scholarly journals “HOLY MONEY”: GODS, MEN AND ECONOMY IN ANTIQUITY

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Paola Corrente
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
Religious Dimensions

Religion and economy have had a very important role in shaping society and their connection to social matters has been present since the very appearance of money and birth of economic activities. In antiquity, the bond between religion and economy was very strong because ancient world was symbolic and was embedded with magic and religious ideas: economy was part of this “wholeness”, because it inherited from the past the social practices aimed at the well-being of people, which were under the direct protection of the gods. The aim of my paper, hence, is to analyze the religious dimensions of money and economy in ancient societies, following the perspective of philosophy and mythology. Through the guide of a careful observer of human behavior, the great philosopher Aristotle, both disciplines can give interesting insights on the effect economy can have on society. The background for my research will be the cultures of ancient Mediterranean world, in particular, Greece and Mesopotamia, for we have a considerable amount of documents and literary works, whereas, regarding the methodology, I will approach the texts from an historical and comparative perspective.

Narrative as active inference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Bouizegarene ◽  
maxwell ramstead ◽  
Axel Constant ◽  
Karl Friston ◽  
Laurence Kirmayer
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Future Projection ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Parsimonious Model ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Theory Research

The ubiquity and importance of narratives in human adaptation has been recognized by many scholars. Research has identified several functions of narratives that are conducive to individuals’ well-being and adaptation as well as to coordinated social practices and enculturation. In this paper, we characterize the social and cognitive functions of narratives in terms of the framework of active inference. Active inference depicts the fundamental tendency of living organisms to adapt by creating, updating, and maintaining inferences about their environment. We review the literature on the functions of narratives in identity, event segmentation, episodic memory, future projection, storytelling practices, and enculturation. We then re-cast these functions of narratives in terms of active inference, outlining a parsimonious model that can guide future developments in narrative theory, research, and clinical applications.

Que el olvido social no nos gane: prácticas sociales conmemorativas en Latinoamérica. / That social oblivion not win us: Commemorative social practices in Latin America.

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (06) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Luis Mauricio Escalante Solís ◽  
Carlos David Carrillo Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
The Past ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Causes ◽  
Latin American Countries

Las sociedades comparten un serie de formas a través de las cuales se pueden identificar, conocerse y re-conocerse, sin hacer mucho caso a la especificidad, latitud o cultura que las caracterizan y las unen. Lo primero que comparten es una memoria social, entendida como un significado compartido por los miembros que lo conforman, sin importar su veracidad o autenticidad. El recuerdo es necesario para mantener unido a los integrantes de un grupo, es por ello que se manifiesta constante e intermitentemente en el transcurso de la existencia del grupo social, se vuelve un significado adoptado por dicho colectivo que debe ser manifiesto en las actividades y la cotidianidad.El presente trabajo describe y analiza tres prácticas sociales de conmemoración denominadas alternativas que se realizan en países latinoamericanos (Argentina, Chile y México), se fundamentan sus orígenes, causas sociales y formas de organización, así como sus acciones principales. El eje rector que unifica a estas tres prácticas conmemorativas es el hecho de que reivindican la lucha social y ejemplifican mecanismos contrahegemónicos de demanda social, antes las falencias, omisiones y acciones del Estado. El estudio y el análisis de las conmemoraciones abren la posibilidad de entender distintos usos del pasado. Los eventos históricos construyen un relato que otorga identidad y sentimiento de unidad. Sin embargo, recuperar el pasado a través de la conmemoración no elimina el surgimiento de grupos contrahegemónicos que proponen una reflexión crítica sobre lo sucedido. The societies share a number of ways through which they can identify and meet. However, often irrelevant specifics of culture. It is much more important social memory. Social memory is something that is shared by members of a group regardless of their veracity or authenticity. The memory is needed to hold together the members of a group. Therefore, the memory becomes a meaning adopted by the collective manifested in everyday activities.This paper describes and analyzes three social practices of commemoration taking place in Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile and Mexico), describing their origins, social causes, forms of organization and main actions. The guiding principle that unifies these three commemorative practices is claimed that exemplify the social struggle and counter-hegemonic mechanisms of social demand, given the failures, omissions and actions of the state. The study and analysis of the commemorations open the possibility of understanding different uses of the past. Historical events construct a story that gives identity and togetherness. However, recovering the past, through the commemoration does not eliminate the emergence of counter-hegemonic groups that propose a critical reflection about what happened.

Prestige versus Practicality—A Dilemma for the Engineering Profession

1985 ◽  
Vol 199 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
K McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Educational System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Engineering Profession ◽  
The Past ◽  
Social Prestige ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Training

British engineers have claimed that their important contributions to economic and social well-being, based on their achievements as practical people, have gone unrecognized or unrewarded. Yet over the past thirty years efforts to boost the social prestige of British engineers appear to have undermined the social arrangements which fostered the strong practical ethos. Increasing reliance on the full-time educational system is tending to raise social prestige through bringing the ‘all graduate profession’ and through trends to recruitment from higher social backgrounds. Yet these trends have been associated with a fall in traditional and recognizable training. This paper examines both the nature of the ‘practical’ tradition and efforts to raise ‘prestige’ and asks whether the engineering profession is caught on the horns of an irresolvable dilemma—to boost either prestige or practicality. The paper concludes that in principle the British pattern of education and training has much to commend it still, with the strong emphasis on training elements in a working environment. But it is argued that its success will depend on engineers and their employers becoming much more active in the field of training.

Bridging the Gap between Citizens and Decision-Makers

2010 ◽  
pp. 573-586
Author(s):  
Karamagioli Evika
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modern Methods ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness

Over the past few years the concepts of government and governance have been dramatically transformed. Not only is this due to increasing pressures and expectations that the way we are governed should reflect modern methods of efficiency and effectiveness, but also that government should be more open to democratic accountability. The following chapter will introduce the social impact dimension of e-democracy while proposing concrete directions and incentives that should be provided for engagement through electronic means. The intention is to highlight the fact that technology is the result of a combination of tools, social practices, social organizations, and cultural meanings. It not only represents social arrangements, but also has the potential to facilitate and / or limit different types of interaction.

Conclusion

A Child's Day ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Killian Mullan
Keyword(s):  
Time Use ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Uk

This concluding chapter surveys the key findings and issues raised in the previous chapters. This study of a child's day provides the most extensive picture currently available in the UK, and elsewhere in the world, into how children's time use has changed over the past several decades. It identifies areas of expected change as well as other areas of surprising stability. It reveals how change and stability in children's time use blend together to comprise a child's day, uncovering also the multi-layered contexts of a child's day. Aspects of children's time use, and how this may have changed, will no doubt continue to surface in public debate in connection with their well-being. While welcoming this, it is necessary to always question and seek to understand how supposed changes actually fit within a child's day, the types of days where these changes are concentrated, among whom, and to seek out evidence on how such changes relate to other activities and the social contexts of daily life.

Texts Don't have Ideologies

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Fowl
Keyword(s):  
Social Practices ◽  
Ideological Criticism ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Accepted Practice ◽  
A Site

AbstractOver the past fifteen years "ideological criticism" of the Bible has grown to become an accepted practice within the academy. It has provided a site where feminists, Marxists, liberation theologians and other interested parties have been able to engage in discussion aimed largely at displaying the wide variety of competing interests operating in both the production and interpretation of the Bible. Unfortunately, it is common among ideological critics of the Bible to speak of biblical texts as having ideologies. The thrust of this article is to claim that this way of thinking confuses a wide range of issues concerning the relationships between texts and the social practices which both generated those texts and are sustained by interpretations of particular texts. This position is defended by an examination of the various ways in which the Abraham story was read from Genesis through Philo, Paul, and Justin Martyr.

Health and Safety Strategies in a Changing Europe

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walters
Keyword(s):  
Public Expenditure ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Safety Strategies ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
New Challenges

This article presents a synthesis of some of the more significant findings from two recent surveys on working conditions and national strategies for their improvement in the European Union in the 1990s. As patterns and organization of employment have changed in the past decade, the consequences for health and safety present new challenges for legislators, the social partners, the regulatory agencies, and the specialists. These challenges are only partially met in most European member states. Because of the continued deregulation of employment, reduced public expenditure, and reduced trade union presence, the operation of strategies to implement a common framework of E.U. legislation is limited and often incomplete. This issue must be confronted if systems for promoting the well-being of people at work in Europe are to keep up with the rapidly changing nature of the risks that they face.

scholarly journals Indigenous African Education for Socio- Economic Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 267-316
Author(s):  
Moses Wandera
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
World View ◽  
Emile Durkheim ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vision 2030 ◽  
Available Information

Education in Africa has been in existence since time immemorial. This study sought to examine the activities of Lantana in Benin on their specialised training, Dogon of Mali in their world view, Futo Toro of Senegal in their various trades, Poro of Sierra Leone in the training of the youth, Takensi of Ghana in their social order and the Akan of Ghana. Also examined are the activities of the Chamba and Yoruba of Nigeria in their adult centred training and forecasting of the future respectively. The Chagga of Tanzania and the Abakwayaare were also examined on their initiative plays and economic activities. The paper also studied the Ndembu of Zambia on the past analysis and the activities of the Mijikenda of Kenya among other Kenyan tribes. The study used the theoretical framework of Emile Durkheim on the social and moral order, while the design of the study was on content analysis of available information and expectations. The study recommends positive approaches in the indigenouseducation that can be adapted, mainly for Kenya in its desire to achieve Vision 2030. However, further research should be done on specific values, foods, attitudes and the rule of law, how achieve social, political and economic progress in African nations and especially how the current economic integration blocks have followed the same pattern of the communities and their values.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in Africa: socio-economic impact, policy response and opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peterson Ozili
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socio Economic Impact

PurposeThis paper examines the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and the policy response in African countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses discourse analysis to analyse the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa.FindingsThe findings reveal that African countries have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and the effect was more severe for African regions compared to other regions. The rising pandemic affected social interaction and economic activities through the imposed social distancing policies that have different levels of strictness in several African countriesPractical implicationsThe implication of the findings is that social policies can affect the social and economic well-being of citizens. Secondly, the coronavirus outbreak has revealed how a biological crisis can be transformed to a sociological subject. The most important sociological consequence of the coronavirus outbreak for African citizens is the creation of social anxiety among families and households in the region. The outbreak has also shown how vulnerable African societies are in facing health hazards. Policymakers should enforce social policies that unite communities in bad times, to reduce social anxiety.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that explore the socio-economic impact of coronavirus and the policy response in African countries.

On the Specifics of Entrepreneurship Perception by University Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 127-142
Author(s):  
Natalia A. Vinokurova ◽  
Nikolai M. Svetlov
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Financial Security ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Public Benefits ◽  
The Past ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Career Preferences ◽  
Personal Interests

On the base of the survey in two universities in Voronezh (680 students) the hypothesis is rejected that students, in accordance with J. Schumpeter's interpretation of entrepreneurial activity, associate entrepreneurship with innovations. It is found that the student's perception of entrepreneurship in the Russian cultural and linguistic environment differs from the Schumpeterian one. Although the inclination to joining entrepreneurship in the future is widespread among the students, they are not ready to innovate. Students perceive entrepreneurship primarily as a pathway to financial security and personal well-being. Respondents tend to neglect socially significant aspects of entrepreneurship.It is revealed that the students miss a holistic system of views and priorities regarding to their careers. Personal interests and motivations prevail over business inclinations. This is expressed in the students' career preferences, which incline to the ability to combine business and personal life, to the pursuit of financial security, material well-being, avoiding difficulties. As a rule, students prefer interesting and creative work. Hard work and education as factors of success in their future professional careers are valued low.At the same time, weak social inclinations are manifested. Mutual assistance and cooperation as factors of professional progress are rated low. Also, the students are not inclined to work much and hard for the sake of public benefits. Prevailing not only personal interests as compared to the social, but even personal as compared to professional is an obstacle to the students joining the innovative entrepreneurship, requiring the priority of business and professional interests. The low interest to continuing family business reflects the young people's desire to independence, to free choice of path. This indirectly indicates their deviation from traditional values (which are considered to be characteristic of the Russian culture in the past) and about the growth of their individualism.

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