Showing papers on "Social dynamics published in 2000"

Social Ties and Foreign Market Entry

Abstract: The social dynamics which precede international exchange are considered in light of data collected on 133 foreign market entries from a sample of highly-internationalized manufacturing firms. Consistent with research done in the social network field, the findings support the hypothesis that knowledge of foreign market opportunities is commonly acquired via existing inter-personal links rather than collected systematically via market research. This study thus contributes towards an understanding of those antecedent conditions that lead to the formation of export exchange relationships.

Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities

Abstract: From the Book: It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change --Charles Darwin Calling all Community Builders We're living in fluid and dynamic times. It's easier than ever to travel the world and stay in touch electronically with people who live far away. As a society we're working harder, juggling more roles, and spending more of our free time at home exhausted from our multifaceted lives, fearful of the violence that we see in movies, TV and video games, and physically removed from our family, friends and neighbors. So we go online-to shop, play games, trade collectibles, argue politics, or just shoot the breeze. The Web is becoming our collective town square-more and more, people are turning to Web communities to get their personal, social and professional needs met. This translates into a tremendous opportunity for Web community builders. I first felt the power of online communications while working at Sun Microsystems in the mid-1980'S. Soon after joining the company, my boss asked me to name my computer, and I impulsively chose "Naima"-the title of a beautiful, haunting jazz ballad by John Coltrane that I'd learned the night before. My public identity on the Sun intranet became "amyjo@naima"; and within a few weeks, I started to get email from Coltrane fanatics all around the company. They invited me to join a private mailing list, and jam with them after hours. Because of my online identity, I'd found people who shared my passion, and that changed my life for the better. How is a Web community different than one in the real world? In terms of theirsocial dynamics, physical and virtual communities are much the same. Both involve developing a web of relationships among people who have something meaningful in common, such as a beloved hobby, a life-altering illness, a political cause, a religious conviction, a professional relationship, or even simply a neighborhood or town. So in one sense, a Web community is simply a community that happens to exist online, rather than in the physical world. But being online offers special opportunities and challenges that give Web communities a unique flavor. The Net erases boundaries created by time and distance, and makes it dramatically easier for people to maintain connections, deepen relationships, and meet like-minded souls that they would otherwise never have met. It also offers a strange and compelling combination of anonymity and intimacy that brings out the best and worst in people's behavior. It can be near impossible to impose lasting consequences on troublemakers, and yet relatively easy to track an individual's behavior and purchase patterns-which makes Web communities notoriously difficult to manage. To complicate matters further, the legal issues involving privacy, liability and intellectual property on the Web are just beginning to be addressed, and will evolve rapidly over the next few years. Although the focus is on Web communities, this book also illuminates deeper and more fundamental aspects of community building-the social and cultural dynamics, the power of a shared purpose, and the roles, rituals and events that bind people together into a group. Why I Wrote This Book I've been building online communities for ten years; I've worked on AOL sites, Web zines, technical-support message boards, Java chat room interfaces, online trading posts, and a variety of high-end gaming environments. Again and again, regardless of technology, I've found myself bumping up against the same basic issues in my work-issues like persistent identity, newcomer confusion, etiquette standards, leadership roles, and group dynamics. So about five years ago, l summarized these issues into a set of design guidelines, and started using them in my consulting practice. Through conversations with community leaders, both on and off the Web, I learned that the patterns I was seeing in virtual communities were echoed in physical communities, and that all communities are ultimately based on timeless social dynamics that transcend the medium of connection. In other words, people are people, even in cyberspace. This is the book that I wish I'd had when I was first starting out. I've found it incredibly useful to have a framework to help me address the basic design, technical and policy issues that arise in community building. This framework has helped me become a more effective and creative community designer; my hope is that it will do the same for you. How to Use This Book If you're engaged in producing, designing, programming, or maintaining communities that are based on the Web, you've come to the right place. This book is a strategic handbook for community builders; it summarizes the "best practices" of successful Web communities, and brings them to life with behind the-scenes stories from some dynamic and influential sites. Here, you'll learn about the key issues that every Web community designer faces, along with guidelines for addressing these issues within the context of your own community. You'll also learn which communications tools are most appropriate for your community, and which technologies are necessary for a large scale Web community to truly thrive. What you won't find here is an in-depth account of how to program a Web community, configure specific community-building tools, create a business plan, obtain financing, or develop an advertising or subscription strategy. The focus is on teaching you how to grow a thriving community that will attract and sustain members, and on how to address the design, technical and policy issues that will inevitably arise if your community becomes a success. All you need to enjoy and make use of this book is familiarity with Internet basics and a desire to create or improve your own online community. You don't need to be an expert programmer, a sophisticated Web designer, or a savvy business personal though if you are, you'll get even more out of the ideas presented here. If you're preparing to launch (or redesign) your Web community, you can use this book as a planning tool to help you formulate your vision, identify your audience, prioritize your feature set, and plan your staffing needs. Community building is a team effort; and accordingly, this book is written to be useful to people in management, marketing, production, programming, and design-all of whom will have input during the strategic planning phase. If you're running an existing community, you can use this book as a general source of ideas and inspiration to help you meet your goals, improve and develop your community, and better serve the needs of your members. If you're involved in teaching or lecturing on community design, you can use this book as a teaching tool. On the companion Web site you'll find some examples of class outlines, exercises and projects to complement the book.

Not Just What, but When: Timing and Sequence in Political Processes

Abstract: Many perceive the clash between those advocating rational choice theory and their critics to be the dominant cleavage in contemporary political science. At least as fundamental, if much less widely discussed, is the divide over the role of historical analysis (or the investigation of temporal processes). Most social scientists take a “snapshot” view of political life. How does the distribution of public opinion affect policy outcomes? How do individual social characteristics influence propensities to vote? How do electoral rules affect the structure of party systems? Disputes among competing theories center on which factors (“variables”) in the current environment generate important political outcomes. Variable-centered analy- ses are based, however, on some questionable assump- tions about how the social world works.For useful discussions see Andrew Abbott, “Transcending General Linear Reality,” Sociological Theory 6 (1988): 169–86; John C. Harsanyi, “Explanation and Comparative Dynamics in the Social Sciences,” Behavioral Science 5 (1960): 136–45; and Charles C. Ragin, The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987). The significance of such variables is frequently distorted when they are ripped from their temporal context. There is often a strong case to be made for shifting from snapshots to moving pictures. Placing politics in time systematically situating particular moments (including the present) in a temporal sequence of events and processes can greatly enrich our understanding of complex social dynamics.

A Dynamic Model of Social Network Formation

Abstract: We consider a dynamic social network model in which agents play repeated games in pairings determined by a stochastically evolving social network. Individual agents begin to interact at random, with the interactions modeled as games. The game payoffs determine which interactions are reinforced, and the network structure emerges as a consequence of the dynamics of the agents' learning behavior. We study this in a variety of game-theoretic conditions and show that the behavior is complex and sometimes dissimilar to behavior in the absence of structural dynamics. We argue that modeling network structure as dynamic increases realism without rendering the problem of analysis intractable.

America becoming : racial trends and their consequences

Abstract: The 20th Century has been marked by enormous change in terms of how we define race In large part, we have thrown out the antiquated notions of the 1800s, giving way to a more realistic, sociocultural view of the world The United States is, perhaps more than any other industrialized country, distinguished by the size and diversity of its racial and ethnic minority populations Current trends promise that these features will endure Fifty years from now, there will most likely be no single majority group in the United States How will we fare as a nation when race-based issues such as immigration, job opportunities, and affirmative action are already so contentious today? In America Becoming, leading scholars and commentators explore past and current trends among African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans in the context of a white majority This volume presents the most up-to-date findings and analysis on racial and social dynamics, with recommendations for ongoing research It examines compelling issues in the field of race relations, including: * Race and ethnicity in criminal justice * Demographic and social trends for Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans * Trends in minority-owned businesses * Wealth, welfare, and racial stratification * Residential segregation and the meaning of "neighborhood" * Disparities in educational test scores among races and ethnicities * Health and development for minority children, adolescents, and adults * Race and ethnicity in the labor market, including the role of minorities in America's military * Immigration and the dynamics of race and ethnicity * The changing meaning of race * Changing racial attitudes This collection of papers, compiled and edited by distinguished leaders in the behavioral and social sciences, represents the most current literature in the field Volume 1 covers demographic trends, immigration, racial attitudes, and the geography of opportunity Volume 2 deals with the criminal justice system, the labor market, welfare, and health trends Both books will be of great interest to educators, scholars, researchers, students, social scientists, and policymakers

The Social Dynamics of Entrepreneurship

Abstract: We present a framework describing the interdependence between entrepreneurial decisions at the individual level and the local amount of entrepreneurial activity. We view the entrepreneur as someone...

Should system dynamics be described as a ‘hard’ or ‘deterministic’ systems approach?

Abstract: This paper explores the criticism that system dynamics is a ‘hard’ or ‘deterministic’ systems approach. This criticism is seen to have four interpretations and each is addressed from the perspectives of social theory and systems science. Firstly, system dynamics is shown to offer not prophecies but Popperian predictions. Secondly, it is shown to involve the view that system structure only partially, not fully, determines human behaviour. Thirdly, the field's assumptions are shown not to constitute a grand content theory—though its structural theory and its attachment to the notion of causality in social systems are acknowledged. Finally, system dynamics is shown to be significantly different from systems engineering. The paper concludes that such confusions have arisen partially because of limited communication at the theoretical level from within the system dynamics community but also because of imperfect command of the available literature on the part of external commentators. Improved communication on theoretical issues is encouraged, though it is observed that system dynamics will continue to justify its assumptions primarily from the point of view of practical problem solving. The answer to the question in the paper's title is therefore: on balance, no.

Identity and Ecology in Arctic Siberia: The Number One Reindeer Brigade

Abstract: This is a first-hand account of a reindeer-herding collective in the remote Taimyr peninsula of Siberia. The author gives an intimate description of the day-to-day lives of a little-known group of Evenkis as they face both economic and ecological challenges. His book therefore fills a gap in our understanding of the historical and political dynamics of northern Asia, and traces the changes caused in the region by the formation of, and the recent break-up of, the Soviet Union. It also addresses wider questions of ecological theory, nationalism, and the formation of identity. David G. Anderson's idea of `nationality inflation' provides a valuable new perspective on these topics. He shows how the Soviet state contributed to this `inflation' through its creation of `authorized identities' and suggests how identity policy and the discourse it generated became a powerful historical force integrating the social dynamics of economy, politics, and culture.

Transnational Feminist Networks: Collective Action in an Era of Globalization

Abstract: Current theories of social movements have added much to our understanding of the dynamics of collective action. This includes attention to the role of grievances, political opportunities and constraints, mobilizing structures, and framing processes (McAdam, McCarthy and Zald, 1996). However, there are gaps and biases: (i) a Western bias and a tendency to focus research on movements in Western countries; (ii) a gender bias and a tendency to ignore women’s participation in social movements or theorize the gender dynamics of collective action; (iii) a national bias and a tendency to ignore global or world-systemic developments. Feminist sociologists have certainly advanced our understanding of the social dynamics of women’s movements and women’s organizations (Katzenstein and Mueller, 1987; Ferree and Hess, 1995; Ferree and Martin, 1995), but this body of knowledge is based largely on research concerning single, Western societies. Studies that have had an international focus include Morgan (1985), Moghadam (1994), Stienstra (1994), and Basu (1995), but these have not explicitly addressed social movement theory; nor have they theorized women’s movements as transnational or global social movements. (Basu [1995] explicitly rejects this proposition.)

Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security

Abstract: Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security. Johan Pottier. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999. 230 pp.

The Family to Family program: a structural intervention with implications for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other community epidemics.

Abstract: Objectives: To describe a case study of a community-based intervention located in the Harlem community of New York City, one of the oldest African-American communities in the United States Although not specifically designed to prevent HIV infection, the program, 'Family to Family', exemplifies a 'structural intervention' that was created to strengthen family functioning and to strengthen the bonds that connect families to each other By fostering strong relationships within and between families in a community with high rates of violence, drug abuse, and HIV infection, the program seeks to improve the quality of neighborhood life and influence the social determinants of individual risk behavior Social capital: Family to Family was created specifically to develop the 'social capital' that is available to children and families in the Harlem community Social capital refers to resources that result from social relationships, and that enhance an individual's or a group's ability to function and achieve a given set of goals and objectives In addition to fostering closer relationships between children and their parents, this program also works to help participating families develop closer relationships with other participating families and with Columbia University student and faculty volunteers Finally, Family to Family is sustained through the efforts of volunteers; it receives no grant support and is entirely self-supporting Conclusions: Family to Family has the potential to change the social dynamics that promote HIV risk behavior in communities such as Harlem Should it prove successful in improving the relationships between families and children, and in increasing the social capital available to all of its participants, it may become an important asset to public health prevention specialists concerned about preventing the spread of HIV

The Social Dynamics of Aggressive and Disruptive Behavior in School: Implications for Behavior Consultation

Abstract: The role of social dynamics in the establishment and maintenance of aggressive and disruptive behavior is reviewed and discussed in light of consultation. Three key areas are outlined: the contributions of social structures to interpersonal conflict, the relation between peer associations and problem behavior, and the relation between social positions and problem behavior. This article suggests that direct intervention efforts (e.g., social skills training, behavior management strategies, peer support strategies, grouping practices) can be augmented by information about ongoing social dynamics in the classroom and school. Specific ways that behavior consultants can use social dynamic information to support the direct intervention efforts of teachers and administrators are discussed.

Accumulating Trouble: Complex Organization, a Culture of Silence, and a Secret Spill

Abstract: Over a period of thirty-eight years, Unocal Corporation spilled as much as 20 million gallons of petroleum into Central California's Guadalupe/Nipomo Dunes fouling the ground water, the beach, and other habitat producing what may be the largest petroleum spill in United States' history. A whistleblower finally reported this spill in February of 1990, which led to the shutdown of their oilfield, fines, and criminal charges. Through the analysis of oilfield social and organizational dynamics, this article makes three interrelated contributions to current understandings of hazard creation and response and organizational deviance. First, it builds on and extends research on “man-made disasters.” I argue that commonplace social and organizational structures, combined with equally unremarkable, yet incrementally cumulative petroleum spillage to produce a remarkable outcome—millions of gallons of petroleum contamination. Second, in addressing the social dynamics at the oil field, I develop the theoretical concept of a culture of silence to capture the collective secrecy that surrounded the spill once the local workgroup recognized the danger it presented to their ongoing organizational viability. Finally, an understanding of these social and organizational dynamics suggests significant policy ramifications concerning the viability of current industrial self-regulation as a strategy for monitoring environmental compliance.

The Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Expression

Abstract: In this book, Richard Moon puts forward an account of freedom of expression that emphasizes its social character. Such freedom does not simply protect individual liberty from state interference; it also protects the individual's freedom to communicate with others. It is the right of the individual to communicate: an activity that is deeply social in character, and that involves socially created languages and the use of community resources, like parks, streets, and broadcast stations. Moon argues that recognition of the social dynamic of communication is critical to understanding the potential value and harm of language and to addressing questions about the scope and limits on one's rights to freedom of expression. Moon examines the tension between the demands for freedom of expression and the structure of constitutional adjudication in the Canadian context. The book discusses many of the standard freedom of expression issues, such as the regulation of advertising, election spending ceilings, the restriction of hate promotion and pornography, state compelled expression, freedom of the press, access to state and private property and state support for expression. It examines several important Supreme Court of Canada decisions including Irwin Toy, Dolphin Delivery, RJR Macdonald, Keegstra and Butler.

CORMAS : A multiagent simulation toolkit to model natural and social dynamics at multiple scales

Abstract: Dealing with multiple scales is often a key question in renewable resources management. In some cases, the decision to incorporate a spatial entity is influenced by the fact that information is available at this level. In other cases, the system dynamics is intrinsically linked to a specific spatial entity, which should obviously be taken into account in the model. Nevertheless, it is important to have the possibility to manipulate and to incorporate into the same model spatial entities defined at different hierarchical levels. Originated from the field of Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) are potentially suitable for linking several hierarchical levels. In a MAS, an agent is a computerized autonomous entity that is able to act locally in response to stimuli from the environment or to communication with other agents. Cormas (Common-pool Resources and Multi-Agent Systems) is a multi-agent simulation platform specially designed for renewable resource management. It provides the framework for building models of interactions between individuals and groups sharing natural resources. With Cormas, the design of the spatial support rests on spatial entities, which are themselves a category of agents. When these entities yield resources, they are competent to arbitrate their allocation, according to pre-defined protocols, between concurrent demands formulated by other agents exploiting these resources. The way agents are exploiting resources may depend on their own partial representation of the environment, which are based on these same spatial entities. Following a general overview of the Cormas simulation platform, examples of models built by using this toolkit are presented, by emphasizing the overlapping of their multiple hierarchical scales. Finally, the use of multi-agent systems to represent knowledge on processes at various levels of complexity and to simulate their interactions according to a bottom-up approach for understanding landscape dynamics are discussed. (Resume d'auteur)

People, Plants, and Pathogens: The Eco-social Dynamics of Export Banana Production in Honduras, 1875-1950

Abstract: In July 1899, six municipal officials in El Paraíso, Honduras, placed their signatures on a document that listed the names of area residents who grew bananas for export. The municipal secretary, Bartolomé Bueso, signed with a heavy hand, perhaps an indication of the fatigue running through his fingers after recording more than two hundred names complete with several columns of statistics related to banana production. Similar scenes took place in other Honduran municipalities in response to a national survey carried out with the intention of making known “one of the great sources of wealth of our Atlantic Coast.”1 That same year, another group of men met in Trenton, New Jersey, to sign a different type of document—a corporate charter that established the United Fruit Company. The creation of both documents reflected a shared perception that export banana growing was a lucrative livelihood. However, the survey was never published and passed into obscurity on a dusty shelf in the Honduran National Archive. In contrast, the United Fruit Company— known in Central America as El Pulpo (the Octupus) because of its far-reaching

Misconceptions of Peer Rejection and Problem Behavior Understanding Aggression in Students with Mild Disabilities

Abstract: This article examines the need to consider social interactional processes in the development of interventions to address the adjustment of aggressive and disruptive youth with mild disabilities. Social interventions for youth with mild disabilities have in some ways ignored the contributions of classroom and school social dynamics in the growth and maintenance of problematic behavior patterns. Misconceptions surrounding peer rejection and problem behavior are identified, and are considered in relation to research on the social relations of youth with mild disabilities. Implications for social interventions for aggressive and disruptive youth with mild disabilities are discussed.

Social Scientific Models for Interpreting the Bible: Essays by the Context Group in Honor of Bruce J. Malina

Abstract: Fourteen members of The Context Group honor Bruce J. Malina and his scholarship in this volume by following his consistent example of developing or using explicit social scientific models to interpret documents from the ancient Mediterranean world. Ordinary features of that cultural world such as gossip, reciprocity, a pervasive military presence, the power of women, and becoming a follower of Jesus stand out with greater clarity in the Bible when a reader understands the cultural matrix in which such social dynamics function. These essays reflect The Context Group's more than twenty years of collaborative experience in researching the cultural context of the Bible. New insights are built on the solidly established foundations of their earlier cross-cultural studies. Readers will find the individual essays enlightening and challenging. Taken as a whole they form a valuable resource and a stimulating and helpful aid to further study. John J. Pilch, Ph.D., a founding member of The Context Group, is Professor of Biblical Literature at Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

From autonomy to accountability: Academic freedom under threat in South Africa?

Abstract: (2000). From autonomy to accountability: Academic freedom under threat in South Africa? Social Dynamics: Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 76-133.

Narratives of new media in Scottish households: the evolution of a framework of inquiry

Abstract: The authors describe a study of the social dynamics of new media in Scottish households. The evolving project drew on dialogues with multiple household members elicited in group conversations. This approach to interviews captured different and conflicting points of view, a feature shared with certain social approaches to systems design. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that there are recurrent narratives and behavioral genres across households (and across sample groups), and that these reflect tactics, stratagems, and plans by means of which respondents navigate social space. The authors’ approach contrasts with prevailing “needs and uses” models in information science, in offering a methodological framework based on group narrative and genre analysis that contributes to a theory of social informatics in the household.

Racism and Young Girls' Peer-Group Relations: The Experiences of South Asian Girls:

Abstract: This article draws upon data from an in-depth ethnographic study of 5 and 6 year old children in an English multi-ethnic, inner-city primary school. It focuses on the significance of 'race' within young girls' peer-group relations and the ways in which the social dynamics that underlie those relations provide the context for understanding the particular nature and form that racism takes among the girls. This is done through a focus on the experiences of South Asian girls within the group. Within this, the article has two main aims. First, it aims to contribute to the literature within the sociology of education by extending the existing research focus on racism within teacher/pupil interactions to include an understanding of racism as it manifests itself among the children's peer-group relations. Second, in adapting and applying Pierre Boudieu's concepts of capital and field, the article also offers a contribution to the literature within the sociology of 'race' and ethnicity by suggesting one potentially fruitful way in which racism can be understood within specific social contexts.

Continuing the debate on the philosophy of modern public health: social quality as a point of reference

Abstract: In the second edition of 1999 of this journal Douglas Weed commented on our 1994 initiative to stimulate discussion on the philosophical foundations of public health.1 2 We are pleased with Douglas Weed's response. It enables us to develop our own views and take new steps. The unacceptable state of health in numerous countries around the world forces us to question old and new approaches in public health and policies associated with public health.3 We will reflect on various aspects of Douglas Weed's article and do so with reference to new conceptualisations of the notions of public and health as they relate to the concept of social quality. In our 1994 contribution, we argued that mainstream epidemiology increasingly serves as a tool of molecular biology, and that consequently, social epidemiology tends to become a contradiction in terms. We state here in advance, however, that we do not criticise the significance of this scientific work in the context of medical policies, but we do have questions regarding it as the scientific cornerstone of modern public health. In 1994, the Lancet editors concluded that common epidemiological research has always been based on simplistic notions of causality.4 Reference was made to the Leeds Declaration of 1993, which states that traditional epidemological methods are too blunt to dissect the complexities of today's health problems.5 The Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Chance at Edinburgh University concluded that mainstream epidemiology has little to offer in modernising public health, that its positivistic orientation underscores a principal weakness in its understanding of the social dynamics of health and disease, therefore undermining its ability to effect change in public health.6 The fundamental issue concerns what we precisely mean by the causes and effects in modern public health issues. This point was discussed by …

Social Dynamics of Crime and Control: New Theories for a World in Transition

Abstract: Part 1 Crime and the social dynamics of markets: market dominance, crime and globalisation, Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld subterranean sources of subcultural delinquency beyond the American dream, John Hagan, Gerd Hefler, Gabriele Classen, Klaus Boehnke and Hans Merkens knights of crime - the success of "pre-modern" structures in the illegal economy, Susanne Karstedt extortion, corruption and trust - a structural-constructionist perspective, Thomas Ohlemacher. Part 2 Social dynamics and the limits of legal control: republic theory, the good society and crime control, John Braithwaite after the welfare state - whither informal law?, Wolfgang Ludwig-Mayerhof shaming and the regulation of fraud and business "misconduct" - some preliminary explorations, Michael Levi multinational firms as agents of civic virtues, Erhard Blankenburg. Part 3 Cultural dynamics - contexts of crime and control: translating social control - reflections on the comparison of Italian and North-American cultures concerning social control, with a few consequences for a "critical" criminology, Dario Melossi "community" and governance - a cultural comparison, Nicola Lacey and Lucia Zedner the gang myth, Jack Katz explaining the absence of violence - a comparative approach, Willem de Haan. Part 4 The individual in a dynamic society - challenges and changes: desistance from crime - life history, turning points and implications for theory construction in criminology, Elmar G.M. Weitekamp, Hans-Jurgen Kerner, Wolfgang Stelly and Jurgen Thomas a theory of motivation and the life course, Joan McCord variation, selection and stabilisation - an evolutionary theory of crime and control, Kai-D. Bussmann.

The Connections between Social Support and Women's Physical Activity Involvement: The Cultural Activity Participation Study

Abstract: Cultural influences are often important in shaping women’s approaches to healthy living (Sarto, 1998). The lives of many people of color in American society generally are associated with close family ties and community identification (Keller, 1993). If these assumptions are true, then it may be useful to understand the social dynamics that exist in the lives of African American and American Indian women to better understand health issues related to their participation, or lack of participation, in leisure and physical activities. The purpose of this analysis was to explore the meanings of social support and physical activity as expressed by older African American and American Indian women who participated in the Cultural Activity Participation Study (CAPS). We used a grounded theory approach to analyze data from in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 56 African American and American Indian women in the United States. Based upon the analysis complex social dynamics occurred that both encouraged and...

How Art Education Can Contribute to the Globalisation of Culture

Abstract: This paper begins by defining globalisation and discussing the major issues that globalisation raises in the cultural sphere. This includes the relationships of global culture to national and local cultures, the disorientation caused by the compression of time and space, the characterisation of global culture as Americanisation, and the consumer orientation of global culture. The paper then examines the ways in which art education can contribute to these changing social dynamics. These include a celebration of place, addressing heritage and tourist issues, creating hybrid works, discussing commercial choices, examining one-world images, and creating with one-world technologies.

How the Swans Came to Lake Michigan: The Social Organization of Buddhist Chicago

Abstract: An analysis of the social organization of Buddhist groups and networks in metropolitan Chicago sheds light on the social organization of Buddhism and other new religions in American cities generally. Following an overview of the history and geography of Buddhist Chicago, this essay examines the dynamics underlying the emergence of local Buddhist groups and networks under two main headings: religious identities and sociological factors. First, Buddhism's various branches, traditions, and lineages are discussed; sociological factors discussed include organizational types, ethnic/racial distinctions, sociological functions played by Buddhism for “culture Buddhists” and “convert Buddhists,”and the role of local social dynamics in the emergence, proliferation, and interaction of Buddhist groups. As the field of American Buddhist studies enters a period of renewed productivity, this essay offers a conceptual framework for understanding major issues that can benefit both researchers within the field and interested social scientists outside of it.

'Are you in or are you out?' An exploration of girl friendship groups in the primary phase of schooling

Abstract: This paper explores the emotional and social dynamic of girl's friendship groups in the primary phase of schooling. Previous research by one of the authors suggests that some primary head teachers viewed the particular groupings of girls as providing mutually supportive contexts for group members. Through discussion, interviews and observations of girls and their teachers in years 2, 4 and 6 of three inner city primary schools we aim to provide an insight into the organization of the groups, the rules which govern group membership, and the role groups play in defining the quality and nature of the girls relationships and their social networks at school. We further explore the impact that such social networks have for learning and the role the girls' teachers play in this process.

Critical Theory, Politics and Society: An Introduction

Abstract: From the launch of the Journal of Social Research in 1932 to the recent work of Jurgen Habermas on law and democracy, the Frankfurt School has produced some of the most ambitious and influential theories of the past century. This new introduction to the critical theory of the School provides a thorough, concise and up-to-date assessment of thinkers including Pollock, Marcuse, Horkheimer, Adorno, Neumann, Lowenthal, Fromm, Kirchheimer and Habermas. Peter Stirk's lively account places the formative work of the School within the context of the Weimar Republic and of Nazi Germany. He contrasts this environment with the very different background of 1950s Germany in which Habermas embarked on his academic career. Stirk goes on to discuss the enduring relevance of political theory to the contemporary political agenda. In particular, he illustrates the continuing validity of the Frankfurt School's criticism of positivist, metaphysical and more recently postmodernist views, and its members' attempts to incorporate psychological perspectives into broader theories of social dynamics. He assesses their contribution to key areas of contemporary debate, including morality, interest, individual and collective identity and the analysis of authoritarian and democratic states. Specifically focused on the interests and needs of social scientists, philosophers and historians of ideas, Critical Theory, Politics and Society is an essential book both for students and for all those who wish to grasp the contours of critical theory and to understand its enduring relevance.

Power, Poets and the People: Mozambican Voices Interpreting History

Abstract: (2000). Power, poets and the people: Mozambican voices interpreting history. Social Dynamics: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 55-86.