scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers on "Social theory published in 1994"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-method investigation was designed to assess the power of information richness theory, relative to alternative social theories, to explain and predict managers' use of email.
Abstract: As new technologies that support managerial communication become widely used, the question of how and why managers, especially senior managers, use them increases in importance. This paper examines how and why managers use electronic mail. Today, one of the more influential theories of media choice in organization and information science is information richness theory, which has stimulated much empirical research on media selection and has clear implications for how managers should use media. Despite numerous modifications and elaborations, information richness theory remains an individual-level rational choice explanation of behavior, and as such it differs fundamentally from theories that emphasize the social context of managers' communication and media choice behavior. While the weight of informed opinion seems to be shifting toward social theories of media selection and use, much empirical research continues to test individual-level rational choice models. A multi-method investigation was designed to assess the power of information richness theory, relative to alternative social theories, to explain and predict managers' use of email. Managers were found to perceive various media in ways that were relatively consistent with information richness theory, but to use email more and differently than the theory predicted. In particular, effective senior managers were found to use email heavily and even for equivocal communications tasks. These results cannot be explained by information richness theory or by simple modifications of the theory. Rather, they suggest that the adoption, use, and consequences of media in organizations can be powerfully shaped by social processes such as sponsorship, socialization, and social control, which require social perspectives to understand them. These processes can result in differences across organizations and other social units in the patterns of using traditional media like the telephone, but such differences are even more likely for new media, like electronic mail.

1,188 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 1994

693 citations


Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: A Map of the Terrain this paper presents a view from on high of the world from the perspective of Talcott Parsons Varieties of Marxism and the postmodern turn beyond Micro and Macro: Abandoning False Problems.
Abstract: A Map of the Terrain PART ONE: THE VIEW FROM ON HIGH The Legacy of Talcott Parsons Varieties of Marxism PART TWO: WHERE THE ACTION IS Meanings, Situations and Experience Perceiving and Accomplishing PART THREE: BREAKING FREE AND BURNING BRIDGES Foucault and the Postmodern Turn Beyond Micro and Macro: Abandoning False Problems Gidden's Structuration Theory PART FOUR: ONLY CONNECT: FORGING LINKS Linking Agency and Structure and Macro and Micro Habermas's Lifeworld and System Varieties of Dualism New Directions: The Theory of Social Domains

614 citations


MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present two ways to discover truth: the rationalist way and the positive science way, and conclude two stories to tell: one story to tell and another story to explain and understand.
Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction: problems of structure and action 2. Discovering truth: the rationalist way 3. Positive science: the empiricist way 4. Ants, spiders and bees: a third way? 5. Systems and functions 6. Games with rational agents 7. Understanding social action 8. Self and roles 9. Explaining and understanding 10. A value-neutral social science? 11. Rationality and relativism 12. Conclusion: two stories to tell Bibliography Index.

433 citations


01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The authors discusses the living conditions of children in industrial society and presents new theories and interpretations regarding the position of childhood in modern society, in relation to family, economy, politics, time and space, intergenerational relations and demographic developments.
Abstract: This volume discusses the living conditions of children in industrial society, and presents new theories and interpretations regarding the position of childhood in modern society, in relation to family, economy, politics, time and space, intergenerational relations and demographic developments.

388 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesize a diverse set of emerging ideas and approaches to understand better dynamic community-level social processes of prehistoric material culture production, including scale, context, and materiality of technology.
Abstract: Technology is not only the material means of making artifacts, but a dynamic cultural phenomenon embedded in social action, worldviews, and social reproduction. This paper explores the theoretical foundations for an anthropology of technology that is compatible with this definition. Because of its focus on social agency, practice theory provides an appropriate starting point for a social theory of technology. In addition, three other themes require explicit attention: scale, context, and the materiality of technology. Four case studies demonstrate how archaeologists are beginning to take technology beyond its material dimensions, and additional questions are proposed stemming from the theoretical issues raised in the paper. The purpose of this essay is to synthesize a diverse set of emerging ideas and approaches to understand better dynamic community-level social processes of prehistoric material culture production.

383 citations


Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: Turner as mentioned in this paper argues that there is no plausible mechanism by which a "practice" is transmitted or reproduced, and explains why social theory cannot get beyond the stage of constructing fuzzy analogies, and why the standard constructions of the contemporary philosophical problem of relativism depend upon this defective notion.
Abstract: The concept of "practices" whether of representation, of political or scientific traditions, or of organizational culture is central to social theory. In this book, Stephen Turner presents the first analysis and critique of the idea of practice as it has developed in the various theoretical traditions of the social sciences and the humanities. Understood broadly as a tacit understanding "shared" by a group, the concept of a practice has a fatal difficulty, Turner argues: there is no plausible mechanism by which a "practice" is transmitted or reproduced. The historical uses of the concept, from Durkheim to Kripke's version of Wittgenstein, provide examples of the contortions that thinkers have been forced into by this problem, and show the ultimate implausibility of the idea. Turner's conclusion sketches a picture of what happens when we do without the notion of a shared practice, and how this bears on social theory and philosophy. It explains why social theory cannot get beyond the stage of constructing fuzzy analogies, and why the standard constructions of the contemporary philosophical problem of relativism depend upon this defective notion. This first book-length critique of practice theory is sure to stir discussion and controversy in a wide range of fields, from philosophy and science studies to sociology, anthropology, literary studies, and political and legal theory."

362 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1994

303 citations


Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: In this article, Kelly recast the debate in a way that will open it up for further development, by juxtaposing key texts from the two philosophers; it then adds a set of reactions and commentaries by theorists who have taken up the two alternative approaches to power and critique.
Abstract: Which paradigm of critique -- Foucault's or Habermas's -- is philosophically and practically superior, especially with regard to the nature and role of power in contemporary society? In shaping this collection, Michael Kelly has sought to address this question in relation to the ethical, political, and social theory of the past two decades.Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas had only just begun to come to terms with one another's work when Foucault died in 1984; they had even discussed the possibility of a formal debate on "Enlightenment" in the neutral arena of the United States. In the decade since, Habermas and his supporters have continued to respond to Foucault in various ways, but Foucault's followers have not shown as strong an inclination to keep up his side of the dialogue. For this reason an invaluable exchange on the nature and limits of philosophy in the present age has never achieved its full potential.In this anthology Michael Kelly recasts the debate in a way that will open it up for further development. The book starts by juxtaposing key texts from the two philosophers; it then adds a set of reactions and commentaries by theorists who have taken up the two alternative approaches to power and critique. (Two of these essays were written especially for this volume.) The result is a guide for those seeking to understand and build on this important but unfinished debate.Essays by: Michel Foucault. Jurgen Habermas. Axel Honneth. Nancy Fraser. Richard Bernstein. Thomas McCarthy. James Schmidt and Thomas E. Wartenberg. Gilles Deleuze. Jana Sawicki. Michael Kelly.

301 citations


Book
02 Sep 1994
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between social theory and sustainability in an attempt to transend technical rhetoric and embrace a broader understanding of ''nature'' and the qualitative, critical perspective of sociology and allied disciplines challenges the technocentric ''managerialism'' which dominates environmental policy, its discourse and its impact.
Abstract: This book marks a watershed in the social sciences. The qualitative, critical perspective of sociology and allied disciplines challenges the technocentric `managerialism' which dominates environmental policy, its discourse and its impact. The authors explore the relationship between social theory and sustainability in an attempt to transend technical rhetoric and embrace a broader understanding of `nature'.

299 citations



Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: Turner as mentioned in this paper examines the recent debate about orientalism in relation to postmodernism and the process of globalization and provides a profound critique of many of the leading fissures in classical orientalisms.
Abstract: It is often thought that the development of capitalism and the modernization of culture have brought about a profound decline of religious belief and commitment. The history of Christianity in the last two decades appears to be a good illustration of this general process of secularization with the undermining of belief and commitment as Western cultures became industrial and urban. However, in the twentieth century we have seen that Islam continues to be a dominant force in politics and culture not only in the Orient but in Western society. In this challenging study of contemporary social theory, Bryan Turner examines the recent debate about orientalism in relation to postmodernism and the process of globalization. He provides a profound critique of many of the leading fissures in classical orientalism. His book also considers the impact of the notion of the world in sociological theory. These cultural changes and social debates also reflect important change in the status and position of intellecuals in modern culture who are threatened, not only by the levelling of mass culture, but also by the new opportunities posed by postmodernism. He takes a critical view of the role of sociology in these developments and raises important questions about the global role of English intellectuals as a social stratum. Bryan Turner's ability to combine these discussions about religion, politics, culture and intellectuals represents a remarkable integration of cultural analysis in cultural studies.

Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber as mentioned in this paper and the Making of a Sociological Theory Canon: From European Social Theory to American Sociological theory: Talcott Parsons and the Autonomy of Theory.
Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part I: The Enlightenment and the Classical Tradition: The Dream of Reason: 1. Grand Visions: Auguste Comte and Karl Marx. 2. The Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Part II: Disciplining Theory: The Making of a Sociological Theory Canon: 3. From European Social Theory to American Sociological Theory: Talcott Parsons and the Autonomy of Theory. 4. The Triumph of Scientific Theory: Postwar American Sociological Theory and the Abandonment of Public Enlightenment. Part III: Dislodging the Canon: The Reassertion of a Moral Vision of the Human Sciences: 5. Between Science and Politics: The Critical Theory of C. W. Mills, Jurgen Habermas, and Stuart Mill. 6. Knowledge and Power: The French Poststructuralists. 7. The New Social Movements and the Making of New Social Knowledges. 8 Post-Enlightenment Paradigms of Disciplinary Knowledge: Refashioning Sociology for the Twenty-First Century. Epilogue. Bibliographic Essay. Index.

Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The Rise of the Classical Tradition: The Enlightenment and Auguste Comte as discussed by the authors, the Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Max Weber's Ironic Social Theory of Max Weber.
Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I: The Rise of the Classical Tradition:. Introduction. 1. The Idea of a Science of Society: The Enlightenment and Auguste Comte. 2. The Revolutionary Theory of Karl Marx. 3. The Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim. 4. The Ironic Social Theory of Max Weber. Afterword. Part II: Rethinking the Classical Tradition: American Sociology: . Introduction. 5. The Grand Theory of Talcott Parsons and of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. 6. The Scientific Theory of Randall Collins and Peter Blau. 7. The Moral Sociology of C. Wright Mills and Robert Bellah. Afterword. Part III: Rethinking the Classical Tradition: European Theory:. Introduction. 8. The Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas. 9. Stuart Hall and British Cultural Studies. 10. The Critical Sociology of Anthony Giddens and Pierre Bourdieu. Afterword. Part IV: Revisions and Revolts: The Postmodern Turn:. Introduction. 11. Post-Structural Theory: Jacques Derrida, Jean-Francois Lyotard, and Jean Baudrillard. 12. Michel Foucault's Disciplinary Society. 13. Zygmunt Bauman's Sociology of Postmodernity. Afterword. Part V: Revisions and Revolts: Identity Politics and Theory: . Introduction. 14. Feminist and Gender Theory. 15. Critical Race Theory. 16. Lesbian, Gay, and Queer Theory. 17. Colonial Discourse Studies. Afterword. Part VI: Revisions and Revolts: Theories of World Order: . Introduction. 18. From Nation to Global Order: David Held and Mary Kaldor. 19. Global Capitalism: Immanuel Wallerstein and Manuel Castells. 20. The Return of Empire? Hardt and Negri, Harvey, Mann. Epilogue: Social Theory Today. Index

BookDOI
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The postmodern condition Jean-Francois Lyotard as mentioned in this paper and post-structuralism in sociological theory have been studied in the context of postmodernism and feminism.
Abstract: 1. The postmodern condition Jean-Francois Lyotard 2. Genealogy and social criticism Michel Foucault 3. Method, social science, and social hope Richard Rorty 4. The new cultural politics of difference Cornel West 5. A manifesto for Cyborgs: science, technology, and socialist feminism in the 1980s Donna Haraway 6. The end of sociological theory Steven Seidman 7. The theoretical subject(s) of This Bridge Called My Back and Anglo-American feminism Norma Alarcon 8. Contingent foundations: feminism and the question of postmodernism Judith Butler 9. Subjectivity and social analysis Renato Rosaldo 10. Is there a postmodern sociology? Zygmunt Bauman 11. On ethnographic allegory James Clifford 12. Rhetoric, textuality, and the postmodern turn in sociological theory Richard Brown 13. Social criticism without philosophy: an encounter between feminism and postmodernism Nancy Fraser and Linda Nicholson 14. Post-structuralism and sociology Charles Lemert 15. Deconstructing equality-versus-difference: or, the uses of poststructuralist theory for feminism Joan Scott 16. The plague of discourse: politics, literary theory, and AIDS Lee Edelman.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the differentiation of history and theory, and the notion of the past and the rise of social history in the context of social change and the convergence of theory and history.
Abstract: * Preface *1 THEORISTS AND HISTORIANS * A Dialogue of the Deaf * The Differentiation of History and Theory * The Dismissal of the Past * The Rise of Social History * The Convergence of Theory and History *2 MODELS AND METHODS * Comparisons * Models * Quantitative Methods * The Social Microscope *3 CENTRAL CONCEPTS * Roles and Performances * Sex and Gender * Family and Kinship * Communities and Identities * Class and Status * Social Mobility and Social Distinction * Consumption and Exchange * Social and Cultural Capital * Patrons and Clients * Power and the Public Sphere * Centres and Peripheries * Hegemony and Resistance * Social Protest and Social Movements * Mentalities, Ideologies, Discourses * Communication and Reception * Postcolonialism and Cultural Hybridity * Orality and Textuality * Memory and Myth *4 CENTRAL PROBLEMS * Rationality versus Relativism * Concepts of Culture * Consensus versus Conflict * Facts versus Fictions * Structures versus Agents * Functionalism * The Example of Venice * Structuralism * The Return of the Actor *5 SOCIAL THEORY AND SOCIAL CHANGE * Spencera s Model * Marxa s Model * A Third Way? * Essays in Synthesis * Patterns of Population * Patterns of Culture * Encounters * The Importance of Events * Generations *6 POSTMODERNITY AND POSTMODERNISM * Destabilization * Cultural Constructions * Decentering * Beyond Eurocentrism? * Globalization * To Conclude * Bibliography * Index

Book
27 May 1994
TL;DR: Hardimon as mentioned in this paper provides an authoritative account of Hegel's social philosophy at a level that presupposes no specialised knowledge of the subject, and explores the concept of reconciliation in detail and discusses Hegel's views on the relationship between individuality and social membership, and on the family, civil society and the state.
Abstract: This book provides an authoritative account of Hegel's social philosophy at a level that presupposes no specialised knowledge of the subject. Hegel's social theory is designed to reconcile the individual with the modern social world. Michael Hardimon explores the concept of reconciliation in detail and discusses Hegel's views on the relationship between individuality and social membership, and on the family, civil society, and the state. The book is an important addition to the string of major studies of Hegel published by Cambridge. It will interest a broad swathe of readers in philosophy, (both students and specialists), and could be used in courses on political and social theory.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present feminist standpoint theory as an alternative epistemology for social work practice and research, which provides an alternative approach to knowledge justification and "good science" and leads to a resolution of the seeming contradiction between the need for relevance and the commitment to rigor in professional practice.
Abstract: The dialectic of relevance and rigor symbolizes the tension between social work practitioners and researchers. Social work practitioners want professional research to be relevant, to contribute to the understanding of human behavior in the social environment, and to improve practice effectiveness. Social work researchers want professional research to be rigorous and to meet the highest standards of science. And, of course, some social workers want both. Yet definitions of "good science" seem to preclude that possibility. During the first half of this century, social work embraced psychoanalysis and the scientific method of the natural sciences in an effort to achieve professional status and credibility. Social work research methods were adopted from the social and natural sciences. For many social workers, the predominant paradigm in the definition of knowledge building and research is descended from the logical positivism of the beginning of the 20th century (Wood, 1990). The positivist philosophy and its approach to scientific activity rest on several key philosophical assumptions. Three in particular are problematic for social work: (1) the claim of value-free scientific activity, (2) the requirement of subject-object separation, and (3) definitions of scientific objectivity. It is time that social work enact a commitment to the development of an epistemology and research consonant with its unique professional character. This article presents feminist standpoint theory as an alternative epistemology for social work practice and research. Feminist standpoint theory provides a vehicle to move social work research and practice toward a synthesis of relevance and rigor. This theory provides an alternative approach to knowledge justification and "good science" and leads to a resolution of the seeming contradiction between the need for relevance and the commitment to rigor in professional practice and research. The following discussion builds on the work of social scientists Mary McCanney Gergen (1988), Kenneth J. Gergen (1988), Sandra Harding (1987, 1991), and Joyce McCarl Nielsen (1990). Beliefs and Conflicts Value-Free Scientific Activity Logical positivism asserts the possibility of value-free theory and science based on the use of the senses and reason. Knowledge for knowledge's sake is believed to be both desirable and possible. But in the 1960s, critics of science discovered that those in charge of the neutral sciences were overwhelmingly white, male, and privileged occupants of positions in advanced industrialized society (Rose, 1983). The sciences are inextricably part of the social order that supports them. Hubbard (1988) called our attention to the political, value-laden nature of scientific activity in her assertion that "the pretense that science is apolitical and value neutral is profoundly political because it obscures the political role that science and technology play in underwriting the existing distribution of power in society. . . . Science and technology always operate in somebody's interest". In societies where power is organized hierarchically (by class, culture, or gender), there is no possibility of an impartial, disinterested, value-neutral perspective. Social work's commitment to value-directed actions stands in contrast to positivist commitments to value-free endeavors. A profession that prides itself on a humanitarian value base cannot rely on a research grounded in the assertion that its methods can and should strip values from its work and findings. From its inception, social work research has been an applied research. The profession's commitment to practical ends requires that social work researchers possess an acute awareness of the value-laden potentials of the process and products of our science. Social work practitioners more readily become involved with research activities that honor the profession's commitment to client empowerment and social transformation. …

Book
28 Apr 1994
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the control of religious knowledge in north-east Arnhem Land, primarily from the point of view of Yolngu men, and discuss the effect of post-colonial social and religious changes on power relations, especially on the power of older men.
Abstract: This book describes the control of religious knowledge in north-east Arnhem Land, primarily from the point of view of Yolngu men. Ian Keen examines the framing of religious forms and the control of the dissemination of knowledge in three contexts: age and gender relations; among social networks centred on patrifilial group identity; and in relationships with people of a wider region, including the use of more universal symbols such as those from Christianity to forge links with non-Aboriginal community. He concludes by discussing the effect of post-colonial social and religious changes on Yolngu power relations, especially on the power of older men, which had its basis in the control of secret religious knowledge. Yolngu religious practice is constituted in indeterminacy and ambiguity; people co-operate in enacting common religious forms while interpreting those forms differently. Dr Keen draws on recent post-structuralist social theory to discuss this heterogeneity of culture and practice. It is, he argues, the pervasive indeterminacy and contestability of meaning that makes it possible to conceptualize the embedding of north-east Arhem Land social life in wider social formations, while recognizing the relativity of Yolngu perspectives on social and religous reality.


Book
28 Oct 1994
TL;DR: This book discusses socializing Epistemology through two sample issues: Belief-Forming Practices and the Social and the Justification of Group Beliefs.
Abstract: Chapter 1 Socializing Epistemology: An Introduction Through Two Sample Issues Chapter 2 Belief-Forming Practices and the Social Chapter 3 Egoism in Epistemology Chapter 4 Speaking of Ghosts Chapter 5 A Conservative Approach to Social Epistemology Chapter 6 Contrasting Conceptions of Social Epistemology Chapter 7 The Fate of Knowledge in Social Theories of Science Chapter 8 Good Arguments Chapter 9 Accuracy in Journalism: An Economic Approach Chapter 10 A More Social Epistemology Chapter 11 Remarks on Collective Belief Chapter 12 The Justification of Group Beliefs Chapter 13 Bibliography

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the utility of applying selected elements of social learning theory to the examination of youth gangs and found that the social learning perspective provided considerable insights into gang membership and self-reported gang involvement and gang-related delinquency.
Abstract: Social learning theory has been applied to a wide variety of criminal, delinquent, and deviant behavior. The current study examines the utility of applying selected elements of the theory to the examination of youth gangs. The subjects consist of a stratified random sample of male and female 9th-grade public school students living in a southwestern state. Following the logic of Akers' variant of social learning theory, we ask the following question: To what extent are attitudes toward gangs and gang activity, social reinforcers and punishers, and differential associations linked to self-reported gang involvement and gang-related delinquency? We found that the social learning perspective provided considerable insights into gang membership. Our analysis of group-context offending was related to both social learning theory and gang membership. Other forms of self-reported delinquency, however, while linked to social learning theory, were unrelated to gang membership. These findings portend significant theore...

Journal ArticleDOI
Nigel Parton1
TL;DR: The authors argue that modern social work emerged in a period of "welfarism" which has now passed and that as a consequence social work has not simply been restructured in the era of neo-liberalism but is exposed as an activity particularly concerned with managing family life via the exercising of moral judgements and negotiating responsibilities.
Abstract: This paper attempts to locate contemporary developments and tensions in social work within current debates in social theory concerning the problematics of government and (post) modernity. It argues that modern social work emerged in a period of ‘welfarism’ which has now passed and that as a consequence social work has not simply been restructured in the era of neo-liberalism but is exposed as an activity particularly concerned with managing family life via the exercising of moral judgements and negotiating responsibilities. As a consequence the essential ambiguities of social work are more self evident than previously, and rather than constituting problems to be overcome, articulate the central elements of what it is to do social work. The article concludes by, tentatively, outlining the implications of such an analysis and how it may help us to understand what is going on and how we might proceed

Book
01 Mar 1994
TL;DR: AIDS as news analyzing news the early years ofAIDS reporting the "Grim Reaper" period of AIDS reporting AIDS reporting in 1990 AIDS, textuality and ideology.
Abstract: Since 1981, AIDS has had an enormous impact upon the popular imagination. Few other diseases this century have been greeted with quite the same fear, loathing, and prejudice against those who develop it. The mass media, and in particular, the news media, have played a vital part in "making sense" of AIDS. This volume takes an interdisciplinary perspective, combining cultural studies, history of medicine, and contemporary social theory to examine AIDS reporting. There have been three major themes dominating coverage: the "gay-plague" dominant in the early 1980s, panic-stricken visions of the end of the world as AIDS was said to pose a threat to everyone, in the late 1980s; and a growing routinising of coverage in the 1990s. This book lays bare the sub-textual ideologies giving meaning to AIDS news reports, including anxieties about pollution and contagion, deviance, bodily control, the moral meanings of risk, the valorisation of drugs and medical science. Drawing together the work of cultural and politicaltheorists, sociologists and historians who have written about medicine, disease and the body, as well as that of theorists in Europe and the USA who have focused their attention specificaiiy on AIDS, this book explores the wide theoretical debate about the importance of language in the social construction of illness and disease. This text offers insights into the sociocultural context in which attitudes towards people with HIV or AIDS and people's perceptions of risk from HIV infection are developed and the responses of governments to the AIDS epidemic are formulated.

Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: In this paper, a Recursive Theory of Communication (ROC) is proposed for the mediation of social worlds in a post-mass media world, with a focus on messages, meaning, and discourse.
Abstract: Notes on Contributors. Acknowlegements. Communication in a Post--Mass Media World: David Crowley and David Mitchell. Part I: Communication and the Mediation of Social Worlds:. 1. Social Theory and the Media: John B Thompson. 2. Medium Theory: Joshua Meyrowitz. 3. A Recursive Theory of Communication: Klaus Krippendorff. Part II: Messages, Meanings, Discourse:. 4. Discourse and Cognition in Society: Teun A Van Dijk. 5. Risk Communication and Public Knowledge: William Leiss. 6.Talk, Text and History: Conversation Analysis and Communication Theory: Deidre Boden. Part III: Contingency, Reflexivity, Post--Modernity:. 7. The Mode of Information and Postmodernity: Mark Poster. 8. In the Realm of Uncertainty: The Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity: Ien Ang. 9. By Whose Authority? Accounting for Taste in Contemporary Popular Culture: James M Collins. Part IV: Communication and Public Interests:. 10. Mass Communication and the Public Interest: Denis McQuail. 11. Electronic Networks, Social Relations and the Changing Structure of Knowledge: William Melody. 12. Communication and Development: Majid Tehranian. Index.

Book
24 Feb 1994
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that blind faith in the law as a beneficent agent of social change is misplaced and that not only does the liberal commitment to individualism undermine the communal or class-based nature of discrimination but the legal culture itself operates to uphold the power of the socially superior.
Abstract: Anti-discrimination legislation represents a halting step towards recognition by the state that women and minority groups (Aborigines, migrants, gays, people with a disability and those espousing unpopular religious and political views) constitute underclasses in our society. This study attempts to show that blind faith in the law as a beneficent agent of social change is misplaced. Not only does the liberal commitment to individualism undermine the communal or class-based nature of discrimination, but the legal culture itself operates to uphold the power of the socially superior. The author describes how such a subversive result can be achieved through the application of the ostensibly neutral principles of legal doctrine. Within a broad contextual framework and focusing on the Australian experience, this work examines the innovative substance and procedure associated with equal opportunity practices. In the conclusion, this critique of liberalism in action contemplates the implications of communitarian social theory for women and minority groups and finds that it is also likely to be wanting.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The contemporary theorist who has come nearest to carrying out a Weberian project with respect to the analysis of organizations, without acknowledging that this was so, was Foucault.
Abstract: Weber, credited with having founded organization theory, did so inadvertently, as the study of the ideal type of bureaucracy. A contrary interpretation suggests organization analysis would be a branch of cultural studies with the analysis of values at its core.The contemporary theorist who has come nearest to carrying out a Weberian project with respect to the analysis of organizations, without acknowledging that this was so, was Foucault. Foucault's imputed foundations for the analysis of organizations bring into effect two liberations from the Weberian legacy. The first liberation is from analysis of organizations principally as structure, the predominant interpretation of Weber in the literature. The second liberation is not to lapse into the obverse of the structuralist view, a perspective that seeks to interpret individuals through the practice of verstehende. Structural analysis has no truck with individuals and their subjectivity, unless these become privileged by being embedded in strategically po...