Showing papers on "Social change published in 2016"

Social Identity Theory

Abstract: Social identity theory is an interactionist social psychological theory of the role of self-conception and associated cognitive processes and social beliefs in group processes and intergroup relations. Originally introduced in the 1970s primarily as an account of intergroup relations, it was significantly developed at the start of the 1980s as a general account of group processes and the nature of the social group. Since then, social identity theory has been significantly extended through a range of sub-theories that focus on social influence and group norms, leadership within and between groups, self-enhancement and uncertainty reduction motivations, deindividuation and collective behavior, social mobilization and protest, and marginalization and deviance within groups. The theory has also been applied and developed to explain organizational phenomena and the dynamics of language and speech style as identity symbols. Chapter 1 provides a relatively comprehensive and accessible overview of social identity theory, with an emphasis on its analysis of intergroup conflict.

Second treatise of government

Abstract: Introduction Making the Lives of Transsexual People Visible: Addressing the Politics of Social Erasure Sex Change, Social Change: Reflections on Identity and Institutions Transsexuals Behind Bars Beyond Image Content: Examining Transsexuals' Access to the Media Inclusive Pedagogy in the Women's Studies Classroom: Teaching the Kimberly Nixon Case Statement for Social Service Agencies and Transsexual/Transgendered Organisations on Service Delivery to Transsexual and Transvestite Prostitutes Interview with Mirha-Soleil Ross Against Transgender Rights: Understanding the Imperialism of Contemporary Transgender Politics Conclusion.

Decolonizing the University: New Directions.

Abstract: What are the limits placed on the ‘decolonization’ project by the forces of neoliberalism? How are the latter affecting the future of the university? Is ‘decolonization’ the same as ‘Africanization’?

Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change

Abstract: How can we change social norms, the standards describing typical or desirable behavior? Because individuals’ perceptions of norms guide their personal behavior, influencing these perceptions is one way to create social change. And yet individuals do not form perceptions of typical or desirable behavior in an unbiased manner. Individuals attend to select sources of normative information, and their resulting perceptions rarely match actual rates of behavior in their environment. Thus, changing social norms requires an understanding of how individuals perceive norms in the first place. We describe three sources of information that people use to understand norms—individual behavior, summary information about a group, and institutional signals. Social change interventions have used each source to influence perceived norms and behaviors, including recycling, intimate-partner violence, and peer harassment. We discuss conditions under which influence over perceived norms is likely to be stronger, based on the source of the normative information and individuals’ relationship to the source. Finally, we point to future research and suggest when it is most appropriate to use a norm change strategy in the interest of behavior and social change.

toward a new vision : Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection

Abstract: Wilson, William J. (1980) The Declining Significance of Race, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.———. (1987) The Truly Disadvantaged, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Woody, Bette and Malson, Michelene (1984) “In Crisis: Low Income Black Employed Women in theAudre Lorde’s statement raises a trouble-some issue for scholars and activists working for social change. While many of us have little difficulty assessing our own victimization within some major system of oppression, whether it be by race, social class, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age or gender, we typically fail to see how our thoughts and actions uphold someone else’s subordination. Thus, white feminists routinely point with confidence to their oppression as women but resist seeing how much their white skin privileges them. African-Americans who possess eloquent analyses of racism often persist in viewing poor White women as symbols of white power. The radical left fares little better. “If only people of color and women could see their true class interests,” they argue, “class solidarity would eliminate racism and sexism.” In essence, each group identifies the type of oppression with which it feels most comfortable as being fundamental and classifies all other types as being of lesser importance.

The Mediated Construction of Reality

Abstract: Social theory needs to be completely rethought in a world of digital media and social media platforms driven by data processes. Fifty years after Berger and Luckmann published their classic text The Social Construction of Reality, two leading sociologists of media, Nick Couldry and Andreas Hepp, revisit the question of how social theory can understand the processes through which an everyday world is constructed in and through media. Drawing on Schutz, Elias and many other social and media theorists, they ask: what are the implications of digital media s profound involvement in those processes? Is the result a social world that is stable and liveable, or one that is increasingly unstable and unliveable?

The politics of sustainability transitions

Abstract: Sustainability transitions are processes of fundamental social change in response to societal challenges (Grin, Rotmans, & Schot, 2010; Markard, Raven, & Truffer, 2012). They reflect a particular d...

Participatory Design Research and Educational Justice: Studying Learning and Relations Within Social Change Making

Abstract: This special issue brings together a set of articles by scholars working to expand equitable forms of learning and teaching that contribute to a socially just democracy—or what we might call “socia...

Transforming Social Work Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives

Abstract: Transforming Social Work Practice shows that postmodern theory offers new strategies for social workers concerned with political action and social justice. It explores ways of developing practice frameworks, paradigms and principles which take advantage of the perspectives offered by postmodern theory without totally abandoning the values of modernity and the Enlightenment project of human emancipation. Case studies demonstrate how these perspectives can be applied to practice.

Commodity Chains in the World-Economy Prior to 1800

Abstract: During the course of the last ten years the political economy of the world-system has emerged as a major field of inquiry within social science in general and within sociology in particular. At the heart of the development of this new field has been the documentation of the patterns of the capitalist worldeconomy, a historical system marked by a world-scale division of labor and phases of expansion and contraction. Although there are an increasing number of scholars of social change who have come to accept the premises of an organizing capitalist world-economy for their accounts of trends and events occurring in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there remains considerable dispute about the very existence of a world-economy in the sixteenth, seventeenth,

Social Justice-Oriented Interaction Design: Outlining Key Design Strategies and Commitments

Abstract: In recent years, many HCI designers have begun pursuing research agendas that address large scale social issues. These systemic or "wicked" problems present challenges for design practice due to their scope, scale, complexity, and political nature. In this paper, we develop a social justice orientation to designing for such challenges. We highlight a breadth of design strategies that target the goals of social justice along six dimensions -- transformation, recognition, reciprocity, enablement, distribution, and accountability -- and elaborate three commitments necessary to developing a social justice oriented design practice -- a commitment to conflict, a commitment to reflexivity, and a commitment to personal ethics and politics. Although there are no easy solutions to systemic social issues, a social justice orientation provides one way to foster an engagement with the thorny political issues that are increasingly acknowledged as crucial to a field that is not just about technological possibility, but also about political responsibility.

Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is increasingly considered to be integral to development; however, social and cultural norms impact on the extent to which women in developing countries engage with, and accrue the benefits of, entrepreneurial activity. Using data collected from 49 members of a rural social enterprise in North India, we examine the relationships between social entrepreneurship, empowerment and social change. Innovative business processes that facilitated women’s economic activity and at the same time complied with local social and cultural norms that constrain their agency contributed to changing the social order itself. We frame emancipatory social entrepreneurship as processes that (1) empower women and (2) contribute to changing the social order in which women are embedded.

Social Design Experiments: Toward Equity by Design

Abstract: In this article, we advance an approach to design research that is organized around a commitment to transforming the educational and social circumstances of members of non-dominant communities as a means of promoting social equity and learning. We refer to this approach as social design experimentation. The goals of social design experiments include the traditional aim of design experiments to create theoreticallygrounded and practical educational interventions, the social agenda of ameliorating and redressing historical injustices, and the development of theories focused on the organization of equitable learning opportunities. To illustrate how we use social design methodology, we present two examples that strategically reorganized the sociohistorical practices of communities to expand learning as a key goal. We conclude with a discussion of the opportunities this approach creates for learning scientists to form effective research partnerships with community members, as well as the responsibilities it en...

Theorizing Race, Class, and Gender: The New Scholarship of Black Feminist Intellectuals and Black Women’s Labor

Abstract: The purpose in this article is to explicate some of the recent theorizing on race, class and gender by Black feminist thinkers in the academy. This theorizing is further explored in an analysis of Black women's labor and African-American class formation. The labor transformation of Black women is explicated in terms of economic restructuring and capital mobility, racial formation and gender inequality. It is a process linking Black women in the Northeast and Midwest to the South and Southwest, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. It is not the tie of poverty to prosperity, but the tie of subordinate status to subordinate status crosscut by internal class differences in all these regions. Most important, only in theorizing the complexity of the intersections of race, class and gender can we adequately prepare to struggle for social change in the African-American community.

Loneliness, Stress, and Social Support in Young Adulthood: Does the Source of Support Matter?

Abstract: Social support protects individuals against adversity throughout the lifespan, and is especially salient during times of intense social change, such as during the transition to adulthood. Focusing on three relationship-specific sources of social support (family, friends, and romantic partners), the current study examined the stress-buffering function of social support against loneliness and whether the association between social support and loneliness with stress held constant would vary by its source. The role of gender in these associations was also considered. The sample consisted of 636 ethnically diverse college youth (age range 18–25; 80 % female). The results suggest that the stress-buffering role of social support against loneliness varies by its source. Only support from friends buffered the association between stress and loneliness. Further, when stress was held constant, the association between social support and loneliness differed by the sources, in that support from friends or romantic partners (but not from family) was negatively associated with loneliness. Regarding gender differences, the adverse impact of lower levels of familial or friends’ support on loneliness was greater in females than in males. This research advances our understanding of social support among college-aged youth; implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The Behavioral Immune System: Implications for Social Cognition, Social Interaction, and Social Influence

Abstract: The “behavioral immune system” is a motivational system that evolved as a means of inhibiting contact with disease-causing parasites and that, in contemporary human societies, influences social cognition and social behavior. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the behavioral immune system and how it works, along with a review of empirical research documenting its consequences for a wide range of social psychological phenomena—including person perception, interpersonal attraction, intergroup prejudice, social influence, and moral judgment. We also describe further consequences for health, for politics and public policy, and for cultural differences. Finally, we discuss a variety of broader implications—both practical and conceptual—and identify some important directions for future research.

Transformational responses to climate change: beyond a systems perspective of social change in mitigation and adaptation

Abstract: There is a growing imperative for responses to climate change to go beyond incremental adjustments, aiming instead for society-wide transformation. In this context, sociotechnical (ST) transitions and social–ecological (SE) resilience are two prominent normative agendas. Reviewing these literatures reveals how both share a complex-systems epistemology with inherent limitations, often producing managerial governance recommendations and foregrounding material over social drivers of change. Further interdisciplinary dialogue with social theory is essential if these frameworks are to become more theoretically robust and capable of informing effective, let alone transformational, climate change governance. To illustrate this potential, ideas from Deleuze and Guattari's political writing as well as other approaches that utilize the notion social fields (as opposed to sociosystems) are combined to more fully theorize the origins and enactment of social change. First, the logic of systems is replaced with the contingency of assemblages to reveal how pluralism, not elitism, can produce more ambitious and politicized visions of the future. In particular, this view encourages us to see social and ecological tensions as opportunities for thinking and acting differently rather than as mere technical problems to be solved. Secondly, the setting of social fields is introduced to situate and explain the power of ideas and the role of agency in times of uncertainty. The potential of such insights is already visible in some strands of climate change mitigation and adaptation research, but more needs to be done to advance this field and to bring it into dialogue with the mainstream systems based literature.

A Systematic Review of School-Based Social-Emotional Interventions for Refugee and War-Traumatized Youth:

Abstract: Refugees often experience significant psychological distress, but many do not receive necessary services. Among children and youth, most mental health services are provided by schools, so schools are an important service provider for young refugees. We conducted a systemic literature review to synthesize and evaluate the existing research on school-based interventions to improve mental health or social-emotional functioning of students who are refugees, asylum seekers, or immigrants with war trauma. Three types of school-based interventions were identified: cognitive behavioral therapy, creative expression, and multitiered or multimodal models. The review identified several interventions with positive effects, as well as multiple interventions that had null or negative effects. We address the implications of this body of intervention research for practice and research.

Social geographies of women's fear of crime

Abstract: Traditional approaches to mapping fear of crime are limited to describing or explaining the impact of sexual and physical violence as a reflection of gender inequality. Using empirical evidence from recent research, a social geography of women's fear is developed. Four important areas of geographical analysis are highlighted: the imposition of constraints on the use of urban space, the distinction between public and private space in perceptions of danger, the social construction of space into 'safe' and 'dangerous' places, and the social control of women's spaces. Within this framework, it is shown how women's experiences of social class, age, disability and motherhood can determine their experience of, and reactions to fear of, violent crime.

Social Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics: Does Social Equal Ethical?

Abstract: This editorial to the special issue addresses the often overlooked question of the ethical nature of social enterprises. The emerging social entrepreneurship literature has previously been dominated by enthusiasts who fail to critique the social enterprise, focusing instead on its distinction from economic entrepreneurship and potential in solving social problems. In this respect, we have found through the work presented herein that the relation between social entrepreneurship and ethics needs to be problematized. Further, we find that a range of conceptual lenses and methodological approaches is valuable as the social entrepreneurship field matures.

Family and Gender Values in China: Generational, Geographic, and Gender Differences

Abstract: Previous research has reported on structural changes in Chinese families. However, questions remain as to whether/how social change has influenced family and gender values and how this differs across generations, regions, and gender in China. Drawing on 2006 data from the China General Social Survey, we find that values pertaining to filial piety are traditional, whereas patrilineal and gender values are less traditional. Historic events/policies provide the context for how social change can shape differential generational, geographic, and gender perspectives. Our hypothesis that generation, region, and gender associations will differ across the various ideational domains is confirmed. We find significant interaction effects in how generation and geography differ by gender in patrilineal, filial piety, and gender values; and higher education erodes patrilineal and traditional gender values but enhances filial piety. Such findings indicate that family values should be understood in the specific sociocultural contexts governing Chinese families across time and place.

Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow

Abstract: The ability to see deeply affects how human beings perceive and interpret the world around them. For most people, eyesight is part of everyday communication, social activities, educational and professional pursuits, the care of others, and the maintenance of personal health, independence, and mobility. Functioning eyes and vision system can reduce an adult's risk of chronic health conditions, death, falls and injuries, social isolation, depression, and other psychological problems. In children, properly maintained eye and vision health contributes to a child's social development, academic achievement, and better health across the lifespan.The public generally recognizes its reliance on sight and fears its loss, but emphasis on eye and vision health, in general, has not been integrated into daily life to the same extent as other health promotion activities, such as teeth brushing; hand washing; physical and mental exercise; and various injury prevention behaviors. A larger population health approach is needed to engage a wide range of stakeholders in coordinated efforts that can sustain the scope of behavior change. The shaping of socioeconomic environments can eventually lead to new social norms that promote eye and vision health. Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow proposes a new population-centered framework to guide action and coordination among various, and sometimes competing, stakeholders in pursuit of improved eye and vision health and health equity in the United States. Building on the momentum of previous public health efforts, this report also introduces a model for action that highlights different levels of prevention activities across a range of stakeholders and provides specific examples of how population health strategies can be translated into cohesive areas for action at federal, state, and local levels.

Emergent social identity and observing social support predict social support provided by survivors in a disaster: solidarity in the 2010 Chile earthquake

Abstract: Survivors of disasters commonly provide each other with social support, but the social-psychological processes behind such solidarity behaviours have not been fully explicated. We describe a survey of 1240 adults affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake to examine the importance of two factors: observing others providing social support and social identification with other survivors. As expected, emotional social support was associated with social identification, which in turn was predicted by disaster exposure through common fate. Observing others' supportive behaviour predicted both providing emotional social support and providing coordinated instrumental social support. Expected support was a key mediator of these relationships and also predicted collective efficacy. There was also an interaction: social identification moderated the relationship between observing and providing social support. These findings serve to develop the social identity account of mass emergency behaviour and add value to disaster research by showing the relevance of concepts from collective action.

Systems-thinking social marketing: conceptual extensions and empirical investigations

Abstract: Systems thinking dominated the 2015 World Social Marketing conference with the premise that a more holistic approach takes into account all the issues at play for effective change. Augmenting the broadening social marketing literature, we contend that systems-thinking social marketing enhances the field’s conventional behavioural change with concepts of scale, causation, and iterative co-creating change processes for complex health and environmental problems. The results of our empirical Sea for Society study, a sustainable European marine ecosystem examination of what the barriers to change are and how they are interrelated, find systems-thinking social marketing offers the potential to strategically and critically reinforce, not replace, behavioural change campaigns. With systems-thinking social marketing, a coherent theory of change becomes a possibility. Orchestrating social change may become a reality.

The impact of trial stage, developer involvement and international transferability on universal social and emotional learning programme outcomes: a meta-analysis

Abstract: This study expands upon the extant prior meta-analytic literature by exploring previously theorised reasons for the failure of school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes...

The role of empowering women and achieving gender equality to the sustainable development of Ethiopia

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to uncover the role of empowering women and achieving gender equality in the sustainable development of Ethiopia. To achieve this purpose, the researcher employed qualitative methodology, with secondary sources as instruments of data collection. Based on the data analysed, findings of the study show that the role of women across different dimensions of sustainable development is less reflected in the country. The use of a women's labour force in the economic development of the country is minimal. The political sphere of the country is, by and large, reserved for men alone. The place of women in society is also relegated to contributing minimally to the social development of the country. In addition, women's rights are not properly being protected in order for women to participate in various the issues of their country but are subjected to abysmal violations. Moreover, women are highly affected by environmental problems, and less emphasis is given to their participation in protecting the environment. The researcher concluded that unless women are empowered and gender equality is achieved so that women can play their role in economic, social, political, and environmental areas, the country will not achieve sustainable development with the recognition of only men's participation in all these areas. The fact that women constitute half the entire population of the country makes empowering them to be an active part of all development initiatives in the country a compelling circumstance. Hence, this paper calls for the strong commitment of the government to empower women and utilize all the potentials of the country to bring about sustainable development.