Showing papers on "Cultural analysis published in 1993"

Cultural diversity in organizations : theory, research, and practice

Abstract: Assembling learnings from teaching, research and consulting related to Cultural Diversity in Organizations , this text provides an aid for teaching, organization development and scholarship. It presents an understanding of cultural diversity and its effects on organizational behaviour.

The Cultural Studies Reader

Abstract: "The Cultural Studies Reader" provides an introduction for students of this discipline It presents a selection of influential and innovative essays in the field by writers such as Barthes, Adorno, Lyotard, Stuart Hall and Gayatri Spivak, with a succinct introduction to each The book encompasses a wide range of topics, from sport to postmodernism, from museums to supermarkets, from gay writing to rock and roll, and covers every important cultural studies method and theory The book can be used as much more than an introductory anthology: Simon During's introduction to the field surveys the history and development of cultural studies, from its origins in sociological analysis of post-war Britain to its present as a truly trans-national discipline Looking at the future possibilities for cultural studies, he argues that cultural studies methodologies offer great potential for confronting such contemporary issues as postcolonialism, globalization and multiculturalism

Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research, 2nd Edition

Abstract: Addresses ethical and theoretical concerns central to research in psychology, sociology, and anthropology. This book explains ways to collect data, methods for assuring the quality of that data, and the techniques and tools used to organize results, conclusions, and interpretations. It discusses the historical development of ethnography.

Gifts, Bribes, and Guanxi: A Reconsideration of Bourdieu's Social Capital

Abstract: One of the most influential trends in social theory in the late 20th century has been the collapse of the academic division of labor erected in the beginning of the century (Wolf 1982), which conceded the capitalist marketplace to the new science of economics but defended the realms of the "social," hence noneconomic, as the territory of sociology, political science, and anthropology (Friedland and Robertson 1990; Marcus 1990) Neoclassical economic theory has been extended to the social realms through innovative work in public choice theory, transaction cost analysis, game theory, human capital theory, and the study of rent-seeking (Oberschall and Leifer 1986) All of these apply neoclassical methods to the explanation of social phenomena that are not conventional parts of the market economy From the other direction, sociologists and anthropologists have extended social and cultural analysis to the heartland of the economic empire: capitalist organization and decision making (Granovetter 1990; Hirsch et al 1990; Zukin and DiMaggio 1990) Studying the ways in which capitalist markets, enterprise organizations, and entrepreneurial activity are themselves social and cultural forms that draw their efficiency partly from sociocultural resources is a welcome departure from the strategy utilized by substantivist economic anthropologists Substantivism conceded the adequacy of neoclassical models to market economies, but denied their applicability to nonmarket economies traditionally studied by anthropologists The collapse of the traditional academic division of labor has led to attempts to overcome dichotomies of the economic and the noneconomic by recognizing the calculative dimension in all forms of exchange and the neglected cultural dimension of market exchanges (Appadurai 1986:12-13) One of the most influential efforts to reintegrate social and economic analysis has been Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical project to develop a "general science of the economy of practices" Such a science would recognize market exchange and capi-

Blood Cinema: The Reconstruction of National Identity in Spain

Abstract: In this innovative synthesis of film history and cultural analysis, Marsha Kinder examines the films of such key directors as Bunuel, Saura, Erice, and Almodovar, as well as works from the popular cinema and television, exploring how they manifest political and cultural tensions related to the production of Spanish national identity within a changing global context. Concentrated on the decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, Kinder's work is broadly historical but essentially conceptual, moving backward and forward in time, drawing examples from earlier films and from works of art and literature, and providing close readings of a wide range of texts. Her questioning and internationalizing of the 'national cinema' concept and her application of contemporary critical theory - especially insights from feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, and discourse theory - distinguish "Blood Cinema" from previous film histories. The author also makes use of a variety of sources within Spain such as the commentaries on Spanish character and culture by Unamunov and others, the contemporary debate over the restructuring of Spanish television. Kinder's book moves Spanish cinema into the mainstream of film studies by demonstrating that a knowledge of its history alters and enriches our understanding of world cinema. The interactive CD-ROM is available from CINE-DISCS, 2021 Holly Hill Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90068, (213) 876-7678.

Cultural studies and/in new worlds 1

Abstract: This paper considers the impact on cultural studies of its increasing internationalization. It argues for a conception of cultural studies which will enable it to escape from the consequences of its links with “modern” forms of power. It proposes a spatial and machinic model of power and attempts to rethink the meaning and place of identity within the contemporary politics of culture.

Communications and the 'Third World'

Abstract: "Communication and the `Third World'" aims to provide an introduction to the rapidly-changing field of modern communications by bringing together a wide range of literature from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It presents a critical revaluation of the dominant theoretical perspectives which have, until now, informed Third World communications studies, and it challenges popular and often greatly misinformed perceptions of the nature and the uniformity of current Third World communications. Reeves gives an account of the significant shifts in the theoretical orientation of cultural analysis in Third World societies, explaining the vast differences between these societies in their levels of industrialization, communications and cultural production, and their ability to utilize modern mass communications and business-oriented technologies. He reveals that the differences can sometimes be greater than those between advanced capitalist and Third World countries, and comes to reject the usefulness of the concept of "Third World" in understanding the nature of communications systems in different national societies.

British Cultural Studies and Sport: Past Encounters and Future Possibilities

Abstract: The primary purpose of this essay is to address the linkage between the emergence and development of cultural studies on the one hand, and the study of sport as a cultural practice on the other. Specifically, this linkage is examined in a fourfold manner: first, an overview of the implicit political commitments associated with cultural studies as a critical intellectual pursuit; second, a genealogy of an overlooked dimension of cultural studies, namely, the sport-related analyses conducted by researchers affiliated with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Study at the University of Birmingham; third, an examination of the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of Stuart Hall's (1986a) “Marxism without guarantees” as an innovative and incisive response to the cultural studies problematic; and fourth, a discussion of the relevance of Hall's conjunctural approach for critically interpreting the significance of sport in the production and experiencing of contemporary national cultures.

Cross‐cultural collaboration: Whose culture is it, anyway?

Abstract: By examining the cultural assumptions about what makes an effective team member, this essay argues that we typically design collaborative projects and evaluate student participants by using a Western model of how people should behave in groups. In order to enhance cross‐cultural understanding in collaboration, instructors can help students focus on cultural differences in group emphasis, achievement, decision‐making, and communication styles.

Tradition and novelty in concert programming: Bringing the artist back into cultural analysis

Abstract: Participation in many cultural activity systems, such as art worlds or scientific communities, is highly skewed toward an elite creating a pattern of activity that emphasizes rationality and repeated events. At the same time, the introduction of new works and participants in these systems promotes the opposite, that is, innovation. Rationality and innovative interests are usually approached and analyzed separately, but this article examines a social context in which they are jointly produced—concert music programming. To analyze the dominance of repertory, this paper documents concert programming over a single season and describes a model to illustrate the observed distribution of events. The skewed distribution of programming is then explained through reference to the aesthetic interests of concert artists, that is, composers and performers, and the congruence of a rationalized aesthetic to the recruitment of audiences and administrative rationality.

A cultural analysis of human behavioral breakdowns: an approach to the ontology and epistemology of psychiatric phenomena.

Abstract: This paper explores the usefulness of a concept of "human behavioral breakdowns" for studying psychiatric phenomena from a cross-cultural standpoint. The kinds of conceptualizations that are available in the English literature about human behavioral breakdowns across societies are reviewed. The way these breakdowns have been handled in the Western European Tradition of medicine is given special emphasis. Attention is focused on schizophrenia as one of the modern "disease" concepts of psychiatry that is a variant of human behavioral breakdowns. The essay then looks at "schizophrenia" using contemporary ideas about cultural relativism as these apply to the study of psychiatric phenomena in relation to society. Perspectives about the variable as versus the invariant in schizophrenia are reviewed.

Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach

Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgments. 1. Culture and Meaning. 2. The Meaning of Progress and Development. 3. Globalization , Neoliberalism and the Nation-State. 4. The Social and Cultural Construction of Reality. 5. Patterns of Family Relations. 6. The Cultural Construction of Identity. 7. The Cultural Construction of Social Hierarchy. 8. The Cultural Construction of Violent Conflict. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

Windows on the 21st century.

Abstract: Behavior analysis is a cultural system of which the Association for Behavior Analysis is a component cultural system. As cultural systems, they are composed of interlocking behavioral contingencies that constitute their cultural practices. Critical to the survival of both cultural systems is the frequency of interaction with and the nature of the content of the behavioral contingencies composing those cultural practices. The strengths of behavior analysis as a cultural system include its disciplinary character and its worldwide community of scientists and practitioners; its ability to be integrated into a scientific worldview; its track record in providing effective solutions to problems of importance to society; and the high levels of intellect, competence, and commitment that are characteristic of its participants. Weaknesses of behavior analysis are its status as an academic orphan, its relatively small size and its underdeveloped professional identity, and a lack of sociopolitical sophistication among many of its members. Behavior analysis will need to maximize its strengths and mitigate its weaknesses if it is to take advantage of the many opportunities available for growth in the modern world.

The Role of Assumptions in Implementing Management Practices Across Cultural Boundaries

Abstract: This article presents a model of the relationships between cultural assumptions and the selection, implementation, and outcome of management practices. Cultural assumptions are used to analyze three cases of planned intervention in which imitated management practices, intended to create change, were implemented across cultural settings. Data from the cases indicate how culture affected both the process and product of the management practices. When cultural differences existed and the practice was not adapted, change outcomes differed from what had been intended. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The World Literature and Cultural Studies Program

Abstract: The program I will describe at University of California, Santa Cruz, is not a core course; it's an undergraduate major program that's been in existence for four years with a small but expanding graduate component. But the kinds of issues that we confronted when we designed and promoted the program and the kinds of issues we continue to confront and debate as we teach and continually revise it are issues that are relevant to those primarily concerned with core curricula. I have organized my remarks around three theoretical and pragmatic problems or oppositions that we confronted, which I believe are generalized problems, and the solutions we chose. First, however, it will be helpful to give a very brief description of the history of World Literature and Cultural Studies. Santa Cruz has a student body of about ten thousand students, the vast majority of whom are undergraduates. Like any California state school, we have a fairly diversified student body; unlike Berkeley or

Press Freedom in Africa: A Cultural Analysis

Abstract: nent as an ongoing battle between &dquo;Africa’s slap happy juntas&dquo; or its Big Men on the one hand and its beleaguered but heroic press men and women on the other. Africa’s political rulers are said to muffle Africa’s news media with a &dquo;bag of tricks [ranging from] horsewhipping to stripping and head shaving&dquo; (Martin 1983, 229). Thus the image of the African politician as one who snuffs out the press is featured prominently in both the Index of Censorship and the Amnesty International Hit List. And the image of the African men of letters is Peter Ohronho fleeing to London or Ngugi Wa Thiongo languishing in a Kenyan jail. The reality of the African media situation is often far less dramatic and far more mundane though no less interesting if one’s leanings are of an anthropological bent. According to L. John Martin, most of the censorship in African news media is self-censorship. Self-censorship happens for the same reasons it happens everywhere else,-fear: fear of loss of livelihood, loss of liberty, and sometimes, loss of life.’ But self-censorship occurs in Africa all too easily for another good reason. There is no tradition of Press Freedom on the continent (Wilcox 1975, 6). There was no such tradition before colonialism ; there was no such tradition engendered during colonialism; and there has been no such tradition fostered since.

Cultural Studies and Student Exchange: Living the Ethnographic Life.

Abstract: The paper discusses the value of both textual and ethnographic approaches to cultural studies. While recognising the importance of textual cultural studies, I suggest some limitations to it and argue for the centrality of ‘living the ethnographic life’ for any students spending a period of time abroad. Such approach combines the analytical and the experiential, based as it is on a methodology in which data and concepts illuminate each other. Language is no longer separated from social and cultural knowledge but ‘lived’ and developed within a community in which the student participates and studies. An ethnographic approach requires an intense engagement in the routine lives of ordinary people and as such brings both rigour and personal development to a cultural and language learning experience.

Cultural property and environmental assessments in Sub-Saharan Africa - a handbook

Abstract: The study intends to assist in planning for cultural heritage conservation in project environmental assessments, and complement instructions under operational directives on both environmental assessment, and cultural property. Based on library research, and discussions with Africa experts, the study cautions on the information provided on the subject, since both qualitative, and quantitative findings have serious data gaps. The changing nature of African culture is taken into account, in reflecting on cultural heritage issues, for little is known about site distribution, since geographical distribution varies considerably form one country to another. Undoubtedly, Africa is the continent paramount in studies of human evolution, both in human paleontology, and the archaeology of human origins, however, archaeology in Sub-Saharan Africa is a relatively recent innovation. Descriptions on traditional, and colonial architecture, including cultural landscapes identify the result of human interventions, including the rich traditions of daily life through its material culture. Projects on cultural heritage issues should contain an executive summary; policy, legal and administrative frameworks; and, concise project description, to assess the dimensions of socioeconomic conditions. Mitigating measures should include avoidance of site conservation, archaeology recovery, and enhancement of site improvements.

Theory of Social Involvement: A Case Study in the Anthropology of Religion, State, and Society

Abstract: The Assemblies of God in Nigeria: Spirituality and Socio-Political Realities The Prophetic Movement and the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament The Prophetic Dimension and the Wholistic Church in the New Testament Socio-Political Problems Facing Nigeria: 1960 to the Present A Cultural Analysis of the Problem Areas in the Nigerian Democracy The Church's Prophetic Role in Nigeria Agenda for the Future

Cultural Studies and Educational Practice

Abstract: It seems to me that there are two ways of introducing a discussion of cultural studies and educational practice.1 One can either proceed by review or by argument. The method of review implies some attempt to describe the field of cultural studies or those parts of it most relevant to ‘popular culture’. We might start by considering, for example, the different uses of the terms ‘popular’ and ‘culture’. We might consider some parallel couplets: mass culture, working-class culture, subculture, even dominant culture. We might note the presence of other opposed or complementary terms: older ones like values, myth or consciousness, newer or refurbished ones like ideology, the symbolic, representation, signification or, the favourite of the day, discourse. Reviews like this may produce useful maps, indispensable to explorers — especially over such bumpy ground as this is! By concentrating on the variety of definitions, they perform a useful relativising function. They remind us that educational practices are inextricably connected to language and to the choice of categories. ‘Theory’, in this sense, need not be abstruse, but is, rather, a part of making us critically self-conscious of what is implied by the use of certain words and concepts. The danger is that such cartography foregrounds a tiny bit of social process, especially the activities of specialist intellectuals.

The Horizons of the Moral: A Reply to David Bloome

Abstract: David Bloome appreciates a major theme of my article, that moral education can be seen as an ongoing process in the classroom rather than as a formal program added to the curriculum. His own views on the matter are provocative. In metaphorical terms, however, his response to my article is a case of taking the pianist to task for not playing the cello. He is an accomplished cultural analyst who does not find enough culture and society in my article. But since I was not engaged in cultural analysis, his criticisms seem tangential to the purposes I had in mind. Cultural analysis encompasses research undertakings that are sometimes called sociolinguistic, semiotic, or ethnographic. This family of approaches has helped us make sense of some of the things that take place in classrooms. It has shed light on how cultural factors impinge on the actions of teachers and students. But the moral dimensions of teaching that I highlighted cannot be understood through the cultural categories Bloome itemizes. Cultural analysis, as he outlines it, overloads perception with analytic constructs that can blind one to the many issues I raised. I will explain this point by responding here to a pair of questions, the first posed by Dewey ([1932] 1960) years ago. That question is, When is it appropriate to raise the issue of the moral? The second question, related in form to the first, is, When is it appropriate to conduct cultural analysis of the moral? Both questions imply that there is no single conceptual lens capable of capturing the moral meanings in what teachers and students do.

Cultural Studies for the 1990s

Abstract: This article engages with the future of cultural studies as an interdisciplinary field. First, there are what could be perceived as some of the costs of gaining academic respectability. While it is gratifying to see so many universities developing cultural studies programmes, there is also the danger that this critical and sometimes ‘undisciplined’ area of study will lose the social and political urgency of the early work. Second, there is the impact which postmodernism has had on cultural studies and with this the eclipsing of the centrality of the paradigms of Marxism. The final part of the paper suggests that cultural studies can retain its critical edge by developing programmes of research which consider the culture industries and their place in post‐industrial society.