Making sense of sustainability work: A narrative approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 031289622097844
Author(s):  
Tim Williams ◽  
Melissa Edwards ◽  
Tamsin Angus-Leppan ◽  
Suzanne Benn

Corporate sustainability is a priority for organisations, but the nature of the enabling intra-organisational activities, processes and managerial agency is not well understood. In this study, we examine the activity and agency of corporate sustainability managers through a narrative approach and the novel theoretical lens of ‘sustainability work’: purposeful and strategic activities to shape the social-symbolic context such that social and environmental outcomes are prioritised. Analysing how individuals across a range of diverse organisations and industries frame their activity, we identify three overlapping and co-occurring broad subsets of sustainability work: goal-directed, other-directed and self-directed. Through our notion of sustainability work, we contribute by recasting managerial agency in the enabling of sustainability as occurring in the social-symbolic realm and highlighting the implications in both theory and practice for the professionalisation of sustainability. JEL Classification: M10, M14

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
MONICA M. VAN BEUSEKOM

In the introduction to their edited volume International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge, Frederick Cooper and Randall Packard take on the thorny question of why development policies change and why they sometimes persist or reappear after a period of dormancy. Much recent scholarship has located the reasons for persistence or change in development approaches within international institutions such as multilateral and bilateral aid agencies and Western scientific and social scientific disciplines. Both Arturo Escobar and James Ferguson argue for the existence of a hegemonic development discourse with standardized interventions aimed at ‘solving’ homogenized ‘problems’. Grounded in Western institutions such as the World Bank, this development discourse is maintained by an interlocked network of experts and expertise. In their analyses, development approaches and interventions are minimally affected by the particularities of locale. Other scholars concerned with identifying and understanding significant change in development policy have also focused their studies on Western organizations and disciplines and excluded from their analysis the role that development practice might play in change. But Cooper and Packard challenge scholars to consider the ways in which development policies might be molded by the practice of development, when they note ‘it is not clear that the determinants of these policies are as independent of what goes on at the grassroots as they appear to their authors or their critics to be’.


Author(s):  
Desmond Bell

CRITICAL SOURCES FOR MAKING SENSE OF THE THEORY-PRACTICE DIVIDE IN FILM AND VISUAL STUDIES SynopsisIn this paper I explore the theory-practice nexus as it manifests itself within film and visual studies. Starting from an institutional history of the troubled relation between film theory and the teaching and conduct of imaging practice, I locate this disjuncture in a broader analysis of the social division between intellectual and manual labour within capitalist society. I discuss Aristotle's distinctions between theoria, praxis and techne and relate this to the contemporary divisions between the theoretical, critical and technical elements of teaching film. I argue that a discussion of the relationship between theory and practice within film and the visual arts is best approached by a serious consideration of the 'politics of theory'. The ProblemThe last twenty years has seen a massive growth in film, media and communication studies within further and higher...


2021 ◽  
pp. 121-160
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Hidalgo Torres

This article presents an analysis of the current tenets of the Social teachings of the Catholic Church and their possible compatibility with the free market theory and practice. According to the Author, the teachings of the Austrian School of Economics, around creative entrepreneurship and dynamic efficiency, can provide a new and fruitful nexus between the Catholic Church and the free market. Key words: Catholic Social Doctrine, market, classical liberalism, entrepre-neurship, Austrian School. JEL Classification: A10, D40, E24, I30, O10. Resumen: En el presente trabajo se efectúa un repaso a la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia Católica (DSI) analizándose su posible compatibilidad con el liberalismo económico y proponiendo a la Escuela Austriaca de eco-nomía (con su énfasis en la creatividad y la función empresarial) como punto de encuentro más prometedor entre la moral católica y el mercado libre. Palabras clave: Doctrina Social de la Iglesia, mercado, liberalismo, función empresarial, Escuela Austriaca. Clasificación JEL: A10, D40, E24, I30, O10.


This research article focuses on the theme of violence and its representation by the characters of the novel “This Savage Song” by Victoria Schwab. How violence is transmitted through genes to next generations and to what extent socio- psycho factors are involved in it, has also been discussed. Similarly, in what manner violent events and deeds by the parents affect the psychology of children and how it inculcates aggressive behaviour in their minds has been studied. What role is played by the parents in grooming the personality of children and ultimately their decisions to choose the right or wrong way has been argued. In the light of the theory of Judith Harris, this research paper highlights all the phenomena involved: How the social hierarchy controls the behaviour. In addition, the aggressive approach of the people in their lives has been analyzed in the light of the study of second theorist Thomas W Blume. As the novel is a unique representation of supernatural characters, the monsters, which are the products of some cruel deeds, this research paper brings out different dimensions of human sufferings with respect to these supernatural beings. Moreover, the researcher also discusses that, in what manner the curse of violence creates an inevitable vicious cycle of cruel monsters that makes the life of the characters turbulent and miserable.


IJOHMN ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
RASHMI Ahlawat

Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize winning debut novel The White Tiger is sharp, fascinating, attacks poverty and injustice. The White Tiger is a ground breaking Indian novel. Aravind Adiga speaks of suppression and exploitation of various sections of Indian society. Mainly a story of Balram, a young boy’s journey from  rags to riches, Darkness to Light transforming from a village teashop boy into a Bangalore entrepreneur. This paper deals with poverty and injustice. The paper analyses Balram’s capability to overcome the adversities and cruel realities. The pathetic condition of poor people try to make both ends meet. The novel mirrors the lives of  poor in a realistic mode. The White Tiger is a story about a man’s journey for freedom. The protagonist   Balram in this novel is a victim of injustice, inequality and poverty. He worked hard inspite   of his low caste and overcame the social hindrance and become a successful entrepreneur. Through this novel Adiga portrays realistic and painful image of modern India. The novel exposes the anxieties of the oppressed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Besin Gaspar

This research deals with the development of  self concept of Hiroko as the main character in Namaku Hiroko by Nh. Dini and tries to identify how Hiroko is portrayed in the story, how she interacts with other characters and whether she is portrayed as a character dominated by ”I” element or  ”Me”  element seen  from sociological and cultural point of view. As a qualitative research in nature, the source of data in this research is the novel Namaku Hiroko (1967) and the data ara analyzed and presented deductively. The result of this analysis shows that in the novel, Hiroko as a fictional character is  portrayed as a girl whose personality  develops and changes drastically from ”Me”  to ”I”. When she was still in the village  l iving with her parents, she was portrayed as a obedient girl who was loyal to the parents, polite and acted in accordance with the social customs. In short, her personality was dominated by ”Me”  self concept. On the other hand, when she moved to the city (Kyoto), she was portrayed as a wild girl  no longer controlled by the social customs. She was  firm and determined totake decisions of  her won  for her future without considering what other people would say about her. She did not want to be treated as object. To put it in another way, her personality is more dominated by the ”I” self concept.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 462-468
Author(s):  
Latika kothari ◽  
Sanskruti Wadatkar ◽  
Roshni Taori ◽  
Pavan Bajaj ◽  
Diksha Agrawal

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a communicable infection caused by the novel coronavirus resulting in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV). It was recognized to be a health crisis for the general population of international concern on 30th January 2020 and conceded as a pandemic on 11th March 2020. India is taking various measures to fight this invisible enemy by adopting different strategies and policies. To stop the COVID-19 from spreading, the Home Affairs Ministry and the health ministry, of India, has issued the nCoV 19 guidelines on travel. Screening for COVID-19 by asking questions about any symptoms, recent travel history, and exposure. India has been trying to get testing kits available. The government of India has enforced various laws like the social distancing, Janata curfew, strict lockdowns, screening door to door to control the spread of novel coronavirus. In this pandemic, innovative medical treatments are being explored, and a proper vaccine is being hunted to deal with the situation. Infection control measures are necessary to prevent the virus from further spreading and to help control the current situation. Thus, this review illustrates and explains the criteria provided by the government of India to the awareness of the public to prevent the spread of COVID-19.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Jesús Gómez Camuñas ◽  
Purificación González Villanueva

<div><i>Background</i>: the creative capacities and the knowledge of the employees are components of the intellectual capital of the company; hence, their training is a key activity to achieve the objectives and business growth. <i>Objective</i>: To understand the meaning of learning in the hospital from the experiences of its participants through the inquiry of meanings. <i>Method</i>: Qualitative design with an ethnographic approach, which forms part of a wider research, on organizational culture; carried out mainly in 2 public hospitals of the Community of Madrid. The data has been collected for thirteen months. A total of 23 in-depth interviews and 69 field sessions have been conducted through the participant observation technique. <i>Results</i>: the worker and the student learn from what they see and hear. The great hospital offers an unregulated education, dependent on the professional, emphasizing that they learn everything. Some transmit the best and others, even the humiliating ones, use them for dirty jobs, focusing on the task and nullifying the possibility of thinking. They show a reluctant attitude to teach the newcomer, even if they do, they do not have to oppose their practice. In short, a learning in the variability, which produces a rupture between theory and practice; staying with what most convinces them, including negligence, which affects the patient's safety. In the small hospital, it is a teaching based on a practice based on scientific evidence and personalized attention, on knowing the other. Clearly taught from the reception, to treat with caring patience and co-responsibility in the care. The protagonists of both scenarios agree that teaching and helping new people establish lasting and important personal relationships to feel happy and want to be in that service or hospital. <i>Conclusion</i>: There are substantial differences related to the size of the center, as to what and how the student and the novel professional are formed. At the same time that the meaning of value that these health organizations transmit to their workers is inferred through the training, one orienting to the task and the other to the person, either patient, professional or pupil and therefore seeking the common benefit.</div>


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-158
Author(s):  
A. V. Zhuchkova

The article deals with A. Bushkovsky’s novel Rymba that goes beyond the topics typical of Russian North prose. Rather than limiting himself to admiring nature and Russian character, the author portrays the northern Russian village of Rymba in the larger context of the country’s mentality, history, mythology, and gender politics. In the novel, myth clashes with reality, history with the present day, and an individual with the state. The critic draws a comparison between the novel and the traditions of village prose and Russian North prose. In particular, Bushkovsky’s Rymba is discussed alongside V. Rasputin’s Farewell to Matyora [ Proshchanie s Matyoroy ] and R. Senchin’s The Flood Zone [ Zona zatopleniya ]. The novel’s central question is: what keeps the Russian world afloat? Depicting the Christian faith as such a bulwark, Bushkovsky links atheism with the social and spiritual roles played by contemporary men and women. The critic argues, however, that the reliance on Christianity in the novel verges on an affectation. The book’s main symbol is a drowning hawk: it perishes despite people’s efforts to save it.


Author(s):  
Svetlana Morozova ◽  
Dmitrij Zhatkin

The article is devoted to the perception of K.I. Chukovsky’s works by a famous English writer G.K. Chesterton. K.I. Chukovsky was one of the first to point out the ambiguity of the literary works by the English writer and called his journalistic activity more convincing. Describing G.K. Chesterton’s essays, K.I. Chukovsky believed that the writer is second to none in this genre. He praised G.K. Chesterton’s journalistic talent in responding to all the phenomena of contemporary social life. K.I. Chukovsky considered it obligatory for the Russian readers to familiarize themselves with the critical works of the English author. In the essay «Gilbert Chesterton. Manalive» (1924) K.I. Chukovsky substantiated why, for all the variety of genre forms that G.K. Chesterton used, Russian readers were familiar with only a few of his works. K.I. Chukovsky’s critical attitude to the novel «Manalive» is explained by his rejection of G.K. Chesterton’s utopian attitude to the social situation in England at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. In G.K. Chesterton’s works K.I. Chukovsky saw a simulation of revolutionary pathos that did not solve pressing issues of social disorder.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document