scholarly journals Lining up for charity

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 218-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sofia Salonen
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Food Charity

Purpose Recent decades have witnessed a rise in food charity provided by faith-based and other charitable agencies. Previous research has noted that besides material assistance, these occasions provide a social and communal event for many participants. The purpose of this paper is to examine this notion by exploring how the social organization of breadlines contributes to the social relationships between the food recipients and their experiences of these places as communities, and what qualities these communities eventually develop. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on ethnographic data from four breadlines in one Finnish city. The study approaches the breadlines as queues, that is, social systems that govern waiting, mutual order and access. Findings The social organization of queue practices mirrors the users’ experiences of the breadlines as communities with many concurrent faces: as communities of mutual surveillance and as demanding communities that call for skills and resources from the participants, as well as socially significant communities. The findings show how the practices of organizing charitable assistance influence the complex social relationships between charitable giver and recipient, and how the food recipients accommodate themselves to the situations and social roles available on a given occasion. Originality/value Analysing breadlines as queues and using qualitative data from the everyday assistance events gives voice to the experiences of food charity recipients and allows a more nuanced picture to be painted of the breadline communities than studies based merely on surveys or interviews.

Embodied refusals and choreographic criticalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-428
Author(s):  
Beth Krone
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
White Female ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Narratives ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Ethnographic Data

Purpose This paper aims to describe the work of a group of seventh-grade boys in a middle school superhero storytelling project. In this project, the boys, one of whom identified as Latino and five of whom identified as Black, created a voiceless, faceless, raceless superhero named “Mute.” Using a Black feminist theoretical framework, the author considers how the boys authored embodied moments in the construction of their character and in a basketball scene. The author argues that within the narrated space of the story, embodiment functioned as a critical tool for authoring spaces that thwarted and bypassed dominant social narratives. Design/methodology/approach The white, female, university-affiliated author was a participant-researcher in the “Mute” group’s ten storytelling sessions. The ethnographic data set collected included fieldnotes, recordings and copies of all the writing and images of the group. The author uses this data to conduct a narrative analysis of the Mute story. Findings The author suggests that the group’s authoring of embodiment and choreography in their story makes space outside of the binary stances often available in traditional critical analyses. Instead, the group’s attention to embodied aspects of their character(s) allowed them to refuse either/or positions of such stances and construct a textured reality that existed beyond these bounds. Originality/value Black feminist theorists have warned that critical readings are potentially essentializing, risking a reification of the same systems they hope to overturn. The Mute group’s invention of a superhero character and their use of authored embodiment deflected such essentializing readings to imagine a new, more just (story) world. Thus, the author recommends an increased attention to how students are writing and reading embodiment to fully see the everyday ways they are critically working both against and beyond the social narratives that organize their lives.

Determinants of family meetings in private family businesses

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akif Cicek ◽  
Rüveyda Kelleci ◽  
Pieter Vandekerkhof
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Governance ◽  
Family Meetings ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family

PurposeFamily governance mechanisms serve to govern and strengthen relations between the family and the business, as well as the relationships between the members of the business family itself. However, despite agreement on the importance of adopting family governance structures, explicit research on the determinants of family governance mechanisms is currently missing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to uncover the determinants of family meetings. In order to do so, the social systems theory is used to unravel several determining factors of this crucial form of family governance mechanisms in private family firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors perform a qualitative study by conducting semi-structured interviews in eight Belgian private family firms in order to discover the antecedents of the implementation of family meetings. The authors use a pattern-matching technique as an analytical strategy.FindingsThe findings of the study highlight the importance of “soft,” relational, qualitative issues as antecedents of family meetings as opposed to previous research on family governance, which predominantly focused on “hard,” quantitative measures (e.g. family ownership). The findings of the study also provide novel insights into the origins of the family component (i.e. family meetings) of family business governance.Originality/valueWhile the current literature has only focused on describing the different types of family governance and their positive consequences for the family firm, the authors take a step back to explain why family meetings, as a form of family governance, are adopted in the first place. Second, the authors demonstrate the instrumentality of the social systems theory in understanding the family's needs that necessitate the implementation of family governance mechanisms.

Nuts and bolts of team creativity

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Team Functioning ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – The great number of concepts found in literature are organized into a framework that distinguishes relevant inputs that can affect team functioning; relevant mediators for team creativity (TC) and TC outcomes. The framework is reviewed and discussed within the context of the social systems in which the team is embedded. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Moral discourses and pharmaceuticalised governance in households

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dew ◽  
P Norris ◽  
J Gabe ◽  
K Chamberlain ◽  
D Hodgetts
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Natural Production ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Moral Discourses ◽  
Health Experts

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This article extends our understanding of the everyday practices of pharmaceuticalisation through an examination of moral concerns over medication practices in the household. Moral concerns of responsibility and discipline in relation to pharmaceutical consumption have been identified, such as passive or active medication practices, and adherence to orthodox or unorthodox accounts. This paper further delineates dimensions of the moral evaluations of pharmaceuticals. In 2010 and 2011 data were collected from 55 households across New Zealand and data collection techniques, such as photo- and diary-elicitation interviews, allowed the participants to develop and articulate reflective stories of the moral meaning of pharmaceuticals. Four repertoires were identified: a disordering society repertoire where pharmaceuticals evoke a society in an unnatural state; a disordering self repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify a moral failing of the individual; a disordering substances repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify a threat to one's physical or mental equilibrium; a re-ordering substances repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify the restoration of function. The research demonstrated that the dichotomies of orthodox/unorthodox and compliance/resistance do not adequately capture how medications are used and understood in everyday practice. Attitudes change according to why pharmaceuticals are taken and who is taking them, their impacts on social relationships, and different views on the social or natural production of disease, the power of the pharmaceutical industry, and the role of health experts. Pharmaceuticals are tied to our identity, what we want to show of ourselves, and what sort of world we see ourselves living in. The ordering and disordering understandings of pharmaceuticals intersect with forms of pharmaceuticalised governance, where conduct is governed through pharmaceutical routines, and where self-responsibility entails following the prescription of other agents. Pharmaceuticals symbolise forms of governance with different sets of roles and responsibilities.

A quality system’s impact on the service experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1817-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Smith ◽  
Sidney Anderson ◽  
Gavin Fox
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Service Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Integrated Service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between technical and social systems within an organization that potentially affect the service experience, as perceived by end customers. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the potential impact of an integrated service quality system on the service experience. A conceptual model is presented, accompanied by a detailed development of the hypotheses. Two samples (Study 1: n=474, Study 2: n=225) of consumers are used to empirically test the proposed model. Findings The analysis reveals the impact a technical system has on employees’ inherent abilities (i.e. the social system), which, in turn, affect the overall assessment by customers. Additionally, the situation in which an employee works (i.e. operating environmental conditions) results in differences in the model. Research limitations/implications This paper’s main implication is this paper employs established theory to develop a model that is empirically tested to show that implementing and maintaining a quality-oriented service system can positively influence the overall customer experience. The limitations are based primarily on the methodology in which individual employees assessed all aspects of both the social and technical systems. Practical implications Managers should be diligent in their design and implementation of the quality components as these affect the work setting in which employees operate. Originality/value Prior research has neither explored an integrated service quality system’s impact on the service experience nor employed an established theoretical framework. This work accomplishes both with the results providing contributions to both theory and practice.

COVID-19 and the social organization of knowledge in Wikipedia: a study of social representations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Roszkowski ◽  
Bartłomiej Włodarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Knowledge Organization ◽  
English Edition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Knowledge Organization System ◽  
Quantitative Analyses

PurposeThe paper aims to present the development of conceptualization of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on associations with other articles on English edition of Wikipedia. The main goal of the paper is to study the social organization of knowledge about COVID-19 within the Wikipedia community of practice.Design/methodology/approachThe methodological approach taken in this study was based on the application of Moscovici's theory of social representations to Wikipedia's knowledge organization system (KOS). Internal links in the Wikipedia article about COVID-19 were considered anchors in its social representations. Each link in the introductory part of the article was considered an indicator of the semantic relationship between COVID-19 and other concepts from Wikipedia's knowledge base. The subject of this study was links extracted from all revisions of the COVID-19 article between February and September 2020. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on these conceptual structures using both synchronic and diachronic approaches.FindingsIt was found that the evolution of anchors in the Wikipedia article on COVID-19 was in line with the mechanism of symbolic coping related to infectious disease. It went through stages of divergence, convergence and normalization. It shows that this mechanism governs the social organization of knowledge related to COVID-19 on Wikipedia.Originality/valueNo studies have been devoted to the image of COVID-19 as presented by the evolution of links in Wikipedia and its implications for knowledge organization (KO).

Facultative sociality in a subterranean rodent, the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 918-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon L O’Brien ◽  
Mauro N Tammone ◽  
Pablo A Cuello ◽  
Eileen A Lacey
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
The Social ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Facultative Sociality

Abstract Understanding why social relationships vary among conspecifics is central to studies of animal behaviour. For many species, patterns of space use provide important insights into social behaviour. To characterize the social organization of the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus), we used visual observations and radiotelemetry to quantify spatial relationships among adults in a population at Laguna de los Pozuelos, Jujuy Province, Argentina. Specifically, we sought to confirm anecdotal reports that these subterranean rodents are social, meaning that adults share burrow systems and nest sites. Our data indicate that the animals live in spatially distinct groups, although the number of individuals per group varies markedly. Although these relationships were robust with regard to location (above vs. below ground) and type of data (visual vs. telemetry), some groups identified during the daytime fissioned during the night. We suggest that the population of C. opimus at Pozuelos is facultatively social, meaning that individuals display predictable, adaptive differences in social relationships with conspecifics. More generally, our findings add to the growing number of subterranean species of rodents recognized as social, thereby generating new opportunities for comparative studies of these animals aimed at assessing the causes and consequences of variation in social organization.

The impact of capitalist-led neoliberal agenda’s on parents and their children

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-108
Author(s):  
Rachael Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Parent Child Relationship ◽  
Social Morality ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Children's Beliefs ◽  
The Impact

AbstractOne of the most important social relationships in any community is that of parent and child. Parents and primary caregivers are typically tasked with raising their children; however, they are but one of many social agents and structures that contribute to childrens’ overall socialisation. Children’s beliefs, values and behaviours are influenced by the broader social systems in which they are raised, including social and economic ideologies. This commentary aims to build an argument based on a broad collection of literature and research, that Australia’s current variegated form of neoliberalism has the potential to create friction within the parent–child relationship, and questions about the social morality of this position are raised.

Don't walk by: urban faith-based homeless outreach campaigns

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
Hans Oh ◽  
Sam Albertson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Community Inclusion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Rehabilitation Programs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Tremendous Amount

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the objectives and overall approach of a faith-based homeless outreach campaign. It aims to stimulate wider discussion about how civil society can play a role in achieving participatory parity for the homeless. Design/methodology/approach – Using a case study approach, this viewpoint paper then connects practical considerations to extant literature on community inclusion. Findings – This particular homeless outreach campaign generated a tremendous amount of volunteerism – perhaps unparalleled relative to any other recent campaign driven by civil society. Yet it aimed only to funnel the homeless into the private social sector. Furthermore, most of the homeless people engaged on the streets did not complete the rehabilitation programs. Research limitations/implications – Campaigns such as this may need to adopt discursive habits in order to recognize the social distances that must be bridged between the housed and the homeless. With greater reflexivity, volunteers can use their interactions with the homeless to develop empathy, compassion, and understanding. Volunteers may then feel inspired to leverage their personal resources to address community perceptions of homelessness, or to advocate for systematic changes. Originality/value – This paper suggests recasting the goals of homeless campaigns to include the development of social bridges between the housed and the homeless, which can guide advocacy efforts.

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