Teaching and Taking: A Seminar on Cultural Theory

1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5
Author(s):  
Aaron Wildavsky

The proposal and syllabus that follow are primarily concerned with the content of a seminar on cultural theory. I would like to preface these materials by saying a bit about teaching.Because of the vast confusion surrounding the concept of culture, a seminar is an ideal place to work on clarification.The version of cultural theory being discussed departs from ordinary modes of thought and raises many questions, albeit in a more political direction: What sort of people, organized into which cultures, would act in certain ways (accept or reject blame, tax and spend high or low, participate a little or a lot, etc.) in order to do what matters most to them—support their way of life and discomfort their opponents? Hence time for questions in the seminar is essential. Hours and hours of discussion do more to straighten out thought than any amount of reading.Application of this cultural theory is also essential. Doing is different than thinking. I have found that 1,000-word essays on such subjects as the Comanche Indians (competitive individualists to the core) or the Khmer Rouge (radical egalitarians) enable seminar members to come to grips with the theories they are trying out. Immersion in this material, bolstered by continuous discussion, sharpened by several short applications, greatly facilitates writing a research paper. The idea is to take a paper already written, or about to be written, derive a problem from it, and see how one cultural theory compares to others.

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Tushar Kadian

Actually, basic needs postulates securing of the elementary conditions of existence to every human being. Despite of the practical and theoretical importance of the subject the greatest irony is non- availability of any universal preliminary definition of the concept of basic needs. Moreover, this becomes the reason for unpredictability of various political programmes aiming at providing basic needs to the people. The shift is necessary for development of this or any other conception. No labour reforms could be made in history till labours were treated as objects. Its only after they were started being treating as subjects, labour unions were allowed to represent themselves in strategy formulations that labour reforms could become a reality. The present research paper highlights the basic needs of Human Rights in life.


AJS Review ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-171
Author(s):  
Gidon Rothstein

Marc Shapiro puts an explicit contemporary context on this remarkable collection of sources that disagreed with one part or other of Maimonides' Thirteen Principles—the beliefs Maimonides asserted were absolutely necessary to be considered a believing Jew and to attain the World to Come. By showing the extent to which past authors disagreed with those Principles, Shapiro seeks to debunk assertions by contemporary writers that place those Principles at the core of Orthodox belief.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Marinelli ◽  
Andreas Mayer

ArgumentAnimals played an important role in the formation of psychoanalysis as a theoretical and therapeutic enterprise. They are at the core of texts such as Freud's famous case histories of Little Hans, the Rat Man, or the Wolf Man. The infantile anxiety triggered by animals provided the essential link between the psychology of individual neuroses and the ambivalent status of the “totem” animal in so-called primitive societies in Freud's attempt to construct an anthropological basis for the Oedipus complex in Totem and Taboo. In the following, we attempt to track the status of animals as objects of indirect observation as they appear in Freud's classical texts, and in later revisionist accounts such as Otto Rank's Trauma of Birth and Imre Hermann's work on the clinging instinct. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Freudian conception of patients' animal phobias is substantially revised within Hermann's original psychoanalytic theory of instincts which draws heavily upon ethological observations of primates. Although such a reformulation remains grounded in the idea of “archaic” animal models for human development, it allows to a certain extent to empiricize the speculative elements of Freud's later instinct theory (notably the death instinct) and to come to a more embodied account of psychoanalytic practice.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Ikram ul Haq ◽  
Dr. Aqeel Ahmed

The concept of nation state presented by the West at its core is the idea of humanism. In which man was given a central position and freed from the concept of God. Denied everything that was not observed. Therefore, man expelled religion in all matters of life. The logical consequence of which was that the head of human unity was scattered. The slogan of nationalism was used to unite man in the struggle for unity. Which eventually manifested itself in the formation of nation-states the western colonial powers ruled the world in the form of the United Nations change the way of life in the Western World and especially in Muslim society. Which has a profound effect on the Islamic system of government. Islam envisioned divine sovereignty in the system of government. Today the Muslim rulers have forgotten it, and the Western system considered its survival in democracy. The article explains what the core concern of the nation state and Islamic Government is and whether it is based on its own ideas in modern times has been considered.


Author(s):  
Giovanna Borradori

As the processes of globalization transform cities into nodes of accumulation of financial and symbolic capital, it is fair to assume that urban contexts have never been more vulnerable to the systemic imperatives of the market. It is thus surprising that cities continue to be the site where the deepest social and political transformations come to the surface. What, then, preserves the city as a space of dissent? The claim of this chapter is that a critical reflection on the political agency of Northern and Southern cities has to start from asking what it means today to occupy the pavement of their streets. The argument explored here is that, in this age of molecular neoliberal encroachment and restructuring, it is a certain experience of dispossession, rather than the quest for identification and recognition, that makes the city the core of a shared experience of refuge and resistance.


Author(s):  
Neeta Baporikar

Attempts have been made for long to classify tourists by activities, interests and opinions (AIOs), by values and even, typology of the tourist based on personality characteristics. Pearce (1993) observes, tourist motivation is in fact “discretionary, episodic, future oriented, dynamic, socially influenced, and evolving” with “attitudes, behavioural intentions, values, preferences, beliefs, needs, and goals thereby presenting spaghetti of overlapping and interlocking concepts”. This research paper is a case study of how ‘Club Mahindra Holidays' flagship brand of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd., (MHRIL) started in 1996, has been successful in motivating tourism in general and in India in particular. It also attempts to understand how tourism is based on motivating theories and draw lessons for evolving successful tourism strategies based on the core values such as Reliability, Trust and Customer Satisfaction. The case study will enable tourism organizations to adopt best practices, strategize well for success and contribute to economic development in this era of globalization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Vyas ◽  
Sachin Gupta

The core aim of this research paper is to analyze the challenges faced by an E-commerce industry in India. The Indian Economy is proliferating day by day and E- commerce industry is playing an imperative and laudable role in its progress. Still there are enormous sectors that have been untouched by an E-commerce industry in India, particularly in its rural areas. Many consumers in India still follow the traditional purchasing method. Unfortunately, altering customer perception of online shopping has been quite a tough task for the E-commerce industry. According to a survey, India is ranked fourth in the world for its number of Internet users. So, it is expected that India would come into the top 10 E-commerce hub by 2020. Indian buyers are afraid to use new technology in its Initial stage. But, if an E-commerce company could provide proper feedback and knowledge to its customers for online purchasing, it would directly help to increase the sales of the E-commerce websites. This research paper gives a theoretical contribution for analyzing the hurdles in front of the E-commerce industry.


Author(s):  
Sugihana Sembiring ◽  
Rosita Ginting

Changing Karo language into a modern written language is certainly not an easy matter. Karo society does not want to be involved to improve, develop, and preserve the Karo language. Therefore, in this research we will examine the role of surat ukat in Karo Singalor Lau Karo District. Surat ukat can serve as a way of life in every action in Karonese life so that people can live harmonious and peacefully. The method that used in this research is descriptive method and interview. The theory that used is cultural theory.  This study describes about the role of surat ukat in the Karo community Singalor Lau  Karo District can be distinguished on: surat ukat in deeds, surat ukat in thoughts, surat ukat in the household and surat ukat for students.  From the results above, can be concluded that the Karo people have surat ukat as a guide to life in sangkep geluh in ancient times, while in the present, the younger generation is rarely know and use the surat ukat. We suggest the Karo community to life their daily life based on surat ukat so that they can live in harmony and good.


2020 ◽  
pp. 171-179
Author(s):  
Antti Pirhonen ◽  
Rebekah Rousi

Recent decades have revealed that the digital educational technology that is expected to revolutionise schooling for generations to come, is fraught with challenges. One major challenge is that educational systems vastly vary between cultures and countries. The differences start from the conceptualisation of education and school. It is, therefore, quite inaccurate to handle education as a universal concept. In this article the authors evade generalisation by discussing the use of mobile technology in the schools of one single, relatively homogenous nation: Finland. The backbone of their analysis is the core national curriculum of basic education. The appropriateness of mobile technology in the school context is reflected upon through the objectives and ethos of basic education. The conclusions are discussed in terms of their contribution to the understanding of the use culture of mobile technology.


2020 ◽  
pp. 019145372093192
Author(s):  
Felix Bender

Who should be recognized as a refugee? This article seeks to uncover the normative arguments at the core of legal and philosophical conceptions of refugeehood. It identifies three analytically distinct approaches grounding the right to refugee status and argues that all three are normatively inadequate. Refugee status should neither be grounded in individual persecution for specific reasons (classical approach) nor in individual persecution for any discriminatory reasons (human rights approach). It should also not be based solely on harm (humanitarian approach). Rather, this article argues, it should be based on political oppression – on persons lacking public autonomy, formally expressed as a lack of legal–political status. The normative foundation for a claim to refugee status lies in the inability of a person to control, amend and seek recourse to the specific situation she faces. It lies in the lack of public autonomy expressed as a lack of legal–political rights. What matters for a claim to refugee status is thus the legal–political disenfranchisement of a person, ultimately leaving her with no recourse to the particular situation she faces other than flight. Refugees, then, are not only those who fear harm or persecution, but those who are politically oppressed.


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