scholarly journals Why Were Biological Analogies in Economics “A Bad Thing”? Edith Penrose's Battles against Social Darwinism and McCarthyism

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Levallois
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Theory Of The Firm ◽  
Social Darwinism ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Science And Values ◽  
Edith Penrose ◽  
Conservative Bias

ArgumentThe heuristic value of evolutionary biology for economics is still much under debate. We suggest that in addition to analytical considerations, socio-cultural values can well be at stake in this issue. To demonstrate it, we use a historical case and focus on the criticism of biological analogies in the theory of the firm formulated by economist Edith Penrose in postwar United States. We find that in addition to the analytical arguments developed in her paper, she perceived that biological analogies were suspect of a conservative bias – as in social Darwinism. We explain this perception by documenting the broader context of Edith Penrose's personal and professional evolution, from her student days at Berkeley to her defense of Owen Lattimore against McCarthyism. We conclude that in the case under study at least, science and values were certainly intertwined in accounting for her skepticism towards biological analogies – insight we develop in the conclusion about today's relationships between biology and economics.

Evolutionary Biology and Cultural Values: Is It Irremediably Corrupt?

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 43-68
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Predictive Accuracy ◽  
Logical Empiricism ◽  
Epistemic Values ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Science And Values ◽  
The World ◽  
External Consistency ◽  
The Relationship

In recent years, philosophers have come to realize that the relationship between science and values raises questions which are both important and not readily answered. It is true that the major figures in that tradition known as ‘logical empiricism’ appreciated that science always exceeds its empirical grasp and that it is necessary for scientists to be guided and constrained by so-called ‘epistemic values,’ these being values (in the words of one supporter) ‘presumed to promote the truth-like character of science, its character as the most secure knowledge available to us of the world we seek to understand.’ However, these values — such things as internal and external consistency, simplicity, predictive accuracy and fertility, unificatory power (consilience) — were considered special. Inasmuch as they could not be reduced to basic principles of logic — and there were attempts to do this — they were still thought of, in some sense, as beyond the vagaries of human emotion. Their importance was not a function of the individual’s personal inclinations, nor of those of the group, whether this group be understood as a closely knit band of researchers or even up to a complete society.

Documents, Ethics, and the Disability Historian

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Richards ◽  
Susan Burch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rich Source ◽  
Disability History ◽  
Historical Production ◽  
The Invisible

The factors driving research into disability history methodology in its practical dimensions (such as finding and analyzing sources and presenting findings), the cultural values that inform it, and who populates intended audiences all contribute to the invisible infrastructure of historical production. When historians of disability access a rich source of data, they also must ask who created it, who benefited from its preservation, and whose stories are left untold. Sharing knowledge—through preservation and dissemination—equally shapes disability historical work. In all of this, access and accessibility—from built spaces and source types to research aids and scholarly products—remain paramount. Ways to proceed with sensitivity and creativity in the exploration of disabled peoples’ and disability’s pasts are presented from the perspective of the United States.

scholarly journals Questioning Racial and Gender Bias in AI-based Recommendations: Do Espoused National Cultural Values Matter?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjul Gupta ◽  
Carlos M. Parra ◽  
Denis Dennehy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Gender Biases ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
And Gender

AbstractOne realm of AI, recommender systems have attracted significant research attention due to concerns about its devastating effects to society’s most vulnerable and marginalised communities. Both media press and academic literature provide compelling evidence that AI-based recommendations help to perpetuate and exacerbate racial and gender biases. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which individuals might question AI-based recommendations when perceived as biased. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigate the effects of espoused national cultural values on AI questionability, by examining how individuals might question AI-based recommendations due to perceived racial or gender bias. Data collected from 387 survey respondents in the United States indicate that individuals with espoused national cultural values associated to collectivism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are more likely to question biased AI-based recommendations. This study advances understanding of how cultural values affect AI questionability due to perceived bias and it contributes to current academic discourse about the need to hold AI accountable.

The Impact of Gendered Lookism During Employment Stages

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-109
Author(s):  
Cynthia Sims
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Hair Color ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Global Workforce ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Development Professionals ◽  
The Impact

Lookism is preferential treatment of those considered to be attractive and discrimination against those deemed less physically desirable. Value is attached to certain physical characteristics such as skin tone, weight, facial features, and hair color. Two of the phenomena that exist under the umbrella of lookism are colorism and weightism, both of which create social and workplace inequities. There are studies that explore physical appearance discrimination external to and within workplaces in the United States, and an emerging body of literature regarding lookism abroad exists. Some of this research focuses on women's experiences with lookism in the workplace. Since today's global workforce is composed of women from various countries and cultural backgrounds, and their cultural values impact their career aspirations and career opportunities, organizational and career development professionals must understand the implications of both U.S. and global lookism and employ strategies to address and prevent the related issues.

Cultural Communications of Mainland United States-Based Organizations and Their Hawaiian Workforces

2020 ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Erik S. Wright ◽  
Rose Baker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Great Success ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Doing Business

The Hawaiian Islands are a diverse melting pot of people, cultures, and languages that make doing business in the state a unique challenge for organizations based on the mainland United States. While Hawaii is indeed the 50th state in the union, culturally they are more closely aligned with Asia and other Polynesian cultures than the United States as a whole. Doing business in Hawaii can often feel as though one is doing business in a foreign country, a place where one only partially speaks the language. Understanding these cultural differences and shaping communication styles to align with the cultural values of the Hawaiian sub-culture is essential to success for any organization planning to start operations in Hawaii. Through a process of cultural analysis, organizations can more effectively manage change within their operations and engage their Hawaiian workforces with great success.

The Paradox Resolved: A Different Case Study and the Argument Summarized

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel J. G. van Eeten ◽  
Emery Roe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Ecosystem Management ◽  
The United States ◽  
Service Reliability ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Study Approach

From the outset, the book’s chief policy question has resolved around the problem of how to manage. As this was addressed in the preceding chapters, a new question arises: what are the implications for policies governing the meeting of the twofold management goal of restoring ecosystems while maintaining service reliability? This chapter provides our answer to that question by means of a new case study. It sums up the book’s argument and recasts ecosystem management and policy for ecologists, engineers, and other stakeholders. The best way to draw out the policy-relevant ramifications of our framework and the preceding management insights is to apply them to a different ecosystem. The case-study approach has served us well in contextualizing management recommendations without, we believe, compromising their more general application to ecosystem management. Our analysis of the major land-use planning controversy in the Netherlands underscores the wider applicability of this book’s arguments for both management and policy. What follows is put more briefly because it builds on the analysis of and recommendations for the Columbia River Basin, San Francisco Bay-Delta, and the Everglades. Why the Netherlands? There are human-dominated ecosystems substantially different from those found in the United States, many of which are more densely populated. They have nothing remotely like “wilderness,” but instead long histories of constructing and managing “nature.” The Netherlands is one such landscape. Not only is the landscape different, it is also important to note that the context for ecosystem management is set by different political, social, and cultural values. Sustainability is a much more dominant value in the European context than currently in the United States. Case-by-case management, while also appropriate for zones of conflict outside the United States, now has to deal with the fact that there is a tension between its call for case-specific indicators and the use of more general sustainability indicators in Europe. In die Netherlands, for example, sustainable housing projects are designed and assessed not only in terms of specific indicators but also in light of the “factor 20 increase in environmental efficiency” needed to achieve sustainability.

The Noble American Science of Imperial Relations and Its Laws of Race Development

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-42
Author(s):  
Robert Vitalis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
American Science ◽  
The Way

We now know that the ‘birth of the discipline’ of international relations in the United States is a story about empire. The foundations of early international relations theory are set in not just international law and historical sociology but evolutionary biology and racial anthropology. The problem is the way in which scholars today deal with the place of race in the thought of John Hobson, Paul Reinsch, and virtually all other social scientists of the era. The strand of thought that still resonates in our own time about empire, states, and the like is raised up and depicted as the scientific or theoretical core in the scholars’ work, while the strand that involves now archaic racial constructs is downgraded and treated instead as mere ‘language’, ‘metaphors’, and ‘prejudices’ of the era. To undo this error and recover in full the ideas of early international relations theorists it is necessary to bring the work of historians of conservative and reform Darwinism to bear on the first specialists and foundational texts in international relations.

scholarly journals Factors underlying cross-cultural differences in stigma toward autism among college students in Lebanon and the United States

Autism ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1993-2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Gillespie-Lynch ◽  
Nidal Daou ◽  
Maria-Jose Sanchez-Ruiz ◽  
Steven K Kapp ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Knowledge Quality ◽  
Autistic People

Although stigma negatively impacts autistic people globally, the degree of stigma varies across cultures. Prior research suggests that stigma may be higher in cultures with more collectivistic orientations. This study aimed to identify cultural values and other individual differences that contribute to cross-cultural differences in autism stigma (assessed with a social distance scale) between college students in Lebanon ( n = 556) and those in the United States ( n = 520). Replicating prior work, stigma was lower in women than men and in the United States relative to Lebanon. Heightened autism knowledge, quality of contact with autistic people, openness to experience, and reduced acceptance of inequality predicted lower stigma. Collectivism was not associated with heightened stigma. Findings highlight the need to address structural inequalities, combat harmful misconceptions, and foster positive contact to combat stigma.

Hybridity and Identity Performance in Diasporic Context: An Autoethnographic Journey of the Self Across Cultures

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Nziba Pindi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Third Space ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Identity Performance ◽  
Ways Of Being

In this autoethnographic article, I am interested in theorizing about how hybridity illuminates my lived experience of identity performed across cultures, and more specifically in diasporic context, at the intersections of various facets of my selfhood: Black, female, postcolonial, African, bi-tribal, diasporic, immigrant, nonnative English Speaker, “French native speaker,” and so on. I use personal narrative as a locus of subjectivity to recount critical moments of my lived experience as a hybrid subject navigating at the borderlands of two cultural worldviews: Congolese and American. My cross-cultural journey reveals a series of challenging and triumphant episodes from my childhood back home to my life in the United States, a journey during which I have experienced both privilege and oppression. My process of identity construction results in the creation of a third space that celebrates difference through new ways of being, encompassing cultural values from both the United States and the Congo. This process is articulated through different ways of being/not being “American” and/or “African” and just being “different.”

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document