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The authors have attempted a philosophical essay to comprehend the phenomenon of statehood, society, decentralization and culture in the context of the philosophy of mind and (partially) the neuroscientific paradigm. The authors used a number of theoretical methods: from historical analysis and reconstruction of the phenomenon of philosophy of mind and establishing the role of human subjectivity and "selfhood" in sociopolitical processes, to philosophical reflection and essayistic parascientific author interpretations. The main result is a new view of decentralization in the context of postmodernist consciousness, where the background (postmodern) and sociopolitical result (decentralization) are the synergistic result of human social networks' realization of neurocognitive natural ability to parallel coexistence of personal and social. As a result, the virtual and material manifestations of the globalized informatized post-industrial society, which has received postmodernist experience, have conditioned total decentralization. At the same time, politically administrative is only a partial manifestation of it, while civil society seeks to diversify its needs and ways of solving them as much as possible. The international significance of the article lies in its universality: it complementarily analyzes the neuroscientific, cultural-mystetic, philosophical, social, and political dimensions of a civil postmodern society that seeks maximum decentralization of all superstructures and maximum delegation of managerial functions to its members and groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article aims to examine and describe the ways in which elderly people participate in post-industrial societies. The literature points out the benefits of social participation. However, the influence of context in features of civil society has remained relatively understudied. This article analyses the influence of context on the conceptualization of the phenomenon of social participation and civic engagement. In addition, the findings are linked to the broader academic debate on civil society. This empirical study consists of results from semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted with experts on social participation and elderly members of different associations. The German and Spanish case studies confirm that socio-demographic variables, cultural frames, political structures and social structure shape the culture of participation. The article argues that each context creates its own participatory culture through the incorporation of four different conceptualisations of participation: (1) participation as a right; (2) participation as an attitude; (3) participation as civic engagement; (4) participation as a slogan. The Spanish discourse tends mostly to conceptualize participation as a right and/or a slogan. The German discourse conceptualizes participation mainly as civic engagement. These conceptual differences give rise to two different participatory culture models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human–animal relations in post-industrial societies are characterized by a system of cultural categories that distinguishes between different types of animals based on their function in human society, such as "farm animals" or "pets." The system of cultural categories, and the allocation of animal species within this cultural classification system can change. Options for change include re-categorizing a specific animal species within the categorical system. The paper argues that attempts by political actors to adapt the institutional system to cultural change that calls for re-categorization of certain animal species can start a contradictory process that may lead to long-term survival of the respective institution despite the cultural change. It is common to explain the persistence of political institutions with institutional path dependency or policy preferences of the governing parties. This paper introduces a new institutional theoretical approach to the explanation, the approach of "rejecting changing a part for fear of undermining the whole." This paper uses a case study of a series of failed political efforts to change the treatment of dogs in the framework of the agricultural human–animal policy in the Federal Republic of Germany in the second half of the twentieth century, to evaluate its theoretical argument, using analyses of historical political documents, mass media, and communication documents between civil society actors and policymakers. This paper makes an innovative contribution to the theory and research on institutional change, the sociology of agriculture and food, and the sociology of human–animal relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]