An Introduction to Reading Georg Simmel's Sociology

This study begins by viewing Georg Simmel's sociology as the focal point of controversy. That is, it begins with an interest in the historic dialogue between Simmel and the academic community. Through an explication of critics'complaints against Simmel's work, and through an analysis of Simmel's own essay, "The Secret Society," this investigation succeeds in uncovering in Simmel's writing a significant, alternative form of sociological life.     

Cultural Differences: Deaf and Hearing Researchers Working together

This article is based on several years of research done by the two authors, one of whom is Deaf and the other hearing. The paper discusses research done within the Deaf community using sign language. This is an estimated 50,000 people-the same number as those whose first language is Welsh. The Deaf community sees itself as a linguistic and cultural minority and as such is quite distinct from people with an acquired hearing loss, or those who are hard of hearing and who usually rely on written and spoken English through lipreading or writing things down. The paper sets this research in the context of cross-cultural research and looks at its connections with emancipatory research. The central discussion is in the form of a dialogue between the Deaf and hearing researchers and their personal responses to cultural differences. In the past Deaf people have been denied the opportunity of making their opinions known because research has used written or spoken language. Our research, using videocameras to record sign language and Deaf research using sign language to interview, provides a means of interviewing more suited to Deaf people than to hearing researchers. However, as the hearing culture is likely to be perceived as the dominant culture, there are bound to be differences when a hearing and Deaf researcher are working together within the Deaf community. These are the issues which we discuss within Deaf research.     

Shaping the story: rhetoric,persuasion and creative writing in organisational ethnography

Every writer is engaged in processes of persuasion, not only in their communicating with the reader but in the very processes of thinking out their ideas. Rhetoric is inevitably an integral part of research work and research writing. All social science writing involves the creation of an artful product. This proposition is examined with reference to the author's own writing about his ethnographic research on management and key parallels are observed between the techniques of creating an ethnographic account and the rhetorical style of the creative fiction writer. The basic issues of the paper are raised in the story of a dialogue between the researcher and Tom Beeston.     

The dark arts of good people: How popular culture negotiates ‘spin’in NBC's The West Wing1

This paper argues that the popular American TV series The West Wing provides, within popular culture, a sympathetic and realistic view of the work of the political ‘spin doctor’. This enterprise is sociolinguistically interesting because of the extensive range of metalinguistic and metacommunicative reflection which it involves. The West Wing centres its storytelling within the world of the spin doctor, thus making such characters central to the narrative: further, it constructs them as likeable, virtuous characters who are also clever. Their cleverness is a matter of sociolinguistic performance expressed in dialogue which displays their professional writing craft skills and their spontaneous witty badinage.     

Spatial Governance and Working Class Public Spheres: The Case of a Chartist Demonstration at Hyde Park

The concepts of the public sphere and public space have gained increasing purchase within social history. This paper contributes to this literature by theoretically developing a critical approach to both concepts. By drawing upon the insights of the Bakhtin circle, as well as Marxism and Poststructuralism, the paper suggests that public spheres under capitalism are structured through the basic contradiction between capital and labour. Each public sphere may then be seen as a refracted dialogic and spatial form of this basic contradiction, and is then best viewed as a contradictory spatial entity that obtains its unique identity through different "accents" and "word signs". The capitalist state must aim to regulate, through governance and law, dialogue within a public sphere. By focusing on the Chartist demonstration at Hyde Park, London in 1855, I show how these theories can be employed to explore how a radical social movement appropriated space by developing a working class public sphere.     

“Either Side of Delphy Bridge”: A deep mapping project evoking and engaging the lives of older adults in rural North Cornwall

This article reports on work to date by an arts practice-led research team exploring older adults’ conceptions of, and connectivity with, the physical, social and cultural landscapes in which they locate themselves. The team is based at the Department of Art and Design, University of the West of England (UWE) and has conducted fieldwork, interviews and small-scale interactions in an area of rural North Cornwall with a view to “deep mapping” older adults’ “lived landscapes” using a variety of practical methods derived from creative arts practices, critical reflection on deep mapping, ethnographic approaches, and referencing a range of theoretical positions. The project forms part of a work package within “Grey and Pleasant Land? An interdisciplinary exploration of the connectivity of older people in rural civic society” (abbreviated below as GaPL), funded by the UK Cross-Research Council ‘New Dynamics of Ageing’ Programme. In what follows we will describe and critically discuss the fieldwork undertaken and the various ways in which the performative interactions and the creative multimedia evocations that draw on the team’s interactions with older people might extend the growing dialogue between deep mapping, visual and other innovative ethnographies, and critical gerontology.     

Using video and dialogue to generate pedagogic knowledge: teachers,learners and researchers reflecting together on the pedagogy of social research methods

Developments in pedagogical knowledge in the teaching of social research methods have largely been generated through teachers reflecting on their practice. This paper presents an alternative approach to generating data through reflective dialogue between researchers, teachers and learners. The approach incorporates elements of video stimulated recall and reflective dialogue within focus group interviewing. The rationale and affordances are discussed in relation to the goals of discussing teachers’ pedagogical decision-making and learners’ experience of, and response to, various pedagogical practices. The context is a study of capacity-building short courses in advanced social science research methods, specifically courses on: multi-modal analysis, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, multi-level modelling, and systematic review. The paper examines the methodological challenges of capturing the everyday realities of methods classrooms for teachers and learners and the affordances of using dialogue on observed teaching sessions to gain further insight into each other’s thinking and action. It concludes with lessons learned about methodological and pedagogical processes and an argument about the value of bringing methods and standpoints together in creative dialogue.     

The performance of performance indicators in the arts

The introduction of performance indicators into the field of the arts and culture has been fraught with difficulties. It is the premise of this article that many of those difficulties can be traced to tensions arising out of the actual uses of performance indicators in the arts. Based on concrete examples of the use of performance indicators, the author examines four different functions—affecting behavior, evaluating behavior, monitoring behavior, and inferring behavior—and explores some of the issues arising from each one.     

Public relations,indigeneity and colonization: Indigenous resistance as dialogic anchor

Cultural communication has been put forth in the context of globalization and the emergence of Indigenous movements as a framework for dialogue to be carried out by organizations (Love & Tilley, 2014). Concepts of Māori communication for instance have been foregrounded in the public relations literature to anchor strategies of effective engagement through dialogue, leading to the building of trust in Indigenous communities (Love & Tilley, 2014). Similarly, Indigenous engagement has been foregrounded as a key resource in achieving global sustainable development (Dutta, 2013, 2019). This turn to Indigenous cultural communication is broadly situated in the framing of indigeneity as a category to be developed within frameworks of dialogue and engagement, constituted within the structures of transnational capitalism (Dutta, 2019).Drawing from Dutta’s (2008) theorizing of the cultural sensitivity and culture-centered approaches to communication, we critically interrogate the hegemony of Indigenous dialogue as a strategy deployed by dominant organizations. Whereas cultural sensitivity incorporates cultural characteristics to serve organizational goals, cultural-centering serves as an anchor for collaborating with cultural communities at the margins in building “communicative infrastructures” for voice. Arguing that superficial markers of culture incorporated into engagement is a communicative inversion that serves the colonizing tools of transnational capital, we attend to culturally centered communication strategies of engagement that are grounded in resistance and emerge from within the voices of Indigenous movements that are increasingly threatened by ever-expanding colonial missions of globalization.Comparing across two case studies, one about the struggle of the Dongria Kondh in the Odisha state of Eastern India against mining capitalism, and the other a critical review of the use of Māori cultural knowledge in the public relations literature, we articulate indigeneity as a site of resistance within the meta-theoretical framework of the culture-centered approach (Dutta, 2008, 2011). In conceptualizing Indigenous resistance as an agonistic anchor to communication, we attend to the impossibilities of dialogue, and simultaneously to the role of communicative infrastructures in inverting neoliberal hegemony. Dialogue is radically transformed, not in generating consensus but rather in its capacity to disrupt the neoliberal status quo through the presence of Indigenous voices. Indigenous resistance “renders impure” the ontological category of dialogue, on one hand, attending to the limits of dialogue, and on the other hand, turns dialogic tools into the hands of Indigenous social movements. Dialogue as a communication infrastructure located materially within Indigenous resistance movements turns the power of communication into the hands of Indigenous communities.     

The dialogic ladder: Toward a framework of dialogue

This paper articulates the existence of different forms of ‘dialogue’, ranging from the conduct of simple two-way communication through more interactive forms culminating in true (or capital D) Dialogue. The importance of, and rationale for, the making of these distinctions is discussed in relation to the theorizing and practice of dialogue in public relations. A framework encompassing variations on the theme of dialogue is proposed in the form of a dialogic ladder that reflects the everyday usage of the term, while also preserving the existence and distinction of the normative form.The clearer and more consistent conceptualization of dialogue resulting from the dialogic ladder will assist in developing teaching curricula and associated materials that enable future researchers and practitioners to distinguish between true Dialogue and other forms. The dialogic ladder contributes to the development of dialogue theory that either expands to include dialogue-in-name-only (Kent & Theunissen, 2016), or narrows its focus to consider only true Dialogue. It will also allow identification of situations in practice where two-way communication falls short of true Dialogue, and stimulate efforts to consider why this shortfall occurs and how it might be addressed—if the conduct of true Dialogue is deemed necessary and possible. Finally, the dialogic ladder provides an alternative perspective on the role of dialogue in the two-way symmetric model of public relations.     

Biographical interviews and imagined futures essay writing: users of two methods in conversation

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a conversation between users of two research methods, biographical interviews and imagined futures essay writing. A dialogue form is used to discuss these methods and their potential to be combined. The value of comparing research methods is discussed, and then the two methods are described and points of connection and contrast are explored. Although one method emphasises looking back while the other looks forward, the two have much in common, including the exercise of imagination, and discussion of individual agency and structural constraint. Both involve the construction of narratives that help understanding of people’s lives as individual trajectories set in broader social and historical contexts. The two methods are quite different but complementary, and possibilities for their combination in one project are identified. The article ends by reflecting on the benefits and drawbacks of using dialogue to consider how research methods sit alongside each other.     

Writing Sociology,Personal Reflections on What the Arts Can Teach Us

Sociology has had classes on writing, a newsletter devoted to improving sociological writing, a remarkable number of books on writing, and special writing issues of sociological journals. Still, helping both sociology students and professional sociologists write more effectively continues to be seen as a major problem for the discipline. This brief essay suggests that four lessons drawn from the arts can improve the writing of sociologists and our students. First, sociologists must recognize the centrality of audience and develop their writing with specific audiences in mind. Second, a lesson drawn from the ceramics studio shows the power of sharply sculpting and focusing work. Third, understanding that research reporting is telling a story allows sociologists to draw on some traditional devices of storytellers to craft more powerful and effective writing. Finally, a phrase (“close enough for jazz”) from musical ensembles acknowledges the importance of avoiding unreasonable delay in presenting one’s work.     

Things are not what they seem: Modisane’s recently discovered short story

The unusual form and style of Modisane’s hitherto unpublished short story ‘All Sons of Gaika’ presents the reader with various challenges. It differs in tone and style from his previously published work, and its rather contrived dialogue and somewhat obscure plot are puzzling. Is this some kind of satire, and, if so, what is the target? Thematically, the story seems (at face value) to be another examination of the tensions between tradtion and modernity, and focuses in particular on the issue of lobola (‘bride‐price’). The young couple at the centre of the story are at pains to distance themselves from traditional pieties. To complicate matters, a secret resistance movement is seeking recruits in the area, and our protagonist, Jason, is somehow implicated. Two security policemen are the pantomime villains of the piece, as they seek to either coopt or frame Jason. The hybrid figure of a diviner conducts a cleansing ceremony, and this is the occasion for an excursion into postcolonial metacommentary, drawing on the Prospero‐Caliban topos. The story concludes with a wedding, and comes to an enigmatic conclusion. Is this is a sustained exercise in irony or mockery? How much (or how little) does it revel of the author, writing from exile in London?     

KILLING THE ANGEL IN A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN. BEING AS UNCONSCIOUS AS POSSIBLE WHEN WRITING UP QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The author begins this paper by establishing a context of writing within a qualitative research framework. He goes on to identify blocks to writing in part one of the paper. In part two various strategies for negotiating these blocks are suggested and illustrated. Extracts of writings from George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas and Ted Hughes among others are used to show how these great writers have acknowledged and negotiated blocks in the production of their work. Links and connections with writing up qualitative research are made. The crucial and recurring theme of the paper is that the unconscious is to be trusted as an invaluable ally in accessing and producing writing of value. Thinking about writing, while necessary to some extent, should therefore be given second place to the primary importance of clearing a space within which the unconscious can be befriended and surprise us and thereby facilitate the writing process.     

Tools of innovative public procurement in health care in Poland

This paper sets out to map the issues of innovation in public procurement in Poland with specific reference to health care and presents case studies of Polish hospitals using an innovative approach to public procurement. It is based on the analysis of secondary data collected using Internet search engines, introductory research conducted in hospitals which have recently used innovative procurement tools (e.g. technical dialogue and competitive dialogue) and the experience of two Polish hospitals involved in projects aimed at increasing the efficiency of procurement through innovations, described in a case study form. Although innovative procurement in Poland is at an early stage of development, it is also a topic of growing interest to both public authorities and hospitals and some hospitals are adopting new procurement methods such technical and competitive dialogue. However, barriers to the adoption of new procurement approaches are evident and these delay this process of adoption. Barriers encountered include the conservative organizational culture of hospitals, lack of awareness and know-how and a lack of trust and understanding of new procurement approaches.     

Writing organization/romancing fictocriticism

A provocation?…?the minds of my generation of organizational theorists are haunted by the spectre of scientific discourse, shoehorned into dry genres, bullied by audit regimes that try to wring the passion out of thought. Without gaiety, the science that calls us has no exuberance, it cannot dance. What are the possibilities for writing about organizations that allows the heart's instincts to be followed, the vast possibilities of expression to be explored and enjoyed? I explore this through a form of writing known as fictocriticism – a writing engaged in genre-bending as a literary and theoretical engagement with existence and selfhood. Why import this term into organization studies? Might fictocriticism have some value to ‘us’ who locate ourselves here? I am engaging in a form of romance; a courtship of ideas from elsewhere. What might result from this union is not clear, but it offers hope, excitement and promise.     

If it’s so good,why not make them do it? Why true dialogue cannot be mandated

True dialogue—as opposed to two-way communication—is a very specific and inescapably principled form of communication with benefits for all participants. This paper asks whether, given its highly-desirable form and function, governments could use legislation to require organizations to conduct true dialogue. An analysis of practitioner insights, however, shows the nature of the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders, and their perspectives on each other and the communication between them, preclude the conduct of true dialogue. The empirical data from this study allow the identification and articulation of these barriers to dialogue, moving the field of dialogue studies in public relations on from the assertion that true dialogue is hard to find in practice. This research allows practitioners and scholars alike to say why true dialogue does not happen. Because of this, it is possible to start developing strategies for dealing with—and perhaps overcoming—the barriers.     

How Family Therapy Stole My Interiority and Was Then Rescued by Open Dialogue

This paper serves as a naive autoethnography, based on the effect of open dialogue training on my practice as a systemic family therapist. It follows a beginner's attempt at a newly recognised form of writing, one that reflects the messy, emergent links between people, voices, experiences, sensations, memories, theories, objects, friends, and other entities, one that is also, however, actually in my head and body and real, territorialised in place, cities, streets, and rooms. It is an autoethnography in that it serves as a narrated introspection, built on a barometric research machine that will be described.