Race on Both Sides of the Razor

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence D. Keel
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Political Correctness ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Biological Differences

The proliferation of studies declaring that there is a genetic basis to health disparities and behavioral differences across the so-called races has encouraged the opponents of social constructionism to assert a victory for scientific progress over political correctness. I am not concerned in this essay with providing a response to critics who believe races are expressions of innate genetic or biological differences. Instead, I am interested in how genetic research on human differences has divided social constructionists over whether the race concept in science can be used for social justice and redressing embodied forms of discrimination. On one side, there is the position that race is an inherently flawed concept and that its continued use by scientists, medical professionals, and even social activists keeps alive the notion that it has a biological basis. On the other side of this debate are those who maintain a social constructionist position yet argue that not all instances of race in science stem from discriminatory politics or the desire to prove that humans belong to discrete biological units that can then be classified as superior or inferior. I would like to shift this debate away from the question of whether race is real and move instead toward thinking about the intellectual commitments necessary for science to expose past legacies of discrimination.

Early career development in the public sector: Lessons from a social constructionist perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Todd Bridgman ◽  
Annie De’ath
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Recent Graduates ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Collective Construction

This article explores the contribution a social constructionist paradigm can make to the study of career, through a small-scale empirical study of recent graduates employed in New Zealand’s state sector. A social constructionist lens denies the possibility of an individualised, generalised understanding of ‘career’, highlighting instead its local, contingent character as the product of social interaction. Our respondents’ collective construction of career was heavily shaped by a range of context-specific interactions and influences, such as the perception of a distinctive national identity, as well as by their young age and state sector location. It was also shaped by the research process, with us as researchers implicated in these meaning-making processes. Social constructionism shines a light on aspects of the field that are underplayed by mainstream, scientific approaches to the study of career, and therefore has valuable implications for practitioners, as well as scholars.

Sociology of normal ageing

2012 ◽  
pp. 1512-1516
Author(s):  
Sarah Harper
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Narrative Psychology ◽  
Normal Ageing ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Disengagement Theory

Research on the sociology of normal ageing has focused on understanding the paradigms of ‘successful ageing’. In an apparent reaction to ‘disengagement theory’ which proposed that to withdraw from roles and relationships in old age was normal, a new conceptual framework was developed in the late 1960s and 1970s which attempted to explain how individuals adapted to the constraints of ageing and old age. This has been variously measured in terms of good health, high levels of physical and mental functioning, and active engagement with one's social and physical environment. While post-modernism and critical gerontology have attempted to refocus the debate, the emphasis of most research and writing has remained within the framework of understanding, explaining, and even facilitating, ‘success’ in old age. There is also a body of research which recognizes the importance of the life course perspective, and that throughout an individual's life, he or she is faced with continuities and discontinuities which have to be negotiated and resolved. Old age is but part of this life-long process. Changes which occur in later life, such as retirement and widowhood, will lead to discontinuities in roles and relationships, other aspects of our lives will undergo little change allowing continuity. Alongside this, perspectives from anthropology, history and the social constructionist school of thought have also been recently influential. This chapter will discuss concepts of age, generation, and cohort. It will consider the contribution of the life course approach to understanding ageing, and the manner in which other perspectives, such as social constructionism, narrative psychology and anthropology, have contributed to the sociology of normal ageing.

The Pain of Endo Existence: Toward a Feminist Disability Studies Reading of Endometriosis

Hypatia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 554-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara E. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Medical Models ◽  
Feminist Disability Studies ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Provide Pain Relief ◽  
The Common ◽  
Constructionist Approach

Disability scholars have critiqued medical models that pathologize disability as an individual flaw that needs treatment, rehabilitation, and cure, favoring instead a social‐constructionist approach that likens disability to other identity categories such as gender, race, class, and sexuality. However, the emphasis on social constructionism has left chronic illness and pain largely untheorized. This article argues that feminist disability studies (FDS) must attend to the common, chronic gynecological condition endometriosis (endo) when theorizing pain. Endo is particularly important for FDS analysis because the highly feminized and sexualized nature of endo pain is a major source of disability. Because medical treatments of endo enhance fertility rather than provide pain relief, those with endo must not only have access to medical services to manage their pain, but also demand better medical management of their pain as well as disability accommodations for their pain. Thus, I propose a pain‐centric model of disability that politicizes pain through social‐constructionist and medical models of disability by attending to the lived experiences of pain.

Epidemiology of Cleft Palate in Europe: Implications for Genetic Research

2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Calzolari ◽  
Fabrizio Bianchi ◽  
Michele Rubini ◽  
Annukka Ritvanen ◽  
Amanda J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Complex Model ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Induced Abortions ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Epidemiological Evaluation ◽  
Specific Association ◽  
Biological Differences

Objective To describe the epidemiology of cleft palate (CP) in Europe. Design and Setting A descriptive epidemiological study on 3852 cases of CP, identified (1980 through 1996) from more than 6 million births from the EUROCAT network of 30 registers in 16 European countries. Results Significant differences in prevalence in Europe between registries and within countries were observed. A total of 2112 (54.8%) CP cases occurred as isolated, 694 (18.0%) were associated with other defects such as multiple congenital anomalies, and 1046 (27.2%) were in recognized conditions. The study confirmed the tendency toward female prevalence (sex ratio [SR] = 0.83), particularly among isolated cases (SR = 0.78) even if SR inversion is reported in some registries. A specific association with neural tube defects (NTDs) in some registers is reported. Conclusion The differences identified in Europe (prevalence, sex, associated anomalies) can be only partially explained by methodological reasons because a common methodology was shared among all registries for case ascertainment and collection, and CP is an easy detectable condition with few induced abortions. The complex model of inheritance and the frequently conflicting results in different populations on the role of genes that constitute risk factors suggest the presence of real biological differences. The association of CP/NTD in an area with a high prevalence of NTDs can identify a group of conditions that can be considered etiologically homogeneous. The epidemiological evaluation can guide genetic research to specify the role of etiological factors in each different population

Social Constructionism and Relativism: An Aporia?

Dialogue ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-321
Author(s):  
ABIGAIL KLASSEN
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Constructionist

I analyze the extent to which the theoretical cogency and practical efficacy of descriptive and ameliorative social constructionist programs are affected by relativism in the context of competing analyses of some purported social construction X. My task in this paper is successful if it can explain, organize, and clarify how relativism concerning the question ‘What should our concept of X be?’ affects social constructionist programs, and ameliorative versions of social constructionism especially. In this paper, I aim to make clearer to those not well-versed in this field what is at stake in these programs and why these programs should not be easily dismissed.

scholarly journals LEGAL DISCOURSE IN THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PARADIGM (construction of interethnic relations)

2016 ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
T. V. Dubrovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Discursive Practice ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Object Of Study

The paper presents some results of the research that is aimed at revealing the mechanisms of discursive construction of international and interethnic relations in different types of discourse. The object of study in this fragment is the legal discourse, which is viewed within the paradigm of social constructionism. The author consolidates studies of law as discursive practice and outlines an appropriate methodological perspective, which presupposes the interpretation of legal discourse in social and axiological context, participation of society in legal-discursive practices, and the essential role of legal discourse in power relations. To perform the analysis of the ‘Strategy of State national policy of the Russian Federation’, the author applies the categories of social actor, implicature, specifying and vagueness, which are typically exploited in Critical Discourse Analysis. The results demonstrate that the document in question categorises the participants in interethnic relations and constructs a few pairs of interacting parties. The state is represented as a key actor in interethnic relations. The document also operates the discursively opposite mechanisms of specifying and vagueness to problematise certain aspects of the relations. Axiologically laden abstract categories and implicature also construct interethnic relations.

scholarly journals The Estrangement of Social Constructionism and Experimental Social Psychology: History of the Rift and Prospects for Reconciliation

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Jost ◽  
Arie W. Kruglanski
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Experimental Social Psychology ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Shared Reality ◽  
Collective Representation ◽  
Psychology History ◽  
History Of

Social constructionism and experimental social psychology represent two complementary paradigms for understanding human social behavior, but over the last quarter century they have remained oddly and unnecessarily estranged from one another In this article, we trace the history of social constructionist thought and find that the intellectual lineage and guiding assumptions of these two subcultures of social psychology are essentially the same. Next, we clarify the philosophical and ideological bases of their divide to determine how wide the rift really is. Although the differences may appear to be unbridgeable, we argue that a rapprochement is both possible and desirable. At the level of metatheory, Donald Campbell and William J. McGuire have demonstrated that constructionist and empirical insights can be usefully integrated in social psychology. At the level of empirical research, studies of the situated self-concept, social identity, collective representation, attitudes as temporary constructions, communication and shared reality, and cultural psychology have progressed through the incorporation of constructionist themes. Similar opportunities await researchers who explore the contextual bases of history, ideology, and other shared systems of meaning and their implications for social psychology. Finally, we identify some substantive and stylistic complementarities of social constructionism and experimental social psychology and analyze their joint potential for contributing to a well-balanced discipline of social psychology that is worthy of both parts of its name.

scholarly journals Employment, environmental pollution and working class life in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanesa Castán Broto
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Social

People's experiences of a polluted space are intimately linked with their relative concerns for quality of life and livelihoods. Thus quality of environment and security of employment are two closely related issues in social conflicts over environmental pollution. Rather than being implicated in a trade-off relationship, environmental quality and job provision are both part of the life of community residents. Bringing together the literature on the political ecology of environmental conflicts and the social constructionist literature on public perceptions of environmental risks, this article argues that the working class and disadvantaged sections of society are often confronted with alliances between the industry, institutions and other stakeholders which may serve to legitimate a particular configuration of things in which the appropriation of some resources by the industry is regarded as legitimate. However, these arrangements are unstable: they are subject to constant renegotiation between the social groups implicated. Thus, how the emergence of concerns about the local environment relates to preoccupations about the state of the local economy is related to a process whereby these relationships are constructed and re-negotiated. These questions are analyzed using a case study of environmental pollution from coal-energy production in the city of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The case shows that both concerns for the environment and unemployment are articulated simultaneously in the context of industrial pollution, together with the redefinition of the socio-economic landscapes of post-industrial Tuzla.Keywords: Environmental pollution, employment, working-class life, social constructionism, Bosnia and Herzegovina

scholarly journals Ethical realism before social constructionism

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-236
Author(s):  
Tore Dag Bøe
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethical Aspect ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Ethical Realism ◽  
Ways Of Being

In this article, I explore the idea that there is a fundamental ethical aspect that precedes social constructionism. I suggest that within social constructionism we can identify a development from seeing knowledge as socially constructed ( epistemological social constructionism) to seeing not only knowledge, but also corporeal ways of being as socially constructed ( ontological social constructionism). As a next step, I propose incorporating what I refer to as ethical realism in social constructionist perspectives. In the encounter with the other human being, I argue that there is a real ethical impulse that precedes social constructionism and puts it in motion. This impulse is real in the sense that it is neither constructed within, nor is it dependent upon, any particular social–cultural–historical context. In this paper I consider the ethical aspects of human encounters that allow for a constructionist epistemology and ontology to emerge in the first place. I make use of ideas from Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Rancière and consider how these thinkers are used in the work of Gert Biesta. The ideas are discussed in relation to findings from a previous study by the author and his colleagues exploring the experiences of adolescents taking part in mental health services.

Expanding the Vision of the Social Constructionist Debates: Creating Relevance for Practitioners

1995 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 395-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Science Methods ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Social Science Methods ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Models ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

The term social constructionism has been associated with the research debates among academic social workers. Recently Atherton offered an analysis of the research debates in an attempt to communicate the significance of these debates to social work practitioners. He argued that these debates are tearing the profession apart. A major limitation of Atherton's analysis is that it failed to provide relevance for practitioners by making connections between underlying themes of the debates and important parallel developments within clinical practice fields. The author offers a different interpretation of the research debates, viewing them as a metadebate about science and social science methods. Drawing distinctions between social constructionism and constructivism expands Atherton's discussion, defining their relationship to both research and practice. Examples from practice models are used to illustrate how constructionism and constructivism are significant concepts and are being used across disciplines as metatheories for practice.

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