Showing papers on "Social change published in 2005"

Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence

Abstract: This book demonstrates that people's basic values and beliefs are changing, in ways that affect their political, sexual, economic, and religious behaviour. These changes are roughly predictable: to a large extent, they can be interpreted on the basis of a revised version of modernisation theory presented here. Drawing on a massive body of evidence from societies containing 85 percent of the world's population, the authors demonstrate that modernisation is a process of human development, in which economic development gives rise to cultural changes that make individual autonomy, gender equality, and democracy increasingly likely. The authors present a model of social change that predicts how the value systems play a crucial role in the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions - and that modernisation brings coherent cultural changes that are conducive to democratisation.

Social Entrepreneurship Reserach: a Source of Explanation, Prediction and Delight

Abstract: Social entrepreneurship, as a practice and a field for scholarly investigation, provides a unique opportunity to challenge, question, and rethink concepts and assumptions from different fields of management and business research. This paper puts forward a view of social entrepreneurship as a process that catalyzes social change and/or addresses important social needs in a way that is not dominated by direct financial benefits for the entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurship is seen as differing from other forms of entrepreneurship in the relatively higher priority given to promoting social value and development versus capturing economic value. To stimulate future research the authors introduce the concept of embeddedness as a nexus between theoretical perspectives for the study of social entrepreneurship. Different research methodologies and their implications are discussed.

The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes

Abstract: This chapter begins by reviewing some of the principles. Building on these, the chapter then discusses how social structures and social networks can affect economic outcomes like hiring, price, productivity, and innovation. It focuses on Sociologists have developed core principles about the interactions of social structure, information, ability to punish or reward, and trust that frequently recur in their analyses of political, economic, and other institutions. Thus, network structure can be partially endogenized in labor market analysis. However, there are also a range of alternatives, not commonly included in economic analysis, that work through social groups and create compliance in less intrusive ways. Many studies, comprehensively reviewed in Roger Myersons, show the powerful impact of social structure and networks on the extent and source of innovation and its diffusion. When people trade with others they know, the impact of knowing each other on the price varies with their relationship, the cost of shifting to different partners, and the market situation.

The grammar of society: the nature and dynamics of social norms

Abstract: In The Grammar of Society, first published in 2006, Cristina Bicchieri examines social norms, such as fairness, cooperation, and reciprocity, in an effort to understand their nature and dynamics, the expectations that they generate, and how they evolve and change. Drawing on several intellectual traditions and methods, including those of social psychology, experimental economics and evolutionary game theory, Bicchieri provides an integrated account of how social norms emerge, why and when we follow them, and the situations where we are most likely to focus on relevant norms. Examining the existence and survival of inefficient norms, she demonstrates how norms evolve in ways that depend upon the psychological dispositions of the individual and how such dispositions may impair social efficiency. By contrast, she also shows how certain psychological propensities may naturally lead individuals to evolve fairness norms that closely resemble those we follow in most modern societies.

Participatory Action Research: Communicative Action and the Public Sphere.

Abstract: [Extract] Participatory action research has an extensive history in many fields of social practice. Our aim in this chapter is to develop the view of participatory action research that has shaped our own theory and practice during recent years.

Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation

Abstract: While social scientists and historians have been exchanging ideas for a long time, they have never developed a proper dialogue about social theory. William H. Sewell Jr. observes that on questions of theory the communication has been mostly one way: from social science to history. Logics of History argues that both history and the social sciences have something crucial to offer each other. While historians do not think of themeselves as theorists, they know something social scientists do not: how to think about the temporalities of social life. On the other hand, while social scientists' treatments of temporality are usually clumsy, their theoretical sophistication and penchant for structural accounts of social life could offer much to historians. Renowned for his work at the crossroads of history, sociology, political science, and anthropology, Sewell argues that only by combining a more sophisticated understanding of historical time with a concern for larger theoretical questions can a satisfying social theory emerge. In Logics of History, he reveals the shape such an engagement could take, some of the topics it could illuminate, and how it might affect both sides of the disciplinary divide.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia: A Seven-Country Study of CSR Web Site Reporting

Abstract: This article addresses four hypotheses: (a) that corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Asia is not homogeneous but varies among countries, (b) that the variation is explained by stages of development, (c) that globalization enhances the adoption of CSR in Asia, and (d) that national business systems structure the profile of multinational corporations’ CSR. These hypotheses are investigated through analysis of Web site reporting of 50 companies in seven Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. The article concludes that CSR does vary considerably among Asian countries but that this variation is not explained by development but by factors in the respective national business systems. It also concludes that multinational companies are more likely to adopt CSR than those operating solely in their home country but that the profile of their CSR tends to reflect the profile of the country of operation rather than the country of origin.

ALL FOR ALL Equality, Corruption, and Social Trust

Abstract: HE importance of social trust has become widely accepted in the social sciences. One reason for the interest in social trust is that, as measured in surveys, it correlates with a number of other variables that are normatively highly desirable. At the individual level, people who believe that in general most other people in their society can be trusted are also more inclined to have a positive view of their democratic in- stitutions, to participate more in politics, and to be more active in civic organizations. They also give more to charity and are more tolerant toward minorities and to people who are not like themselves. Trusting people also tend to be more optimistic about their own ability to influ- ence their own life chances and, not least important, to be more happy with how their life is going. 1

Understanding adaptation: What can social capital offer assessments of adaptive capacity?

Abstract: The burgeoning interest in social capital within the climate change community represents a welcome move towards a concern for the behavioural elements of adaptive action and capacity. In this paper the case is put forward for a critical engagement with social capital. There is need for an open debate on the conceptual and analytical traps and opportunities that social capital presents. The paper contrasts three schools of thought on social capital and uses a social capital lens to map out current and future areas for research on adaptation to climate change. It identifies opportunities for using social capital to research adaptive capacity and action within communities of place and communities of practice.

Social sustainability: a catchword between political pragmatism and social theory

Abstract: The sustainability concepts of the 'Brundtland-Report' and the 'Rio documents' call for a combination of ecological, economic, social and institutional aspects of social development. This paper describes briefly, several models of sustainability and discusses social sustainability as conceptualised in selected sustainability indicators. In an attempt to remedy the lack of sociological theory, the paper proposes a sustainability concept, which is based on the concepts of needs and work, as an activity to fulfil these needs and as the principal exchange process between society and nature. Moreover, this paper argues in favour of recognition of social sustainability as both a normative and analytical concept.

The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation

Abstract: Summary How have recent changes in U.S. family structure affected the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the nation’s children? Paul Amato examines the effects of family formation on children and evaluates whether current marriage-promotion programs are likely to meet children’s needs. Amato begins by investigating how children in households with both biological parents differ from children in households with only one biological parent. He shows that children growing up with two continuously married parents are less likely to experience a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems, not only during childhood but also in adulthood. Although it is not possible to demonstrate that family structure causes these differences, studies using a variety of sophisticated statistical methods suggest that this is the case. Amato then asks what accounts for the differences between these two groups of children. He shows that compared with other children, those who grow up in stable, two-parent families have a higher standard of living, receive more effective parenting, experience more cooperative co-parenting, are emotionally closer to both parents, and are subjected to fewer stressful events and circumstances. Finally, Amato assesses how current marriage-promotion policies will affect the well-being of children. He finds that interventions that increase the share of children who grow up with both parents would improve the overall well-being of U.S. children only modestly, because children’s social or emotional problems have many causes, of which family structure is but one. But interventions that lower only modestly the overall share of U.S. children experiencing various problems could nevertheless lower substantially the number of children experiencing them. Even a small decline in percentages, when multiplied by the many children in the population, is a substantial social benefit.

The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media

Abstract: Introduction Networks: The Nervous System of Society Technology Economy Politics and Power Law Social Structure Culture Psychology Conclusions and Policy Perspectives

Social movements and organization theory

Abstract: Part I. Creating a Common Framework: 1. Organizations and movements Doug McAdam and W. Richard Scott 2. Where do we stand? Common mechanisms in organizations and social movements research John L. Campbell Part II. Political and Mobilization Context: 3. Institutional variation in the evolution of social movements: competing logics and the spread of recycling advocacy groups Michael Lounsbury 4. Elite mobilizations for antitakeover legislation, 1982-1990 Timothy Vogus and Gerald F. Davis 5. Institutionalization as a contested, multilevel process: the case of rate regulation in American fire insurance Marc Schneiberg and Sarah A. Soule 6. From struggle to settlement: the crystallization of a field of lesbian/gay organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973 Elizabeth Armstrong Part III. Social Movement Organizations: Form and Structure: 7. Persistence and change among federated social movement organizations John McCarthy 8. Globalization and transnational social movement organizations Jackie Smith Part IV. Movements Penetrating Organizations: 9. How do social movements penetrate organizations? Environmental impact and organizational response Mayer N. Zald, Calvin Morrill, and Hayagreeva Rao 10. Organizational change as an orchestrated social movement: recruitment to a corporate quality initiative David Strang and Dong-Il Jung 11. Subventing our stories of subversion Maureen A. Scully and W. E. Douglas Creed Part V. Conclusion: 12. Social change, social theory, and the convergence of movements and organizations Gerald F. Davis and Mayer N. Zald 12. Two kinds of stuff: the current encounter of social movements and organizations Elizabeth Clemens.

Global aging : the challenge of success

Abstract: The central themes running throughout the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 fall under three priorities: Older people and economic development Advancing health and well-being into old age and Ensuring enabling and supportive environments. This Population Bulletin addresses many issues that fall under these overarching priorities. It examines the causes of global population aging and considers related dimensions such as the importance of health improvements and extended life expectancy for the individual well-being of older people and for social costs related to health care. This Bulletin also considers whether mounting evidence of declining disability at older ages answers the question: Are longer life expectancies accompanied by better health or simply more years of poor health? Related to this are questions surrounding intergenerational relationships affected by demographic and social changes all central to the three priorities outlined at the Madrid conference. How will smaller families and new forms of familial organization for example affect social and personal support systems? How will the labor market pension plans and services adapt to longer life expectancies as retirees require 25 or more years of income as well as social and other services? (excerpt)

Making and Breaking Social Capital: The Impact of Welfare-State Institutions

Abstract: Since the debate about the importance of social capital and civil society for the quality of democracy began, Scandinavia has caused problems. Observers have been bewildered by an allegedly paradoxical coexistence of a wealth of social capital and extensive welfare-state arrangements. Some theorize that large welfare states make engagement in voluntary associations unnecessary, making the production of social capital more difficult. However, empirical research shows Scandinavia to have comparatively high levels of social capital. To solve this paradox, the authors address how the causal mechanism between variation in the design of welfare-state institutions and social capital works. The empirical analysis, based on Swedish survey data, suggests that the specific design of welfare-state policies matters for the production of social capital. Contacts with universal welfare-state institutions tend to increase social trust, whereas experiences with needs-testing social programs undermine it. The policy implic...

Rethinking the Youth Phase of the Life-course: The Case for Emerging Adulthood?

Abstract: A whole flurry of new thinking and research about young people in the USA has been stimulated by Jeffery Arnett's theory of ‘Emerging Adulthood’. This argues for recognition of a new stage of the life-course between adolescence and adulthood reflecting the extension of youth transitions to independence brought about by globalization and technological change. Although the perspective aligns with developmental psychology's conception of ‘stages of development’, its appeal extends across the social science disciplines and policy domains. However, the rich theorizing of the same manifestations of social change in young people's experience in European Youth Studies appear to have been largely overlooked by Arnett. This paper attempts to redress this balance by drawing into the framework of Emerging Adulthood a wider set of theoretical concerns with structural factors and exclusion mechanisms to which (late) modern youth are subjected. The argument is exemplified by age-30 cohort comparisons across three Britis...

Explaining the nature of power: a three-process theory

Abstract: Power is an inescapable feature of human social life and structure. This paper addresses the nature of power. The standard theory is that power is the capacity for influence and that influence is based on the control of resources valued or desired by others. However, there have always been problems with this theory and new ones have appeared. The paper summarizes the standard theory and its problems, outlines the different meanings of power and presents a new theory emphasizing group identity, social organization and ideology rather than dependence as the basis of power. It proposes that power is based on persuasion, authority and coercion. A key point is that the theory changes the way these processes have been understood by reversing the causal sequence of the standard theory. The latter argues that control of resources produces power, power is the basis of influence and that mutual influence leads to the formation of a psychological group. The three-process theory argues that psychological group formation produces influence, that influence is the basis of power and that power leads to the control of resources. Implications of the theory for social change, coercion, prejudice and the extent to which power is a social evil are briefly noted. The challenge is to study how power emerges from and functions within social relationships with a definite social, ideological and historical content rather than reifying it as an abstract external force producing generic psychological effects. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Few would deny that power is central to human affairs or a key concept in the social sciences. Roberts (2003) argues that it is the basis of society: ‘The ability of one person to make a hundred others do his [sic] bidding is the basic building block upon which all collective human endeavour is based’ (p. xv). Keltner, Gruenfeld, and Anderson (2003) state that it is ‘a basic force in social relationships’ (p. 265). It appears to be a universal and indispensable feature of social organization, at work in all political, organizational and institutional life and, in some views, in every social relationship. Every group, organization or society must solve the problems of power to achieve its goals or risk failure, dysfunction or even extinction. But what exactly is power? How should it be defined, what are the processes through which it operates, what are their distinctive effects on attitudes and behaviour, and

Social Traps and the Problem of Trust

Abstract: 1. Reflections after a very long day in Moscow 2. On the rational choice of culture 3. On the theory and practice of social capital 4. Social capital in the social democratic welfare state 5. How is social capital produced? 6. The problem of institutional credibility 7. Trust and collective memories 8. The transition from mistrust to trust 9. The conditions of trust and the capacity of dialogue.

On the stigma of mental illness: Practical strategies for research and social change.

Abstract: Serious mental illness is a two-edged sword: it challenges those affected not only with disability but also with unjust social stigma, which denies them opportunities to work, live independently, and pursue other goals. Written by participants and first-rate social scientists in the Chicago Consortium for Stigma Research, On the Stigma of Mental Illness: Implications for Research and Social Change explores the causes and ramifications of mental illness stigma, as well as the possible means to eliminate it. The book translates basic behavioral research, especially from social psychology, to an issue of prime importance to clinical psychology. While laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act have decreased the impact of discrimination, contact between those with mental illness and those without may be one of the most effective ways to diminish stigma. The book includes practical strategies for dealing with public stigma and self-stigma, including deciding when and how to disclose one's psychiatric history to others.

Rethinking Europe: Social Theory and the Implications of Europeanization

Abstract: Dominant approaches to the transformation of Europe ignore contemporary social theory interpretations of the nature and dynamics of social change. Here, Delanty and Rumford argue that we need a theory of society in order to understand Europeanization. This book advances the case that Europeanization should be theorized in terms of: -Globalization. -Major social transformations that are not exclusively spear-headed by the EU. -The wider context of the transformation of modernity. This fascinating book broadens the terms of the debate on Europeanization, conventionally limited to the supersession of the nation-state by a supra-national authority and the changes within member states consequent upon EU membership. Demonstrating the relevance of social theory to contemporary issues and with a focus on European transformation rather than simplistic notions of Europe-building, this truly multidisciplinary volume will appeal to readers from a range of social science disciplines, including sociology, geography, political science and European studies.

Anthropology and Development: Understanding Contemporary Social Change

Abstract: * 1. Introduction: The three approaches in the anthropology of development * The discourse of development * Populism, anthropology and development * Entangled social logic approaches * Conclusion: the future of the entangled social logics approach and its work in progress (research in Africa and beyond) * 2. Socio-anthropology of Development: some preliminary statements * Development * Socio-anthropology of development * Comparativism * Action * Populism * A collective problematic * Social change and development: in Africa or in general? * 3. Anthropology, Sociology, Africa and Development: a brief historical overview * French colonial ethnology * Reactions: dynamic and/or Marxist anthropology * From a sociological viewpoint: sociology of modernization and sociology of development * Systems analysis * The current situation: multi-rationalities * 4. A renewal of anthropology ? * To the rescue of social science? * The 'properties' of 'development facts' * Two 'heuristic points of view' * Anthropology of social change and development and the fields of anthropology * 5. Stereotypes, ideologies and conceptions * A meta-ideology of development * Infra-ideologies: conceptions * Five stereotypes * The relative truth of stereotypes: the example of culture * The propensity for stereotypes: the example of needs * 6. Is an anthropology of innovation possible ? * A panorama in four points of view * Is an innovation's problematic possible in anthropology ? * 7. Developmentist populism and social science populism : ideology, action, knowledge * Intellectuals and their ambiguous populism * The poor according to Chambers * The developmentist populist complex * Moral populism * Cognitive populism and methodological populism * Ideological populism * Populism and miserabilism * Where action becomes compromise ... and where knowledge can become opposition... * ... yet methodology should combine! * 8. Relations of production and modes of economic action * Songhay-zarma societies under colonization: peasant mode of production and relations of production * Subsistence logic during the colonial period * Relations of production and contemporary transformations * Conclusion * 9. Development projects and social logic * The context of interaction * Levels of project coherence * Peasant reactions * Two principles * Three logics, among many others * Strategic logics and notional logics * 10. Popular knowledge and scientific and technical knowledge * Popular technical knowledge * A few properties of popular technical knowledge * Popular technical knowledge and technical-scientific knowledge * Fields of popular knowledge and infrastructure * 11. Mediations and brokerage * Development agents * A parenthesis on corruption * Development agents as mediators between types of knowledge * Brokers * The development language * 12. Arenas and strategic games * Local development as a political arena * Conflict, arena, strategic groups * The ECRIS canvass * 13. Conclusion : The dialogue between social scientists and developers * Logic of knowledge and logic of action * Action Research? * Training development agents * Adapting to side-tracking * On enquiry * Bibliography * Index

Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China

Abstract: Environmental non-governmental organizations are becoming increasingly visible players in China's environmental politics. Adopting a field perspective, this article shows how the rise of environmental NGOs has taken place in interactions with four institutional fields. They not only respond to political conditions, but also to opportunities offered by the media, the internet and international NGOs. In this process, organizational entrepreneurs play a crucial role in mobilizing resources while other individuals participate in search of self-fulfilment or social experience. These arguments underscore the multi-institutional dynamics of civil society development without underestimating state-centred and market-centred explanations. In conclusion, the article discusses how environmental NGOs can serve as both sites and agents of democratic social change in China.

Social marketing in the 21st century

Abstract: Preface I. Introduction Chapter 1: Social Change, Social Problems and 21st Century Social Marketing Chapter 2: Creating and Framing the Agenda II. Social Problems and the Role of Social Marketing Chapter 3: The Structure of Social Problems Chapter 4: The Role of Social Marketing Chapter 5: Setting Priorities with Social Marketing III. Upstream Applications Chapter 6: Beyond Downstream Interventions: Influencing Communities Chapter 7: Structural Change: Influencing Law Makers and Regulators Chapter 8: Structural Change: Recruiting Business Allies Chapter 9: Recruiting Allies in the Media and Health-Care Communities IV. Conclusions Chapter 10: Repositioning Social Marketing for the 21st Century

Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese children: the imprint of historical time.

Abstract: This study examined, in 3 cohorts (1990, 1998, and 2002) of elementary school children (M age=10 years), relations between social functioning and adjustment in different phases of the societal transition in China. Data were obtained from multiple sources. The results indicate that sociability-cooperation was associated with peer acceptance and teacher-rated competence, whereas aggression was associated with social and school difficulties in all 3 cohorts. The effect of different social contexts was reflected mainly in the relations between shyness-sensitivity and adjustment. Whereas shyness was associated with social and academic achievement in the 1990 cohort, the associations became weaker or nonsignificant in the 1998 cohort. Furthermore, shyness was associated with peer rejection, school problems, and depression in the 2002 cohort.

National policies that connect ICT-based education reform to economic and social development

Abstract: Information and communication technology (ICT) is a principal driver of economic development and social change, worldwide. In many countries, the need for economic and social development is used to justify investments in educational reform and in educational ICT. Yet the connections between national development goals and ICT-based education reform are often more rhetorical than programmatic. This paper identifies the factors that influence economic growth and shows how they supported economic and social development in three national case studies: Singapore, Finland, and Egypt. It describes a systemic framework of growth factors and types of development that can be used to analyze national policies and connect ICT-based education reform to national economic and social development goals. And it discusses how the coordination of policies within and across ministries can support a nation’s efforts to improve economic and social conditions. The paper highlights special concerns and challenges of developing countries.