Face (sociological concept)

About: Face (sociological concept) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5171 publications have been published within this topic receiving 96109 citations. The topic is also known as: Lose face & Face (sociological concept).

Honor, Symbols, and War

Abstract: Nelson Mandela's presidential inauguration invitation to his former jailer; the construction and destruction of the Berlin Wall; the Gulf War's yellow ribbons. While the symbolic nuances of words and actions such as these are regular concerns for foreign policy practitioners, the subject has never been emphasized in international relations theory. That will change with the publication of this exceptionally original work.Many practitioners see symbolism as peripheral compared to resources, interests, military power, and alliances. Those who theorize about norms, ideas, and institutions tend to be open to the importance of symbolism, but they have not drawn out its details. Barry O'Neill's "Honor, Symbols, and War" puts symbolism at the center of the discussion. O'Neill uses the mathematical theory of games to study a network of concepts important in international negotiation and conflict resolution: symbolism, honor, face, prestige, insults, and apologies. His analysis clarifies the symbolic dynamics of several phenomena, including leadership, prenegotiation maneuvers, crisis tension, and arms-control agreements.This book will be of interest to political scientists, in particular those involved with game theory and international relations. Its findings also will prove useful to students of cultural anthropology, sociology, social psychology, and political behavior.Barry O'Neill is Associate Professor of Politics, School of Management, Yale University.

Governance in China

Abstract: Governance in China, edited by Jude Howell. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. xiv + 279 pp. US$75.00 (hardcover), US$27.95 (paperback). The term governance is "contested", says Jude Howell in the introduction to this new edited book, "and the juxtaposition of 'good' augments the evaluative nature of the concept" (p. 1). Rather than employ the usual normative, institutional and managerial definition of the term (good governance is transparent, predictable, accountable and participatory) that has been suggested by international agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, Howell suggests a more comprehensive meaning: "the totality of processes and arrangements, both formal and informal, by which power and public authority are distributed and regulated". From this premise the book sets out to analyze some of these processes. The book can be divided roughly into three parts. The first three chapters-by Joseph Fewsmith on the elite politics of China's reforms, John P. Burns on civil service reform and Zhu Sanzhu on the privatization of lawyers' services-deal with governance in the "usual" way, looking at the impact of major reforms on the ability of the Chinese government and its institutions to improve performance and become more predictable, accountable and so on. The next six chapters elaborate on Howell's extended version of governance, and investigate the marketization of culture (Michale Kaene), new self-government institutions in rural villages (Linda Jakobson) and in the urban residential neighborhoods (Zhang Jing), and civilsociety organizations representing marginal interests (Howell) and women (Du Jie). The final two chapters are on the challenges that the working class (Marc Blecher) and such religious organizations as the Falun Gong (Clemens Stubbe Ostergaard) present to the Party's ability to govern effectively in the face of societal discontent. The book is a welcome contribution to the existing literature on contemporary China. It will be a useful textbook for teachers examining Chinese society and politics, and the readable style and informative content of most of the essays will also attract a readership among public administrators, NGOs and policy makers. However, while the book offers insights into many specific aspects of power arrangements in China, the use of "governance" in such a broad social and political perspective raises some questions. Conceptually, the above-mentioned four generally accepted parameters of governance define a limited-and almost objective-field of investigation where "goodness" can be measured on the basis of rigid criteria borrowed from management textbooks and from the idea of "corporate governance". …

Who Adapts? Beyond Cultural Models of ‘the’ Chinese Learner

Abstract: From a comparative perspective, this paper analyses Chinese learners' intercultural experiences in Chinese and British educational contexts. In the Chinese context, interview and questionnaire research was carried out in 24 universities that hosted the British Council's English teaching development programmes. The research uncovered perspectives on change in the Chinese teachers, who were the learners in this teacher training programme. In the UK, a current study is probing into the challenges Chinese learners face in adapting to the British higher education teaching and learning culture. Early results reveal a change process in the learners, affected by a range of inter-related personal, cultural, social, psychological and contextual factors. Research literature on the links between the Chinese cultural context and Chinese learning styles has provided an important basis for understanding the interface between Chinese learners and Western modes of education. However, in comparing the perspectives of Chine...

Foundations of Chinese psychology : Confucian social relations

Abstract: The Epistemological Goal of Indigenous Psychology.- The Modernization of Non-Western Societies: A Perspective of Constructive Realism.- Western Philosophy's Concepts of Person and Paradigm Shifts.- The Construction of the Face and Favor Model.- The Deep Structure of Confucianism.- Paradigms for Studying Chinese Moral Thought:A Meta-theoretical Analysis.- Moral Thought in Confucian Society.- Confucian Relationalism and Social Exchange.- Life Goals and Achievement Motivation in Confucian Society.- Face and Morality in Confucian Society.- Guanxi and Organizational Behaviors in Chinese Societies.- Chinese Models of Conflict Resolution.