Showing papers on "Agency (philosophy) published in 1998"

Stewardship Theory and Board Structure: a contingency approach

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of several theoretical frameworks which make different predictions about the effect of board structures on firm performance. The choice of theories was based on recognition of their prominence in governance research. The empirical analysis first tested board independence hypotheses based on two competing theories: agency and stewardship. Agency theory, with its origins in finance and economics, has received much support in academic circles. However, recently it has been challenged by stewardship theory (Donaldson & Davis 1991), which is derived from the disciplines of sociology and psychology. Stewardship predictions regarding board independence are directly opposed to those of agency theory.

Structure, Agency and Historical Institutionalism

Abstract: As be®ts two if its principal exponents, Hall and Taylor's recent article `Political science and the three new institutionalisms' provides a meticulous and provocative review of the many faces of the `new institutionalism' and a distinctive contribution to the growing literature in this area in its own right.* It provides an important opportunity to consider again the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary institutionalism and to raise the question of how its many insights might be more fully incorporated within the British political science mainstream. While careful to distance themselves from the idea that a `crude synthesis' of rational choice, sociological and historical institutionalism is `immediately practical or even necessarily desirable' (p. 957), they suggest that a dialogue between them is both necessary and crucial. We argue that the prospects for such a dialogue are more limited than Hall and Taylor suggest. For, rational choice and sociological institutionalisms are based on mutually incompatible premises or `social ontologies'. Moreover, in identifying two social ontologies ± the calculus and cultural approaches ± within the historical institutionalist canon (and hence in reconstructing historical institutionalism in rational choice and sociological terms), we argue that Hall and Taylor do a considerable disservice to this distinctive approach to institutional analysis. While this view of historical institutionalism makes it appear `pivotal' to future dialogue between institutionalisms, such a reading neglects the potentially distinctive social ontology of this approach. This may leave historical institutionalism prone to precisely the tendential structuralism characteristic of much institutionalist analysis, while giving a super®cial impression that the approach has already overcome this problem. We argue that if institutionalism is to develop to its full potential, it must consider the relationship between structure and agency, on which Hall and Taylor merely touch, as a central analytic concern.

Information asymmetry and levels of agency relationships

Abstract: Many marketing exchanges are characterized by an information asymmetry between suppliers and customers. Specifically, customers are faced with both adverse selection and moral hazard problems that ...

The New Public Management And A New Accountability

Abstract: There has long been a disparity between the practice and the neo-Diceyan doctrine of accountability in British central government. This article shows that the New Public Management (NPM), while not itself the root cause of such disparity, has nevertheless both exacerbated and further exposed existing fault-lines. This much is evident from an examination of NPM’s theoretical bearings and from brief case studies of the Child Protection Agency and the Prison Service. Reflecting broad and deep-seated forces, the NPM is unlikely to disappear. Thus although there are certain attractions in retaining neo-Diceyan assumptions, it may be more appropriate to reconstruct the formal doctrine. Drawing upon Spiro’s notion of ‘multicentric’ accountability and within the context of calls for wider constitutional reform, the article sketches the basis for a new doctrine, having regard to relevant moralities and practicalities.

Theorizing Subjectivity in Organizations: The Failure of Foucauldian Studies?

Abstract: This paper examines the promise of Foucault as a vehicle for addressing subjectivity and organizations. It questions the supposed non-essentialism and nondualism of Foucauldian work, and argues that such work has difficulties in theorizing agency, and the relation between self and discourse. Though the paper is critical of previous attacks on the anti-materialistic stance of Foucauldian work, it nevertheless suggests that Foucauldian studies have been unable to adequately theorize 'material' relations, and that they have so far provided an inadequate basis by which to develop an ethics of either individual or collective change. In developing this critique, the paper largely focuses on Foucauldian work rather than the text of Foucault himself, though some attention is paid to Volumes 1 to 3 of The History of Sexuality. Feminist work is also employed in order to illustrate the limitations of Foucault in theorizing the self and subjectivity.

Rational choice, situated action, and the social control of organizations

Abstract: The legal and administrative apparatus responsible for the social control of organizations relies extensively on the deterrent effects of punishment. This strategy presumes a rational choice model of organizational misconduct that decontextualizes decisionmaking, emphasizing consequences while ignoring how preferences are formed. I raise three challenges to the rational choice/ deterrence model of social control: (1) research and theory on decisionmaking, (2) a sociological paradigm that situates individual action in a structure/ culture/agency nexus that influences interpretation, meaning, and action at the local level, and (3) an analysis of the Challenger launch decision at NASA as situated action, showing how structure, culture, and history shaped preferences and choice. These challenges suggest a need to reorient regulatory activity toward the social context of decisionmaking. I conclude with a research agenda to explore the relationship between situated action, preference formation, and rational choice. Management decisions in the business world that value competitive and economic success more highly than the well-being of workers, consumers, or the general public so often have come to public attention that today's most widely accepted model of corporate criminality portrays managers of profit-seeking organizations as "amoral calculators" whose illegal actions are motivated by rational calculation of costs and opportunities (Kagan & Scholz 1984). Driven by pressures from the competitive environment, managers will violate the law to attain desired organizational goals unless the anticipated legal penalties (the expected costs weighed against the probability of delaying or avoiding them) exceed additional benefits the firm could gain by violation. The amoral calculator model locates the cause of business misconduct in the calculations of individual decisionmakers. It reflects the logic of sociological rational choice theory (Hechter 1987; Friedman & Hechter 1988; Cook & Levi 1990; J. S. Coleman 1990a; Hechter & Kanazawa 1997), but with one important distinction. When decisionmakers' calculations of costs and benefits are tainted by self-interest, economics, or politics so that intentional wrongdoing and/or harm result, their calculation becomes amoral. The amoral calculator model also has wide acceptance as an explanation for the misconduct of other types of organizations that violate laws, administrative rules, and regulations. Though not corporate profit seekers, to survive, all organizations must compete for scarce resources (Pfeffer & Salancik 1978; Vaughan 1983:54-66). Competition for scarce resources encourages research institutions to falsify data in order to win grants and prestige; universities to violate NCAA recruiting regulations in order to guarantee winning athletic teams; police departments to violate the law to make arrests that bring recognition and funding; political parties and governments to commit illegalities to secure national and international power. In response to competitive pressures emanating from the external environment, according to the amoral calculator model, individuals attempt to achieve organization goals through violative behavior. The linchpin of the model's applicability to a variety of organizations is the violative behavior itself: Because laws, rules, or administrative regulations forbid the behavior and carry penalties, decisions to violate appear to be imbued with intent, calculation of costs and benefits, and some degree of forethought about harmful consequences. Punishment is considered an important tool for the social control of organizations because of institutionalized beliefs that the ultimate cause of organizational offending is rational actors who will include the costs of punishment in their calculations and be deterred from violative behavior. Most certainly, the legal and administrative apparatus for the social control of organizations utilizes diverse approaches (e. …

Charismatic/Pentecostal Appropriation of Media Technologies in Nigeria and Ghana

Abstract: How do religious collectivities which are predicated on the Word generate images of themselves in the highly competitive religious marketplaces of many African urban spaces today?' Focusing on the burgeoning Christian charismatic and pentecostal movements of Ghana and Nigeria,2 I explore how and why these movements are increasingly favoring electronic media as suitable sites for the transmission of their teachings and erecting of their empires. I will show how this process, no more than two decades old, both concurs with and challenges their religious ideology. I argue further that these developments result in the transformation of the religious landscape in at least two ways: one, they are facilitating transnational and homogenizing cultural flows, and two, they are taking the connections between these movements and the networks they create to new, global levels.3 Given my concern to identify African agency in these transnational developments, local forces feature more prominently in the discussion of this paper. Evangelization has always been a primary goal of these movements, not least in the endtime phase of history many of their leaders claim we have now entered. The appropriation and use of moder media technologies facilitates the dissemination of the Word to the masses. The use of the media is clearly a tool of expansion, a reflection of globalizing aspirations, but it is also part of a calculated attempt to transform and Christianize popular culture so that it is safe for consumption by 'bor-again' Christians. The 'modern' media are deemed an acceptable weapon for God's army in the battle against Satan. While there is clear boundary maintenance on the part of these religious organizations with regard to their own sanctified identity and territory and those who fall beyond the pale of God's grace, it has not resulted in

A Frame Analysis of Favor Seeking in the Renaissance: Agency, Networks, and Political Culture

Abstract: Actors invoke and manupulate diverse frames of meaning by assembling cues, taken from linguistic forms laid down in the cultural background, to build their relations with others. This article examines the use of these frames in Renaissance patronage‐seeking letters, both quantitatively (through multidimensional scaling) and qualitatively (using discourse analytical concepts), to present an interactionist approach to the presentation of self and, in turn, to political culture. Writing strategies are only modestly, as actors write from achieved network positions and constantly aim to improve their position, maximize leverage, and build careers through letter writing. I shall tell you, therefore, first, of what means I made use in order to become an intimate and follower of Gian Galeozzo, the duke of Milan; then I shall tell you how I went about winning the good will of Ladislas, king of Naples; finally I shall recount to you what sort of conduct enabled me to preserve the favor and good will of Pope Giovann...

Discourse theory and political analysis

Abstract: An overview of contributions to the development of discourse theoretical approaches in social science from the work of Althusser, Lacan, Derrida, Foucault, Laclau, and Mouffe. Particular attention is given to the concepts of signification, antagonisms, political subjectivity, agency, hegemony, the hermeneutical tradition in social science, and how to apply deconstruction methods.

Palaeolithic society and the release from proximity : a network approach to intimate relations

Abstract: The reconstruction of Palaeolithic society has never been easy with the evidence available. It is argued that rather than the evidence being at fault what is needed is a new methodology. The lead is taken from recent studies of primate societies and social theory which investigates the micro and macro scales of human agency. Palaeolithic society is based here on the individual rather than the group. The creation of social life through interaction in co‐presence and in absentia is discussed. Three networks ‐ intimate, effective and extended ‐ are derived from the emotional, material and symbolic resources available to individuals to produce their social lives. These networks are shown to have consistent demographic sizes based on rules which result from the social use of those resources. A framework is then proposed for the study of Palaeolithic data which recognizes the macro and micro scales of social life. Locales and regions are linked by Leroi‐Gourhan's concept of gesture and action, here des...

Critical Moves: Dance Studies in Theory and Politics

Abstract: In "Critical Moves" Randy Martin sets in motion an inquiry into the relationship between dance, politics, and cultural theory. Drawing on his own experiences as a dancer as well as his observations as a cultural critic and social theorist, Martin illustrates how the study and practice of dance can reanimate arrested prospects for progressive politics and social change. From experimental and concert dance to more popular expressions, Martin engages a range of performances and demonstrates how a critical reflection on dance helps promote fluency in the language of mobilisation that political theory alludes to yet rarely speaks. He explores how Bill T. Jones' "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land" defies attempts to separate social ideas from aesthetic concerns and celebrates multiculturalism in the face of a singular national culture; he studies the choreography in rapper Ice Cube's video "Wicked", which confronts radicalised depictions of violent crime; and he discusses how racial difference is negotiated by analysing a hip hop aerobics class in a non-black environment. Revealing how mastery of modern dance technique teaches an individual body to express cultural difference and display its intrinsic diversity, "Critical Moves" concludes with a reflection on the contribution dance studies can make to other fields within cultural studies and social sciences. As such it becomes an occasion to rethink the terms of history and agency, multiculturalism and nationalism, identity and political economy. This book will appeal not only to scholars and practitioners of dance, but also to a wide cross-section of people concerned with the study of political theory and the history of social movements.

The Bounds of Agency: An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics

Abstract: The subject of personal identity is one of the most central and most contested in philosophy. This book argues that, as things stand, the debate is unresolvable since both sides (psychological and bodily) hold coherent positions that our common sense will embrace. Our very common sense, the author maintains, is conflicted, so any resolution to the debate is bound to be revisionary. The author offers such a revisionary theory of personal identity by first inquiring into the nature of persons.

Agents and their Actions

Abstract: In the past thirty years or so, the doctrine that actions are events has become an essential, and sometimes unargued, part of the received view in the philosophy of action, despite the efforts of a few philosophers to undermine the consensus. For example, the entry for Agency in a recently published reference guide to the philosophy of mind begins with the following sentence:A central task in the philosophy of action is that of spelling out the differences between events in general and those events that fall squarely into the category of human action.There is no consensus about what events are. But it is generally agreed that, whatever events may prove to be, actions are a species or a class of events. We believe that the received view is mistaken: actions are not events. We concede that for most purposes, the kind of categorial refinement which is involved in either affirming or denying that actions are events is frankly otiose. Our common idiom does not stress the difference between actions and events, at least not in general terms, because it has no need to. Perhaps it sounds a little odd to say that some events are performed; but if we balked at describing, say, the abdication of Edward VIII as one of the politically significant events in Britain in 1936, it could not be for metaphysical reasons. And since actions, like events, are datable — though often, as we shall see, only imprecisely — actions are said to take place and to occur. But an important class of actions consist in moving something; indeed, according to many philosophers, every action consists in moving something. And when we consider actions of this sort from a theoretical point of view it becomes imperative to distinguish between actions and events. Or so we shall argue.

Anthony Giddens: The Last Modernist

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Anthony Giddens: The Last Modernist 3. The New Versus the Old Rules of Sociological Method 4. The Role of Desire in Agency and Structure 5. Gidden's Political Sociology 6. Gidden's Modernism Lite 7. Unlimited Agency as the New Anomie 8. Conclusions

Toward a Dialogical Self

Abstract: This article outlines four broad notions of the self or human agency. They are a traditional understanding of the self as defined by a meaningful cosmic order, a modern notion of the self as highly individualized and autonomous, often termed self-contained individualism, a decentered conception of the self as developed recently by postmodern and social constructionist thought, and a dialogical understanding of self and agency elaborated by hermeneutic thinkers and Bakhtin. Much modern social science presupposes self-contained individualism as the unquestioned nature of things and thereby tends to prepetuate views and ideals that are a source of modern dilemmas in living that social science itself tries to address. It is argued that postmodern, constructionist notions of human action restore a sense of its embeddedness in culture and history but still are colored by individualistic and scientistic elements of the modern view they seek to displace. A dialogical, partly decentered, view of human agency may o...

Does the Glove Really Fit? Qualitative Research and Clinical Social Work Practice

Abstract: The rapid growth of qualitative methods as a preferred mode of inquiry among many in social work has been marked by the recent appearance of a number of works (Riessman, 1994; Sherman & Reid, 1994; Tutty, Rothery, & Grinnell, 1996). Although advocacy of this "new" approach has emerged from academia (rather than agency-based practice), qualitative methods have been heralded by many as the best way to carry out research in the complex world of social work practice. By offering an epistemological and methodological alternative to quantitative methods, qualitative methods afford an opportunity for practitioners to embrace research without submitting to the "context-stripping" and "reductionistic" approaches of quantitative methods. Indeed, the fit between qualitative methods and social work practice has been characterized rather elegantly as "like sliding a hand into a well-made glove" (Gilgun, 1994, p. 115). This article explores whether the glove actually fits as well as it appears. At first glance, the parallels between qualitative research and clinical practice are compelling. But on closer scrutiny, a cautionary tale emerges. It is this tale that I wish to tell. In the reflexive spirit of qualitative inquiry, I note at the outset that I am an advocate and practitioner of qualitative (as well as quantitative) research. Trained as an anthropologist, I have been a faculty member at a school of social work for eight years. In teaching and talking with students and colleagues over these years, I have come to appreciate the relevance of qualitative research for practitioners. The attraction is real and understandable. However, it is also those same conversations that have stimulated me to examine more closely whether the match is as complementary as it appears. It is only by examining ways in which the clinical and qualitative research perspectives differ that a true appreciation of each can be attained. Attraction of Qualitative Methods for Social Work It is perhaps no surprise to see qualitative methods eagerly embraced by many in social work. The attraction is particularly powerful to clinically-oriented professors and students seeking alternatives to quantitative methods as a mode of inquiry. After all, the prospect of intensively interviewing a small number of people and generating research findings in narrative form appears more congruent with practice. It is interesting that the field of psychotherapy research, a field congruent with clinical social work, is overwhelmingly quantitative and positivist (Greenberg & Pinsof, 1986; Talley, Strupp, & Butler, 1994; Toukmanian & Rennie, 1992). Some psychotherapy researchers have sought to introduce qualitative methods to the field (Bruner, 1987; Stiles, 1994), citing the natural fit between narrative analyses and psychotherapy. But the emphasis on quantitative methods among the majority of psychologists and psychiatrists who are psychotherapy researchers continues to hold sway. Gilgun (1994) discussed several ways that direct practice parallels the techniques of qualitative research. (In fairness to Gilgun, her primary concern is with one particular qualitative method - grounded theory [Glaser & Strauss, 1967]). However, her description of grounded theory as it compares with direct practice captures the salient features of qualitative methods in a general way. According to Gilgun (1994), the parallels are numerous. Similar to the context-rich and inductive approaches of qualitative research, social workers start "where the client is," view clients as part of a wider social context, and favor individualized assessment and maximum detail in chronicling the lives of clients. Furthermore, practitioners think both inductively and deductively, examining information from a variety of sources before drawing conclusions about a client's problems and appropriate treatment, and responding to new information by modifying treatment approaches. …

The Body in Theory

Abstract: Geographers are now taking the problematic of corporeality seriously. ‘The body’ is becoming a preoccupation in the geographical literature, and is a central figure around which to base political demands, social analyses, and theoretical investigations. In this paper I describe some of the trajectories through which the body has been installed in academia and claim that this installation has necessitated the uptake of certain theoretical legacies and the disavowal or forgetting of others. In particular, I trace two related developments. First, I point to the sometimes haphazard agglomeration of disparate theoretical interventions that lie under the name of postmodernism and observe how this has led to the foregrounding of bodily tropes of fragmentation, fluidity, and ‘the cyborg‘. Second, I examine the treatment of the body as a conduit which enables political agency to be thought of in terms of transgression and resistance. I stage my argument by looking at how on the one hand Marxist and on the other qu...

Archaeology and Epistemology: Dialoguing across the Darwinian Chasm

Abstract: Archaeological theorists employ rival epistemologies (theories of knowledge) borrowed from philosophy to justify and help implement alternative programs for interpreting archaeological data. Epistemological idealism has been used to validate cognitive studies of the past, positivism to privilege behaviorist and processual approaches, and realism to promote a combination of both while at the same time noting the constraints exerted by external reality. It is argued that, viewed from the perspective of biological evolution, these three approaches are complementary rather than competing. All human adaptation to the social and natural environments is cognitively and culturally mediated, while, contrary to the claims of extreme idealists, discrepancies between expectations and observed happenings facilitate more effective adaptive behavior. Any rounded interpretation of archaeological data must take account of mental concepts, sensory perceptions, and conditions external to the individual. Positivist methods and humanistic forms of analysis that focus on subjectivity, agency, and the historical transmission of knowledge are complementary to one another. To understand better what has happened in the past, archaeologists must produce scenarios that are radically different from what has previously been conceived. But these speculations in turn must be subjected to rigorous appraisal if genuine progress is to be achieved. Because of its greater inclusiveness and specific postulates, a realist epistemology, combined with a materialist view of reality, offers the most satisfactory general framework for integrating the best features of all three epistemologies and interpreting archaeological data.

Job loss: Hard times and eroded identity.

Abstract: Freud (1961) argued that the two great wellsprings of mental health are love and work. If Freud is correct, then job loss-the loss of one's work-may entail human disruption and pain worthy of our attention and understanding. In what follows we review research and theory on job loss, especially as it influences wellbeing, and in so doing, consider the evidence available concerning Freud's assertion about the importance of work for mental health. We begin by identifying three orienting assumptions that inform our review of job loss. First, we consider job loss to mark a transition in the life course. Life transitions are not discrete events. They are processes marked by a beginning or entry and an ending or exit. As people attempt to negotiate life transitions, their sense of purpose and agency becomes closely tied to their social context (Elder & O'Rand, 1995). Therefore, an analysis of the transition sparked by job loss must pay close attention to both the individual and the social context. Second, we regard job loss as a network event, rather than as a loss with consequences only for the individual. For example, we expect that family ties, friendship networks, and other aspects of the job loser's social network are critically implicated in the job loss and its consequences. Job loss and the many other events it triggers reverberate through the social network and family relationships of the person, sometimes producing a cascade of subsequent strains in personal and family relationships. Third, and building from the last point, we assume that the impact of job loss will differ for the individual depending on the type and quantity of personal and social resources available and how those resources are mobilized to cope with the loss. In line with this assumption, we suggest that intentionally designed organizational efforts to aid the individual in mobilizing their resources to make the transition back to employment can be of real benefit. In the remainder of the chapter we will try to assess the validity of Freud's observation and offer suggestions for how the loss of work may be related to the

The Salt of the Montaña: Interpreting Indigenous Activism in the Rain Forest

Abstract: Indigenous populations are seldom recognized as subjects engaged in innovative projects of their own making. The anthropology of indigenous Amazonian societies has tended to reflect a basic view that sees change in native culture as involving processes where the distinct characteristics of the original native are gradually dissolved. The native and the native culture may then begin to reflect imagery borrowed from mainstream national society through an adaptive process of homogenization. This perspective, and the images and vocabulary which go along with it, has allowed little scope for conceptualizing ongoing indigenous activism, its message, and its outcomes as anything but elements in this homogenization process. Observers of ethnic conflicts, social movements, or cultural rebellions in other settings tend to conceive of these phenomena as socially constructed and continuously negotiated processes and action systems through which the world is being reimagined and reshaped. Yet when it comes to similar cultural or social manifestations among indigenous populations in the Third World, analysts have hesitated to follow this line of interpretation. As often as not, interpretations have continued to rely on conceptual frameworks that are part of the inherited baggage of modernity and not very well suited to answering the kinds of questions raised by the indigenous movements. This article discusses interpretations of the social conflict and political organizing activities of the Pajonal Ash6ninka, an indigenous population in a remote Upper Amazon region in eastern Peru that has seen some highly unexpected and unforeseeable social and political changes in what for a long time counted as the established order of things in this part of the Amazon. These changes, moreover, have been brought about mainly through the agency of the indigenous ("nonmodern") rather than the immigrant, nonnative ("modern") local population. In conventional social analysis and development discourse, as well as in some of the more recent interpretations of current changes in indigenous cultures, the latter has generally been considered the promoter of change while the former has been perceived as merely adapting, if sometimes even

Staging the politics of difference: Homi Bhabha's critical literacy

Abstract: Postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha sees writing, composition, as a "highly political" activity. Writing, defined in its broadest sense, is closely linked to the acquisition of agency. This is why it is important that we not treat writing as a simple medium of communication in which there is some transparent mediation between "already pregiven subjects, pregiven ob jects, and a preconstituted mise en scene." For Bhabha, writing constitutes, in a dialogic way, new relationships among these elements and is thus a "continually revisionary," perhaps even "revolutionary," activity. And, of course, the connection between writing and agency leads to issues of critical literacy. Bhabha believes that critical literacy is intimately connected to the question of democratic representation. For example, he says in the inter view below that "literacy is absolutely crucial for a kind of ability to be responsible to yourself, to make your own reading within a situation of political and cultural choice." Yet, at the same time we must be cautious not to treat literacy as a panacea or to fetishize it. As Bhabha points out, racism often is the "leading ideology" of the most literate people. Thus, critical literacy in and of itself guarantees nothing, but it is an essential step toward agency, self-representation, and an effective democracy. Conse quently, the kind of work we do in composition is extremely important socially, and more institutions need to understand that the work of compo sition is less about linguistic competence than it is about critical interven tion in the world.

Social representations of the individual: A post-Communist perspective

Abstract: Social representations of the individual are examined in three post-Communist Central European nations, i.e. the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and in three West European nations, i.e. Scotland, England and France. All six nations share a common European history since the Renaissance and Humanism, based on such values as freedom, agency, individual rights and individual responsibility. Many of these values were rejected by the Communist regimes in which people lived for 40 years. Extreme forms of individualism developed in certain West European nations during the same period. In view of these historical events we have asked the following questions: Do people in the post-Communist countries of Central Europe, after 40 years of totalitarian collectivism, still adhere to the values of the common European heritage? What is the meaning of ‘the individual’ today, in Western democracies and in Central European post-Communist nations? Which issues are important for the well-being of the individual and how do they relate to the political and economic circumstances of those individuals? The results show that the values of the common European heritage in Central Europe have not been destroyed and that factors relating to the well-being of the individual differ between the two parts of Europe. These data are discussed in terms of the political and economic situations in Central and Western Europe, the relationship between language and social representations and the structure of social representations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pedagogical Possibilities for Argumentative Agency in Academic Debate

Abstract: Our principle is the power of individuals to participate with others in shaping their world through the human capacity of language; Our commitment to argument expresses our faith in reason-giving as a key to that power; Our commitment to advocacy expresses our faith in oral expression as a means to empower people in situations of their lives; Our research studies the place of argument and advocacy in these situations of empowerment; Our teaching seeks to expand students' appreciation for the place of argument and advocacy in shaping their world, and to prepare students through classrooms, forums, and competition for participation in their world through the power of expression; and Our public involvement seeks to empower through argument and advocacy. - American Forensic Association Credo The lofty goals enumerated in the American Forensic Association's Credo have long served as beacons that steer pedagogical practice in argumentation and debate. The Credo's expression of faith in "reason giving," "oral expression" and critical thinking as formulas for student "empowerment" is reflected in the many textbooks that have been written to guide the academic study of argumentation. "The relevance of skill in argumentation seems self-evident to anyone living in a democratic society," write George W. Ziegelmueller and Jack Kay in Argumentation: Inquiry and Advocacy; "The notion of full and free public debate on the vital issues facing society is deeply rooted in the documents and ideas comprising the American conscience" (1997, p. 6). Making a similar point in the introduction to their textbook Argumentation and Critical Decision Making, Richard D. Rieke and Malcolm O. Sillars suggest that "the ability to participate effectively in reasoned discourse leading to critical decision making is required in virtually every aspect of life in a democracy" (1997, p. xvii). "We need debate not only in the legislature and the courtroom but in every other area of society as well," echoes Austin J. Freeley in Argumentation and Debate, "since most of our rights are directly dependent on debate" (1996, p. 5). For those schooled in the tradition of argumentation and debate, faith in the tensile strength of critical thinking and oral expression as pillars of democratic decision-making is almost second nature, a natural outgrowth of disciplinary training. This faith, inscribed in the American Forensic Association's Credo, reproduced in scores of argumentation textbooks, and rehearsed over and over again in introductory argumentation courses, grounds the act of argumentation pedagogy in a progressive political vision that swells the enthusiasm of teachers and students alike, while ostensibly locating the study of argumentation in a zone of relevance that lends a distinctive sense of meaning and significance to academic work in this area. Demographic surveys of debaters suggest that indeed, the practice of debate has significant value for participants. Some studies confirm debate's potential as a tool to develop critical thinking and communication skills. For example, Semlak and Shields find that "students with debate experience were significantly better at employing the three communication skills (analysis, delivery, and organization) utilized in this study than students without the experience" (1977, p. 194). In a similar vein, Colbert and Biggers write that "the conclusion seems fairly simple, debate training is an excellent way of improving many communication skills" (1985, p. 237). Finally, Keefe, Harte and Norton provide strong corroboration for these observations with their assessment that "many researchers over the past four decades have come to the same general conclusions. Critical thinking ability is significantly improved by courses in argumentation and debate and by debate experience" (1982, pp. 33-34; see also Snider 1993). Other studies document the professional success of debaters after graduation. …

Structure and Agency in the Holocaust: Daniel J. Goldhagen and His Critics

Abstract: A striking aspect of the so-called Goldhagen debate has been the bifurcated reception Hitler's Willing Executioners has received: the enthusiastic welcome of journalists and the public was as warm as the impatient dismissal of most historians was cool. This article seeks to transcend the current impasse by analyzing the underlying issues of Holocaust research at stake here. It argues that a deep structure necessarily characterizes the historiography of the Holocaust, comprising a tension between its positioning in universalism and particularism narratives. While the former conceptualizes the Holocaust as an human tragedy and explains its occurrence in terms of processes common to modern societies, the latter casts its analysis in ethnic and national categories: the Holocaust as an exclusively German and Jewish affair. These narratives possess important implications for the balance of structure and human agency in the explanation of the Holocaust: where the universalism narrative emphasizes the role of impersonal structures in mediating human action, the particularism narrative highlights the agency of human actors. Although historical accounts usually combine these narratives, recent research on the Holocaust tends in the universalist direction, and this bears on the sensitive issue of responsibility for the Holocaust by problematizing the common-sense notion of the perpetrators' intention and responsibility. Goldhagen is responding to this trend, but by retreating to the particularism narrative and employing an inadequate definition of intention, he fails to move the debate forward. It is time to rethink the concept of intention in relation to events like the Holocaust.

Individual and Collective Representations in Social Context: A Modest Contribution to Resuming the Interrupted Project of a Sociocultural Developmental Psychology

Abstract: This article suggests an approach to representation – simultaneously constructivist, sociocultural, and interpretive – that can address the complementary roles of culture and individual agency in deve

Families, culture, and mental illness: constructing new realities.

Abstract: In Modern Western cultures, conceptual models of mental illness are interwoven with value systems of individualism, agency, internal locus of control, and fear of dependency. These values have translated into psychological theory and practice, affected families' relationships with the professional, legal, and consumer communities and have often exacerbated family burden. Culturally patterned attributions of individual accountability also affect family-patient interactions and may have an effect on relapse and prognosis. The family and consumer movements are discussed in terms of their orientations, services, social impact, and influence on epistemology, particularly with reference to the different effects of protective paternalism and individualistic autonomy. Questions are raised regarding cultural values and differential prognoses in modern and developing countries and whether the process of recovery may be shaped by different cultural introjects. It is suggested that the era of family and consumer empowerment may be heuristic in discovering parameters of mental illness and potential for recovery, and ideas are offered for future cross-cultural research.

Organized Complexity: Posthumanist Remarks on the Technologizing of Intelligence:

Abstract: This article deals with the notion of organized complexity which it identifies with the selection of an order seen as developing at the cross-roads of generic functions, formal role systems and technologies. While functions contribute to organized complexity by defining and constituting specific domains of action-e.g. economic, political, scientific, etc.-technologies and formal role systems serve as important means for the constitution of human interaction along predictable and recurrent lines. Technology differs, however, from formal role systems in that it attempts to detach agency from humans and embody it in material artefacts. Investigating the project of technologizing intelligence at some length, the article claims that technology currently assumes an increasingly important role in the regulation of human interaction. The technical embodiment of perception, cognition and communication patterns redefines the stratified social topology of formal organizations in ways that tend to limit the prescript...

The ethics of bankruptcy

Abstract: The fundamental ethical problem in bankruptcy is that insolvents have promised to pay their debts but can not keep their promise. The Ethics of Bankruptcy examines the morality of bankruptcy. The author compares and contrasts the Humean doctrine of promises as useful conventions with the Kantian view of autonomous agency constituting promissory obligations; he explores ethical concerns raised by forgiveness, utilitarianism and distributive justice and the moral aspects of insolvents' contractual, fiduciary, tortious and criminal liability. Finally, the author assesses recent bankruptcy law reforms. Bankruptcies severly hurt creditors and society. For the insolvents and their families the experience is painful and stigmatising, yet philosophers have paid little attention to the moral aspects of this violent social phenomenon. The Ethics of Bankruptcy is the first comprehensive study that employs the tools of ethics to examine the controversies surrounding insolvency, which makes valuable and sometimes controversial reading in a decade recovering from the Recession.

"Healthy avenues of the mind": psychological theory building and the influence of religion during the era of moral treatment.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This article delineates the main psychological interventions used by American asylum superintendents practicing moral treatment between 1815 and 1875. Further, it explores the impact of Protestant religious ideas on specific aspects of moral treatment's theory and practice. METHOD: Asylum annual reports written by superintendents (physicians dedicated to the treatment of the mentally ill) were studied along with volumes of the American Journal of Insanity from its premier issue in 1844 through the 1890s. The writings of two laymen, Thomas Gallaudet and Horace Mann, both committed advocates of moral treatment, were also examined. RESULTS: The superintendents espoused complex theories about individual psychology and the nature of the self based on their observations. Protestant religious thought was a major influence, helping to catalyze original psychological propositions. Interesting resonances can be found between the superintendents' concept of a central agency, a governing “I” accounting for...