The Societalization of Social Problems: Church Pedophilia, Phone Hacking, and the Financial Crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 1049-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Civil Sphere ◽  
Institutional Model ◽  
The One ◽  
Institutional Boundaries

This article develops a theory of “societalization,” demonstrating its plausibility through empirical analyses of church pedophilia, media phone-hacking, and the financial crisis. Although these strains were endemic for decades, they had failed to generate broad crises. Reactions were confined inside institutional boundaries and handled by intra-institutional elites according to the cultural logics of their particular spheres. The theory proposes that boundaries between spheres can be breached only if there is code switching. When strains become subject to the cultural logics of the civil sphere, widespread anguish emerges about social justice and concern for the future of democratic society. Once admired institutional elites come to be depicted as perpetrators, and the civil sphere becomes intrusive legally and organizationally, leading to repairs that aim for civil purification. Institutional elites soon engage in backlash efforts to resist reform, and a war of the spheres ensues. After developing this macro-institutional model, I conceptualize civil sphere agents, the journalists and legal investigators upon whose successful performances the actual unfolding of societalization depends. I also explore “limit conditions,” the structures that block societalization. I conclude by examining societalization, not in society but in social theory, contrasting the model with social constructionism, on the one hand, and broad traditions of macro-sociological theory, on the other.

‘Foundations of Social Theory’ oder ‘Foundations of Sociology’?

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Esser
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Collective Effects ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
Sociological Profession ◽  
The One ◽  
Present Understanding

AbstractThe comment deals with the relevance of Coleman’s Foundations of Social Theory for so called ‘sociological theory’. On the one hand Coleman’s work is an extraordinary contribution to the solution of some of the most important ‘classical’ questions of sociology. On the other hand it is to be expected that the enormous potential of the book probably has only limited effects within the wider sociological profession. One reason for that estimation is the unfamiliarity of many sociologists with Coleman’s instruments of aggregation of collective effects. The other - more important - reason is that Coleman almost completely leaves out any discussion of the importance of ‘symbolic’ and ‘cultural’ processes. Insofar the book is indeed a ‘Foundation of Social Theory’ but not a foundation of ‘sociology’ in its past and present understanding.

scholarly journals Justice sociale et luttes pour la reconnaissance: la question de l’agapè

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Roman
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Justice Sociale ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
The One

In The Course of Recognition, Paul Ricœur pays special attention to Honneth’s social theory, on the one hand, because it is devoted to the important issue of the struggles for recognition and, on the other hand, because Axel Honneth proposes a convincing neo-Hegelian conception of social justice. However, while adhering to Honneth’s project, Ricœur establishes a dialectical relationship between love and justice, in order to correct an inherent defect of Anerkennung. The reference to agápē would provide the only way out of the endless struggle, by demonstrating that human beings are capable of mutual recognition through the social practice of gift/counter-gift. Ricœur presents agápē as a simple add-on to the Honnethian project. The present paper returns to this assertion, and demonstrates that, on the contrary, the use of agápē alters the struggles for recognition, and does not help us to arrive at a conception of social justice, which is capable of revealing experiences of injustice and combatting them.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Colm Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sexual Identities ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Sexual Part ◽  
The One ◽  
And Behavior

The introduction first sets out some preliminary definitions of sex, sexuality, and gender. It then turns from the sexual part of Sexual Identities to the identity part. A great deal of confusion results from failing to distinguish between identity in the sense of a category with which one identifies (categorial identity) and identity in the sense of a set of patterns that characterize one’s cognition, emotion, and behavior (practical identity). The second section gives a brief summary of this difference. The third and fourth sections sketch the relation of the book to social constructionism and queer theory, on the one hand, and evolutionary-cognitive approaches to sex, sexuality, and gender, on the other. The fifth section outlines the value of literature in not only illustrating, but advancing a research program in sex, sexuality, and gender identity. Finally, the introduction provides an overview of the chapters in this volume.

scholarly journals MATERIALISME SEBAGAI PENGHAMBAT PEMBANGUNAN KESEJATERAAN SOSIAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-171
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sabiq ◽  
Akhmad Jayadi ◽  
Imam Nawawi ◽  
Mohammad Wasil
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Other ◽  
Financial Security ◽  
The One ◽  
Positive Effect

Materialism and sich are the driving spirit of the community in achieving economic and financial security that saves a holistic and socially just welfare. This can be seen from the lives of people in materialistic developed countries, where the level of social stress is higher, economic inequality widens, horizontal conflict is rife. This research uses Pierre Felix Bourdieu's social theory in seeing people trust the expenditure of material with other values, such as spiritual and cultural values ​​that are no less urgent as elements of social welfare development. This study found that materialism on the one hand has a positive effect, where people are encouraged to use material standards in measuring the level of welfare they expect. On the other hand, materialism closes the presence of values ​​such as spirituality, local wisdom and agriculture in completing more holistic welfare standards.

scholarly journals Female Subversion through Sex Work: Transgressive Discourses

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-137
Author(s):  
Marta Olasik
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Lesbian Studies ◽  
The One

The main objective of this article is to provide a multi-faceted and spatially-sensitive reflection on sex work. Taking as a point of departure subversive feminist politics on the one hand and the much contingent notion of citizenship on the other, I intend to present various forms of prostitution as potentially positive and empowering modes of sexual and emotional auto-creation. Informed by the leading research of the subject, as well as inspired and educated by Australia-based Dr Elizabeth Smith from La Trobe University in Melbourne, who had researched and presented female sex workers as self-caring and subversive subjects who make own choices and derive satisfaction from their occupation, I wish to seek academic justice for all those women (and men or trans people, for that matter) in the sex industry who feel stigmatized by political pressure and ultra-feminist circles across Europe. Translating Dr Smith’s significant research into European (and Polish) social realities would be a valuable contribution to the local discussions on gender and sexuality, and axes they intersect with. More importantly, however, a framework of a conceptual interdisciplinary approach needs to be adopted—one in which a specific queer form of lesbian feminist reflection is combined with human geography, both of which have much to offer to various strands of sociological theory and practice. Therefore, as a queer lesbian scholar based in Poland, I would like to diverge a bit from my usual topic in order to pay an academic and activist tribute to the much neglected strand of sociology of sex work. However, my multi-faceted and interdisciplinary academic activity allows me to combine the matter in question with the field of lesbian studies. Both a female sex worker and a lesbian have been culturally positioned through the lens of what so-called femininity is, without a possibility to establish control over their own subjectivities. Hence, on the one hand the article is going to be an academic re-interpretation of sex work as such, but on the other, methodological possibilities of acknowledging and researching lesbian sex workers will be additionally considered with special attention to feminist epistemologies and praxis. While a sensitivity to a given locality is of utmost importance when dealing with gender and sexuality issues, I would like to suggest a somewhat overall approach to investigating both female empowerment through sex work and lesbian studies inclusive of sex workers. Importantly, the more common understandings of the sex industry need to be de-constructed in order for a diversity of transgressive discourses to emerge.

Alternative Approaches to Regional Equity and Racial Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward G. Goetz
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Community Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Common Goal ◽  
Racial Equity ◽  
Regional Equity ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One

This chapter provides an overview of two different ways of working towards racial justice and regional equity. The two approaches are integration efforts on the one hand and community development efforts on the other. The tension between these two approaches is described as a conflict among groups that are generally allied on issues of social justice. It is argued that this debate is a tension within a race-conscious policy alliance, and represents a disagreement about how best to achieve the common goal of racial equity.

scholarly journals Diversion, Rights and Social Justice

Youth Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147322542090284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Delinquent Behaviour ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
The One

This article draws on historical understandings and contemporary models of diversion in order to develop a critical framework and agenda for progressive practice. The argument essentially revolves around the contention that typically diversionary interventions have been constrained by the contextual and ideological frames within which they operate. They have in some cases been highly successful in reducing the numbers of young people being drawn into the formal criminal justice system; however, this has largely been achieved pragmatically, by way of an accommodation with the prevailing logic of penal practices. Young people have been diverted at least partly because they have been ascribed a lesser level of responsibility for their actions, whether by virtue of age or other factors to which their delinquent behaviour is attributed. This ultimately sets limits to diversion, on the one hand, and also offers additional legitimacy to the further criminalisation of those who are not successfully ‘diverted’, on the other. By contrast, the article concludes that a ‘social justice’ model of diversion must ground its arguments in principles of children’s rights and the values of inclusion and anti-oppressive practice.

The “Cognitive Prior” and the European Challenge

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Rüland
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Asian Financial Crisis ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Regional Leadership ◽  
The One ◽  
Policy Elites

This chapter seeks to establish what Acharya has termed the “cognitive prior.” It explores extant Indonesian ideas on foreign policymaking and ASEAN cooperation. Europeanizing changes were triggered by the Asian Financial Crisis (1997–1998), which discredited the ASEAN Way as ASEAN’s established repository of cooperation norms. The chapter shows how the worldviews of Indonesian foreign policy elites have been shaped by adverse historical experiences, which have evoked on the one hand strong sentiments of insecurity and vulnerability, on the other, a strong sense of entitlement to regional leadership. At the regional level, the cognitive prior is strongly influenced by Westphalian sovereignty norms. In the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis the ASEAN Way was challenged by external and domestic critics, climaxing with the ASEAN Charter debate. The chapter ends with an analysis of the institutional changes the Charter inaugurated and the ideas and norms it seemingly appropriated from the EU.

Race, Money and Medicines

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gregg Bloche
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
Therapeutic Response ◽  
The Other ◽  
Disease Expression ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors ◽  
The One ◽  
Past Wrongs

Taking notice of race is both risky and inevitable, in medicine no less than in other endeavors. The literature on race as a classifying tool in clinical research poses this core dilemma: On the one hand, race can be a useful stand-in for unstudied genetic and environmental factors that yield differences in disease expression and therapeutic response. On the other hand, racial distinctions have social meanings that are often pejorative or worse, especially when these distinctions are cast as culturally or biologically fixed. Our country's troubled past in this regard and the persistence of race-related disadvantage should keep us on notice about this hazard. Yet paying attention to race in order to ameliorate past wrongs sometimes supports the quest for social justice, as Dorothy Roberts points out in this issue. And at times, as Jay Cohn and Raj Bhopal note, attention to race can make a therapeutic difference, to the point of saving lives.

scholarly journals Medical professionalism in psychiatry

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Bhugra ◽  
Susham Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Learned Helplessness ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Standards Of Care ◽  
Medical Professionalism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Loss Of Autonomy ◽  
The One

SummaryThe principles of primacy of patient welfare, patient autonomy and social justice are fundamental to medical and psychiatric professionalism. Medical professionalism is also about encouraging and celebrating good practice. As a set of values and behaviours on the one hand, and relationships with patients, carers and other stakeholders on the other, the implicit contract between psychiatry and society needs to be renegotiated regularly. Serious threats to medical professionalism in the past 30 years have led to the demoralisation of professionals. Learned helplessness and a perceived loss of autonomy have been recognised as important factors in the ‘loss’ of professionalism. Psychiatry as a profession needs to identify its core attributes, skills and competencies. Professionalism should allow individuals to set and maintain their own standards of care.

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