Relations Along, not Between: Incorporating Becoming into Relational Sociology (via Life-Philosophy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Olli Pyyhtinen
Keyword(s):  
Relational Sociology ◽  
Life Philosophy

Uneven worlds of hegemony: towards a discursive ontology of societal multiplicity

2021 ◽  
pp. 004711782110103
Author(s):  
Viacheslav Morozov
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Relational Sociology ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
Fundamental Condition ◽  
Uneven And Combined Development ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Ontological Individualism

The neo-Marxist literature on uneven and combined development has made significant progress towards a comprehensive theory of the international. Its point of departure is societal multiplicity as a fundamental condition of the international. This article identifies an important lacuna in the ontology of multiplicity: there is no discussion of what constitutes a ‘society’, or the basic entity capable of entering a relationship with other entities. Existing solutions, including those relying on relational sociology, gravitate towards ontological individualism. Building on poststructuralist neo-Gramscian theories, I propose to ground the conceptualisation of ‘society’ in the notion of hegemony. This implies a discursive ontology, which attributes the inside/outside dynamic to hegemonic formations rather than states or societies. Coupled with the understanding of hegemony as a scalar phenomenon, this ontology can account for the primacy of the state in modern times, while also enabling a research focus on other types of collectivities.

The art of hinting and allusions in Sámi literature: a reading of Jovnna-Ánde Vest’s novel trilogy Árbbolaččat

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Lill Tove Fredriksen
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Coping Skills ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Life Philosophy

Various means for levels of hinting at things or making allusions in the interaction between people are part of traditional Sámi knowledge and communication, aesthetics and interpersonal communication. A reading of the novel trilogy Árbbolaččat ( The Heirs) (1997–2005), written by the Sámi novelist Jovnna-Ánde Vest, shows how the use of hinting and allusions is depicted as birgengoansta (coping skills), an essential art to master in the life of a small community, as a way to deliver a message in a softer tone rather than saying things directly and as a way to avoid conflicts. I especially emphasize the contextual part of the yoik tradition (the ancient Sámi chanting tradition) and how it has functioned as a social device in the Sámi community. It explains the individual’s place within the community, and what people’s worldview and life philosophy tell us about life in a small Sámi village.

How to Do Well Graduate Employment of Colleges and Universities under the Low Carbon Economy Environment

2012 ◽  
Vol 573-574 ◽  
pp. 821-825
Author(s):  
Hui Qin Zhao ◽  
Hong Wang
Keyword(s):  
College Graduates ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Energy Structure ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Core Competitiveness ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Graduate Employment ◽  
Employment Situation ◽  
Life Philosophy ◽  
Carbon Economy

Low carbon economy makes effect on employment. It shows that low carbon is not only a kind of life philosophy. With the development of new energy technology, it has risen to national economic strategy, and may become a new economic growth point. At the same time, the adjustment of energy structure, not only benefits to the sustainable development road of economic development to" green" , and also brings in new hope for improving the current employment situation. The employment situation of college graduates is an important index of social inspection and evaluation of the quality of running a school; it is one of the core competitiveness of schools. Graduate employment status relates to the school reputation directly. This paper studies that how colleges and universities do the employment work of graduates.

Institutional Logics and Low Skills: The Case of the Private Security Sector in Singapore

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soon Joo Gog ◽  
Johnny Sung ◽  
David N Ashton
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Relational Sociology ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Security Services ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Low Pay

This article introduces the concept of institutional logics to provide a more adequate understanding of the interaction between firms and the institutions within an economy that impact on skills and pay. We argue that the most prominent institutionalist approaches suffer from a number of major weaknesses that have contributed towards the failure of policy initiatives derived from them. We then demonstrate how developments in relational sociology offer the promise of remedying these deficiencies. The case of the private security services sector in Singapore, which has suffered from low skills and low pay, is then used to illustrate how this new approach, highlighting the institutional logics of the sector, can provide a more productive approach to policy in this area.

scholarly journals Norm transformation and the institutionalization of targeted killing in the US

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Frankel Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Central Intelligence Agency ◽  
Network Synthesis ◽  
Relational Sociology ◽  
Targeted Killing ◽  
Intelligence Agency ◽  
Means And Ends ◽  
The Us ◽  
Norm Change

This article explains the emergence and institutionalization of the US’s targeted killing practices as a case of norm transformation. I argue that international and domestic US prohibitions on assassination have not disappeared, but have changed as a result of practitioner-led changes in the conventions, technologies, and bureaucratic structures governing the use of force in counterterrorism activities. After discussing the limits of alternative explanations, and drawing inspiration from practice theory, pragmatist social theory, and relational sociology, I posit three causal mechanisms as responsible for the transformation: convention reorientation, which was the redefinition of targeted killing to distinguish it from assassination; technological revision, which was the development and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”) to bypass normative and strategic concerns over precision; and network synthesis, which was the support of the Bush administration and especially of the Obama administration, overruling dissenters from within the Central Intelligence Agency (who were often very highly placed). I trace the processes by which these mechanisms operated and interacted in simultaneous and mutually reinforcing ways from the start of the millennium until now. Finally, I discuss some of the ways in which this contributes to institutional analysis and the study of norm change more generally, and, in particular, how it considers the role of technology and the reciprocity of means and ends.

Violation and hope: Refugee survival in childhood and beyond

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Lynne McCormack ◽  
Brigitta Tapp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
New Host ◽  
Life Philosophy

Background: The psychological complexity of refugee status for children is poorly understood. Alone or with family members, child refugees are exposed to multiple and potentially traumatic events, including conflict and human rights deprivation in their country of origin, perilous and life-threatening escape journeys, years of statelessness, and isolation and discrimination in their new host country. Aims: This phenomenological study explored the positive and negative interpretations of four adults as they sought to make sense of their experiences of refugee status as children. Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) guided the development of semi-structured interview for data collection and analysis. Results: One superordinate theme, Violation and Hope, overarched three subordinate themes, Violent detachment, Refugee identity, and Resourcefulness and reciprocity. One divergent theme also emerged: Clashing identities. These themes provide unique insight into the interpreted experiences of escaping oppression and persecution in each participant’s country of origin as children, and the ensuing bleak interval as refugees, belonging nowhere. They identify the risk of becoming pawns of opportunism without human rights protection. Once stateless, survival was not guaranteed, producing a stark merging of acceptance of mortality and determined resourcefulness as children. Avoidant coping became a positive tool for surviving ever present threat, and was crucial in defining a life philosophy that was future oriented as they entered adulthood. Conclusion: These participants rejected a ‘refugee victim’ identity, emphasising a legacy of resourcefulness, hope, gratitude and reciprocity, domains of post-traumatic growth which are unreported aspects of refugee well-being that can provide future therapeutic and research direction.

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