Individual Choice and the Structures of History

Author(s):  
Harvey Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Cameron McKay

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century penologists began to explore the possibility that environment and upbringing, as opposed to individual choice, were the causes criminality. The Prison Commissioners for Scotland, the devolved body who administered prisons north of the border, were not immune to this wider trend. Smith has argued that from the 1890s onwards the Commissioners began to accept that criminality was caused by social problems, namely alcoholism, but also parental neglect, poor education and poverty. In their efforts to test these new criminological theories, the Commissioners began to make more careful enquiries into the backgrounds of their charges. From 1896 to 1931 the Commissioners interviewed a sample of prisoners each year and included the findings in their annual report. Although the main focus of these interviews was on the upbringing and drinking habits of prisoners; by the 1900s the Commissioners seem to have added irreligion to the growing list of etiological causes of crime, and from 1903 onwards prisoners were asked to give details on their religious habits. Although it is debateable how much the Prison Commissioners revealed about the relationship between religion and crime, they did however provide a useful insight into the religiosity of the average prisoner.


Author(s):  
Avi Max Spiegel

This chapter argues that young Islamists' constructions of authority are complex and multilayered. They have personalized religious authority by circulating it away from a single reading of a single figure, even one as supposedly central as their “guide.” They have re-appropriated and reconfigured the organization Yassine once established and the scope and the range of the guide's substantive reach. They have even re-appropriated Yassine's memory. From spiritual guide to secular politician, the roles assigned to the head of their organization are constructed to fit their own desires, and, in so doing, they preserve and embrace individual choice, making room for multiple voices within their movement.


Author(s):  
Maulana Akbar Shah @ U Tun Aung ◽  
Mohammed Farid Ali ◽  
Muhammad Adil Khan Afridi

Abstract Since the number of intricate problems with regard to peace and security faced by mankind on our sphere has been greater than what they can bear, the survival of human race on earth becomes a significant priority to be contemplated. Despite hard work and continued effort rendered by many experts, they face more serious issues and their resolutions are far from reality. It is because, in the author’s mind, rights and responsibilities are not properly observed. Particularly, in the area of religion people have lack of respecting the right of others and most of the times they are irresponsible. Every individual has their own choices according to their culture and belief which may not be acceptable to others. If every individual allows others to enjoy at their own choice while observing his own belief and tradition, we all can live in this world peacefully. This concept of living together with individual choice while respecting other’s choice may be called the concept of “agree to disagree” according to the author’s work. This ideology, which is yet to be well observed in our society, can surely replace violence with peaceful co-existence in the multi-religious and multi-cultural societies.   Keywords: Agree to Disagree, Mankind, Religious Dispute, Multi-Cultural Societies, peaceful Co-Existence. Abstrak Sejak masalah berkaitan dengan keharmonian dan keselamatan yang dialami manusia melebihi yang boleh ditanggung, kehidupan manusia di dunia ini menjadi satu keutamaan  yang perlu dipertimbangkan. Walaupun banyak usaha dan langkah diambil oleh pihak pakar, mereka mengalami masalah lain yang lebih serius dan resolusi mereka adalah jauh dari matlamat. Ini kerana, dalam minda pengarang, hak dan tanggungjawab tidak diperhatikan dengan betul. Terutamanya dalam hal agama, orang kekurangan kehormatan terhadap hak orang lain dan kebanyakkannya adalah tidak bertanggungjawab. Setiap individu mempunyai kepercayaan dan hak masing-masing yang tidak boleh diterima oleh yang lain. Jika setiap individu membenarkan yang lain untuk mempunyai kepercayaan dan hak masing-masing, manusia semua boleh hidup dengan aman. Konsep ini boleh dipanggil sebagai konsep “setuju untuk tidak bersetuju” menurut kajian pengarang. Ideologi ini, yang masih belum diperhatikan dengan sepenuhnya dalam masyarakat kita, pasti boleh menggantikan keganasan dengan kehidupan aman bersama dalam masyarakat berbilang kaum dan budaya. Kata Kunci: Setuju untuk Tidak Bersetuju, Manusia, Pertikaian Agama, Masyarakat Berbilang Agama, Kehidupan Aman Bersama.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bacharach
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Gordon Moore ◽  
John A. Quelch ◽  
Emily Boudreau

Chapter 2 asks the critical question of whether healthcare is different from other consumer-driven markets. In the past, many pushed back on the notion that healthcare could be a consumer-driven industry, arguing that it is fundamentally different from other markets. This chapter acknowledges and reviews these critiques, highlighting four areas that might present challenges to increasing consumer choice in healthcare: the special relationship between doctor and patient, ethics and morality, individual choice versus collective benefit, and the health consequences of consumer choice. In doing so, this chapter also presents a schematic for thinking about the different types of healthcare choices, arguing that not all choices are equal and consumers may be more prepared to make decisions in some areas as opposed to others. In presenting the counterargument to consumer choice, this chapter asks the reader to consider the drawbacks and potential limitations of consumer choice in healthcare.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 310
Author(s):  
Alicia Izharuddin

What accounts for the endurance of forced marriage (kahwin paksa) narratives in Malaysian public culture? How does one explain the ways popular fascination with forced marriage relate to assumptions about heteronormative institutions and practices? In a society where most who enter into marriages do so based on individual choice, the enduring popularity of forced marriage as a melodramatic trope in fictional love stories suggests an ambivalence about modernity and egalitarianism. This ambivalence is further excavated by illuminating the intertextual engagement by readers, publishers and booksellers of Malay romantic fiction with a mediated discourse on intimacy and cultural practices. This article finds that forced marriage in the intimate publics of Malay romance is delivered as a kind of melodramatic mode, a storytelling strategy to solve practical problems of experience. Intertextual narratives of pain and struggle cast light on ‘redha’ (submission to God’s will) and ‘sabar’ (patience), emotional virtues that are mobilised during personal hardship and the challenge of maintaining successful marital relations. I argue that ‘redha’ and ‘sabar’ serve as important linchpins for the reproduction of heteronormative institutions and wifely obedience (taat). This article also demonstrates the ways texts are interwoven in the narratives about gender roles, intimacy, and marital success (or lack thereof) and how they relate to the modes of romantic melodrama.


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