Governing Sleepiness: Somnolent Bodies, Discourse, and Liquid Modernity

This paper is an inquiry into how a new truth about sleepiness is being produced in a society increasingly organized around the primacy of expertise and its representation in print and visual media. Sleepiness originally described a benign, naturally occurring corporeal moment, a precursor to sleep. Increasingly, however, a new and disturbing meaning of somnolence is found in a juncture of medical and epidemiological research, social movements, and popular culture. Alongside the idea that sleepiness is a tranquil promise of repose is another, emerging truth. Sleepiness, we are told, is hazardous to self and others, and, importantly, it is each person's responsibility to resist this seductive call of the body. How, we ask, is a private, routinely occurring state of partial consciousness deprivatized, linked to public health vernaculars, and transformed into a reprobate condition? This alternative, disturbing truth about sleepiness is shown to be emerging from several disparate, seemingly unrelated caches of scientific studies, social movement literatures, magazines and newspapers, and web sites. The ideas of Michel Foucault, who pioneered the contemporary study of discourse, are shown to be particularly apropos to this inquiry, though not without some modification to make them more amenable to a contemporary society shaped increasingly by what Zygmunt Bauman calls “liquid modernity.”     

Information

Information technology is increasingly being used in the human services, but reports suggest that some professionals are resisting its introduction. Some accounts for this resistance emphasise the role of the technology's physical attributes. It may, however, be due more to mistaken assumptions by some professionals about the role of the technology in generating information in human service contexts. Information as a concept has different interpretations according to its usage. It is the author's contention that there has been a failure to differentiate between the use of the concept in different settings and this is a possible causal factor in producing resistance. This paper examines information as used in communication theory and the human services and emphasises the need for a thorough examination of the role of information in professional social work education and practice.     

Balancing Control and Coaching in CSO Governance. A Paradox Perspective on Board Behavior

How can the internal governance of civil society organizations be conceptualized more adequately by accounting for the dual and simultaneous requirements of controlling and coaching in board behavior? Empirically, we seem to agree that effective governance of a civil society organization is crucial to its sustained viability. Conceptually, however, we observe a lack of consensus on how to best understand CSO governance. By critically juxtaposing two major theoretical lenses to conceptualize governance, namely, agency and stewardship theory, we identify a number of challenges when dealing with board–management relations that deserve our attention. While agency theory privileges controlling behavior, stewardship theory emphasizes the coaching behavior of boards. The purpose of this article is to offer a concept of governance that is informed by a paradox perspective advancing a subtler, more adequate conceptualization of board governance that accounts for these often conflicting demands on CSO governance. Drawing on illustrations from a longitudinal interpretive case study, we exemplify our propositions empirically. The article concludes with discussing the implications of our argument for CSO governance research and practice.     

网络环境下大学生思想政治教育研究

现代社会是一个信息化的时代,随着现代科技的进步、网络技术的广泛推广,网络对人们生活的影响作用越来越明显。大学生日益成为重要的网民,网络环境下,大学生思想政治教育不仅关系到大学生自身的发展,更关系到一个民族的进步。本文从网络环境下大学生思想政治教育研究的相关概念及起源和发展、面临的机遇和挑战及相应的对策三个方面进行了论述。我们应该充分利用网络环境,趋利避害加强大学生思想政治教育,提高大学生的综合素质,从而为中国特色社会主义现代化建设贡献力量。     

General and Organizational Religious Elites: The Case of Lutherans in Indiana

Abstract

Historical and cross-cultural data call into question the concept of profession as formulated by British and American sociologists. A common underlying theme, however, is the monopolization of esoteric knowledge as a basis for professional authority. Because of the rapid proliferation of knowledge and technology, Daniel Bell has forecast a professionalized society, in which knowledge will be a source of power. This paper projects an alternative hypothesis based on several societal trends, using medicine as the prototypical profession and providing some cross-cultural evidence. These trends include an erosion of the knowledge monopoly as a result of rising levels of public schooling and sophistication and specific patient education, as well as computerization—which changes accessibility patterns—and new divisions of labor, which disseminate practice skills and information more widely. The consequences are decline of trust in professional decisions and diminution of professional power and authority over clients. Ideological challenges to professional status accompany these developments, which coverge to suggest a deprofessionalized future.     

Differences in Understanding Generation in the Workforce

From an analysis of two age diverse samples in which we explored the ways “generation” is understood in the workforce, we make several contributions to generational research. First, we propose new conceptualizations on generations in the workforce. They are: contribution (a generation is defined based on the impact its members make on society or organizations) and generation as an ambiguous or irrelevant concept (generational categories are meaningless or inconsequential). Second, we note that individuals draw on a combination of multiple understandings of generations, making each person’s understanding unique and nuanced. Third, though most of our study participants leveraged age in their definition of generation, they did so in different ways. Fourth, we discuss outcomes of different understandings of generation, including conflict and identity work.     

Ideology,Practice, and Process? A Review of the Concept of Managerialism in Civil Society Studies

Managerialism is today a frequently applied concept in studies of how ideas and practices related to corporate management are diffused in society. Some assert that managerialism even is what mostly affects the development of contemporary civil society organizations. It is, however, far from clear how the concept of managerialism is used and defined across interest fields. The main conclusion in the present review, involving 105 peer-reviewed articles in civil society studies published between 1990 and 2014, is that the concept of managerialism is so broadly defined that it runs the risk of losing its analytical powers. To avoid this, the paper argues for a more precise conceptual use and suggests that the concept of managerialism should be applied to denote an ideology, the concept of management to capture managerial practices, and the concept of managerialization to describe an organizational change process.     

Information, information systems, information society: interpretations and implications

The term “information” has become a universal and omnipresent keyword in almost all areas of our modern world—be it in science or society in general. This is not only obvious from the naming of whole scientific branches like Information Theory, Information Science or Informatics but even more from common speaking—characterising our present time and society as information age viz. information society. However, what “information” might mean, is by no means clear and there is a wide range of interpretations covering, among others, its technical, communicational, educational, mental, and scientific aspects. But is the use of the same term justified when adopted in Biology, Physics, Archaeology, Law, Communication Technology, and Informatics (to list just a few of the involved scientific branches) or do its different uses at least have some common characteristics—some sort of common denominator? Is information natural, e.g. manifesting itself as a material phenomenon residing in organisms, stars, atoms, or genes, or is it just a cultural product of human communication, thinking, and interpretation? In this article, we try to clarify some of the most important interpretations, discuss and contrast them with the Informatics point of view. Interpretations range from taking information as material, transferable signals (following Shannon’s Information Theory or the genetic approaches), treating it as a sign (following a semiotic approach), as a commercial product (now common in Web-based Information Business) to considering it a pure mental phenomenon bound to humans or human-like individuals or even to groups and societies. Based on these interpretations, we shall throw a critical glance on current trends in human science and society—focusing on the now popular concept of “information society”—and then derive some theses and guidelines for further research escorting the growth and dispersal of information technology. As it will turn out, an information society which defines itself through the number of computers, internet connections and network links is based on a very narrow, techno-centric concept of information. However, a reflection on the educational and cultural aspects of information might lead to a better-qualified society consisting of responsible and critical citizens.     

A Move in the Right Direction? Best Interests of the Child Emerging as the Standard for Relocation Cases

SUMMARY

Relocation cases have become more common in our increasingly mobile society. After a divorce the parent with primary residential custody of a minor child may seek to move to a new location for a new partner, spouse, job, or family. The nonmoving parent objects and the courts have to decide whether to allow the child to move. This article explores the various legal approaches taken by American courts in trying to solve these difficult custody cases. While some courts presume it is not in the best interests of a child to move, others presume that it is. The majority trend, however, appears to be toward a best interests of the child standard with no presumptions.     

Die politische Dimension der sozialen Form

In an increasingly heterogeneous society, learning at school about religions and religious differences is becoming more and more important. However, individual approaches differ distinctly. Besides common educational approaches we mainly find ones specially designed for religiously homogenous groups. The chosen form, however, is not without consequences and therefore already politically relevant. The allocation into religiously homogeneous groups draws a boundary between inclusion and exclusion, thus indicating commonalities as well as differences. Focusing on John Dewey’s democratic considerations and with reference to a current research project the paper discusses the consequences of limiting social interaction, common experiences and learning processes to separate forms of religious instruction in Austrian public schools. In doing so, it analyses and discusses the challenges of such an approach and its consequences for education in democracy in a pluralistic society.     

The demographic transformation and the sociological enterprise

The dramatic demographic changes of the 1980s and 1990s in the United States are creating a multiracial, multicultural society. This article examines the intellectual challenges for sociology posed by the emerging racial diversity brought about by these population trends. The problem is that conventional sociological frameworks no longer apply in this increasingly complex social world of rapid population changes, diversity, and polarization. Most significant, conventional American sociology, which has focused on white society rooted in western culture, is challenged by three large racial/ethnic categories. We argue that diversity must be incorporated into our sociologies. This requires two new approaches: (1) Sociology must be recentered, that is, it must move away from the notion that whites have the universal experience against which all others are measured; and (2) Sociologists must apply to diverse populations the same kind of sociological analysis that they apply to mainstream categories. This means that we demythologize by dispelling common myths about those outside the mainstream and that we uncover the mechanisms that construct social differences.     

ON IMPERFECT EVALUATION AND EARNING DIFFERENTIALS

This paper investigates the relationship between the technology for evaluating performance and optimal contract choice. Specifically, the paper examines the different compensation packages that arise when occupations differ in evaluation technology, workers are risk averse, work effort is endogenous, and there exists asymmetric information. In occupations in which it is less difficult to measure output, it is shown that compensation is more closely tied to output; the implications for work effort, the sorting of workers by ability, and average compensation are developed. Analysis of a new data set confirms our predictions concerning earning differentials and wage growth.
The powerful 1.6 million-member National Education Association and other teacher organizations have traditionally fought the notion of rewarding better teachers with more money, arguing that there is no objective way to measure a teacher's competence and that it would lead to favoritism, and bad morale [ Time , June 20, 1983].     

INFORMATION, CAPITALISM AND UNCERTAINTY

This article argues that the changes characterized by many commentators as announcing the 'information age' are better seen, not as heralding a new type of society, but as the continuation, consolidation and extension of capitalism - something which is accompanied by constant upheaval and innovation. The shift from conceiving the 'information society' as a result of technological breakthroughs to one which lays emphasis on the primacy of 'information' itself is observed. The importance especially of informational labour's 'flexibility' is regarded, not as indicative of a new age but of the requirements of globalized capitalism which engenders change the better to consolidate its practices. The instability of life today is ascribed, not to the upheavals resulting from the 'information revolution', but rather to the insatiable dynamic that has long been a distinguishing feature of capitalist enterprise. These processes are examined in terms of the shift from public to private provision of information and in the heightened uncertainty of existence today.     

DEMOCRACY AND INFORMATION : A CASE STUDY OF NEW LOCAL GOVERNACE STRUCTURES IN BANGALORE

The phenomenon of rapid urbanization is posing challenges to planners in developing countries. As it becomes harder and harder for planners to disentangle the global from the local, it is increasingly recognized that without a solid local base, city governments will not have the strength that is needed to navigate global circuits. This social integration requires democratized political mechanisms based on administrative decentralization and the participation of citizens in municipal management. Our paper focuses on the role of information in the democratic process looking at a case study of new local governance structures in Bangalore. The city has become a focal point for software development regionally and globally.Such regional and global interconnections are taking place simultaneously with a number of local level initiatives aimed at encouraging democratic decisionmaking via legislation and by introducing new local governance structures.     

美国青少年色腥问题及法律规制

电讯技术的进步,同时带来许多社会风险,青少年色腥即是一个显著的例子。美国似乎迎来了一个由中高年级学生始作俑的色腥高潮,不经意间对青少年自身乃至社会造成危害,至今,已有两名少女因此而自杀身亡。应对色腥当然应该采取多样化的手段,除了教育之外,法律规制也不可少。然而,利用儿童色情法来起诉青少年色腥与立法的旨趣相左,而且有过苛之嫌,宜修正儿童色情法,与时俱进地应对科技时代信息技术迅猛发展的挑战。     

An analysis of dyadic dominance in family decision‐making among older adults

Growth of the population aged sixty‐five and over is a significant trend in the sociodemographic structure of society. As a result, this age group is receiving increased attention from governmental and business decision‐makers. Little is known, however, about intra‐family decision‐making among members of this group. This paper presents an analysis of the determinants of husband and wife dominance in family decision‐making. The data indicate that dominance by the wife in decision‐making is related to the wife's positive self‐concept concerning the ability to make decisions as well as a “rub‐off” effect on the wife by the husband's self‐concept. Work history of the husband, in turn, contributes to his self‐concept. There were, however, no significant relationships between educational levels of either spouse and decision‐making dominance.     

Social services,social work,and information management: Some european perspectives

Social services are entering the information society. Over the past decades, information technology applications have slowly permeated service agencies. Although originally the domain of administrative and management staff, now core operational staff are also confronted with making increased use of technology. The way information management in human services is shaped is not only dependent upon technology, but increasingly seems to result from an interaction between social policy developments and information technology opportunities. Similarly, social policy developments are shaped by the existing information management infrastructure. One of the purposes of this paper is to explore–taking social services and social work as the exemplar, and mainly drawing upon experiences from the UK and the Netherlands–the relationship between new technology and the policy environment. We also reflect on whether or not this relationship is more complex than indicated by globalization and related post-Fordist theories.     

TOOLS AND TOYS : Communicating gendered positions towards technology

With the rising importance of technology in the information and knowledge society, the gender-technology relationship is ever more important when thinking about gender equality. Gender researchers have shown not only that the use and design of technologies is gendered, but that people also position themselves in relation to technology, based on certain gendered assumptions about technology in societies. This article looks at how people working in quintessential information and knowledge society professions, namely information communication technology (ICT) work, position themselves in relation to technology. Using a social constructivist framework and a discourse analysis, it shows how gender differences are achieved in communication: men tend to describe technology as a toy, while women tend to describe technology as a tool. In some instances this pattern is broken, which opens up the opportunity to rethink the gender binary. This article argues that the way in which people position themselves in relation to technology continues to be gendered, which may threaten gender equality in the information and knowledge society, and it also indicates that there is the possibility of change.     

Educating Social Workers for an Aging Society

Longevity is one of the great achievements of the 20th century and its implications for the new century will be profound. The unprecedented demographic shift to an increasingly older society will have a dramatic impact on individual choices over the life course, the structure of the family, and multiple social institutions. Social work can make unique professional contributions to older persons and the late-life family. This article asserts, however, that social work is not adequately prepared to practice in the aging society. The authors document the challenges to social work and recommend addressing these challenges through educational innovations.     

从人口均衡视角吸收《人口论》中的合理因素

当今社会人口问题已成为世界三大难题,尤其在我国十分突出。为解决日益严重的人口问题、建设人口均衡型社会,促进人口均衡发展已成为我国发展道路上的重要战略。马尔萨斯《人口论》中的适度人口思想与人口均衡有着一定的联系,其中一些思想对我们实现人口均衡和可持续发展具有借鉴作用。通过阐述《人口论》中一些积极因素,以期为构建人口均衡型社会提供新的思路。