Post-socialism: conceptual evolution and future perspectives. A critical analysis

Burawoy (1999), Eyal (2001), Berdahl (2006), Cervinkova (2012) and others have proposed the concept of „postsocialism” as a way of describing the gap between socialism and capitalism. But, in a world marked by “rearrangements, reconfigurations and recombinations that yield new interweavings of the multiple social logics” (Stark, & Bruszt, 1998) what does postsocialism entail? This article aims to provide an overview of the different perspectives regarding the meaning of postsocialism, by bringing together and examining ideas represented in the theoretical literature. Starting from the idea of reframing the understanding of the past, this analysis explores postsocialism, as a process, from four perspectives: imitation, involution, emergence or zombie socialism. The critique serves as a starting point for future directions in postsocialism conceptualisations, in order to better understand the present based on the past.

Microfinance and Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh: A Study of Competing Logics and Their Implications for Accounting and Accountability Systems

<p>This study explores the issues of microfinance and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh, and their implications for accounting and accountability systems. The topic is politically contentious. There are debates about what ‘women’s empowerment’ means, how it fits with the other stated objectives of microfinance, how the success of microfinance should be evaluated, whether women are actually being empowered through microfinance initiatives, and concerns about the accountability of microfinance institutions (Kilby, 2006; Rahman, 1999). My study examines these controversies, drawing and building on Mayoux (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) and the work of others on ‘competing logics’ evident in microfinance theory and practice. In particular, it compares and contrasts ‘economic’ and ‘social’ logics and explores their implications for how accounting and accountability systems are conceptualised and operationalised. In recognition of the dominance of economic logics in traditional accounting, it also responds to calls to develop more multi-dimensional accountings and ways of operationalising proposals for greater social accountability (Bebbington et al., 2007; Brown, 2009; Dillard and Roslender, 2011; Kilby, 2006, 2011; Kindon et al., 2007; Molisa et al., 2012). Through a participatory action research case study, my study focuses on the potential of dialogic accounting and accountability systems to address some of the problems and challenges identified in both gender and development studies and accounting literatures.</p>

Microfinance and Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh: A Study of Competing Logics and Their Implications for Accounting and Accountability Systems

<p>This study explores the issues of microfinance and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh, and their implications for accounting and accountability systems. The topic is politically contentious. There are debates about what ‘women’s empowerment’ means, how it fits with the other stated objectives of microfinance, how the success of microfinance should be evaluated, whether women are actually being empowered through microfinance initiatives, and concerns about the accountability of microfinance institutions (Kilby, 2006; Rahman, 1999). My study examines these controversies, drawing and building on Mayoux (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) and the work of others on ‘competing logics’ evident in microfinance theory and practice. In particular, it compares and contrasts ‘economic’ and ‘social’ logics and explores their implications for how accounting and accountability systems are conceptualised and operationalised. In recognition of the dominance of economic logics in traditional accounting, it also responds to calls to develop more multi-dimensional accountings and ways of operationalising proposals for greater social accountability (Bebbington et al., 2007; Brown, 2009; Dillard and Roslender, 2011; Kilby, 2006, 2011; Kindon et al., 2007; Molisa et al., 2012). Through a participatory action research case study, my study focuses on the potential of dialogic accounting and accountability systems to address some of the problems and challenges identified in both gender and development studies and accounting literatures.</p>

Transformative Branding: A Dynamic Capability To Challenge The Dominant Social Paradigm

In response to calls by macromarketing scholars, this article introduces transformative branding to demonstrate how branding—a process traditionally conceptualised at the firm level to achieve marketing management outcomes—can contribute to both market and societal systems. We define transformative branding as a dynamic capability deployed by firms as a prosocial process to facilitate stakeholder co-created brand meanings that draw on hybrid market and social logics. We contend that transformative branding encompasses two market-shaping activities, which drive macro-level change according to hybrid logics: (1) leadership i.e., building a vision for transformation and (2) collaborative coupling i.e., implementing transformation with stakeholders. Shaping the market and society in this way creates opportunities for transforming economic, regulatory, socio-cultural, and political environments, whereby transformative branding works to challenge the dominant social paradigm from within the market system. We conclude with a cautionary note about the potential of branding as a force for good.

Social order in the de-differentiated society: Deleuzian social theory and the penal institution

The article problematises the assumption that modern society is characterised by institutional differentiation as a unidirectional process. Inspired by Deleuze’s sketch of the ‘society of control’, in this article the authors explore institutional de-differentiation in contemporary society. They illustrate the process of de-differentiation by developments in the penal institution, employing empirical materials from the Norwegian prison system. They show how this institution increasingly integrates (imports) elements from other institutions while expanding (exports) its activities into said institutions, resulting in a blurring of institutional borders. Furthermore, the question of institutional differentiation has been related to the question of social control in modern society. The authors discuss the characteristics of the social order of a de-differentiated society by drawing on Deleuze’s social theory and arguing that de-differentiation gives rise to forms of power and social logics no longer restricted by institutional confinements.

Logiken der Bigamie

For the Christian understanding of marriage, it was constitutive that marriage could be concluded only between one man and one woman. A perspective directed towards bigamy makes it clear that this normative matrix has been called into question not only on a discursive level, but also in practice. Based on bigamy proceedings in early modern Vienna and Lower Austria, the article enquires into the social logics of the couples as well as how the authorities dealt with dual marriages. Serial bigamy resulted mainly from the concept of the indissolubility of marriage as well as from the difficulty of proving the death of the rightful spouse. Three different settings provide insights into different attitudes found in both the religious and secular courts: first, the ecclesiastical handling of bigamous couples in a short period of tolerance in the 1560s and 1570s; second, claims for annulment of marriage or the resumption of legal marriage in the 17th and 18th centuries; and third, a dramatic bigamy trial that was heard in various instances of secular jurisdiction in the 1620s.

The Mediality of Concealment: Material Practices and Symbolic Operativity

This special issue focuses on the cultural forms, technologies, and social logics of dissimulation. In this introduction, we propose a critical examination of the cultural and political entanglements of three emblematic domains of dissimulation: camouflage, steganography, and encryption. Focusing on the study of mediality, our analysis crosses the evolution of media environments and representations of these dissimulation processes to better understand their modes of legitimization and symbolic operativity.

The institutional logic of the sustainable organisation: the case of a chocolate supply network

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how, and by whom, institutional logics are determined in the action of sustainable organisation. The authors analyse a supply chain network structure to understand how multiple stakeholders' perceptions of sustainability emerge into a dominant logic and diffuse across an organisational field.Design/methodology/approachStakeholder network theory provides novel insights into emerging logics within a chocolate supply chain network. Semi-structured interviews with 35 decision-makers were analysed alongside 269 company documents to capture variations in emergent logics. The network was mapped to include 63 nodes and 366 edges to analyse power structure and mechanisms.FindingsThe socio-economic organising principles of sustainable organisation, their sources of power and their logics are identified. Economic and social logics are revealed, yet the dominance of economic logics creates risks to their coexistence. Logics are largely shaped in pre-competitive activities, and resource fitness to collaborative clusters limits access for non-commercial actors.Research limitations/implicationsPowerful firms use network structures and collaborative and concurrent inter-organisational relationships to define and diffuse their conceptualisation of sustainability and restrict competing logics.Originality/valueThis novel study contributes to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) through presenting the socio-economic logic as a new conceptual framework to understand the action of sustainable organisation. The identification of sophisticated mechanisms of power and hegemonic control in the network opens new research agendas.

(Counter) accounting for hybrid organising: a case of the Great Exhibition of the North

PurposeHybrid organising faces a fundamental challenge in managing multiple and conflicting logics. Prior studies have evidenced the performative role of accounting within such a context largely in support of neoliberal hegemony and economic logic. Mindful of such conflict and the support towards economic logic, drawing on universal accountings, this study provides insights from counter accounting and its potential to serve pluralism and the emancipation of marginalised constituencies.Design/methodology/approachThe research examined The Great Exhibition of the North (GEOTN), England's largest event in 2018, which utilised themes of art, design and innovation to support a regeneration and economic growth agenda. This was led by NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) a hybrid organisation combining logics for economic and social legacies, whose accounts are contrasted to counter accounts from a social movement; The Other Great Exhibition of the North, “OtherGEN”. The study involved 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews, detailed observation and documentation review providing account and counter account of the event.FindingsThe findings reveal that GEOTN promoted an agenda offering a duality of economic and social logics through the arts and culture delivering a lasting economic and social legacy. This employed traditional accountings and associated performance targets and measurement through a formal evaluation framework. Emergent tensions were apparent evidencing a more dominant economic logic. The purported use of culture was portrayed as artwashing by a counter account narrative enmeshed in a backdrop of austerity. This wider accounting highlights the need for reflection on logic plurality and enables challenge to the performative role of traditional accounting in hybrid organising.Originality/valueUniversal accountings, such as counter accounting, can be advanced to unpack “faked” logics duality in hybrid organising. This reveals the emancipatory potential of accountings and the need for dialogic reflection. Hybrid organising requires careful consideration of accounting as a universal praxis to support social and economic pluralism and democratic ideals.