scholarly journals A sociological imagination for a clumsy world: François Dépelteau’s relational sociology

Digithum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peeter Selg
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Sociological Imagination ◽  
Relational Sociology ◽  
Contemporary World

In this paper I introduce the special section on the work of the late Francois Dépelteau (1963-2018), by analyzing an essential tension within the relational sociology which I call the division between “clumsy” and “elegant” relationalism. “Clumsy” relationalism as exemplified most uncompromisingly by Francois is in a way an extreme perspective on social research, prescribing a certain “obsession” with change and unfolding of reality, rather than its stability or firm foundation. As Francois has put it in one of his last published works: “Everything is changing all the time, including ourselves. This is hard to accept since we are looking for some sort of stability often to reassure ourselves.” I ask why should we accept this perspective rather than continue with reassuring ourselves. I also point out that both “elegant” and “clumsy” relationalisms are useful for social research, but that the latter is increasingly pertinent for contemporary world inhabited by “wicked” social problems that have no elegant solutions or even definitions. I also analyse in more detail Francois’s critique of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology that is the most eminent example of “elegant” relationalism, and the furthering of “clumsy” relational sociology in the contributions to the special section by Nick Crossley and Jean-Sebastien Guy.

scholarly journals The Mask of Aging: Doing Cultural Research for a ‘Social Problem’

1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit-Ling Luk
Keyword(s):  
Social Problem ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Debates about ‘social problems’ routinely raise questions: is the problem widespread?; how many people, and which people, does it affect?; is it getting worse?; what does it cost society?; what will it cost to deal with it? Convincing answers to such questions demand evidence, and that usually means numbers, measurements, statistics.  However,  the same group of statistics can be ‘manipulated’ by different sectors, including activists as well as policy makers. In this article the author explores was the way in which the impact of statistical dominance in social research was relayed by media coverage and also by social activists and policy makers.

Sociocybernetics and action research: Analysis and intervention in complex social problems

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-562
Author(s):  
Patricia E Almaguer-Kalixto ◽  
Margarita Maass Moreno ◽  
José Antonio Amozurrutia
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Research System ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Complex Settings

Participatory action research (PAR) has been used as a methodology for social intervention that combines research enquiry and action in the analysis of and intervention in complex social problems. However, a better systematization of complex social research processes is required to enable reflexivity at a participatory level and second-order observation of the full research system constructed. This article proposes a PAR model using conceptual and methodological elements of sociocybernetics, which is the application of first- and second-order cybernetics and general systems theory to social sciences. The authors see this model as able to reinforce the systematization of PAR, enabling a second-order reflexivity and feedback process through information analysis and communication strategies. The first part of the article explains how sociocybernetics concepts can contribute to this sociological methodology and discusses points of similarity between the two approaches and the basis of the proposed model. The second part addresses an empirical case of PAR developed in the context of the High Atlas in Morocco using the proposed model. By reinforcing a systems perspective, internal and external elements of the research system can be defined better to understand its relevance to optimal fulfilment of the research purpose. The value that sociocybernetics adds may be the comprehension of processes of change through the assimilation, accommodation and adaptation of the components and limits of the system, the feedback process and other interactions within the system and its environment, in order to analyse how social changes occur in complex settings.

scholarly journals Formation of sociological imagination in students of technical institutions in education in the process of teaching sociology

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-22
Author(s):  
L. Lipich ◽  
O. Balagura
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Social World ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Sociological Imagination ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Teaching Sociology ◽  
Educational Role ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status

The article is devoted to the problem of formation of sociological imagination in the process of teaching sociology to students studying in technical educational institutions. The concept of “sociological imagination”, introduced into scientific circulation by the American sociologist Wright Mills, is being clarified. It turns out that the concept of sociological imagination has acquired the status of one of the main in modern sociology and began to play an important educational role, and in sociological science, respectively, methodological and methodological. Attention is paid to the peculiarities of teaching sociology in technical educational institutions, and in view of this, the problem of forming the sociological imagination of students. The fact is that sociology in technical educational institutions is not professional, so it is taught exclusively as a general discipline of worldview. The purpose of teaching sociology in such higher education institutions is to promote the formation of students’ sociological imagination, ie to help future specialists in engineering to develop the ability to think socially, ie to adequately perceive, comprehend and interpret social processes and phenomena, analyze and be ready to solve complex social problems. The solution of this problem involves the use of such methods of teaching sociology, which would be related to the specific practices of modern society, taking into account the universal and professional interests of future professionals. The own experience of teaching sociology at the National Transport University is analyzed. There are examples of using different methods of teaching sociology, aimed at forming a sociological imagination that allow students to perceive the social world around them and relate their professional problems with general social problems, educate and shape their civic position and increase their general cultural level.

scholarly journals Activism – Radicalization – Protest: An Introduction to a Special Section

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Jasko ◽  
Tomasz Besta
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Social Causes

Collective action is a topic that is highly relevant to the socio-political dynamics of the contemporary world. Six papers collected in the special section address different aspects of collective action. They cover a diversity of topics, methods, and samples. However, the focus on goals and needs that drive collective action and social context that facilitates commitment to social causes provides a common ground for the research presented in this section.

scholarly journals IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON BUSINESS MODELS OF MODERN COMPANIES

2014 ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Trachuk ◽  
N. V. Linder ◽  
D. A. Antonov
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Model Concept ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The One

The article highlights the trends of change of business models following the development of modern forms of business. Term hyperconnectedand its role in the contemporary world are described. The article features an overview of publications related to the business model concept as well as its evolution during the last 20 years. The dual nature of the business model is revealed: on the one hand, it describes business activities, on the other hand – the relationships into which different business activities enter. The author provides the overview of the share of e-commerce in the world trade and a social research on the Russian population’s attitude to e-payments. The influence of hyperconnectedon the formation of value chain in the current circumstances is presented. This influence has a large impact on business models as well. In this context, the author claims that it is reasonable to switch over from a single-level business model to the business platform based on facilitating to exchange resources and information between several interconnected groups.

scholarly journals Special Section Editorial: Toward a Geographical Software Studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Burns ◽  
Nick Lally
Keyword(s):  
Special Section ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Digital Maps ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Software Studies ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Object Of Study

Geographic concepts have always been implicated in calls to study software as a political, cultural, or social phenomena, even if they have not always been named as such. “Software structures and makes possible much of the contemporary world” writes Matthew Fuller in the introduction to Software studies: a lexicon1—a succinct summary of the central problem guiding software studies, gesturing towards the spatial implications of software. So too in the insistence on the materiality of software do we find software studies bringing forth software as material thing that exists in and through space, in sites and scales as diverse as voltage differences in circuits, nation states, digital maps, and networks of computers. As geographic theory has long insisted, space is not just a container for software, but is actively produced by software in its various material, situated, and socio-technical contexts. Influenced in part by the exciting work that has developed in software studies in addition to geography’s own rich history of engagement with technology, a growing number of geographers have turned to software as an object of study, producing theories and methods to understand the relationship between computation and space.This special section emerged from our effort to bring together a group of scholars working on geographical approaches to software studies at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) in 2016. Spanning four sessions, presenters expressed a variety of orientations towards software, with diverse theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding how software has come to structure the world. This introduction is a brief summary of some of those approaches, but more importantly, it suggests some of the ways that software studies and geography might productively learn from and build upon each other. These cross-disciplinary discussions are important as we come to terms with the growing power of software in our everyday lives and attempt to build critical practices that not only study, but also build other ways of knowing the world through computation. Ultimately, we frame the discussions that follow in ways we hope will encourage software studies scholars to grapple with the spatial implications of software.

Criminology as a Discipline in Modern Greece

2010 ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Christina Zarafonitou
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Prevention Services ◽  
Political Sciences ◽  
Safety Studies ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Important Branch ◽  
Modern Technologies

Although in Greece the publication of books of criminological interest began in the last decades of the 19th century, the subject of Criminology was introduced by Professor Konstantinos Gardikas first at Athens University in 1930 and, then, at Panteios School of Social and Political Sciences in 1932. Some years later, in 1938, the chair of Criminology and Penology was established at the University of Athens. The involvement of K. Gardikas along with three other European experts in the foundation of Interpol in 1923, also resulted in the creation of an important Branch of Criminological Services with many specialized research laboratories which is evolving constantly incorporating all of modern technologies. In our days, Criminology is taught mainly at the schools of Law and of Sociology. In spite of the absence of an autonomous Department of Criminology in the Greek universities, there is a special Section of Criminology in the Department of Sociology at Panteion University. In-depth concentration is obtained in the context of the postgraduate programs as well as through those for the Ph.D. Criminological research is conducted in the universities where some criminological laboratories or centers operate as well as in the National Center of Social Research and the Center of Safety Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, to name a few. The professional domain of criminologists has extended in recent years (administration of penal justice, prisons, agencies for drug addicts or juveniles and immigrants, prevention services). In spite of this, the job market is relatively limited in comparison to the needs of society.

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