scholarly journals Nature/nurture and the anthropology of Franz Boas and Margaret Mead as an agenda for revolutionary politics

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (16) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney M. Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Franz Boas ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Scientific Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Revolutionary Politics ◽  
Policy Proposals

There is much more involved in the nature/nurture debate than an abstract theoretical disagreement among dispassionate scientists. Each side of the debate leads logically to significantly different views of the social order and holds different implications for social policy. In this paper I shall argue that Boas' Anthropology with its emphasis on cultural relativism was as much a social and political agenda as it was a scientific theory. The positions on public policy issues he opposed were informed (and rationalized) by what its advocates claimed to be science. To be able to counter the discriminatory policy proposals that followed from this science, it was necessary for Boas both to challenge its validity and then replace it with an alternative that would support a more liberal political agenda. This chapter of anthropology's history gains relevance in today's context as neoevolutionary, reductionist theories once more provide "scientific" support for conservative, separatist and often discriminatory social policies.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Educational Reform ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
French Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Regime Politics ◽  
Revolutionary Politics ◽  
French Nation ◽  
Public Instruction

The introduction situates the problem of educational reform within the overlapping contexts of Enlightenment philosophy and revolutionary politics. Discussing the influence of sensationist philosophy and new expectations regarding the political public, it describes education’s place at the heart of debates over the nature, character, and purpose of French politics, culture, and society. It describes the range of sources upon which this study draws, the structure of the work, and the work’s central foci. These are: education’s place at the center of a crisis in Ancien Régime politics, one that was sparked by the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1762 but came to envelope debates about the French nation and nationalism, the state, and the social order; the emergence and nature of “public instruction” as an element in the revolutionary pursuit of a representative and participatory political order; and the reach of the ensuing debates over education, citizenship, and politics beyond the officials assemblies and publications of revolutionary politics, a breadth that suggests a broad engagement with the prospects and possibilities for contributory citizenship after 1789.

Complexity in the history of language study

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Kilarski
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycles ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Indian Languages ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Franz Boas ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Controversial Nature

AbstractThis article examines the history of two examples from American Indian languages as an illustration of the ways in which the ambivalent and controversial nature of linguistic complexity has shaped the attitudes to "exotic" languages. In particular, I trace the life cycles of the Cherokee verbs for washing and the Eskimo words for snow from an unbiased origin in the works of John Pickering (1777-1846) and Franz Boas (1858-1942) to ideologically oriented uses as evidence for claims advanced within late 19th century anthropological racism and 20th century cultural relativism, respectively. The history of these examples illustrates the instrumental treatment of linguistic data in secondary references in linguistics and the social sciences as well as contradictory interpretations of complexity, as shown by the overemphasis on lexical overabundance and the disregard for morphological complexity of the languages in question. More generally, I show that the notion of complexity has been a key aspect of discussions concerning such issues as cross-linguistic differences in linguistic structure, evaluations of languages regarded as "exotic" or "primitive" as well as the assumed cognitive, cultural and social correlates of linguistic structure.

scholarly journals BANALIDADE DO MAL E MANUTENÇÃO DA ORDEM SOCIAL: O TERCEIRO REICH E O RACISMO NO BRASIL

polemica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Flora Bezerra dos Santos ◽  
Maria Helena Zamora
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Banality Of Evil ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 19Th Century

Resumo: A partir da sistematização do conceito de banalidade do mal proposto por Hannah Arendt no livro Eichmann em Jerusalém – um relato sobre a banalidade do mal (1963, 1964, 1999), este trabalho busca apontar para as condições de suposta normalidade, em que se instauram mecanismos de desumanização. Os projetos hegemônicos de poder inscrevem, na ordem social, lógicas que corroboram para a anulação de modos de viver encarados como ameaçadores. Consideradas as devidas diferenças, tanto a sistemática nazista quanto a teoria das raças estipulada em fins do século XIX no Brasil, endossaram a existência de hierarquias entre características humanas. Com isso, traça-se um paralelo entre as pautas políticas nos períodos mencionados, a fim de refletir acerca dos efeitos diretos e indiretos que as práticas genocidas manifestam no cotidiano atual.Palavras-chave: Banalidade do mal. Ordem social. Racismo. Violência. Desumanização.Abstract: Based on the systematization of the concept of banality of evil proposed by Hannah Arendt in the book Eichmann in Jerusalem - a report on the banality of evil (1963, 1964, 1999), this paper aims at indicating the conditions of the supposed normality, in which mechanisms of dehumanization are instaured. The hegemonic projects if power inscribe, in the social order, logics that corroborate with the annulation of ways of living that are seen as threatening. Considering the assumed differences, both the systematic of the nazis and the theory of races stipulated in the end of the 19th century in Brazil, reinforced the existence of hierarchies among human characteristics. Having taken that into account, a parallel is drawn between the political agenda in the aforementioned periods, with the purpose of reflecting upon the direct and indirect effects that the genocidal practices manifest on daily life nowadays.Keywords: Banality of evil. Social order. Racism. Violence. Dehumanization.

The Social Order Yields to Functional Analysis

1958 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 158-160
Author(s):  
LAWRENCE SCHLESINGER
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The Social

Sex and the Social Order.

1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgene H. Seward
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
The Social

George Hoggart Toulmin: politics and geology

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-481
Author(s):  
ROY PORTER
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Great Distance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Christian View ◽  
The Social ◽  
French Enlightenment ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
History Of

The physician George Hoggart Toulmin (1754–1817) propounded his theory of the Earth in a number of works beginning with The antiquity and duration of the world (1780) and ending with his The eternity of the universe (1789). It bore many resemblances to James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" (1788) in stressing the uniformity of Nature, the gradual destruction and recreation of the continents and the unfathomable age of the Earth. In Toulmin's view, the progress of the proper theory of the Earth and of political advancement were inseparable from each other. For he analysed the commonly accepted geological ideas of his day (which postulated that the Earth had been created at no great distance of time by God; that God had intervened in Earth history on occasions like the Deluge to punish man; and that all Nature had been fabricated by God to serve man) and argued they were symptomatic of a society trapped in ignorance and superstition, and held down by priestcraft and political tyranny. In this respect he shared the outlook of the more radical figures of the French Enlightenment such as Helvétius and the Baron d'Holbach. He believed that the advance of freedom and knowledge would bring about improved understanding of the history and nature of the Earth, as a consequence of which Man would better understand the terms of his own existence, and learn to live in peace, harmony and civilization. Yet Toulmin's hopes were tempered by his naturalistic view of the history of the Earth and of Man. For Time destroyed everything — continents and civilizations. The fundamental law of things was cyclicality not progress. This latent political conservatism and pessimism became explicit in Toulmin's volume of verse, Illustration of affection, published posthumously in 1819. In those poems he signalled his disapproval of the French Revolution and of Napoleonic imperialism. He now argued that all was for the best in the social order, and he abandoned his own earlier atheistic religious radicalism, now subscribing to a more Christian view of God. Toulmin's earlier geological views had run into considerable opposition from orthodox religious elements. They were largely ignored by the geological community in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, but were revived and reprinted by lower class radicals such as Richard Carlile. This paper is to be published in the American journal, The Journal for the History of Ideas in 1978 (in press).

Issues of non-standard employment: social and hygienic aspects

2020 ◽  
pp. 392-398
Author(s):  
S. A. Druzhilov
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Labor Safety ◽  
Typical Model

Drastic transformations of the social and labor sphere have led to the emergence of new health risks and sanitary and hygienic problems associated with unreliability of employment. A new socio-economic and psychological phenomenon “precarity” has emerged, which has aff ected the employment conditions of employees, so the description of the phenomenon “precarity” needs to be clarifi ed.The forms of labor employment that diff er from the typical model and worsen the employee’s situation are considered. The criteria based on which non-standard employment is considered unstable are given.Generalized types of unstable employment are identifi ed, the specifi city of which is determined by a combination of two factors: working time and the term of the contract. Unstable working conditions are possible not only in informal employment, but also in legal labor relations. Unreliability and instability of labor has an objective character and is a natural manifestation of the emerging economic and social order. The phenomenon of “precarity of employment” appears as a new determinant of the health of employees. The main feature when referring employment and labor relations to the phenomenon of “precarity” is their unreliability.Specifies the terms used: “precariat”; “precarious work”; precompact; the precariat. An essential characteristic of precarious employment is the violation of social and labor rights and lack of job security. A significant indicator of precarity is underemployment. Precarity induces the potential danger of dismissal of the employee and the resulting stress, psychosomatic disorders and pathological processes in the psyche.Precarious employment and related labor relations have become widespread. Many employees are deprived of social guarantees, including those related to labor safety, payment for holidays and temporary disability, and provision of preventive measures. Th is leads to a violation of the state of well-being, as well as the deterioration of individual and public health.

“There is such a situation that Comrade Svoboda is under pressure”. The Soviet leadership and the settlement of relations with Czechoslovakia. May 1969

2019 ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
Teymur Dzhalilov ◽  
Nikita Pivovarov
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

The published document is a part of the working record of The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on May 5, 1969. The employees of The Common Department of the CPSU Central Committee started writing such working records from the end of 1965. In contrast to the protocols, the working notes include speeches of the secretaries of the Central Committee, that allow to deeper analyze the reactions of the top party leadership, to understand their position regarding the political agenda. The peculiarity of the published document is that the Secretariat of the Central Committee did not deal with the most important foreign policy issues. It was the responsibility of the Politburo. However, it was at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee when Brezhnev raised the question of inviting G. Husák to Moscow. The latter replaced A. Dubček as the first Secretary of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. As follows from the document, Leonid Brezhnev tried to solve this issue at a meeting of the Politburo, but failed. However, even at the Secretariat of the Central Committee the Leonid Brezhnev’s initiative at the invitation of G. Husák was not supported. The published document reveals to us not only new facets in the mechanisms of decision-making in the CPSU Central Committee, the role of the Secretary General in this process, but also reflects the acute discussions within the Soviet government about the future of the world socialist systems.

Richard Mackenney, Venice as the Polity of Mercy: Guilds, Confraternities, and the Social Order, c. 1250–c. 1650. Toronto Italian Studies. Toronto, Buffalo, and London: University of Toronto Press, 2019, xiii, 471.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 551-552
Author(s):  
Thomas Willard
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Merchant Of Venice ◽  
Legal Scholar ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Italian Studies ◽  
The Merchant Of Venice ◽  
The Social ◽  
University Town ◽  
The University

Shakespeare is well known to have set two of his plays in and around Venice: The Merchant of Venice (1596) and The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (1603). The first is often remembered for its famous speech about “the quality of mercy,” delivered by the female lead Portia in the disguise of a legal scholar from the university town of Padua. The speech helps to spare the life of her new husband’s friend and financial backer against the claims of the Jewish moneylender Shylock. The play has raised questions for Shakespearean scholars about the choice of Venice as an open city where merchants of all nations and faiths would meet on the Rialto while the city’s Senate, composed of leading merchants, worked hard to keep it open to all and especially profitable for its merchants. Those who would like to learn more about the city’s development as a center of trade can learn much from Richard Mackenney’s new book.

Conclusion: Rethinking Punishment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Fassin
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ideal Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Ideal

If punishment is not what we say it is, if it is not justified by the reasons we invoke, if it facilitates repeat offenses instead of preventing them, if it punishes in excess of the seriousness of the act, if it sanctions according to the status of the offender rather than to the gravity of the offense, if it targets social groups defined beforehand as punishable, and if it contributes to producing and reproducing disparities, then does it not itself precisely undermine the social order? And must we not start to rethink punishment, not only in the ideal language of philosophy and law but also in the uncomfortable reality of social inequality and political violence?

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