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Contemporary society

About: Contemporary society is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3991 publications have been published within this topic receiving 91755 citations.


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Book
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: The book Why Place Matters as mentioned in this paper is an anthology of essays exploring the contemporary problems of place and placelessness in American society, including contributions from distinguished scholars and writers such as poet Dana Gioia (former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts), geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, urbanist Witold Rybczynski, architect Philip Bess, essayists Christine Rosen and Ari Schulman, philosopher Roger Scruton, transportation planner Gary Toth, and historians Russell Jacoby and Joseph Amato.
Abstract: Contemporary American society, with its emphasis on mobility and economic progress, all too often loses sight of the importance of a sense of "place" and community. Appreciating place is essential for building the strong local communities that cultivate civic engagement, public leadership, and many of the other goods that contribute to a flourishing human life. Do we, in losing our places, lose the crucial basis for healthy and resilient individual identity, and for the cultivation of public virtues? For one can't be a citizen without being a citizen of some place in particular; one isn't a citizen of a motel. And if these dangers are real and present ones, are there ways that intelligent public policy can begin to address them constructively, by means of reasonable and democratic innovations that are likely to attract wide public support? Why Place Matters takes these concerns seriously, and its contributors seek to discover how, given the American people as they are, and American economic and social life as it now exists--and not as those things can be imagined to be in some utopian scheme--we can find means of fostering a richer and more sustaining way of life. The book is an anthology of essays exploring the contemporary problems of place and placelessness in American society. The book includes contributions from distinguished scholars and writers such as poet Dana Gioia (former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts), geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, urbanist Witold Rybczynski, architect Philip Bess, essayists Christine Rosen and Ari Schulman, philosopher Roger Scruton, transportation planner Gary Toth, and historians Russell Jacoby and Joseph Amato.

32 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, three movements are developed to address different concerns of organizations: total quality management, sustainability and accountability, and they become visible towards what is referred to as modern quality management.
Abstract: Organizations have become the most powerful institutions in contemporary society; we no longer have 'organizations in society' but rather 'a society of organizations'. This implies critical examination of their role until now. Three movements - developed to address different concerns - are indicating a trend towards this examination: total quality management, sustainability and accountability. Taken together, an underlying 'quest for quality' becomes visible towards what is herein called 'modern quality management'.

32 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that Americans have always shown strong affinity for small towns and have developed into places of very real importance in the cultural and economic life of the United States in the past.
Abstract: Americans have always shown strong affinity for small towns Some, as exemplified by Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, developed into places of very real importance in the cultural and economic life of the United States in the past, but have found it increasingly difficult to compete effectively in a world of heavy industry and quaternary economics Changes in American taste and technology suggest that small towns might again play a meaningful role in contemporary society Three generations of economic and demographic difficulties have caused physical and psychological damage which sharply limits Bellefonte's ability to play such a role

32 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored several facets of social change that can influence an understanding of the aims and nature of technology education and that might contribute to its development, and suggested that social change can be addressed through technology education if the educational goals of it are "to broaden minds and develop all pupils in the creation of a better society".
Abstract: Rapid social change creates a powerful challenge to individuals and educational institutions. Technology education is not an exception. To be a useful and authentic learning area, technology education should constantly re-examine its rationale in order to formulate responses to changing contexts to improve the quality of learning for students. The more perspectives used for this process, the better the results should be. This article explores several facets of social change that can influence an understanding of the aims and nature of technology education and that might contribute to its development. Social change is a very complex and dynamic phenomenon that can be considered from a variety of perspectives and is reflected in a number of processes. These processes are different in different types of societies. In relation to the topic, the following processes that are relevant to Western societies (it is acknowledged that for different type of societies, e.g. Islamic, Chinese, social context will be different) will be analyzed: (1) The shift of emphasis from engaging society members primarily as producers to engaging society members primarily as consumers; (2) The colonisation of the cognitive and moral spheres of human life by the aesthetic sphere; (3) The integration of people into the technological world and (4) The shift from the Welfare state to the Competition state. These processes have been identified on the basis of their potential influences on the development of technology education and, as a consequence, the students who study it. These processes are in tension which creates even greater challenges to technology education. Several implications of the above analysis in terms of conceptualizing technology education are discussed. It is suggested that social change can be addressed through technology education if the educational goals of it are ‘to broaden minds and develop all pupils in the creation of a better society’. For technology education classrooms, these specifically mean the involvement of students in democratic debates on the future outlines of technological development; development of their social and ecological sensitivities; avoiding orienting their solutions exclusively to the standard of business efficiency and profitability criteria; helping them to distinguish real needs from desires; discussing the role of designed objects in the life of contemporary society; putting more emphasis on other than the aesthetic aspects of life that can provide existential meaning for people; challenging the way people are manipulated through advertising and cultivation of their desires; developing an active/creative attitude towards problems (not re-active); teaching students to formulate problems (not only being involved in problem solving); challenging consumer-oriented design; looking at design as one source of inspiration, not as a source of economic utility; and developing social responsibility

32 citations

Book
27 Jul 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the United States presents the greatest source of global geo-political violence and instability, and the USA's historical impulse to weaponize communication technologies has been analyzed and analyzed.
Abstract: The United States presents the greatest source of global geo-political violence and instability. Guided by the radical political economy tradition, this book offers an analysis of the USA’s historical impulse to weaponize communication technologies. Scott Timcke explores the foundations of this impulse and how the militarization of digital society creates structural injustices and social inequalities. He analyses how new digital communication technologies support American paramountcy and conditions for worldwide capital accumulation. Identifying selected features of contemporary American society, Capital, State, Empire undertakes a materialist critique of this digital society and of the New American Way of War. At the same time it demonstrates how the American security state represses activists—such as Black Lives Matter—who resist this emerging security leviathan. The book also critiques the digital positivism behind the algorithmic regulation used to control labour and further diminish prospects for human flourishing for the ‘99%’. Capital, State, Empire contributes to a broader understanding of the dynamics of global capitalism and political power in the early 21st century.

31 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202317
202230
2021116
2020161
2019155
2018192