Showing papers on "Ideal type published in 2020"

Fit for purpose? Clarifying the critical role of profit for sustainability

Abstract: This conceptual article contributes to the post-growth strand of political ecology literature, which seeks to find sustainable ways of organizing the economy that do not require economic growth. It explores the idea that transitioning to post-growth societies requires a transition in the relationship-to-profit of business. I first conceptualize relationship-to-profit as the intersection of purpose, investment, and ownership of firms. Specifically, for-profit business structures entail a financial gain purpose, private ownership, and unlimited returns on investment; whereas not-for-profit business structures have a social benefit purpose, collective ownership, and limited returns on investment. I then outline ideal types of for-profit and not-for-profit economies, based on the differences between these two kinds of relationship-to-profit. The first ideal type shows how the for-profit business structure drives consumerism, economic growth, and ecological harm, as well as inequality and political capture, preventing post-growth transitions. These dynamics might be slowed down by businesses that seek to balance private financial gain with social benefit (known as dual-purpose businesses). The second ideal type describes the dynamics that might be expected in an economy consisting of not-for-profit businesses, which have a legal mandate to pursue only social benefit. This analysis explains how transitioning from for-profit to not-for-profit forms of business might change some of the most problematic dynamics of the economy, allowing for post-growth transformations. A brief discussion of the possible shortcomings of a not-for-profit economy is also offered. Keywords: Not-for-profit business, nonprofit enterprise, for-profit business, relationship-to-profit, post-growth, degrowth, economic growth, sustainability, sustainable econom

The Physical Education System as a Consequential Social Determinant

Abstract: Employing the ideal type of “The Physical Education System,” in this analysis I explore the import of systems frameworks for new institutional designs which hold promise for better outcomes...

Connective professionalism: Towards (yet another) ideal type

Abstract: In this essay, four leading scholars provide critical commentary on an article entitled ‘Protective or Connective Professionalism? How Connected Professionals Can (Still) Act as Autonomous and Authoritative Experts’ (M Noordegraaf, 2020, Journal of Professions and Organization, 7/2) Of central concern to all four commentators is Noordegraaf’s use of ideal types as a heuristic device to make his case and capture historical change over time While some question the usefulness of ideal types, others question Noordegraaf’s use of them The commentators raise additional concerns, especially the limited attention to variations across professions, geographic regions, and limited attention to social–historical contexts

Coping with COVID-19. Dugnad: a case of the moral premise of the Norwegian welfare state

Abstract: Purpose: This paper provides an analysis of the notion of dugnad (collective effort) in the context of the first weeks of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Norway. By appealing to people's sense of collective effort (dugnadsand) Norwegian leaders successfully managed to coordinate the actions of the population and beat the outbreak. Design/methodology/approach: The argument builds on the pragmatic sociology associated with Boltanski and Thevenot and their “orders of worth”. Building on qualitative interview studies of the Norwegian middle and working classes a moral ideal type labelled “the socially responsible citizen” is identified. Findings: The authors argue that dugnad is embedded in a moral repertoire of the socially responsible citizen that is indicative of a specific Norwegian welfare mentality and that is imperative for the sustainability and resilience of the Norwegian welfare model. This repertoire is found across social classes and has to be understood in light of the Norwegian welfare model and the role of civil society. Social implications: The analysis explains the societal impact of the appeal and endorsement of the notion of dugnad in the context of the outbreak of COVID-19. Originality/value: The paper explores the roots and impact of a social phenomenon that has not been a matter for much sociological analysis.

Puzzled by Idealizations and Understanding Their Functions

Abstract: Idealization is ubiquitous in human cognition, and so is the inclination to be puzzled by it: what to make of ideal gas, infinitely large populations, homo economicus, perfectly just society, known...

Long-Term Care and Gender Equality: Fuzzy-Set Ideal Types of Care Regimes in Europe

Abstract: Recent changes in the organization of long-term care have had controversial effects on gender inequality in Europe. In response to the challenges of ageing populations, almost all countries have adopted reform measures to secure the increasing resource needs for care, to ensure care services by different providers, to regulate the quality of services, and overall to recalibrate the work-life balance for men and women. These reforms are embedded in different family ideals of intergenerational ties and dependencies, divisions of responsibilities between state, market, family, and community actors, and backed by wider societal support to families to care for their elderly and disabled members. This article disentangles the different components of the notion of ‘(de)familialization’ which has become a crucial concept of care scholarship. We use a fuzzy-set ideal type analysis to investigate care policies and work-family reconciliation policies shaping long-term care regimes. We are making steps to reveal aggregate gender equality impacts of intermingling policy dynamics and also to relate the analysis to migrant care work effects. The results are explained in a four-pronged ideal type scheme to which European countries belong. While only Nordic and some West European continental countries are close to the double earner, supported carer ideal type, positive outliers prove that transformative gender relations in care can be construed not only in the richest and most generous welfare countries in Europe.

The Importance of Models in Sociology: The Example of Max Weber

Abstract: Sociological research method may be resumed by three concepts of Karl R. Popper, “problems-theories-critics”. Within this field, the role of theoretical models is central. In particular, the concept of model is comparable to the one of ideal type conceived by Max Weber. As a matter of fact, Weberian ideal type is still one of the most popular methodological instruments in social sciences. Conceived as a non-normative form of conceptualization finalized to simplify and reduce external social world complexity, ideal type allows the organization of an increasing knowledge acquaintance. It is shown that as a significant character of understanding sociology, ideal type is founded on an individualistic and nomological epistemological substrate. Conceived in these terms, it is argued that ideal type is therefore the expression of a unique method of explanation which can be traced in some examples showing how models construction is one of sociology’s most used instruments.

„Wer befehlen soll, muß im Befehlen Seligkeit empfinden.“: Über die nichtökonomischen Momente unternehmerischen Erfolgs

Abstract: On the whole, the question as to the historical possibility of entrepreneurship has not been posed. Entrepreneurship has since Schumpeter simply been assumed; translated into a kind of mechanics of leadership in modern management literature in which individual characteristics rescind behind the role expectations for managers. This is logical insofar as a theory of the entrepreneur can at best only exist in a trivial form, such as in the sense of a theory of right or wrong decisions, while the entrepreneur as an individual eludes a theoretical approach in categorical terms. So while these theoretical restrictions make a theory of the entrepreneur unattainable, typological statements can still be made about the historical phenomenon of “entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour”. This is the starting point of the following article. Characteristics, behavioural patterns and lifestyle details are extracted from entrepreneurial careers of undisputed relevance in German economic and business history between roughly 1850 and 1930: these are then brought together and generalised into an “ideal type” entrepreneur. It will become apparent that entrepreneurship is ultimately based on circumstances, preconditions and attributes which economic or decision theories can only insufficiently grasp: in fact, specific aspects of each individual personality – some of which only fully develop in the course of entrepreneurial practice – determine behaviour and these are themselves again very individual. In a certain sense, entrepreneurship represents a kind of “doer type”, a quality which calls for a whole breadth of influences which in turn cannot be deduced in economic terms.

Activismo e investigación: recuperando el concepto de neutralidad valorativa en la formación de tipos ideales

Abstract: This article discusses the Weberian ideal-type proposal as a way to find value freedom-neutrality in the contemporary social research, which demands greater involvement of researchers with contextual practical problems that occur around them. Currently, methodological individualism is one of the most used methodologies and it is necessary for social researchers to know the bases and assumptions that founded this tradition. Its foundation is based on the contributions of Max Weber, which can be summarized in three: the first refers to the transparency of the value question of the researcher; the second contribution is the construction of an ideal-type rational action as an instrument of interpretation with high scientific discipline; finally, it is shown the management of empirical information to impute a causal relationship for the historical context analyzed. The main contribution of the article is that it shows each phase of the ideal type method, in order to offer an alternative for the transit between research and activism: separating the theoretical-conceptual values of the practical-emotional ones.

Internet for the debate from the notions of rationality and liberty of Amartya Sen and Michel Foucault

Abstract: Internet has a great importance to organize our social and private lives. From this context, the text reflects on what margins the Internet leaves to exercise our rationality and freedom, considering fundamental rights of citizens, and based on the best principles of the ideal of the democratic model. It is based on what should be an ideal type of technology at the service of democratic values, which would be to use the Internet as a common good for citizens. In this sense, this text contains some interpretations of what would be a common space on the Internet; It would aim to strengthen a democracy circumscribed by the most basic principles of this political model. To make this analysis, the notions of rationality and freedom of Amartya Sen and Michel Foucault are used, from which one works to contrast two functions of democracy, one is more deliberative, is in line with the idea of the common good of Ostrom (2000), a democracy by discussion following Amartya Sen. The other is a democratic model with oligarchic touches, in a neoliberal economic context, more in a line of rationality linked to power relations, following Foucault. Freedom is important for both of them, based on the participation and critical behavior of the individual.

What Attaches Individuals to Groups and Society. A European Comparison

Abstract: Abstract By extending the analytical perspective of Durkheim, we set a theoretical framework to examine social bonds at two levels: the attachment of individuals to each other and the attachment of individuals to society. We create statistical indicators for comparing European countries and also, on an exploratory basis, the regions of Switzerland. We can distinguish and validate four ideal types of attachment regimes (familialist, voluntarist, organicist and universalist). Furthermore, our analysis shows national and regional specificities.

Back to the origins : The ideal-type methodology in social sciences as developed by Max Weber

Abstract: This chapter provides an introduction to the world of Max Weber, in particular the world of setting up ideal types, in the different sciences, in different contexts, for different purposes, and, most importantly, in the science of social policy for the purpose of enabling knowledge creation in comparative social policy. Weber set out first to answer the question of how to achieve ‘objectivity’ in science—no matter whether it was in natural, technical, social science, or the humanities alike. One of the key tools for spurring knowledge accumulation and development for all of the sciences is the method of constructing and checking against ideal types. There are different types of ideal types. The two main types are individualistic and holistic ideal types: modern capitalism is an example of the former, and bureaucracy of the latter. In comparative social policy, in general, people use holistic ideal types.

Max Weber as an Economist: Revisiting Max Weber’s Legacy 100 Years after His Passing

Abstract: This article presents Max Weber as an economist and as a social scientist. Weber’s relations to economics, philosophy and sociology are discussed. Max Weber has more in common with economists than it might seem at first sight. His principle of value neutrality has become the foundation of the methodology of social sciences, including economics. The second point shared by Max Weber with standard economics is methodological individualism. The third point which a modern economist can learn from Max Weber is the concept of the ideal type.

Margins I: Post-fascism

Abstract: In this chapter, el-Ojeili focusses on the far-Right margin of the contemporary utopian constellation, examining post-fascism. A five-featured ideal type of fascism is developed, each element of which is loaded with utopian significance. el-Ojeili demonstrates that versions of each of these ideal typical features can be located across the contemporary far-Right. Drawing on Bloch’s engagement with fascist utopianism, el-Ojeili examines the utopian and dystopian figuration visible within today’s far-Right, the combination of “the future in the past”, elements of the post-modern present, and appeals to a novel future. Such post-fascist utopianism, el-Ojeili argues, has been neglected in the critical literature, which has instead emphasized the important, very visible fears found within this ideological ensemble.

A dimensão causal-explicativa dos tipos ideais: a contribuição metodológica de Max Weber para a sociologia contemporânea

Abstract: The article proposes a reading and updating of the ideal type of Max Weber from RolandGiere’s non-statement view. According to the latter, theories consist of theoretical models andhypotheses. From this, the ideal types of Weber do not consist of substantive propositions, butof theoretical idealizations that cannot be falsified, from which, however, hypotheses are derivedto be falsified or confirmed. The epistemological status of ideal Weber types does not consistof descriptive-causal propositions, but of definitions. In this way we achieve not only a newinterpretation of the weberian epistemological legacy, but also open the way for its interlocutionwith the current philosophy of science.

Sustainability and the Crisis of the Theoretical Functional Model

Abstract: For some time, the prevailing paradigm in sociology was functionalism—particularly that originating in North America—and was considered an acceptable “sociological theory.” Talcott Parsons’s perspective originated from a mechanistic construction of social systems, using the AGIL model. Its four-part ideal type of organizational functioning served the purpose of optimizing the performance of social units in terms of efficiency. It was considered effectual to assume the existence of a regulating principle as a common and undisputed model that governs society.

Science as an Ethical Mode of Life: On the Centenary of Max Weber’s Wissenschaft als Beruf

Abstract: Max Weber’s reputation as one of the founding fathers of the modern social sciences relies in large measure on his methodological contributions such as value objectivity or freedom (Wertfreiheit) a...