Porters, Beggars, and Noblemen: The Social Construction of Political Power in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Rome

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (03) ◽  
pp. 487-510
Author(s):  
Eleonora Canepari

Employing Norbert Elias’s notion of figuration and referring to models based on the relational nature of power (patron-client, entrepreneur and big-man relationships), this article highlights how the relationship between the elite and the lower classes played a crucial role in the establishment of local power in Rome. The high degree of social mobility amongst the Roman elite made the neighborhood a politically open space: an official list of the aristocracy’s members was not available until the eighteenth century, and the Statute of Rome (1580) simply defined eligible candidates for local offices as “illustrious men of the neighborhood.” In this context, strong territorial connections were key when it came to gaining local power. An interconnected network of relationships linked the lower classes and noble families vertically. Through judicial sources, notarial records, and account books, this article presents the highly personalized nature of exchanges between the elite and the lower classes in addition to the complex web of economic transactions and social relations which was essential to creating a local network of clients.

1983 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Tutino

This essay explores the social relations within a landed elite—the dominant class in eighteenth-century Mexico. It aims to outline the nature of the powers that sustained that elite, to determine who directly exercised those powers, and to detail the relations between those pivotal powerholders and the remaining majority of elite class members. My primary concern, then, is the relationship between elite power and class membership.That, in turn, brings atttention to the roles of elite men and women, and the relations between them. Powerholders were usually men while class membership was shared equally between men and women. Was the internal structure of the elite thus based on sexual stratification? Were men able to be powerful and thus wealthy, while women could be wealthy only through subordination to a powerful man? To a great extent, that was true. But the majority of men within the Mexican elite were also wealthy while subordinate to a powerful man. And in a few notable cases, elite women exercised great power while men and women lived as their dependents. Sex was not the only principle of stratification among late colonial Mexican elites. Rather, sexual differentiation interacted with inequalities primarily based on economic power. This essay attempts to study the relations between economic power and sexual differentiation to approach an understanding of life within the late colonial landed elite in Mexico.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Endang Kumala Ratih ◽  
Anik Juwariyah

<p><em>Nowadays social relations in a society are less aware of, be it with nature, society, and society with God, especially in today's young people who are mostly influenced by digital technology that is growing very rapidly and is inherent in life which makes them very focused with cellphones and indirectly make them individualistic creatures. Through this article, the writer hopes to provide insight, especially to young people, that awareness of social relations is needed that can be realized through culture. The relationship between humans and God, humans and nature, and humans with each other has indirectly formed a social relationship, such as the Karo traditional ceremony, which is worship of the spirits of the ancestors in which there are several rituals as an expression of gratitude for a good harvest. . The Karo Day traditional ceremony involves village communities, one of which is in Tosari Village. The relationship between society and God, society and nature, society and each other, which is formed from the implementation of the Karo Day traditional ceremony, indirectly has a social relationship. This relationship was investigated using the social construction approach of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann. Data collection includes: 1) observation, by looking at the phenomena that are directly or indirectly related to the subject and object of research; 2) interview with the perpetrator; and 3) literature study and documents in the form of photos. The results of this study indicate that traditional ceremonies have an important role in maintaining and forming a social relationship. The Karo traditional ceremony is carried out every year by the Tengger tribe who believe in their ancestors, making a community that is full of tolerance, and adheres to values.</em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><strong><em>Karo Traditional Ceremony, Tengger Tribe Community, Social Construction</em></strong><strong><em></em></strong></p><h2> </h2><p><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p>Pada jaman sekarang hubungan sosial dalam suatu masyarakat kurang disadari, baik itu dengan alam, masyarakat sesamanya, dan masyarakat dengan Tuhan, khususnya dilingkungan anak muda jaman sekarang yang kebanyakan sudah terpengaruh oleh tekonologi digital yang berkembang sangat pesat dan melekat dalam kehidupan yang menjadikan mereka sangat terfokus dengan handphone dan secara tidak langsung menjadikan mereka makhluk individualis. Melalui artikel ini penulis berharap dapat memberikan wawasan khususnya kepada anak muda bahwa diperlukan kesadaran tentang hubungan sosial yang dapat direalisasikan melalui kebudayaan. Hubungan manusia dengan Tuhan, manusia dengan alam, dan manusia dengan sesamanya secara tidak langsung telah membentuk sebuah hubungan sosial, seperti pada upacara adat Hari Raya Karo yang merupakan pemujaan terhadap roh para leluhur yang didalamnya terdapat beberapa ritual sebagai pengungkapan rasa syukur atas hasil panen yang bagus. Upacara adat Hari Raya Karo melibatkan masyarakat desa, salah satunya didesa Tosari. Hubungan antara masyarakat dengan Tuhan, masyarakat dengan alam, masyarakat dengan sesamanya yang terbentuk dari pelaksanaan upacara adat Hari Raya Karo secara tidak langsung telah terjadi suatu hubungan sosial. Hubungan tersebut diteliti dengan menggunakan pendekatan konstruksi soial Peter L. Berger dan Thomas Luckmann. Pengumpulan data meliputi : 1) observasi, dengan melihat fenomena yang berhubungan langsung maupun tidak langsung dengan subjek dan objek penelitian; 2) wawancara dengan pelaku; dan 3) studi kepustakaan dan dokumen berupa foto. Hasil dari penelitian ini bahwa upacara adat memiliki peranan penting dalam menjaga dan membentuk sebuah hubungan sosial. Upacara adat Karo yang dilakukan setiap tahunnya oleh masyarakat suku Tengger yang percaya dengan leluhur, menjadikan masyarakat yang penuh toleransi, dan mentaati nilai-nilai.</p><p><strong>Kata Kunci : </strong><strong><em>Upacara Adat Karo, Masyarakat Suku Tengger, Konstruksi Sosial</em></strong></p>


Author(s):  
Ruha Benjamin

In this response to Terence Keel and John Hartigan’s debate over the social construction of race, I aim to push the discussion beyond the terrain of epistemology and ideology to examine the contested value of racial science in a broader political economy. I build upon Keel’s concern that even science motivated by progressive aims may reproduce racist thinking and Hartigan’s proposition that a critique of racial science cannot rest on the beliefs and intentions of scientists. In examining the value of racial-ethnic classifications in pharmacogenomics and precision medicine, I propose that analysts should attend to the relationship between prophets of racial science (those who produce forecasts about inherent group differences) and profits of racial science (the material-semiotic benefits of such forecasts). Throughout, I draw upon the idiom of speculation—as a narrative, predictive, and financial practice—to explain how the fiction of race is made factual, again and again. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-272
Author(s):  
Venelin Terziev ◽  
Preslava Dimitrova

The social policy of a country is a set of specific activities aimed at regulating the social relations between different in their social status subjects. This approach to clarifying social policy is also called functional and essentially addresses social policy as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality in society. It provides an opportunity to look for inequalities in the economic positions of individuals in relation to ownership, labor and working conditions, distribution of income and consumption, social security and health, to look for the sources of these inequalities and their social justification or undue application.The modern state takes on social functions that seek to regulate imbalances, to protect weak social positions and prevent the disintegration of the social system. It regulates the processes in society by harmonizing interests and opposing marginalization. Every modern country develops social activities that reflect the specifics of a particular society, correspond to its economic, political and cultural status. They are the result of political decisions aimed at directing and regulating the process of adaptation of the national society to the transformations of the market environment. Social policy is at the heart of the development and governance of each country. Despite the fact that too many factors and problems affect it, it largely determines the physical and mental state of the population as well as the relationships and interrelationships between people. On the other hand, social policy allows for a more global study and solving of vital social problems of civil society. On the basis of the programs and actions of political parties and state bodies, the guidelines for the development of society are outlined. Social policy should be seen as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality between different individuals and social groups in society. Its importance is determined by the possibility of establishing on the basis of the complex approach: the economic positions of the different social groups and individuals, by determining the differences between them in terms of income, consumption, working conditions, health, etc .; to explain the causes of inequality; to look for concrete and specific measures to overcome the emerging social disparities.


Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-407
Author(s):  
Mladen Lazić ◽  
Jelena Pešić

AbstractBased on research data from 2003, 2012, and 2018, the authors examine the extent to which capitalist social relations in Serbia have determined liberal value orientations. The change of the social order in Serbia after 1990 brought about a radical change of the basis upon which values are constituted. To interpret the relationship between structural and value changes, the authors employ the theory of normative-value dissonance. Special attention in the analysis is paid to the interpretation of value changes based on the distinction between intra- and inter-systemic normative-value dissonance. In the first part of their study, the authors examine changes in the acceptance of liberal values over the period of consolidation of capitalism in Serbia, while in the second part they focus on the 2018 data and specific predictors of political and economic liberalism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 06019
Author(s):  
Rukhsana Badar ◽  
Sarika Bahadure

The global cities of the world are witnessing a visible disconnection of everyday life. In India the Smart City guidelines acknowledge the need to counter the growing social detachment and intolerance by encouraging interactions. They go further in identifying that preserving and creating of open spaces must be a key feature of comprehensive urban development. Most social relations are cemented within open spaces at the neighbourhood level. Previous studies examine the association between the attributes of neighbourhood open spaces and social activity but neglect to view the issue comprehensively. The present study turns to Lefebvre’s Unitary Theory which states that open space is a result of three forces; 1) perceived space which is the physical dimension and material quality identifiable by the senses; 2) conceived space created by planners and other agents as plans and documents; and 3) lived space which is shaped by the values attached and images generated through user experience. For open space conducive to social interactions these three aspects must work in tandem. With this consideration a framework of criteria and indicators is developed and used to measure and compare the open spaces in select neighbourhoods in Europe and India. The investigation thus reveals differences in all three aspects of neighbourhood spaces. It also reveals a discrepancy between the planning standards formulated and employed by the city authorities in providing the spaces and the actual needs of the community. The research aims to address this gap. The study of the Indian cases lays foundation for the use of the framework to measure open spaces in association with social cohesion and thereby contribute to the enhancement of the social infrastructure of the City.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP WITHINGTON

This review reconsiders the place and importance of urban political culture in England between c. 1550 and c. 1750. Relating recent work on urban political culture to trends in political, social, and cultural historiography, it argues that England's towns and boroughs underwent two ‘renaissances’ over the course of the period: a ‘civic renaissance’ and the better-known ‘urban renaissance’. The former was fashioned in the sixteenth century; however, its legacy continued to inform political thought and practice over 150 years later. Similarly, although the latter is generally associated with ‘the long eighteenth century’, its attributes can be traced to at least the Elizabethan era. While central to broader transitions in post-Reformation political culture, these ‘renaissances’ were crucial in restructuring the social relations and social identity of townsmen and women. They also constituted an important but generally neglected dynamic of England's seventeenth-century ‘troubles’.


Author(s):  
Angelica Carina de Andrade Farias Lima ◽  
Amanda Raquel da França Filgueiras D Amorim

The objective of this research was to identify the relationship between Internal Social Responsibility (RSI) and Internal Organizational Reputation (ROI). It also aims at checking if they are considered sources of competitive advantages for companies. The research used a theoretical basis developed by Pena et al. (2005) for the analysis of RSI through the analysis of 9 indicators, the same used by the Ethos Institute, and Lerner’s (2006) proposal to identify the employees’ perception of the degree of agreement with the ROI, based on the perception of 8 attributes related to company. The research was carried out in the company Antares Comunicação through questionnaires applied to the employees and semi-structured interview conducted with the manager of the Social Responsibility program. The results of the research show a high degree of agreement, an average of 5.5 in relation to the RSI actions developed by the company, as well as an average of 4.9 for the attributes related to ROI. He found through Pearson’s correlation analysis, there is a significant, linear and positive relationship between RSI and ROI. Therefore, according to the Resource Based View (VBR), the two variables, Internal Social Responsibility and Internal Organizational Reputation can be considered sources of competitive advantage for the company.


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