Arresting Alternatives

Numen ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
Marika Rauhala
Keyword(s):  
Relative Stability ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Current View ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Unity ◽  
Religious Control

AbstractAncient Greek descriptions of ecstatic and mystic rituals, here broadly labeled as Bacchantic worship, regularly include elements of moral corruption and dissolution of social unity. Suspicions were mostly directed against unofficial cult groups that exploited Dionysiac experiences in secluded settings. As the introduction of copious new cults attests, Greek religion was receptive to external influences. This basic openness, however, was not synonymous with tolerance, and pious respect for all deities did not automatically include their worshippers. This article reconsiders the current view of ancient religious intolerance by regarding these negative stereotypes as expressions of prejudice and by investigating the social dynamics behind them. Prejudices against private Bacchantic groups are regarded as part of the process of buttressing the religious authority of certain elite quarters in situations where they perceive that their position is being threatened by rival claims. It is suggested that both the accentuation and alleviation of prejudice is best understood in relation to the relative stability of the elite and the religious control it exerted.

scholarly journals Symbiotic Anthropology and Politics in a Postmodern Age: Rethinking the Political Philosophy of Johannes Althusius (1557–1638)

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-52
Author(s):  
Nico Vorster
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Unity

Postmodern societies are increasingly characterized by a hyperpluralism that coincides with an interdependence between social spheres and structures. Actions in one sphere of life often impinge on other spheres of life. This leads to a consistent and endemic conflict between the social dynamics of plurality and the need for social unity. The symbiotic political theory of Johannes Althusius (1557–1638), which attempts to preserve unity through organized plurality, might be helpful in addressing the plurality/unity conundrum so characteristic of postmodern societies. Central to this approach are the anthropological and political notions of symbiosis, association, communication, and sharing. After providing some background to Althusius’s thought, this article discusses his symbiotic anthropology and explicates his symbiotic political theory. The article concludes by identifying five features of Althusius’s political theory that might be helpful to contemporary postmodern society. Les sociétés postmodernes se caractérisent de plus en plus par un hyper-pluralisme ethnoculturel qui coïncide avec une dépendance mutuelle croissante entre diverses sphères et structures sociales. Ce qui se fait dans l’une de ces sphères a souvent un impact sur d’autres. Il en découle un conflit systématique et permanent opposant la dynamique sociale du pluralisme et le besoin d’unité sociale. La théorie politique symbiotique de Johannes Althusius (1557–1638), qui cherche à maintenir l’unité par l’organisation du pluralisme, permettrait d’affronter la contradiction unité/pluralisme qui marque tant les sociétés postmodernes. Cette approche est fondée sur les notions politiques et anthropologiques de symbiose, d’association, de communication et de partage. Dans cet article, après avoir présenté quelques prémisses de la pensée d’Althusius, on examine son anthropologie de la symbiose et on analyse sa théorie politique de la symbiose. On termine l’article avec l’identification de cinq traits de la théorie politique d’Althusius qui pourraient être utiles aux sociétés postmodernes d’aujourd’hui.

Review of The Social Dynamics of Self-Esteem: Theory to Therapy.

1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1046-1046
Author(s):  
No authorship indicated
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Social

The Social Dynamics of Economic Development in Rural Punjab

Asian Survey ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry M. Raulet ◽  
Jogindar S. Uppal
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
The Social

Conceptual foundations for the development of J.G.Turner’s general sociological theory: Metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and analytical scheme

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Reznik
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Analytical Scheme ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Social ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of the development of the general sociological theory of J.G.Turner. These foundations are metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and an analytical scheme. Turner began to develop a general sociological theory with a synthesis of metatheoretical ideas of social forces and social selection. He formulated a synthetic metatheoretical statement: social forces cause selection pressures on individuals and force them to change the patterns of their social organization and create new types of sociocultural formations to survive under these pressures. Turner systematized the basic concepts of his theorizing with the allocation of micro-, meso- and macro-levels of social reality. On this basis, he substantiated a simple conceptual scheme of social dynamics. According to this scheme, the forces of macrosocial dynamics of the population, production, distribution, regulation and reproduction cause social evolution. These forces force individual and corporate actors to structurally adapt their communities in altered circumstances. Such adaptation helps to overcome or avoid the disintegration consequences of these forces. The initial stage of Turner's general theorizing is a kind of audit, modification, modernization and systematization of the conceptual apparatus of sociology. The initial results obtained became the basis for the development of his conception of the dynamics of functional selection in the social world.

Scham und Autonomie

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-192
Author(s):  
Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Intentional Content ◽  
Conceptual Clarification ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conventional Behavior ◽  
And Control

Autonomy is associated with intellectual self-preservation and self-determination. Shame, on the contrary, bears a loss of approval, self-esteem and control. Being afflicted with shame, we suffer from social dependencies that by no means have been freely chosen. Moreover, undergoing various experiences of shame, our power of reflection turns out to be severly limited owing to emotional embarrassment. In both ways, shame seems to be bound to heteronomy. This situation strongly calls for conceptual clarification. For this purpose, we introduce a threestage model of self-determination which comprises i) autonomy as capability of decision-making relating to given sets of choices, ii) self-commitment in terms of setting and harmonizing goals, and iii) self-realization in compliance with some range of persistently approved goals. Accordingly, the presuppositions and distinctive marks of shame-experiences are made explicit. Within this framework, we explore the intricate relation between autonomy and shame by focusing on two questions: on what conditions could conventional behavior be considered as self-determined? How should one characterize the varying roles of actors that are involved in typical cases of shame-experiences? In this connection, we advance the thesis that the social dynamics of shame turns into ambiguous positions relating to motivation, intentional content,and actors’ roles.

Is it possible to believe in a syncretistic god? A discussion on conceptual and contextual aspects of Hellenistic syncretism

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
Petra Pakkanen
Keyword(s):  
Belief System ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Ptolemaic Egypt ◽  
Religious Systems

This article will look into the phenomenon of syncretism from two different points of view. Firstly, syncretism will be discussed from a conceptual perspective in relation to elaborations on belief, an equally perplexing concept in the studies of ancient Greek religion. Secondly, a very selective example of the syncretism between the goddess Demeter and Isis as an object of veneration in Ptolemaic Egypt will be looked at more closely in order to bring the conceptual perspective into closer contact with the contextual one. It will be argued that syncretism can be regarded both as an essence of polytheistic religious systems in particular, and as a process of syncretization. Once a metaphorical understanding of syncretism is added to these views, believing in a syncretistic deity (Demeter-Isis in our case) appears doubtful since a new entity in a polytheistic belief-system would have entailed a fundamental change in the belief system itself as well as an introduction of totally new features to the conception of deities in general.

Book Review: Toshchenko Zh.T. Trauma Society: Between Evolution and Revolution (The Experience of Theoretical and Empirical Analysis). Moscow: Ves’ Mir, 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-159
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Krivosheev
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Trauma Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Further Development

The review reveals the basic conceptions elaborated by one of the major Russian modern sociologists Zh.T. Toshchenko in his new research. The reviewer argues that the book’s author thoroughly examines the various methodological grounds for identifying the essential characteristics of social dynamics. At the same time, the reviewer focuses on the further development of the theory of modern society, proposed by the book’s author. Thus, Zh.T. Toshchenko, who spent many years researching social deformations, formulates an important concept – the concept of a society of trauma as the third modality of social development along with evolution and revolution. The book offers a fundamentally new view of social life, there is a holistic, systematic approach to all its processes and phenomena. The reviewer concludes that the new book of the social theorist Zh.T. Toshchenko is a significant contribution to sociological theory, since it develops ideas about the state and prospects of Russian society, gives accurate assessments of all social processes.

The Specific Features of Public Relations Maintained by Libraries, Acting as Cultural Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Radosław Molenda
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Significant Question

Showing the specificity of the work of the contemporary library, and the variety of its tasks, which go far beyond the lending of books. The specificity of the library’s public relations concerning different aspects of its activity. The internal and external functions of the library’s public relations and their specificity. The significant question of motivating the social environment to use the offer of libraries, and simulta-neously the need to change the negative perception of the library, which discourages part of its poten-tial users from taking advantage of its services. The negative stereotypes of librarians’ work perpetuated in the public consciousness and their harmful character. The need to change the public relations of libra-ries and librarians with a view to improving the realization of the tasks they face. Showing the public relations tools which may serve to change the image of librarians and libraries with particular emphasis on social media. This article is a review article, highlighting selected research on the librarian’s stereo-type and suggesting actions that change the image of librarians and libraries.

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