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This Point of Departure conducted as a written conversation between the two authors focused on rethinking inherited notions of critique and our understandings of reason itself. The second author challenged the first author to pursue ideas from her book The Good University that deal with critique. In a context where reason itself is on trial, we argue that the modern university still has potential to generate critique and change in culture, self and society. The conversation touches on a range of topics: the university as institution, especially as a workplace, and its setting in the unequal, global economy of knowledge; the place of critique in the production of research-based knowledge, and the potential for international peer-reviewed journals, such as this, to democratise the production of knowledge; and the role of critique in realising curricular justice. We conclude with Mbembe's remarks on the planetary importance of a shift in consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Truth is a thorny issue for the sociology of knowledge. In emphasizing social influence on knowledge production, sociologists tend to disavow the objectivity of truth and slide down the slope of the consensus theory and the nihilism of post‐truth. In fighting science denial, on the other hand, sociologists often find themselves aligning with the correspondence theory and the naïve notion of naked truth. The aim of this article is to advance a position that recognizes social influence on knowledge attainment without obviating the objectivity in truth. The key to this argument lies in the concept of existential embedment that unifies objectivity and subjectivity in human struggles for survival and prosperity, from which truth originates and to which truth contributes. Existential embedment also anchors knowledge by providing the foundation for truth validation. Depending on the modalities of knowledge attainment, truth is divided into four types with varying degrees of veridical certitude, each having its own criterion for validity assessment. Knowledge that passes the validation test is accepted as truth within the horizon of the given realm of existential embedment, which may change as the existential activity of the knower changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erich Fromm has long been a forgotten intellectual despite his status as a major critical theorist and sociologist in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s but his work is being returned to with new enthusiasm because of events in the world, developments within sociology and new interest in psychosocial analysis dealing with emotions. This paper theorizes Fromm's return to scholarly influence now, offering analysis of both his reputational fate in light of the rise of global Trumpism and right wing‐populism and the value of the tools his unique merger of Freud, Marx and sociology offers in the contemporary moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade or so, the rate of growth of academic publications involving discussion of 'citizen science' and 'community science', and similar variants, has risen exponentially. These fluid terms, with no fixed definition, cover a continuum of public participation within a range of scientific activities. It is, therefore, apposite and timely to examine the evolving typologies of citizen science and community science and to ask how particular disciplinary actors are shaping content and usage. Do certain approaches to citizen science and community science activity remain siloed within specific disciplines or do some approaches resonate more widely? In this study, we use mixed methods—bibliometric and textual analysis—to chart the changing academic interpretations of this scientific activity over time. We then ask what these analyses mean for the future direction of academic research into citizen science and community science. The results suggest that, while certain disciplinary-based interpretations have been particularly influential in the past, a more epistemically mixed array of academic interests than was previously evident are currently determining expectations of what citizen science and community science should look like and what they can be expected to deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses Domenico Losurdo's book "Western Marxism: How it Was Born, How it Died, and How it Can be Reborn," which provides a historical-philosophical critique of Western Marxism. Losurdo examines the origins of Western and Eastern Marxism, critiques prominent Western Marxist figures, and explores the relationship between anti-colonial and socialist revolutions. The book highlights the Eurocentric biases of Western Marxism and calls for a reevaluation of its utopian visions. Losurdo's analysis emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of anti-colonial revolutions in socialist transformations and the need to address epistemic shortcomings in Western Marxism. [Extracted from the article]

This Collective Discussion aims to open up space for an international political sociology of the production of historical knowledge that interrogates the politics around benchmark dates and what becomes knowable and unknowable through them. Specifically, it examines 1492 as a historiographical device through which to unpack how the discipline of IR knows history. 1492 presents a relevant case for this interrogation, for it is central for the historical narratives of a variety of approaches. In this sense, the different contributions do not seek to recover an alternative, 'better' history of 1492, but rather to explore its politics of knowledge production: what types of histories it makes visible, what types it precludes, and in what way it partakes in the reproduction of specific hierarchies of knowledge and the power structures that operate through them. In doing so, the Collective Discussion makes visible – and thus opens up for discussion – the historiographical operations performed by periodization and benchmark dating in IR, pointing to a way forward for an international political sociology of knowledge production in the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autocracies and their practices have figured prominently in modernity's making and associated sociologies, but in the 21st century the discourse of StrongMen has surged, coming to dominate our "attention economy." We consider its various expressions alongside its articulations referencing multiple spaces and consider it a "floating signifier" that appears to explain but in fact distracts from deeper causalities and possible effects of autocratic governance. In this knowledge cultural sociology, we explore how the concept of StrongMen works within nations, with antipodes, and in networks across global and historical conjunctures. We focus in the end on Erdoğan's 2023 re-election and Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, identifying not only the practices that make them StrongMen, but also how the very concept becomes part of the toolkit implicated in recognizing their autocratic practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploration of what lies beyond the explicitly expressed is a challenge for qualitative research. It involves studying something that is not directly given. This paper presents different methodological solutions and focuses on implicit knowledge in professional contexts and theorizing accounts. I will discuss conceptualizations of tacit knowledge and implicit learning, and then focus on specific aspects of the Documentary Method. The Documentary Method is a research strategy that attempts to explicate implicit collective orientations through group discussions. It is based on Karl Mannheim's sociology of knowledge and aims to uncover the taken-for-granted mutual understanding that results from shared or similar experiences. Based on Mannheim's critique of rationalism, this understanding is assumed to be found in the narrative and descriptive parts of group discussions. However, this article examines whether it can also be found in theorizing accounts. It draws on Hans Blumenberg's insight that metaphors are often contained in technical language and can obscure an underlying system of orientation. In this case, implicit mutual understanding is based on shared or similar experiences that are difficult to fully understand and articulate. An illustrative interpretation of data from a team specializing in sexuality education demonstrates the practical application of these methodological considerations. In essence, the article addresses the question of how implicit knowledge emerges in language and provides a new lens for analyzing theorizing accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have long identified job pressure as a central work-related stressor with far-reaching consequences for workers' well-being, their families, and organizations. However, surprisingly little empirical work examines how schedule control influences job pressure in a longitudinal framework—or the status-based contingencies in the resource functions of schedule control. Drawing on five waves of population-level panel data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Study (2011–2019), I use fixed-effects analyses to examine the relationship between schedule control and job pressure, examining whether schedule control operates differently across occupations (professionals versus non-professionals) and levels of authority in the workplace. My findings help advance the sociological study of work-stress research by resolving competing predictions about the relationship between schedule control and job pressure across status. While others have argued the possibility for schedule control to intensify work-related pressures, I find that schedule control helps reduce job pressure. However, my results reveal that schedule control does not benefit all workers equally: it has unequal upsides for higher status workers. These discoveries sharpen existing knowledge about the resource functions of schedule control and are discussed in light of synthesizing key ideas from the sociology of work, and the stress process and job demands-resources models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse economic discourse in debates over the production boundary, asking how the boundaries around economic categories change over time. Using a sample of economic textbooks from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century we analyse the evolution of the category of productive labour, finding that in the mid-twentieth century economists came to cohere around a conceptualization of productive activity that framed productive labour as any utility that was paid for on a market. Central to this outcome was the development of national accounting statistics that economists came to adopt in their analytical toolkit, which rendered invisible unpaid labour activities. Through this case we can see that statistical representations of the economy can redefine theoretical concepts and redraw the boundaries around economic categories, in this case transforming the boundary of productive labour into that of paid labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociology of knowledge approach to discourse assumes that cultural knowledge—and thus cultural spaces—are generated and shared through discourse. Actors' shared perceptions of vulnerability and practices to create resilience should be interrelated with knowledge provided by the relevant discourses of local and historical influence. However, these assumptions have not been thoroughly examined. This study compares river-related knowledge (concerning human–river relationships: ecocentric and anthropocentric perspectives) in the German and Polish literary canons, with knowledge provided in the relevant public media and the shared knowledge of local populations in flood-prone city districts along the Odra River. It concludes that actors' river-related knowledge interrelates with the knowledge produced by national and regional discourses and that culturally shared ideas of vulnerability and resilience are discursively embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Methaodos: Social Science Journal / Methaodos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicacion y Sociologia, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Syed Farid Alatas is a Malaysian sociologist who has been highly influential in discussions about decolonising knowledge. He has also continued the legacy of his esteemed father, Syed Hussein Alatas, by furthering 'the School of Autonomous Knowledge' in the Malay Archipelago and beyond. This article presents a wide-ranging, comprehensive and rich dialogue between Farid and Leon Moosavi. In this conversation, pertinent questions are asked: How does Farid's approach to decolonising knowledge differ from other decolonial scholars? What exactly does Farid mean when he talks of 'intellectual imperialism', 'alternative discourses' and 'academic dependency'? This dialogue also explores Farid's extensive engagement with the Islamic/Muslim sphere, including topics such as: Ibn Khaldun, Muslim revivalism, Muslim sectarianism and the Islamisation of knowledge. The discussion also explores some potential critiques of Farid's intellectual contributions with challenging questions: Can Farid's theoretical ideals be applied in 'the real world' or are they confined to an audience of intellectual elites? Is Farid anti-Western? Or, actually, does his work inadvertently fall into the trap of Westerncentrism? This article offers a unique insight into the intellectual biography of one of the most notable social theorists of the current era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how messages for health and PE ([H]PE) within English and Welsh curricula are being re-legitimised through distinct performance and competence pedagogic models. Drawing upon Bernstein's sociology of knowledge (Bernstein, 1996. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. Taylor and Francis; 2000. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research and critique (revised ed.). Rowman and Littlefield) data was generated through a deductive content analysis of the contemporary statutory English National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) and the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), Health and Well-Being Area of Learning and Experience (HWB-AoLE). Findings illustrate how the current English and Welsh curricula are re-legitimising discourses for (H)PE through a more prominent emphasis placed on competency models whereby the educator and learner are given greater autonomy to control the transmission and acquisition of (H)PE messages. However, the curriculum documents are beset with contradictions that to an extent reproduce discourses of performativity and individualisation. Consequently, the paper emphasises the need for educators and policymakers to be given the opportunity for critical dialogue on the implications of re-legitimising messages through competency models for all educator and learner identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the process of knowledge formation about Russia in American academia since the end of the Cold War. The article’s hypothesis is that knowledge formation largely reflects the social and national and cultural conditions of the country and its research community. Although many scholars strive for objectivity and ethical detachment from the object of their research, they most often approach its study from positions that reflect and project the interests and values of the societies in which they work. This hypothesis is formulated within the framework of the sociological approach to knowledge formation undertaken in the article, which involves understanding the conditions of its formation and the social demands that it meets. American knowledge about Russia, which they have long viewed and continue to view as a threat and challenge to the interests and values of the United States, bears the stamp of national assumptions, preferences, beliefs, and emotions. In studying reality, they are far from always able to free themselves from the American understanding of what should be, projecting into their research how, in their opinion, Russia should develop. Since the second half of the 2000s, this gap has been widening. Compared to the Cold War, knowledge about Russia in America has lost its former status of priority and privilege, and has become more politicized, especially in matters affecting international security and the politics of values. In addition, this knowledge has been integrated into generally accepted theories of international relations and comparative politics in the West.These changes reflect Russia’s declining status in the international hierarchy compared to the United States and the growing conviction of American social scientists in the universal validity of their approaches and theories. Contemporary Russia is increasingly perceived as developing in the wrong direction, threatening Western “liberal democratic” values and security, and, with its desire to be an “empire,” the very structures of modern society. Although not all American researchers share such concepts and theories, the latter express the mood of the mainstream in both politics and science. The final part sums up the results and discusses the possibilities of forming less biased and ideologically loaded knowledge about Russia. Approaches to obtaining such knowledge in the United States exist, although they do not dominate.

Adorno’s conception of ideology was denounced by Habermas as incompatible with a viable form of social critique. By conflating ideology and the ‘identity principle’ inherent to modern Western reason, he argues, Adorno offered an overly negative characterisation of modernity and failed to recognise its rational potential. This paper questions this line of criticism by revisiting Adorno’s position. While he does sometimes associate ideology with identity-thinking, this association does not exhaust his views on the subject. For Adorno, ideology is just as much a matter of Identität as a matter of Schein, or illusion, and its practical effects. Moreover, he views ideology as an intrinsically dynamic concept, whose definition has changed throughout human history. Drawing on his late sociological writings, I distinguish three major stages in the development of the concept of ideology, namely (a) ideology as simple illusion, a definition associated with the Enlightenment and expanded by the so-called sociology of knowledge; (b) ideology as necessary illusion, invoked by Marx to capture the structural logic of capitalism; and (c) ideology as disillusionment, related to the positivism of late capitalist society. Finally, I reflect on what this survey reveals about the relationship between illusion and identity in Adorno’s theory of ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a book review of "Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge" by Catherine Tan. The book explores two social movements focused on autism: the parent-centered alternative biomedical movement and the self-advocacy-centered autistic rights movement. The movements have different perspectives on autism, with the autistic rights movement framing autism as a form of neurodiversity and the alternative biomedical movement viewing it as a sickness caused by environmental insults. The book provides detailed insights into the experiences and perspectives of these movements and highlights the need for broader cultural attitudes and support for individuals with autism. [Extracted from the article]

Scholars and practitioners have long criticized the inherent dominance of Western ideas in futures studies and claimed the need for a de-centering or decolonizing of the field. As a process of transforming science, de-centering occurs on at least two levels: at the level of thought and at the level of social structure. Sociologists of science, Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholars, and others have conducted research for many years on the interlinkages between social structures and knowledge structures and have developed several concepts to do so. In this article, I discuss some of these concepts and combine these theoretical conceptualizations with a co-citation analysis of recent publications in the futures studies. Based on a sample of futures studies publications that have appeared in the last ten years (n = 500) retrieved from the Web of ScienceTM database, a strongly inter-related network with four clusters can be identified. The works in each these four clusters are related in terms of their subject matter. They concern (1) the politico-intellectual program of futures studies, (2) their epistemological foundations, (3) questions of methodology, and (4) scenarios as the core technique of futures thinking. Both the works and their authors come from a broad variety of cultural backgrounds; they also display a relatively high number of co-citations with works in clusters other than their own. Taken together, these findings indicate that the information space sampled in this study to represent futures studies has already become de-centered to a large degree, both at the level of social structure and at the level of thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the intellectual career of Leonard Lieberman, a renowned sociologist and anthropologist, focusing on his efforts to discredit the scientific validity of the concept of 'race'. Topics include Lieberman's academic background and his studies at UC Berkeley and Michigan State University, his wide-ranging contributions to sociology and anthropology, and his significant impact in challenging the concept of race as a scientific construct.

Copyright of Berliner Journal für Soziologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The book "Antisemitismus gegen Israel" by Klaus Holz and Thomas Haury provides a nuanced analysis of antisemitism and its manifestations in relation to Israel. The authors, who are respected experts in antisemitism research, reject the simplistic notion that any criticism of Israel is automatically antisemitic. They argue that antisemitism is a modern semantic structure that serves to stabilize one's self-image as part of an in-group. The book explores various forms of antisemitism, including post-Nazi antisemitism, antisemitism from the left, Islamist antisemitism, and antisemitism within Christianity. The authors also discuss the rise of antisemitism in the new Right, highlighting the use of coded language and the perpetuation of antisemitic patterns. Overall, the book offers valuable insights into the complex relationship between antisemitism and criticism of Israel, providing a foundation for further research and promoting a critical engagement with antisemitism. [Extracted from the article]

Neoliberal critiques of university-based teacher education programmes have led to policy changes such as the rise of alternative certification programmes, bringing in to question the role of the university in teacher education. Concomitantly, such changes problematise the place of knowledge and evidence in teacher education. This issue is of particular importance given extant debates about the place of propositional knowledge about children with special educational needs in inclusive education. This paper explores these debates in terms of recent international trends in policy and practice in teacher education for inclusion and argues for an explicit role for universities as custodians and curators of propositional knowledge in pre and in service teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language shapes diverse cultures and creates natural barriers between human societies. The landscape of nonprofit and philanthropic studies in non-English languages is barely charted, impeding the globalization of this research field. This project (a) describes the topics shared between English and Chinese scholarship on nonprofits and philanthropy and (b) explores why English scholarship is cited in Chinese journal articles from five aspects: rationale of scholarship, novelty, relevance, social network, and reputation. The English articles cited by Chinese scholars tend to: (a) focus on instrumentality but not expressive values, (b) develop rather than disrupt existing paradigms, and (c) be relevant to topics popular in Chinese literature and have authors with Chinese scholarly connections. In general, Chinese scholars tend to cite English articles that are value-neutral, non-disruptive, and native. Theoretical and methodological implications for examining nonprofit studies in other languages are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a list of contributors to the journal "Sociological Inquiry." The contributors come from various academic backgrounds and research interests, including labor sociology, social computing, historical sociology, inequality and injustice, educational tracking, social work, racial biases, oppression, public administration, health policy, poverty governance, ethnic inequality, sexual orientation identity development, and many more. The contributors represent diverse perspectives and offer valuable insights into a wide range of sociological topics. [Extracted from the article]

Joy is a crucial element of people's everyday lives that has been understudied by sociologists. This is particularly true for scholarship about transgender people. To address what we term a joy deficit in sociology, we analyze 40 in-depth interviews with trans people in which they were asked what they find joyful about being trans. Their responses demonstrate the methodological and theoretical importance of asking about joy. Four main themes emerged from the interviews. First, interviewees easily answered the question about joy. Second, contrary to common assumptions, we found that transgender people expressed joy in being members of a marginalized group and said that they preferred being transgender. Third, embracing a marginalized identity caused the quality of their lives to improve, increasing self-confidence, body positivity, and sense of peace. Finally, being from a marginalized group facilitated meaningful connections with other people. Our findings demonstrate a vital need to address the joy deficit that exists in the sociological scholarship on transgender people specifically, and marginalized groups more generally. Bridging the sociology of knowledge and narratives, we show how accentuating joy offers nuance to understandings of the lived experiences of marginalized people that has been absent from much of sociological scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the intersection role of students' epistemic beliefs and gender in argumentative essay writing. In total, 148 undergraduate students from a Dutch university followed an argumentation module, filled out the epistemic beliefs survey, and wrote an argumentative essay. Results showed that students' beliefs about the Internet-specific justification of knowledge did not influence essay performance. On the other hand, beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge influenced their argumentative essay writing. Overall, there were no gender differences in argumentative essay writing. However, female students outperformed male students in taking a position on the topic. The interaction effects of beliefs about the Internet-specific justification of knowledge and gender in argumentation performance were neutral. There was, however, an intersection effect of students' epistemic beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge and their gender in argumentation performance. We discuss these results and provide suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political battles over strip clubs' existence are informed by research, but existing literature neglects a central component of strippers' work. This study analyzes strippers' pole work and heeds dancers' calls to incorporate their voices. It provides an overview of why strippers engage in this skilled and often voluntary physical labor (drawing from social learning theory), and portrays the functions of poling utilizing concepts from the sociology of work. The study is based on ethnographic data, primarily in-depth interviews with strippers. It develops ideas in the sociology of work by demonstrating how in a non-standard work environment like strip clubs, relative autonomy allowed workers to diversify the end game or work goals despite controlling and self-alienating aspects of the job. Strippers were able to engage in what we refer to as skill optioning (making the most of their skills to leverage gains). The result was that some strippers developed the physical skill of poling and performed for more than monetary rewards; it helped give their work more meaning and enjoyment. Poling built physical capital, minimized emotional labor, developed social networks, and provided psychological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on theorizing usually implicitly assumes that theorizing is writing. A recent focus on theoretical diagrams seeks to correct this idea. But even this focus on diagrams measures them against writing. Instead, taking up ideas developed by the sociology of translation, I propose to understand theorizing as a specific kind of translation, namely horizontal translation. Horizontal translations create new worlds through conceptual invention and re-definition and by creating new geometries of how concepts relate to each other. Because such relationships are geometric forms, rather than sequential texts, diagrams are core media of theoretical work, because they allow the visualization of such conceptual forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a book review of "Anonymous: The Performance of Hidden Identities" by Thomas DeGloma. The book explores the concept of anonymity and pseudonymity as performative practices and their connection to institutional structures. It discusses how performing anonymously can be both freeing and dangerous, protecting vulnerable individuals and groups while also emboldening harmful individuals and shielding powerful institutions. The book covers various examples of cover identities used for protection or subversive acts, as well as the anonymity of social systems and the impersonality of bureaucratic institutions. It also examines the anonymity of types and categories, particularly in relation to power dynamics and social institutions. The review praises the book for its scholarship, creativity, and engaging writing style, recommending it for graduate-level courses in social theory and formal sociology. [Extracted from the article]

This article critically examines the idea of global sociology in relationship to the discipline of Sociology. While the discipline initially emerged in Western societies, in the post-1945 era, the field extended its reach to the rest of the world. The intellectual project of global sociology emerged in the 1960s and has been on the agenda of the International Sociological Association since at least 1990. Delving deeper than the mere notion of a sociology that is applied to the world, global sociology requires the re-examination of the role of core sociological concepts and narratives, especially regarding the extent to which these reflect Eurocentric preoccupations. Global modernisation (alongside Global Studies) and Postcolonial Sociology, two of the most widely known research fields claiming global intent, are examined as to whether they provide meaningful blueprints for global sociology. Both offer promising insights but also suffer from important drawbacks. Instead of attempting to unearth new grand narratives that would displace the narrative of Western modernity, though, it might be possible to envision a plurality of such narratives coming from different regions of the globe. Sociology can thus be conceived not as exclusively global but also as local and glocal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the lack of comprehensive scholarly treatments of how the OT speaks about God's knowability has to do with the complexity of the topic and the diversity of how the OT addresses it. It shows the diverse ways of how previous scholars have approached the OT statements and assumptions about God's knowability (and the knowledge of God), clarifies how these statements and assumptions are related to each other, and gives some ideas about possible directions of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a conversation between sociologist Bridget Fowler and Les Back. Bridget discusses her life and career in sociology, including her working-class background and exposure to different social perspectives. She also talks about her interest in the sociology of literature and her admiration for scholars like Raymond Williams and Pierre Bourdieu. The conversation emphasizes the importance of social theory and the complexities of sociological research. The text also discusses various topics related to sociology, feminism, and the author's personal experiences, as well as the concept of collective memory and its relevance to obituaries. The author argues for a more democratic and inclusive approach to obituary writing. [Extracted from the article]

This article aims to bring to light about the women and their features, based on Freud, Lacan and others and authors, just as feminicide are portrayed by media and several news blogs. Having the comprehension the press, in general, contributes to build public opinion when brings topics from this kind. Feminicide is characterized as murdering women by men, simply, because they are women, in other words, by their gender condition. In this sense, the male domination characterize itself, by the owning the woman as an object. The violence is a social factor that has been in the human society for centuries and in the contemporary, the journalistic work is partial and suppose to enforce stenotypes that victimize the woman who is victim of structural chauvinism. Many fields of knowledge such as the various approaches to psychology, legal knowledge and sociology portray this topic from their perspectives, in this sense, the essays foresees the reading of these facts that has occurred from the perspective of psychoanalysis, that is about the constitution of social connections, considering their particularities, creating a reflection in the metapsicological field, trying to understand the personal psychism by motivation of committing feminicide, considering the evidences it come from the social manifestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The call for internationally comparable data on disability has been omnipresent in recent disability politics. Several attempts have been made to develop and implement a standardized approach toward disability statistics, with the Washington Group Short Census Questions (WGSQ) being the most prominent. How does this questionnaire 'measure' disability? How do disability statistics translate the diversity of lived experiences into 'objective' numbers? Combining a sociology of quantification and disability studies, this article focuses on the social practices of disability statistics that contribute to the generation of 'disability' as a social category. After contextualizing 'disability' in international organizations' discourses, it uses document analysis to empirically reconstruct statistical experts' recommendations regarding definition, operationalization, data collection, and processing. The analysis shows how binary categorical boundaries are (re)introduced and successively objectified during this process. It also unfolds a risk-based approach that underlies the WGSQ and deviates from a social model of disability. International Organizations like the United Nations use statistics to illustrate that disabled persons do not have the same opportunities as others. For most people, statistics simply mirror reality. However, the article shows that making statistics requires many activities, discussions, and decisions. The research looks in detail at a questionnaire developed by international experts. It shows how people are categorized as a 'person with disabilities' or a 'person without disabilities.' Today, many people and international organizations agree that the way society is built disables persons with impairments. However, this questionnaire does not cover this social dimension. This research is important because it shows that statistics are not politically neutral and have an impact on the lives of disabled persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on magpie theory, an innovative approach to theoretical work that integrates fragmented and eclectic sources of knowledge. It explores how assembling diverse, often disjointed pieces of information can reveal new insights and perspectives, offering a dynamic and flexible framework for understanding complex phenomena. It encourages a critical engagement with the limitations of traditional theories and promotes a more open-ended exploration of ideas.

Copyright of Technikgeschichte is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most recent academic studies of homophily—the tendency of people to interact with similar others—lean to a sociological critique of digital technologies, rather than revealing fundamentally positive outcomes. A few solid philosophical endeavors have emerged from the fields of philosophy of technology and enactive ethics. This article adopts a sociological perspective to argue that digital social networks can serve as an ethical infrastructure for facilitating effective communication. However, they also face the challenge of organizing the myriad of individual voices present within them, so that the necessary moral conditions to mitigate homophily can be established. From this viewpoint, it is suggested homophily should be viewed not as an individual’s right to expression but as a cultivated echo-moral cultured landscape. Homophily is not an input but an outcome. Homophily does not happen without evaluating reception. A voice without assessment lacks the ethical dimension. By applying the theory of the social construction of reality (Berger & Luckmann, 2008), homophily can be conceived as the contribution of significant others. Most importantly, effective communication can be attained when new secondary institutions organize the input of significant others into a meaningful generalized other (Mead, 2015). As a result, I propose that digital technologies allow for ameliorating the moral character of the individual by shifting how one looks at communication: from an individual’s right to a voice into an ordered culture of voices, from preserving rights to serving rightly. This perspective could illuminate policymakers to establish right processes to avoid homophily and help individuals and organizations achieve effective means of communication and deliberation.

From the beginning, a science-based approach to questions of the future and – more precisely – thinking in alternative futures was in latent conflict with the official ideology of the German Democratic Republic, according to which East German society (and indeed, the whole humankind) was heading towards a communist future. During the 1960s, however, prognostics – the socialist type of futures studies – fitted well into the ambition of political leaders to foster economic development by promoting scientific-technological progress and adopting new management systems of the national economy. Prognostics was to a certain extent institutionalized and obtained in parts a cybernetic underpinning, but ideological constraints on knowledge never vanished. Moreover, prognostics had to distinguish itself clearly from "late-capitalist" futurology. With the reorientation of politics after Walter Ulbricht lost power, prognostics was cut back as was its cybernetic underpinning. As the official belief in the communist future eroded during the 1980s, there was no longer any room for governmental foresight. Futures thinking was taken up by the dissident movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens at the point of interchange between scholarly communities? We examine this question by investigating the case of growing ties between historical sociology and ethnography, two social scientific methods that once seemed to have little in common. Drawing on methodological writings by ethnographers and original interviews with practicing historical sociologists, we argue that these ties have been shaped by structural and methodological homologies between the two disciplines. Structurally, ethnography and historical sociology are similarly positioned in sociology more broadly, as enterprises with sometimes-tense relationships with dominant assumptions of the social sciences. Methodologically, both ethnographers and historical sociologists face the challenges of bounding the research process, navigating access to data, analyzing and retaining data while "in the field," and overcoming cultural distance between themselves and the worlds they are studying. Taken together, these findings extend work in the sociology of science and knowledge and suggest some key conditions for intellectual efflorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the meaning structure of literary texts, i.e. reconstructing their semantic inner logic and its context-sensitive interpretation, remains one of the core tasks of literary studies. When reflecting on the self-descriptions of societies, the sociology of knowledge and literature comes into play. If literary research increases knowledge of the effect and function of descriptions of society, it assumes a shared responsibility for the semantic "environmental" conditions, under which society observes itself. It is thus responsible for shaping the narrative patterns by which societies interpret themselves, i.e. collective or group semantics, as well as for associated reductions in complexity. Niklas Luhmann recommended that the sociology of knowledge should formulate such a "theory of society observing and describing itself" (1995, 154), but the cultural studies approach to the term "knowledge" prevalent in German-language studies between 2000-2015 is not necessarily conducive to this approach. This article reflects the aspect of "knowledge" from the two sides mentioned in the title and corners it praxeologically and textualistically, i.e. in its dynamic, social micro and macro dimension (between cognitive psychology and sociology) and in its textualist dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position of knowledge in policy-making has been discussed and disputed by academics for a long time, but it has been more seriously considered in recent decades. One of the most important approaches in this field is evidence-based policy-making, which was proposed in 1997 as an alternative to ideological and opinion-based policy-making. This research examines and criticizes this approach and argues that although the idea of evidence-based policy-making is desirable and ideal, but because scientific and research evidence - especially soft sciences such as humanities and social sciences - are products of social relations and not objective, it is not possible to realize the idea of evidence-based policy-making as an alternative to ideological and opinion-based policy-making. In addition, even with the assumption of objective and pure human knowledge, considering that the nature of policy-making is intertwined with interests, power, bureaucracy, and the like, there are many obstacles to use scientific evidence in policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]