and systems theory's thoughts on diversity, and introduce Habermas's theory of deliberative democracies.
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between deliberative democracy, the Internet, and systems theory’s thoughts on diversity. After introducing Habermas’s theory of deliberative democracy and ho...
11 citations