“Us” versus “Them”: communication barriers in post‐socialist Russia

The paper addresses the general socio‐cultural consequences of economic and political globalisation. With regard to the dispute between “universalists” and “culturalists” it holds the view that—contrary to expectations of cultural convergence and the emergence of universal values and institutions‐‐the “universal grip” of globalisation has produced a mirror effect of “localisation”; it has strengthened old boundaries and created new ones between religions, ethnic groups, regions or nations. This is the background against which the present communication between East and West Europeans is explored in the paper.

For Europe, globalisation has some additional effects, such as the collapse of the Soviet system in Eastern Europe. There, (a) globalisation coincides with the painful process of political and economic transformation and (b) revitalises the pre‐socialist context of the West‐East dichotomy. It shows that the East European variety of the opposition global‐local acquires additional drama due to being superceded by the opposition West‐East: the defensive reactions against globalisation are sharper and more powerful—and they are largely perceived and experienced as an East‐West controversy.

The paper explores the new mental barriers between West and East, the “wall in the heads”, and presents them as a major obstacle to the effective interpersonal communication in post‐socialist Europe. It is based on field research in Russia and Germany and uses the concept of “otherness” (Fremdheit) and the related ingroup‐outgroup category as key instruments for the interpretation and understanding of intercultural situations. The strengthening of the “us vs. them” boundary largely determines the communication process: it creates potential for conflict and has a negative effect on the motivation for cross‐cultural learning. Some implications for cross‐cultural educators and trainers are pointed out.     

Implementation of Intercultural Education Programmes based on Cooperative Learning

An intercultural programme must not overlook the elimination of racist attitudes, but should especially promote multicultural and democratic values.

In Spain, one of the most rejected groups is Gypsy people and their schooling is a problematic issue. We believe that intercultural attitude training programmes can be a practical pedagogical answer for promoting acceptance and respect for diversity.

To do this, we have chosen educational strategies of Cooperation in the Classroom, Active Participation and Persuasive Communication. All of them involve a search for new perspectives, the use of sociocognitive conflict as a driving impulse for learning, and an atmosphere of equality, respect and participation in the classroom.

We present in this paper one of the school programmes we have implemented in Valencia. This programme has been designed to be integrated within the ordinary school curriculum and not regarded as an added out‐of‐school activity. In order to implement it, we organised a teacher‐training course to analyse the intercultural model, to show the need for attitude training in education and to offer pedagogical guidance for the implementation of this type of intercultural programme.

The results of the programme show the improvement in pupils ‘ attitudes towards Gypsy people and cultural diversity in general.     

Book reviews

Franco Ferrarotti The Myth of Inevitable Progress, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp.VIII,208.

Peter Grootings, Bjorn Gustavsen, and Lajos Héthy (eds.) New Forms of Work Organization and Their Social and Economic Development, Budapest, Statistical Publishing House, 1986, pp. VIII, 297.

Janusz Lewandowski and Jan Szomberg Samorzad w dobie “Solidarnosci”. Wspolpraca samorzadow pracowniczych Pomorza Gdanskiego na tle sytuacji w kraju w latach 1980/81 (Self‐government in the time of Solidarity. Cooperation of the self‐governmental bodies in the Baltic region and its general background during the period 1980/81), London, Odnowa, 1985, pp. 109.     

Democracy in Arts Development 1

Too often in the arts, projects are undertaken without clear‐cut aims and ways of assessing whether these aims are accomplished. With regard to “Art for Social Change” projects, it is not difficult to identify activities that might be labelled “dishonest”, “ill‐conceived” or even “unethical”. It is argued here that it is possible, and necessary, to set clear aims, and also to devise effective assessment strategies. It is essential for artists to embrace evaluation in order to help them improve and better understand their work.

     

Book reviews

Brezzi Francesca, A Partire dal Gioco ‐ Per i Sentieri di un Pensiero Ludico Marinetti, Genova, 1992, pp. 134, L. 25.000

Ian McIntyre, DOGFIGHT ‐ The Transatlantic Battle over Airbus, Praeger Publishers, 112 pages, $42

Angela Ales Bello, Fenomenología dell'essere umano. Lineamenti di una filosofía al femminile, Roma, Città Nuova, 1992, pp. 170 L. 18.000

“A Critical Note on Some Literature Concerning Backwardness and Social Unbalances in Islamic Countries”     

Book reviews

Mervin Y.T. Chen and Thomas G.Regan (1985) Work in the Changing Canadian Society. Toronto, Butterworths, pp. XIV, 289.

Walter S. Neff (1985) Work and Human Behaviour, New York, Aldine Publishing Company, 1985 (3rd edition), pp. XV, 345.

John M. Letiche and Basil Dmytryshyn (1985) Russian Statecraft: An Analysis and Translation of Iurii Krizhanic'h's “Politika”, New York, Basil Black‐well, pp. Ixxxiii, 283.

Sidney Verba and Gary G.Orren (1985) Equality in America 1. The View from the Top, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1985.

Panos D.Bardis, (1985) Dictionary of Quotations in Sociology, Westport, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp.xiv,356.     

Toward 'good enough' services for inaptly served families and children: Barriers and opportunities

The present article draws attention to ways in which the goodness of fit between social services and their clients, both in the present and the past, determines the extent to which services are successful–in the sense that clients experience them as helpful and as furthering their well-being, and that there is objective evidence of improvement in their situation.

To provide an initial conceptual framework for exploration in this area, a number of terms are introduced and defined. These include ‘inapt service”, ‘inaptly served families’, and ‘good enough services’.

It is contended that biases that promote inaptness, in the areas of policy, organization, practice, and research and evaluation, have contributed to the proliferation and perpetuation of inapt services. As a basis for further reflection and for efforts to transform ‘inapt’ service systems into ones that are ‘good enough’, twelve such biases are discussed.

Finally, premises and directions for action that promote such transformative efforts are suggested.     

Book review

Wives and warriors. Women and the military in the United States and Canada L. Weinstein & C.C. White (Eds) Westport, Connecticut; London: Bergin & Garver, 1997. ISBN: 0-89789-491-X (hbk), 0-89789-526-6 (pbk)

Social skills for people with learning disabilities–A social capability approach Mark Burton & Carolyn Kagan (with Pat Clements) London: Chapman and Hall, 1995 ISBN: 0-412-43380-X (pbk)

Social Work with Children. The Educational Perspective

Jobs, Technology and People

Children in Difficulty: A Guide to Understanding and Helping

Step-parenting in the 1990s

Jobs and Economic Development Strategies and Practice

Caring to Work: accounts of working parents of disabled children

The WorWFamily Challenge. Rethinking Employment

No Place to Go. The Civil Commitment of Minors

Black Families in Corporate America     

Models of Multiculturalism: implications for the twenty‐first century leaders 1

Prominent among the challenges facing leaders in the 21st century is multiculturalism. Technology and transportation are fast changing the world and the concept of a global village has never been more real. The “New World Order” as proclaimed by George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, has proclivity to disorder unless new multicultural understanding is embraced.

This paper provides a discussion of different models or stages of multiculturalism: denial, assimilationism, affirmative action, valuing diversity, managing diversity, global multiculturalism, and humanistic multiculturalism. It promotes the concept of humanistic multiculturalism as a more holistic, inclusive, emancipatory view of diversity that will be necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The paper concludes with implications for corporate, educational, military, and government leaders as well as for intercultural trainers and researchers.

     

Another economy: towards a cultural dialectics between energy and society

The looming oil crisis, pollution, and climate change have pushed governments, corporations, and individuals to think of new policies, new objects/products and new manners to market them – usually under the label of “green economy” (or the shifting towards a sustainable economy).

The changes that are on the way as a result of the envisaged “green revolution” need a broad vision that couples the economy of energetic techniques with the related socio-cultural economy that is induced by, and at the same time reciprocally influences, the mere technical transformations.

Based on previous analysis of theories of socio-technological change and putting at its center the concept of subjectivation in social sciences, this article proposes a theoretical understanding of cultural shifts and their relationship with changes in the practices of production, transfer and use of energy.

First part presents a schema of subjectivation in triangulation, that links the biological level with the material culture and with the representational realm of normativities in our society. It will be developed through the example of electric vehicle as metaphor of the energetic transition. Through this understanding, second part deals with the modeling of the three items as a processual energetic system by using the concepts of surplus and expenditure. Within this frame, we show how disruptions in one of the poles of this model influences the others and bring about changes in the entire Anthropo-Social level. Third part proposes possible types of emerging subjectivities and advances the idea of extending the realm of consciousness to the energetic transfers and their potentiality.     

Book reviews

The Political Sociology of Florian Znaniecki and Contemporary Politics (in Polish), Olgierd Sochacki (Ed.) Wydawnictwo Gdanskie, The Scientific Society of Gdansk, 1996

Why Read. Internal Space and the Social Function of Literature: An Investigation with. Psychoanalysts and Psychology Students, Graziella Pagliano (Ed.) Bonanno Editore, 1994

Voix Littéraires de Femmes

Cuadernos sobre Vico, Nos 5–6, José M. Sevilla et al. 1995–96

Studi in memoria di Ernesto Grassi Proceedings of the International Conference in Memory of Ernesto Grassi (Ischia, 4–6 October 1993), Emilio Hidalgo‐Serna and Massimo Marassi (Eds), Napoli, La Città del Sole, 1996

Naples Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Fiosofici, La Gittà del Sole, Napoli, 1996

Family, Women and Employment in Central‐Eastern Europe, Barbara Lobodzinska (Ed.) Greenwood Press, 1995     

Books reviews

Peter M. Blau and Marshall W. Meyer, Bureaucracy in Modern Society (3rd. ed). New York, Random House, 1987.

Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1986.

Malvyn Dubrovsky (ed.) Technological Change and Workers’ Movements. Explorations in the World Economy: Publications of the Fernand Braudel Center. Vol.4: Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1985.

Helmut Klages, Gerhard Franz, and Willi Herbert, Sozialpsychologie der Wohlfahrtgesellschaft. Zur Dynamik von Wertorientirungen, Einstellungen und Ansprüchen (Social Psychology of the Welfare State. On Dynamics of Value Orientations, Attitudes and Claims). Frankfurt ‐ New York, Campus Verlag, 1987.

Gunter Endruweit, Eduard Gauler, Wolfgang H.Stähle, and Bernhard Wilpert, eds. Handbuch der Arbeitbeziehungen. Deutschland‐Oesterreich‐Schweiz. (Handbook of Work Relations: FRG, Austria and Switzerland). Berlin ‐ New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1985.

Gerhard Lenski and Jean Lenski, Human Societies. An Introduction to Macrosociology, 5th ed., New York, McGraw‐Hill, 1987.

Stephen K.Sanderson, Macrosociology. An Introduction to Human Societies. New York, Harper and Row, 1988.

Wojciech Gasparski and Tadeusz Pszczolowski, eds. Praxiological Studies. Polish Contributions to the Science of Efficient Action. Warsaw‐Dordrecht, PWN and D.Reidel, 1983.

James S. Coleman, Individual Interests and Collective Action. Selected Essays. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Darreil Steffensmeier, The Fence: In the Shadow of Two Worlds. Totowa, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1986, pp. 295.

Max Kaase (ed.) Politische Wissenschaft und Politische Ordnung. Analysen zu Theorie und Empirie demokratischer Regierungsweise. Festschrift zum 65. Geburstag von Rudolf Wildenmann. Opladen, Westdeutscher Verlag, 1986.

Volker Meja, Dieter Misgeld, and Nico Stehr eds. Modern German Sociology. New York, Columbia University Press, 1987.

Feliks Gross, Ideologies, Goals and Values, Greenwood Press, 1985.     

Les pathologies hypermodernes: expression d'une nouvelle normalité?

Speaking about “hypermodern pathologies” aims to show the relation between features of the “hypermodern society” and different types of pathologies associated with these characteristics. Globalisation and the greater overall flexibility of the economy, the revolution in communication technologies and consequent need for ever-greater reactivity, the triumph of market logic and the disintegration of all limits that had previously overseen the construction of individual identities have led to the emergence of a compulsive individual, whose behaviour is marked by excess: an individual with no resources outside of his own person, whose sensations have overtaken his sentiments.

Physical and psychic pathologies affecting the hypermodern individual reflect the functioning of this society: attachment pathologies such as the addiction to substances designed to increase performance; eating disorders such as obesity and anorexia which also constitute ways of experimenting with the last remaining limits, those of the body; and professional “overheating” pathologies linked to the “hyperfunctioning” required of individuals, which compels them to an ever-quicker work rhythm, exhausts their limits and leads them to brutal disconnections.

In this article, I explain how these pathologies are the expression of changes in the normal/pathologic balance. They indicate the appearance of a new kind of normality, especially belonging to our contemporary society and linked to the adaptation skills that this society requires of individuals.     

Music in conflict management: Fostering interracial understanding through music

In the last decades Norway has seen substantial immigration into the country, largely from South Asia. In the capital (Oslo) one out of every four school children have foreign roots. This development poses a great challenge to educational policy, and begs for efforts that foster interracial harmony and prevent ethnic conflict. The Norwegian Department of Culture and the Culture Fund in the years 1989‐1992 supported a school research project run by the State agency for music promotion — NorConcert.

Eighteen schools with varying percentages of immigrants and of various location and size were selected to test the effectiveness of an art program rooted in the cultural heritage of the countries of origin. Music, dance and theatre from Asia, Africa and Latin‐America were presented by renowned artists from the countries represented, supported by immigrant teachers and culture workers.

The results of the study revealed significant improvement in the social milieu of participating classes and schools, with a lessening of conflict and harassment. The program was also seen to foster self‐esteem and the development of individuality among immigrant children.

As a result of the project a Norwegian Multicultural Music Centre was established in 1992, and the programming of State supported school concerts was extended in an intercultural direction.     

Between memory and history A word about intercultural education

The author briefly describes the history of the intercultural approach at the Council of Europe, which is largely responsible for the promotion of this concept, as well as for the development of a network of thought and action throughout Europe.

The article stresses the fact that, contrary to what some researchers may lead us to believe, the intercultural concept has always included the aspects of interaction, of reciprocity, of dialogue and of solidarity. In addition, pedagogical and sociological practice, where thought and action are closely linked have influenced its development.

We can now state that there are more and more places where intercultural thought and action are being pursued. Movements promoting international education, global education, civic European education, Human Rights education, etc., have different backgrounds, but their current prospects are converging. The expression ‘Human Rights education’ is often used in a generic way. However, Human Rights education that wishes to transcend ethnocentric behaviour needs to be intercultural.

     

A fractal approach to implement cooperative learning in German classrooms

The development of skills necessary to master the challenges of culturally heterogeneous classrooms is impeded seriously by linear teaching/learning procedures within the majority of educational institutions. One of the most serious obstacles is the systematic organisation of teaching according to strictly separated subject matter areas. This article describes an approach to implement cooperative learning by radically changing the organisational structure of teaching as well as the roles of teachers and students. Because this approach tries to create similar structures and processes within all organisational units from staff level to the level of cooperative teams of students, it is called a fractal model of implementation.

All students of the same grade are assigned to one of several ‘learning islands’ that comprehend those subject matter areas, which can easily be linked to each other. In our study 12th grade students will access the topic of ‘energy’ on three ‘islands’ under the perspectives of natural sciences/mathematics, linguistics, and social sciences. According to a modified version of Jigsaw learning, the students take turns as inhabitants of each of the learning islands. A team of teachers introduces the overlapping topics. Each student has to complete the assignments of one of the disciplines represented on the learning island in order to become an ‘expert’, while other students on the same learning island will become experts for the other subject matter areas. Later, back in their ‘basic teams’ they will share their different expert knowledge, teaching each other and learning from each other with increasing self‐responsibility. The teachers are available during this phase of learning as moderators of group dynamics, learning procedures, and as subject matter experts. This organizational principle is realised on all levels of the teaching/learning system, from structuring a complete grade level according to learning islands, breaking them down into expert groups, teams, and finally individual learners.

First observations and interviews with selected teachers and students show that the fractal learning model is accepted widely both by students and teachers — but there are some students and teachers who seem to b & overwhelmed by the complexity of the new situation. This difference must be taken into account if we want to promote learning in processes of social exchange.     

“What Will My Friends Think?” Social Consequences for Danish Victims of Sexual Assaults in Peer Groups

Being exposed to sexual assaults has numerous psychological and social consequences, which may interfere with the adolescent’s still-ongoing development. This article focuses on social consequences for adolescents exposed to sexual assault by someone from their peer group.

Participants were 148 in number and 15–18 year olds (M = 16.34 years, 90.5% female) from Centre for Victims of Sexual Assault’s “Youth Programme.”

A mixed methods design combined extensive survey data collected from the 148 adolescents and five case stories. Almost half of the assaults (47.4%) were committed by someone from the victim’s social circle who was not a family member. Only 30.5% of these victims reported the assault to the police. Fear of social consequences was the main reason for not reporting. The majority of the participants described failure to thrive in school in the aftermath of the assault, for example, because the assailant attended the same school. Result furthermore showed how social relations can be complicated due to an assault and subsequent reactions, which can result in isolation for the victim and exclusion from their peer group.

Sexual assaults in peer groups have great impact on the victim’s well-being. Understanding and support from peers is of the utmost importance. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Book reviews

Law, socialism and social emancipation

Books Reviewed: M. Los, Communist Ideology, Law and Crime. St. Martin's Press: New York. 1988.

Paul Q. HirstLaw, Socialism and Democracy. London: Allen and Unwin 1986.

Citoyens et citoyennes

Review of: C. Pateman (1988), The Sexual Contract, Stanford University Press.

H.M. Hernes (1987), Welfare State and Women Power, Norwegian University Press.

Franco Crespi (1989), Azione sociale e potere, Il Mulino     

‘A person with some sort of learning disability’: the aetiological narrative and public construction of Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle’s audition for the television talent competition Britain’s Got Talent attracted global attention and widespread media discourse. In this article, I would like to examine this discourse to consider how Boyle’s success troubles conventional constructions of both learning disability and celebrity.

I extend Ciara Evans’s recognition that learning disability is invisible to reflect on the media responses to Boyle’s impairment. This reflection notes that even within Boyle’s own discourse, she is loosely positioned as having ‘some sort of learning disability’.

Detailed attention is given to the aetiological account of the ‘brain damage’ Boyle ‘suffered’ at birth. The analysis will consider the correlation with scientific discourse, trauma theory and the imposed biography to suggest that the construction of Boyle as both contained and unpredictable is already implicit in the aetiological narrative.