Social Identity and Social Descent: Some Sociological Reflections on Population Genetics

Sociological Forum -     

Cultural Continuity and Change in Kakar's Works: Some Reflections

This article reviews the works of the well-known psychoanalyst, Sudhir Kakar, centering on the themes of cultural continuities and demographic change. Kakar's works span about three decades and represent sensitive psychoanalytical forays into Indian society and the interpretation of its various cultural processes. In this endeavor, Kakar's concern has been to understand the connection between the subjective imagination accessed mostly in psychoanalytical, clinical work and the cultural processes as manifested in myths and folklore, in popular arts and cinema, in the life histories of historical figures on the Indian firmament, and in the traditions of various systems of Hindu religious philosophy. He has been concerned about the modification of the very tool—the psychoanalytic sensibility (and the theory around it)—that he has so adeptly used, while acknowledging its limitations in creating links with phenomena such as mysticism and communal violence. I have tried to understand the processes of cultural continuity and change by focusing on various images of women and men represented in Kakar's work. Selection of these images is guided by the various expressions of desire, playfulness, the search for a political idiom with which to initiate and sustain cultural changes, etc., as represented by the characters in Kakar's analyses. Analyzing their implications for the issues at hand, a special emphasis is placed on the criticism of Kakar's work by Kurtz. The article concludes with a section on the traditional notion of individuality as it has evolved in selected works by Kakar and other Indian psychoanalytically-oriented authors.     

Reflections on Reflections:

No abstract available for this article.     

Some Reflections on the Crisis in Sociology*

Claims that sociology must be divided into closed ideological and paradigmatic camps are critically examined. Convergences among the major analytical approaches are considered and possible explanations explored.     

Participation in Decision-making at the Plant Level: Reflections on the German Experience

Plant level participation because of its location offers larger opportunities to influence decisions than participation on the job but falls short of providing access to company decision arenas. Legal institutional regulations become important because of the specific characteristics of this kind of involvement in decision-making of dependent labor. Therefore the German Framework is described and discussed with democratic conceptual, social science and new institutional economics perspectives in mind. The findings show the restrictions of plant level participation but—at least for the German case—indicate that differences in interest tend to be expressed and modify decisions. An evaluation of effects on business activities nevertheless does not indicate systematic disadvantageous economic consequences, there might even be positive results in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.     

Some Reflections on the Legacies of Michael White: An Australian Perspective

This article, which appears in a special 30‐year anniversary edition of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, reflects on the legacies of the work of Michael White. It begins by looking back on Michael's time as editor of the Australian Journal of Family Therapy. Of the many themes that were discussed in the Editorials and Letters to the Editor section of this journal in the early 1980s, this article focuses on three in particular to explore the legacies of the work of Michael White. The author describes how Michael has bequeathed not only a profound body of work, but also a distinctive spirit of originating, and ways of working that consider the effects of social issues and that examine the politics of experience. It is the author's hope that this approach to considering Michael White's legacies honours his work and also honours the contributions of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy in its 30th year.     

Building Enrollments in Russian Culture Courses: Some Reflections and Suggestions

Ivan Turgenev’s activity as a translator was very extensive and spanned his entire career. It is, however, little known and less studied. Not only have most of his translations not been republished, but a comprehensive list, detailing his role and participation, has never been compiled. His translations into Russian (most of which have been republished) were done primarily out of personal interest in the author or the work in question, or out of close friendship (Maria Markovich, song texts for Pauline Viardot, Gustave Flaubert). His translations into other languages, mostly translations from Russian into French, were part of his efforts at making Russian literature, including his own works, better known outside of Russia. These translations were generally done in collaboration and provide insight into his views on translation, views which, within certain parameters, gave surprising leeway to the translator.     

基于国际经验的乡村旅游发展思考

我国乡村旅游发展国家政策支持力度大、经济社会发展支撑力度强,发展乡村旅游是实现全面小康和乡村振兴的重要战略举措。从市场发展情况看,乡村旅游需转型升级,国际乡村旅游发展在制度建设、政策支持、产品开发和行业监管等方面有可借鉴的地方,可选择性借鉴其经验,推进乡村旅游进一步发展。     

Flexible SWAps for Strategic Policy‐making: Reflections on the Zambian Experience

This article offers an alternative view on the emergence of new forms of development co‐operation by analysing the emergence of SWAps in Zambia since the early 1990s. SWAps in Zambia emerged not as part of a grand design but in response to the changing environment in which aid agencies were operating. An examination of the relative success of the health and education SWAps and the spectacular failure of the agriculture SWAp suggests that a flexible approach is more effective than the imposition of a planning template. Furthermore, the failure of the agricultural SWAp has been followed by significant new forms of public/private partnership.     

Involving Service Users in the Teaching and Learning of Social Work Students: Reflections on Experience

This article describes and reflects on a project to develop service user involvement in the teaching and learning of students on one social work degree course. It includes the perspectives of a service user who took a lead role in the project and a part‐time academic member of staff given a specific contract to develop the work. The aspects of the project discussed are: getting started; bringing people together; student learning from individual voices; and student learning from collective experiences. Achievements and obstacles are discussed and key points of learning noted.     

Practice Experience and Theory Boundaries: An Argument for Theory Diversity in Family Therapy

This paper addresses the relationship of family therapy to its own knowledge, and the relationship between theory and practice experience. An argument is made that family therapy has related oppositionally not only to outside knowledges, but also to its own knowledge in its successive and frequent knowledge shifts. This oppositionality had led to a dominant story which downplays themes of continuity in our own development of theory. It has also fuelled a momentum toward purity and anti‐eclecticism. Postmodernist thinking within family therapy has both allowed and disallowed the space for theory diversity, and there has been a similar paradox with respect to attention to lived experience. The paper begins and ends with a discussion of three pieces of practice experience and leads to a plea for theory diversity in family therapy in the interests of meeting the complex demands of practice.     

Formalization of grievance procedures: A multi-firm and industry study

This study examines how two aspects of formalization of grievance procedures affect grievance procedure effectiveness: written versus oral presentation of grievance and the level of union and management authorized to resolve grievances at the first step. Several demographic variables were controlled for: size of bargaining unit, percentage of organization represented, number of grievances filed, and industry. A sample of 46 firms, representing a broad cross-section of unionized companies in the private sector, was obtained with the help of the American Arbitration Association. Results indicate that more formal grievance procedures (e.g., written presentation) are positively related to resolution rates at the first step. The number of grievances field and the size of the bargaining unit were positively related to total resolution rates prior to arbitration. We thank the American Arbitration Association for making this study possible.     

Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Childhood: Some Critical Methodological Reflections

This article attempts to analyze the prevalence rates of sexual abuse in childhood reported in comparative empirical studies, giving an overview of a selection of representative studies reporting high rates of abuse and comparing it to an overview of studies reporting lower rates. Extremely discrepant rates of childhood sexual abuse are reported in a number of empirical studies conducted in this field over the past 26 years, particularly those looking beyond prevalence to study the links between this type of trauma and future motherhood. To shed light on the disparities in the reported prevalence rates, the article reviews the principal methodological biases that have contaminated the findings. The authors then offer several suggestions for improvement that might be implemented in future studies.