The institutionalized corruption of the real socialist system: the herring barrel metaphor once again

Abstract

This article exploits the herring barrel metaphor, introduced by the author to describe the actual working of the real socialist or communist regimes. This metaphor, which can be treated as a proper model of the system, demonstrates that the system was based on the fundamental principle of shortage, from which power, founded on the exchange and distribution capacity, was derived. This capacity of exchange and distribution was organized as institutionalized corruption, meaning that it was recognized, partly tacitly and partly explicitly, managed and utilized, while the official doctrine denied its existence.

On the surface the system seemed to be coherent and consistent, and it looked as such very much from the outside as well as from the inside. The weak points were two: (1) the real shortage and (2) the inherent falsity. But these, as well, were the cornerstones of the system. In the long run, therefore, despite the apparent consistency, it had to collapse. Yet, beware, the (multiple) motivations to install one are still present. The article shows also some mechanisms behind these motivations and their place in the contemporary political processes.     

Public definitions of crime problems and functionalist processes: a reassessment

La théorie fonctionnaliste permet deux interprétations de ?impact de la criminalité sur ?ordre social. Cet article tentera de les réconcilier. La première interprétation, basée sur les travaux de Durkheim et de Mead, prête un caractère fonctionnel à cet impact. Des travaux plus récents, par contre, mettent ?accent sur la désunion qui résulte de la criminalité. J'utilise ici les données du Vancouver Urban Survey pour analyser pour quels publics sont valables des définitons de crime en tant que problème personnel ou problème public. J'analyse done diverses réponses à la criminalité, qui la définissent alternativement en termes privés ou publics, et je suggère que chaque définition peut être valable pour des segments de la population différentiés. De tels résultats appellent la remise en quesiton des postulats fondamentaux sur lesquels les approches fonctionnalistes reposent. Functionalist theory has provided two distinct interpretations of the implications which crime has for patterns of social order. The first which is derived from the writings of Durkheim and Mead emphasizes the functional character of these implications while more recent viewpoints have stressed their divisive nature. An attempt is made to reconcile these positions through an examination of coping strategies that suggest definitions of crime as a private trouble and as a public issue. Employing data from the Vancouver Urban Survey, the interrelationship between these dimensions is examined and an attempt is made to describe the publics for whom particular definitions of the crime problem are salient. The analysis suggests that both definitions may be correct but for different segments of the population. This resolution, it is argued, may require a reconsideration of the basic assumptions upon which functionalist approaches are predicated.     

Mutilation and metaphor: managing the Monongah dead*

This article documents the use of metaphor in coordinating ‘backstage’ responses to the greatest mine disaster in US history, which left hundreds dead, and many were mutilated beyond recognition. The use of metaphor is illustrated in the handling of the dead, from the point of discovery of carnage in the mines through to burial, including ‘identification’ of unrecognizable bodies and body parts – a system of actions that remained unintelligible for over a century. This research illustrates the importance of emergent, unprescribed, furtive, and coordinated actions in responding to an unexpected and catastrophic incident. Discussion suggests the general import of emergent order for systems of domination in history, command economies, and rational-legal administrations, including organized responses to mass death.     

The development of nonverbal communication of emotion: A functionalist perspective

A functionalist perspective on the development of nonverbal communication of emotion is presented. This perspective is distinguished from other current conceptualizations by the following features: (a) Emphasis is placed on the functional implications of emotion-relevant movements for social regulation (communication), intrapersonal (internal) regulation, and behavior regulation. (b) Emotions are viewed as “members of families of emotions.” Emotion families are composed of emotion processes with similar functional relationships to the environment, which also differ in particular communicative features as a function of contextual demands, socialization history, and developmental abilities of the organism. (c) Facial movements are treated as only one of many forms of communication of emotion, rather than as having special status as “the” clearcut indicators of emotion. (d) Communication of emotion always is embedded in a context: There are no movements that can be considered clearcut, context-free expressions of emotion, at any period of development. (e) The role of socialization in the development of emotion and emotion communication is emphasized. (f) The multiple influences on communicative behavior, and the implications of such multicausality for clearcut communication, are acknowledged.     

Rethinking assimilation and ethnicity: the Chinese in Thailand

US theoretical models of assimilation of ethnic groups within a larger culture usually assume a unilinear, unidimensional process, which is simplistic, does not account for the persistence of ethnicity, and oversimplifies the process of social change. The argument is advanced that ethnic identity is both primordial and situational (a private sense that is self-maintaining, cumulative, deepening, and self-affirming). Typically, a person has one primary ethnic identity, but where ethnic boundaries overlap, there is instrumental identity. Chinese in Thailand mostly adopt Thai values, speak the Thai language, go to Thai schools, join Thai associations, and celebrate Thai religious festivals. Their secondary identity as Chinese is integrated into their associations with other Chinese and in the home through the use of the Chinese language. Their Chinese identity appears also in ancestor worship. There are symbiotic relationships between native Thais and Chinese Thais along class lines. The Chinese are known to have great financial and economic resources, while the Thais have political and administrative control. These differences with the power elites separate the Chinese from the Thais and interfere with assimilation. The power is balanced. If the Chinese gained in political and administrative power, the balance would be upset, and the interests of both groups would be threatened. The view of Whitten and Whitten acknowledges that individuals and groups act to make the best of the situation and are not merely victims of social forces. Actions are maintained and resisted. The important consideration in theory-building is not the terms of assimilation but the terms specifying the conduct of the group as a whole and as individuals in daily social interactions. The theoretical discussion focuses on border crossings, the Skinner view of the Chinese, bilingualism and cultural education, socioeconomic organizations, occupational differences, and religion, tradition, and ethnic identification.     

Using simulation to develop testable functionalist explanations: a case study of church survival

Many arguments for and against functionalism have revolved around logical and methodological issues, discouraging attempts to develop testable functionalist theories. This paper takes a different approach, arguing that the problem with sociological functionalism is not its logic of explanation but the absence of appropriate techniques for formalizing functionalist theories. The solution presented --agent-based simulation --is illustrated by a case study: a functionalist account of church survival. The case study suggests that there is nothing wrong with the logic of functionalism properly formalized, illustrates how simulation can enable testing of functionalist explanations and suggests why existing sociological methods have not proved fruitful for this task. In the light of new techniques like simulation, the current neglect of functionalism may no longer be justified.     

代际分化与城乡分异:中西部二代农民的阶层分化逻辑

不同于一代农民"有分化无分层",当前中西部二代农民出现了阶层分化,代际分化与城乡分异构成其基本逻辑。其中,代际分化取代了人口分化成为农民分化的主导机制,城乡分异取代了村内竞争成为农民的阶层表达方式。随着二代农民主导的中间农民大量进城,城乡两套社会系统正在逐渐被一套阶层分化的逻辑统一起来,从二元走向整合;大量中间农民家庭正处于半城半乡的过渡阶段,进退不再是选择,而是成败与身份的标志;新的认同、阶层结构和社会秩序正在诞生。在农民家庭弹性城市化路径和刚性城市化需求并存的情况下,农村和中小城镇共同构成基层社会的缓冲区与稳定区,应一方面确保农村发挥基本保障作用,另一方面加强小城镇建设,让农民有村可回、有城可进。     

Rethinking migration in the digital age: transglocalization and the Somali diaspora

In this study, we examine the transnational networks of the Somali diaspora online. We explore the claims that the web signifies a shift towards a de‐territorialized, transnational diaspora, which constructs its identity and engagement around a transnational imagined community. Based on a network and web content analysis, we assert that the claims about the transnational as the territorial locus of identity and engagement should be revisited. The analysis shows that the Somali diaspora's engagement has a specific multi‐territorial topology through which information and resources are exchanged and a hybrid identity is constructed. Somalis' online engagement, however, is mainly directed towards community‐based practices and social integration in their host‐land, as opposed to transnational advocacy for the homeland. We argue that web data show a particular territorial arrangement and engagement, which we conceptualize as transglocalization, meaning local, networked formations existing alongside the national and transnational, each operating with awareness of the other yet acting separately. The study demonstrates that online network analysis offers promising approaches to diasporic social integration, policy‐making and issue advocacy.     

Immigration and Transnationalism: Rethinking the Role of the State in Latin America

As more Latin American migrants make their way to the United States, the issue of transnationalism has received increased scholarly attention. Transnationalism refers to the delinking of the individual from his or her government and an increase in international ties as a result of the economic globalization that promotes the movement of people, goods, money, and ideas. Prevailing consensus is that the state, particularly in Latin America, is weakened by transnationalism because individuals are freer than ever from state control. This article argues that examining Latin American emigrant policies yields a different conclusion, namely that the state's response to transnational pressures has made governments more active and relevant in certain ways than in the past. Studies of transnationalism must therefore incorporate state strategies for a better understanding of its impact on Latin American governments.     

Rethinking integration and identity: Chinese migrants in the Republic of Ireland

Using historical narratives and a qualitative research approach, this paper analyses the social, cultural and cognitive causes of differentiation and stratification among Chinese migrants in the Republic of Ireland. It discusses individuals’ diversified capabilities, attitudes and actual levels of integration, as well as their disparate patterns of self-identification. In the research area of Chinese migrants in Ireland, in-group diversity and its implications is still a novel research topic. With this introductory work, the authors seek to draw more attention to this particular group, especially to the need for studies of encounters between subgroups and longitudinal investigations. The paper points out that subgroups of Chinese migrants in Ireland are divided according to social classification and self-categorisation, which have distinct significances for subgroup members’ integration and identity.     

The differential use of metaphor in psychotherapy

Metaphor is seen to play a significant role in psychoanalytic theory and technique. While acknowledging this view, this paper examines the differences in which individuals of varying developmental profiles, experience, comprehend and use metaphor in the context of psychotherapy. Differences in the capacity to play, adaptively regress, regulate affect, maintain ego boundaries, and symbolize, are found to affect capacities to employ those figures of speech in words or phrases literally denoting one type of object or idea but used in place of others by suggesting likenesses or analogies. A rationale for differential use of interventions involving metaphor is offered.     

The five careers of the biological metaphor in economic theory

The paper distinguishes among five different roles which the biological metaphor has played, or could play, in economic theory. First, the “selfish-gene” metaphor shows that non-human agents allocate scarce resources and behave non-selfishly according to rationality optimization—not different from how neoclassical theory models human choice. Second, the “ecological influx” metaphor examines the prowess of the non-human/human agent to produce surplus (net product), which differs from rationality optimization. Third, the “genotype” metaphor casts light on how the technology/institution scheme informs the development and behavior of organization. Fourth, the “organism” metaphor illuminates the order of organizations such as firms and states. Fifth, the “ecosystem” metaphor explicates the order of markets, which differs from the order of organizations.