Gauging inequality among pastoralists

Focaal ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (45) ◽  
pp. 46-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Binomial Series ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Social Profiles ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Relative Concept

Poverty is a relative concept that is most meaningful within the context of social inequality in a particular culture. Among pastoralists in east Africa, often with mixed economies and herds that tend to fluctuate erratically over time, the problem of assessing poverty and wealth can be resolved by examining profiles of polygyny to provide a comparable index of wealth. Several profiles are examined in relation to a mathematical model based on the binomial series, with an emphasis on its social rather than mathematical implications. These series are especially apt because they closely follow the distribution of wives in a substantial sample of African societies, and they reveal different types of balances between competition and conformity associated with age and with status. The purpose of this essay is to redefine the problem of poverty in terms of the social profiles of inequality, leading toward a comparative analysis between cultures.

scholarly journals Intersektionalitet som sociologisk begreb

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune Qvotrup Jensen ◽  
Ann-Dorte Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Black American ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Social Forms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types

Intersektionalitetsbegrebet indebærer, at sociale differentieringsformer som køn, klasse, etnicitet og ”race” er gensidigt konstituerende både på et identitetsmæssigt og strukturelt niveau. Begrebet har haft stor gennemslagskraft og bidraget positivt til fornyelse af dansk og international kønsforskning. Da begrebet rummer potentialer til analyser af komplekse sociale differentieringer, er det imidlertid også relevant for en bredere sociologi. Nutidige højt differentierede samfund fordrer således begreber og metodologier, som er egnede til at gribe kompleksitet. Intersektionalitetstænkningen har teorihistoriske rødder i amerikansk sort standpunktsfeminisme. I Danmark blev begrebet først anvendt af poststrukturalistiske socialpsykologer, som gentænkte det og gjorde det velegnet til at analysere, hvordan komplekse identiteter skabes i hverdagslivet. Senere er begrebet blevet anvendt af kønsforskere med andre faglige og videnskabsteoretiske udgangspunkter. I artiklen fremhæves det, at intersektionalitetsbegrebet kan anvendes til at producere forskellige typer sociologisk viden. I den forbindelse præsenteres en typologi over forskellige tilgange til intersektionalitetsanalyser, som bruges som afsæt til at skitsere tre eksempler på analyser af social ulighed og eksklusion. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Sune Qvotrup Jensen and Ann-Dorte Christensen: Inter-sectionality as a Sociological Concept Contemporary highly differentiated societies require concepts and methodologies which are suited for grasping complexity. Intersectionality is a fruitful approach to analyze this complexity because social forms of differentiation such as gender, class, ethnicity and “race” are understood as mutually co-constructing at the level of individual identities and at the level of social structures. Intersectionality is a travelling concept which is theoretically rooted in black American feminism. In Denmark, the concept was first used by post-structuralist social psychologists, who adapted it to analyzing how complex identities were created in everyday life. Later on the concept was later taken up by gender researchers within the social sciences. This article analyses how the concept of intersectionality can be used to produce different types of sociological knowledge. It introduces a typology of approaches to intersectionality analyses, which serves as the backdrop for three examples of analyses of social inequality and exclusion. Key words: Intersectionality, complexity, social differentiation, gender, class, ethnicity.

Reconceptualizing Types of Religious Organization

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Bromley ◽  
J. Gordon Melton
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Religious Organization ◽  
Organizational Forms ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
New Religions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Religious Economies ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Over Time

One important theoretical task in the study of religion is distinguishing among the different organizational forms that religious groups assume. The most influential typology of religious organization has been based upon distinctions of church, denomination, sect, and cult. However, the various formulations of this typology have proved problematic, theoretically and empirically, and of little use to new religions scholars. We propose a relational approach to categorizing religious groups based on the social and cultural relationship of a group to established institutions (including religion). This approach yields four types of tradition groups: dominant, sectarian, alternative, and emergent. We argue that a relationally based typology is particularly useful in mapping religious economies, conducting comparative analysis, and tracking the changing status of religious groups over time.

scholarly journals VALUING DELIBERATE BUILT-IN FLEXIBILITY IN HOUSES – EXAMPLED

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 479-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Carmichael ◽  
Reza Taheriattar
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Financial Viability ◽  
Sustainability Criteria ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Environmental Impacts ◽  
Over Time

People’s Housing requirements commonly transition over time, and there are financial, social and environmental impacts associated with altering and moving houses. With possible future alteration in mind, this paper looks at the viability of deliberately incorporating flexibility into houses at the time they are designed and built, as compared with no specifically incorporated flexibility (yet still possibly capable of being altered). A comparative analysis, rather than an absolute analysis, is outlined. The financial viability is performed as an options analysis, while the social and environmental matters are evaluated along life cycle assessment lines. As a case example, the paper considers the viability of incorporating deliberate two-storey flexibility into a single-storey house using Australian practices. It is shown on the case example that incorporating deliberate built-in flexibility can perform positively against all sustainability criteria – financial, social and environmental, separately or combined – however the generality of this conclusion remains to be proven.

scholarly journals The trajectory of subjective social status and its multiple determinants in contemporary China

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-574
Author(s):  
Yang Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Subjective Social Status ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
Social Stratum ◽  
The Social ◽  
Curve Modeling ◽  
Over Time

Subjective social status is an individual's perception of his/her position in the social stratum, and it shapes social inequality in a perceived way. By using the China Family Panel Studies and employing growth curve modeling strategies, this article examines the subjective social status trajectories of Chinese people between 2010 and 2018 and how these trajectories are shaped by objective social status. The empirical findings show that the distribution of subjective social status in each wave (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018) presents a middle-class identification, which means that the majority of people tend to position their subjective social status at the middle level, while the overall trend in average subjective social status has increased over time. The results of trajectory analysis show that different objective socioeconomic status indicators have different effects on the baseline value and rate of growth in subjective social status, which suggests that the trajectories of subjective social status are influenced by multiple determinants in China. While education, income and political capital reduce the gaps between the classes in subjective social status over time, wealth and employment status enlarge these gaps and thus enhance subjective social inequality. This article highlights the gradient effect that wealth has on the dynamics of subjective social status and helps us to better understand subjective social stratification in contemporary China.

scholarly journals Mortality Inequality

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Peltzman
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
High Income ◽  
The Social ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Social Distribution ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Mortality Inequality

The paper describes how changes in the inequality of lifetimes have contributed to changes in the social distribution of welfare. I address the following questions: How can we measure inequality of lifetimes? How has this kind of inequality changed over time? How is this inequality related to increased longevity? How do these trends differ across and within countries? Unequal longevity was once a major source of social inequality, perhaps even more important in some sense than income inequality, for a long time. But over the last century, this inequality has declined drastically in high-income countries and is now comparatively trivial.

scholarly journals Maneuvering qualities of vessels with a wheeled propulsion and steering

2021 ◽  
pp. 154-159
Author(s):  
Л.С. Грошева ◽  
В.И. Мерзляков ◽  
В.И. Плющаев
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Steering System ◽  
Safe Operation ◽  
Different Types

На судах используются различные типы рулевых устройств – традиционные рули, активные рули, выдвижные колонки, азимутальные подруливающие устройства и пр. В России начали строить колесные суда без традиционного руля. Маневрирование осуществляется путем изменения соотношения частот вращения гребных колес, расположенных по бортам в корме судна - суда с колесным движительно-рулевым комплексом (КДРК). В статье на основе математической модели судна с КДРК проводится сравнительный анализ маневровых характеристик судов с различными видами рулевого устройства – с традиционным рулем, азимутальным подруливающим устройством и КДРК. Было выполнено математическое моделирование стандартных маневров, используемых при испытаниях судов, а именно маневр зигзаг, маневр циркуляция, активное и пассивное торможение. Полученные результаты позволяют утверждать, что суда с КДРК (без традиционного руля) обладают маневровыми характеристиками, обеспечивающими их эффективную и безопасную эксплуатацию. Various types of rudders are used on ships - traditional rudders, active rudders, retractable thrusters, azimuth thrusters, etc. In Russia, they began to build wheeled ships without a traditional rudder. Maneuvering is carried out by changing the ratio of the rotation frequencies of the paddle wheels located along the sides in the stern of the vessel-a vessel with a wheeled propulsion and steering system (WPSS). In the article, on the basis of a mathematical model of a vessel with a WPSS, a comparative analysis of the maneuvering characteristics of vessels with different types of steering gear (a traditional rudder, an azimuth thruster and a WPSS) is carried out. Mathematical modeling of standard maneuvres used in the test of the vessels was performed: the zigzag maneuver, the circulation maneuver, active and passive braking. The results allow us to state that vessels with a WPSS (without a traditional rudder) have maneuvering characteristics that ensure their efficient and safe operation.

scholarly journals The Structure of Comparison in the Study of Revolution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin J Beck
Keyword(s):  
Network Structure ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Social Scientific Study ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Over Time

The social scientific study of revolution has been deviled by a lack of progress in recent years, divided between competing views on the universality of patterns in revolution. This study examines the origins of these epistemologies. Drawing on an insight that different modes of comparison yield different types of knowledge, this study argues that the network structure of how cases are compared constrains or enables the development of a field’s theoretical sensibilities. Analysis of comparative studies of revolution published from 1970 to 2009 reveals that the field overall is most amenable to knowledge about particular cases rather than the phenomenon of revolution broadly. Analysis of the changing structure of comparison over time reveals that comparison precedes the development of an epistemology. The results suggest that conclusions about the possibility, or lack thereof, of generalization may be an artifact of the comparative method.

scholarly journals Meritocracy a myth? A multilevel perspective of how social inequality accumulates through work

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 240-269
Author(s):  
Hans van Dijk ◽  
Dorien Kooij ◽  
Maria Karanika-Murray ◽  
Ans De Vos ◽  
Bertolt Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multilevel Perspective ◽  
Dyadic Network ◽  
Unequal Opportunities ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Over Time

Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. Whereas the conventional view of workplaces as meritocracies suggests that work is a conduit for social equality, we unveil the ways in which workplaces contribute to the accumulation of social inequality. In our cumulative social inequality in workplaces (CSI-W) model, we outline how initial differences in opportunities and rewards shape performance and/or subsequent opportunities and rewards, such that those who receive more initial opportunities and rewards tend to receive even more over time. These cumulative social inequality dynamics take place via nine different mechanisms spanning four different levels (individual, dyadic, network, and organizational). The CSI-W indicates that the mechanisms interact, such that the social inequality dynamics in workplaces tend to (a) exacerbate social inequalities over time, (b) legitimate social inequalities over time, and (c) manifest themselves through everyday occurrences and behaviors.

scholarly journals The Structure of Comparison in the Study of Revolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Network Structure ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Social Scientific Study ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Over Time

The social scientific study of revolution has been deviled by a lack of progress in recent years, divided between competing views on the universality of patterns in revolution. This study examines the origins of these epistemologies. Drawing on an insight that different modes of comparison yield different types of knowledge, I argue that the network structure of how cases are compared constrains or enables the development of a field’s theoretical sensibilities. Analysis of comparative studies of revolution published from 1970 to 2009 reveals that the field overall is most amenable to knowledge about particular cases rather than the phenomenon of revolution broadly. Analysis of the changing structure of comparison over time reveals that comparison precedes the development of an epistemology. The results suggest that conclusions about the possibility, or lack thereof, of generalization may be an artifact of the comparative method.

scholarly journals Citizen participation in Europe: A comparative analysis from the sociopolitical contexts

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Ernesto Ganuza Fernández ◽  
Francisco José Francés García
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Over Time

Questioning the social spiral deriving from participation has flared up the debate regarding the place it occupies in contemporary democracies. It does not seem possible to deny the evidence that many studies have pointed to regarding the political attitudes associated with institutionalised participation (associations). But we question in this study the fact that the whole participation phenomenon is equated with that type of participation. Our paper compares different ways of participation in a sample of European countries to, first, analyse the activities that can be linked to each form of participation and whether it can be held that they are different from the point of view of the individual. Second, we analyse the attitudes that lead individuals to choose one option over the other. We conclude that for individuals the different forms of participation are different forms of political engagement. Our study shows an evolution in non-institutional forms of participation over time that is difficult to ignore, from being expressions bordering illegality to taking them as normalised tools for citizens. We could now start to consider them from the point of view of the implications they have for democracy as a different way to exercise political influence.

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