scholarly journals The idea of community and its practice: Tensions, disruptions and hope in Glasgow’s urban growing projects

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-499
Author(s):  
Helen Traill
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Community Gardening ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Community Theory ◽  
Communal Space ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Do So

The question of what community comes to mean has taken on increasing significance in sociological debates and beyond, as an increasingly politicised term and the focus of new theorisations. In this context, it is increasingly necessary to ask what is meant when community is invoked. Building on recent work that positions community as a practice and an ever-present facet of human sociality, this article argues that it is necessary to consider the powerful work that community as an idea does in shaping everyday communal practices, through designating collective space and creating behavioural expectations. To do so, the article draws on participant observation and interviews from a community gardening site in Glasgow that was part of a broader research project investigating the everyday life of communality within growing spaces. This demonstrates the successes but also the difficulties of carving out communal space, and the work done by community organisations to enact it. The article draws on contemporary community theory, but also on ideas from Davina Cooper about the role of ideation in social life. It argues for a conceptual approach to communality that does not situate it as a social form or seek it in everyday practice, but instead considers the vacillation between the ideation and practices of community: illustrated here in a designated community place. In so doing, this approach calls into focus the frictions and boundaries produced in that process, and questions the limits of organisational inclusivity.

Refracted visions: Street photography, humanism and the loss of innocence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Carville
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Visual Expression ◽  
Politics Of Religion ◽  
Street Photography

Justin Carville draws on recent debates in relation to photography and the everyday in order to examine the role of street-photography in the cultural politics of religion as it was played out in the quotidian moments of social relations within Dublin’s urban and suburban spaces during the 1980s and 90s. The essay argues that photography was important in giving visual expression to the social contradictions within the relations between religion and the transformation of Irish social life, not through the dramatic and traumatic experiences that defined the nation’s increased secularism, but in the quiet, humdrum and sometimes monotonous routines of religious ceremonies and everyday social relations.

At the End of the Post-Communist Transformation? Normalization or Imagining Utopia?

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Ray
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Global Economic Crisis ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Nationalist Parties

This article reviews the implications of the collapse of Communism in Europe for some themes in recent social theory. It was often assumed that 1989 was part of a global process of normalization and routinization of social life that had been left behind earlier utopian hopes. Nothing that utopia is open to various interpretations, including utopias of the everyday, this article suggests, first that there were utopian dimensions to 1989, and, second, that these hopes continue to influence contemporary social and political developments. The continuing role of substantive utopian expectations is illustrated with reference to the politics of lustration in Poland and the rise of nationalist parties in Hungary. This analysis is placed in the context of the already apparent impact of the global economic crisis in post-communist countries. It concludes that the unevenness and diversity of the post-1989 world elude overly generalized attempts at theorization and demand more nuanced analyses.

scholarly journals Support Online: Case of Russian-speaking Women’s Online Network in Warsaw

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (4 (178)) ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Kseniya Homel
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Group Relations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complementary Mechanism ◽  
Online Group

The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanisms of online networking and exchange of social support among members of a migrant virtual group of Russian-speaking women in Poland on Facebook. The research was based on content analysis and non-participant observation during two weeks in November and December 2019. I also had two online conversations with the moderator of the group based on a prepared list of questions. It appeared, that members of the group used networking to improve communication on a wide range of issues. Conversations available online provide insight on how migration determines daily issues and social life but also as a source of socially-reproducing precarity. Informality as a social model of inter-group relations prevails among members of the Russian-speaking community. Four main types of social support emerged from communication on the forum – informational, instrumental, emotional and community building. Russian-speaking women use Facebook group to share information, empower each other, boost self-esteem and find companionship. The findings allow to consider the role of the online group as a complementary mechanism for adaptation and improvement of well-being of migrants in Poland.

Moral Principles in the Life of Society, or “Metaphysics of History”

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-2) ◽  
pp. 311-329
Author(s):  
Vladislav Cheshev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Moral Consciousness ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

The article investigates the influence of moral principles on historically developing social relations. The appeal to this problem is based on a conceptual approach to the origin of human morality, which arises in the course of sociogenesis as a set of behavioral principles that provide the intraspecific cultural (non-genetic) solidarity necessary for human societies. It is noted that the moral consciousness of individuals, which regulates interpersonal relationships, is a necessary but insufficient means for transmitting moral principles. Morality is expressed in the relationship between society and an individual. Society solves the problem of reproduction of moral regulators, it brings them into the nature of social relations by necessity. In this regard, attention is drawn to the role of elite groups in solving the aforementioned problem, in particular, it points out the peculiarities of the formation of an elite layer in Russian history. The elite is the bearer of moral images of social behavior, which expresses the attitude to public goals, interests, historical meanings of social life. The task of the elite is the implementation of these principles in the nature of social relations. The egoism of individuals and social groups can impede the solution of such a problem. Overcoming difficulties of this kind can be achieved by an awareness of history, which provides the basis for public consensus. The article focuses on the ethos of the “spirit of capitalism”, which enters into the social environment through the principles of the organization of economic activity. The paper shows the relevance of the problem of interaction of economic ethics and moral foundations of society as a systemic whole.

scholarly journals ‘ANNE GOES ROGUE FOR ABORTION RIGHTS!’ EXPLORING DISCURSIVE MATERIALIZATION ACROSS AND BEYOND ONLINE PLATFORMS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Myles
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Do So

This presentation examines the social media campaign #SupportIslandWomen that was undertaken by reproductive rights activists in Prince Edward Island (PEI). The initiative gained popularity in 2016 due to both the off- and online circulation of posters throughout PEI landmarks depicting the Green Gables-like image of a young girl (“rogue Anne”) wearing red braids and a bandana. These posters showcased specific hashtags that encouraged debates on various online platforms. For this study, we underline how human actors invoked the symbolic ‘figure’ of rogue Anne to give weight to their own arguments by speaking or acting in her name. By ‘figure’, we mean any symbolic entity that is materialized through interaction and that possesses agency, or the ability to make a significant difference in interaction. Hence, our study examines the processes through which rogue Anne was made present in interaction, the role of digital (online) and physical (offline) affordances in the materialization of this figure, and the differentiated effects that these invocations generated. To do so, we build our dataset by performing non-participant observation on social media platforms and by exploring Canadian blogs and newspapers. Drawing from organizational discourse theory, our results show that invoking the figure of rogue Anne allowed for pro-choice collectives to assert their authority in abortion debates by labelling the fictional character as a modern feminist icon. They also underline the importance of studying the intervention of symbolic figures, their effects, and their materialization within political initiatives that incorporate and go beyond the practice of ‘hashtagging’.

Excuse me, but can you tell me where the Nordic House is located? Linguistic strategies in inter-Nordic communication in Iceland illustrated through participant observation

Linguistics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Börestam
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
Linguistic Strategies ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Field Workers ◽  
Do So

AbstractIn Iceland, Danish is taught as a foreign language parallel to English. One purpose for this is to promote inter-Nordic communication, since Danish is generally held to be intercomprehensible for both Norwegian and Swedish speakers. Assuming the role of tourists, field workers who were native speakers of Danish, Norwegian or Swedish approached Icelandic adolescents (aged 15–20), asking in their native language for directions to the Nordic House in Reykjavík. The investigation was conducted at three different time periods (1983, 1999/2004 and 2006) and showed that the proportion of young people understanding the question thus posed to them decreased from two thirds (1983) to a little less than 40% (2006). At the same time, the number switching to English while answering the question increased. In 2006, a large majority (80%) was inclined to do so, while only one third did so in 1983, roughly 25 years earlier.

scholarly journals A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH ON PRESS CONFERENCE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Olariu ◽  
Bogdan Nichifor
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Press Conference ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Integrated Communications ◽  
Do So

A press conference is an important tool of public relations. The primary role of public relations is to manage a company’s reputation and help build public consent for its enterprises. The goal of PR is to develop and maintain goodwill with most, if not all, of its publics. Failure to do so may mean loss of customers and revenues, time lost dealing with complaints or lawsuits, and loss of esteem. A company’s publics change constantly. Well-executed public relations is an ongoing process that molds good long-term relationships and plays an important role in relationship marketing and integrated communications. Companies often call press conference when they have significant news to announce, such as the introduction of a new product or advertising campaign. Although used less often by organizations and corporations, this form of delivery can be very effective. The topic must be of major interest to a specific group before it is likely to gain coverage.

‘It Ain't Necessarily so’: Eliciting Hidden Knowledge and the Role of Schemata in Data Collection1

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-13
Author(s):  
David Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Everyday World ◽  
Hidden Knowledge ◽  
Hidden Data ◽  
Do So

A problem for evaluators and researchers is that what people ‘say’ in an interview context is often different from what they do in the everyday world, in vivo. Elicitation techniques appear to be effective at revealing ‘hidden’ data but the theories about why they do so are inadequate. This paper examines literature from cognitive science, schema and survey research to identify ideas that may help explain why elicitation techniques work and how we can improve their use. The schema concept provides a testable mechanism for how elicitation may function and the conditions under which elicitation might work. It also raises questions for evaluators about the variability of people's responses in different contexts and the influence of the interview context on the results obtained.

scholarly journals Agroecological Strategies for Reactivating the Agrarian Sector: The Case of Agrolab in Madrid

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina García-Llorente ◽  
Irene Pérez-Ramírez ◽  
Clara Sabán de la Portilla ◽  
Carmen Haro ◽  
Alejandro Benito
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Agrarian Sector ◽  
Integrated Rural Development ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
The Social ◽  
Do So

Considering the social and ecological obsolescence of the conventional agricultural model and the crisis faced by rural areas, innovative models based on collective initiatives and agroecological practices are emerging. Here, we present the use of a participatory farming lab as a space to reactivate the agrarian sector in rural and periurban areas of Madrid. The specific objectives of this study are: (1) to describe the project; (2) to identify participants’ profiles and motivations and (3) to identify the most socially valued ecosystem services and the actions collectively taken to enhance them. To do so, we have used the living lab conceptual approach and the ecosystem service lens. Data gathering included a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including participant observation, informal and formal meetings, interviews, workshops and surveys. We found a diversity of motivations for enrolling in the program and 20 ecosystem services were selected as socially important. We also describe how the project has contributed to adopting agroecological practices to sustain those ecosystem services. Finally, we discuss the contribution of the project towards new and integrated rural development strategies, including its potential to promote cooperative solutions that enhance farming activity by also providing ecosystem services.

scholarly journals KIAI AS AL-QUDWAH AL-KHASANAH: THE ROLE OF KIAI IN SHAPING RELIGIOUS CULTURE IN ISLAMIC EDUCATION INSTITUTION

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-346
Author(s):  
Ihsan Ihsan ◽  
A. Umar
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Sociology Of Knowledge ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Main Concern

This study aims to describe the role of kyai in creating the religious culture of the santri. How the socialization patterns that exist in an educational institution especially pesantren (Islamic boarding school) can shape the religious culture of the santri, is the main concern of this study. Madrasah Qudsiyyah, one of the Islamic education institutions based on pesantren in Kudus Regency, Central Java, is the object of this study. With a qualitative approach, the data were collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews. They were then analyzed using the theoretical framework of the sociology of knowledge of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman. The results of this study revealed that kyai (including ustadz) has a central role in shaping the character and religious culture of the santri. Kyai, apart from being an educator, also acts as a guide, uswah hasanah, and guide of the santri. With this role, kyai becomes a kind of role model for santri in terms of the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and social life. From a long time daily interaction process between kyai and santri in the pesantren, finally it becomes habitus in shaping the mindset, character, and religious culture of the santri.

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