scholarly journals Conceptualizing Pre-Modern and Modern Individuality. Some Theoretical Considerations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz-Josef Arlinghaus
Keyword(s):  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Niklas Luhmann ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Autobiographical Texts ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Better Than

The paper distinguishes two types of individuality: in the pre-modern era,people conceptualised their individuality by constructing themselves aplace in society. The suggestion made here differs from older researchthat sees pre-modern individuality bound to groups. In the modern era, in contrast,people place their selves outside or next to society. In this respect, premodern ‘inclusion individuality’ and modern ‘exclusion individuality’ differstrongly from each other.These different forms of individuality are closely linked to the differentstructures of modern and pre-modern society. In this respect, asking why conceptsof individuality have changed amounts to asking why society haschanged – and this question is still unanswered, of course. However, bringingindividuality and society so closely together questions concepts that see individualityas being a (timelessly) given or want to connect it to changes in mentalitybased on, for instance, certain features prominent in Christianity.The advantages in conceptualising individuality in this way may be seen inthe possibility to historicise the phenomenon and mark differences withoutdescribing pre-modern individuality as being deficient. Placing the self withinthe frame of pre-modern society does not, of course, prevent the single personreflecting about him / herself and developing a strong self-consciousness. Inthis respect, the paper does not see a difference in ‘self-reflection’ and ‘selfconsciousness’ in modern and pre-modern times in general, but in the waypeople do so (which can be attributed to the different societal frame these reflectionsare linked to). To make the proposed shift from ‘bound to groups’ to ‘inclusion individuality’ more clear, I would like to mention two points: 1) pre-modern autobiographical texts show that their authors place themselves in society throughputting themselves in parallel with other deliberately and consciously chosenpersons; and 2) pre-modern authors built their self-consciousness strongly on‘being better than others’ or on an over-fulfilment of norms, while modernauthors emphasise ‘being different from others’. The comparative ‘better’ (incontrast to ‘different’) marks a self-conscious individuality that is built on(self-defined) links to society.The two types of individuality just described have a long tradition in sociologicalresearch, dating back at least to Georg Simmel and having been enrichedwith a new theoretical frame by Niklas Luhmann. They are, however,still somewhat alien to historical research. In this respect, the article and thevolume as a whole are also an attempt to work in an interdisciplinary way andmake sociological theory fruitful for pre-modern historical research.

Wafting spheres: much ado about nothing

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Niklas Luhmann ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Much Ado About Nothing ◽  
Historical Semantics ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to implement the idea of the sphere on systems theory (type: Niklas Luhmann) and to test whether this theory can be used to gain a sharper approach to the complex of ideas of the sphere. The main theme is “the conceptual blurriness of the word sphere.” This essay analyzes the societal and historical semantics of the concept of sphere and nearby notions in the thought traditions in medieval society until the modern, i.e. the functionally differentiated society. Nearby notions as limitationality and boundary are discussed, as well as sphere as a “lexicalized metaphor.” At the end, the paper turns to the concept of sphere in modern society that is based on the distinction “public/private” and applies the discussion to the system of mass media. Design/methodology/approach This paper can be classified as a “conceptual essay” that draws on basic systems theoretical concepts. Findings The result of the theoretical considerations is that the word “sphere” represents nothing more than a “catchword” and can hardly lay the groundwork for empirical and theoretical research that would be instructive with regard to the new media and their massive influence on society. Originality/value This paper was researched and written solely by the author. All sources are clearly identified.

Book Review: Toshchenko Zh.T. Trauma Society: Between Evolution and Revolution (The Experience of Theoretical and Empirical Analysis). Moscow: Ves’ Mir, 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-159
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Krivosheev
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Trauma Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Further Development

The review reveals the basic conceptions elaborated by one of the major Russian modern sociologists Zh.T. Toshchenko in his new research. The reviewer argues that the book’s author thoroughly examines the various methodological grounds for identifying the essential characteristics of social dynamics. At the same time, the reviewer focuses on the further development of the theory of modern society, proposed by the book’s author. Thus, Zh.T. Toshchenko, who spent many years researching social deformations, formulates an important concept – the concept of a society of trauma as the third modality of social development along with evolution and revolution. The book offers a fundamentally new view of social life, there is a holistic, systematic approach to all its processes and phenomena. The reviewer concludes that the new book of the social theorist Zh.T. Toshchenko is a significant contribution to sociological theory, since it develops ideas about the state and prospects of Russian society, gives accurate assessments of all social processes.

scholarly journals Designing Wayang Kulit Purwa with Gatotkaca as the Character in Game

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nunnun Bonafix
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Experience Design ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
The Times ◽  
Wayang Kulit ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Modern Era

Young generation nowadays has lack of knowledge on the culture of shadow puppet (wayang kulit) which is a heritage that has a high value of art and philosophy. This is caused by the impact of foreign cultures rapidly entering Indonesia. The rapid development of the information technology through internet & game has led to globalization that seems to be not limited to space and time. The speed of information and foreign cultures cannot be stopped. The culture of shadow puppet (wayang kulit) is getting eroded and is not much known by the modern society nowadays. This is an irony to a big nation which has a rich heritage, so it is our obligation as a citizen to maintain and preserve it. Based on the formulae of AIGA 2015 that defines (time + content + context) / time = experience design, the game of wayang kulit (shadow puppet) Gatotkaca put forbattled different experience to users in exploring the information and entertainment in those media. Having the spirit of moderate Postmodernism, the design plan called User Interface which combines the modern and classic traditional elements will encourage new experience to the users (Experience Design). The design recognizes times and trends, and it keeps changing as the development of the times. The design can be a pace setter to next individuals who are called to maintain and preserve national cultures, in general, and wayang kulit purwa, in particular, through digital media. The development in the modern era will not change the identity of shadow puppet (wayang kulit) culture since it has solid foundation.

scholarly journals Power, Resistance, and Slavery in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Light ◽  
Vincent J. Roscigno
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Slave Narratives ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
American Slavery ◽  
Resistance Strategies ◽  
Subordinate Resistance

In this article, we build on prior sociological theory pertaining to power as well as historical research on antebellum slavery to offer an integrated framework of subordinate resistance – a framework that incorporates a matrix of potential responses ranging from collective action, to symbolic resistance, to projective agency, and even quiescence. Using text networks as an index, we then analyze a rich collection of antebellum slave narratives (n=128) to investigate such response possibilities. These thematic networks, consistent with a large body of historical research on American slavery, demonstrate central domains of enslavement in the United States and the diverse resistance strategies that the enslaved employed. Moreover, our more qualitative immersion into these thematic patterns and the narratives themselves—narratives that have been largely overlooked by sociologists—uniquely highlight how particular resistance strategies are deployed in specific everyday contexts and sometimes resolve into what seem, at first glance, to be quiescence. We discuss these findings, and conclude more broadly by highlighting how the sociological study of inequality and power would benefit from attention to the variety of resistance strategies subordinate actors in their everyday lives and in the uneven and sometimes dangerous contexts they traverse.

scholarly journals Sejarah Peristilahan Tarbiyah Dan Taklim Dalam Tinjauan Filsafat Pendidikan Islam

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176
Author(s):  
Imroatun Imroatun ◽  
Ilzamudin Ilzamudin
Keyword(s):  
Historical Research ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Modern Era

The terms in the philosophy of Islamic education need more attention because of the variety of content and methods that sometimes appear paradoxes in their studies. This could be the result of the theoritization of Islamic education which was still dominated by classical Islamic thinkers in the pre-modern era. Moreover, the term philosophy is still not recognized as a part of comprehensive Islamic studies. Through historical research, this article intends to explore further the basic terms of Islamic education which are infused from Arabic. Rather than other terms, ta'dib has a historical syncornization and scope that corresponds to the fact that education is a human right in a scope that includes the basics in the Quran and Hadith.

scholarly journals The implications of nostalgia in German modern sociology

Sociologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236
Author(s):  
Ana Petrov
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Social Loss ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Traditional Communities

In this article, I deal with nostalgia as an implicit category in the 19th-century German sociological discourses. I draw on the approaches that argue that sociology can be seen as a nostalgic social science since the sociologists? discourses were focused on the issues of causes, characteristics, and consequences of the modern age for individuals and society. Trying to explicate modern society, usually by comparing it to the premodern forms of social order, modern sociologists shaped dichotomous categories that were used for the definition of basic sociological concepts, one of the typical ones being the dichotomy between modern society and traditional communities. I here argue that modern sociologists constructed their theories in relation to the idea of a lack or loss, i.e. in relation to the question of what the modern society left behind during its growth: community, spirit or freedom. An alternative, a solution, or simply a utopian object for making comparison are found exactly in the object that is lost - in the nostalgic reflection on those aspects of humanity that were no longer possible in the modern age. Hence, I argue that modern sociology can be defined as a certain discourse on social loss. This will be elaborated on the examples of theories of Ferdinand Tonnies, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel.

The Struggling Trainee: Principles of Effective Remediation

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (04) ◽  
pp. 486-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Galetta ◽  
Arielle Kurzweil
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Physical Limitations ◽  
Modern Era

AbstractStruggling trainees exist in all residency programs across all fields. Remediation, the act of improving deficiencies in struggling trainees, is necessary to promote the graduation of competent physicians. Deficiencies may be primarily cognitive or behavioral, and occasionally physical limitations do arise during residency. Remediation is challenging for all parties involved, and there is a paucity of literature to help guide the most effective process. In this review, we outline key principles of effective remediation of a struggling trainee in the modern era of medical education. A systematic approach that begins early, is consistent, and remains sensitive to a trainee's need for self-reflection in a nonjudgmental culture is essential for successfully remediating a trainee.

Responding to #yogabody on Instagram

Screen Bodies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Bilge Gölge
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
New Era ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Late Modern

This article focuses on representations of the yoga body on social media, explaining what the female body in an asana pose stands for in consideration of the dichotomy between Foucault’s docile body controlled by the technology of power and Anita Seppä’s “aestheticization of the subject” as a means of resistance. While socio-technological changes have introduced a new context in the modern era, the dominance of seeing and visual culture has remained central in late-modern society. Through social media, we have entered a new era of constructing self-identity in relation to gender and the body. Looking into the relationship between asana practice and self-identity in postural yoga, I investigate the imaged bodies of yoginis that function under the control of power and as a technique for self-actualization. Drawing from a visual analysis of Instagram posts and interpreting the bodily practices of yoginis, I will search for what happened to modernity’s docile body in the context of this new media.

Symbols and Dynamics of Social Meanings: Lessons From Residential Grave Spaces Among the Ekiti Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria

2019 ◽  
pp. 003022281986157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babatunde Joshua Omotosho
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Symbolic Interactionism ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
Southwest Nigeria ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Power Play

Grave spaces within Yoruba (Nigeria) societies are not just ordinary symbols, and they constitute “other place” used to meet individuals’ physical and social needs. This study examined how residential grave spaces within Yoruba social structure are used by them in meeting their day-to-day needs. Drawing from symbolic interactionism theory, and data gathered from Ekiti-Yoruba culture, this study investigates how community members define and utilize the place of graves from traditional to modern society in meeting their needs. Findings revealed that during the precolonial society, grave spaces served religious and endearment purposes. While still retaining these functions in modern era, the functions have increased to security, protections, and power play due to the hurdles posed by modernity. The article concluded that the practice may continue in spite of its opposition by policy makers and orthodox faiths.

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