Myth,Romance, Philosophizing,and Irony,and the Social Studies Curriculum

Sixth-grade students are challenged in understanding social studies content relevant to particular contexts, then connecting the content and context to their contemporary lives while communicating new knowledge to peers and teachers. Using political cartoons published after September 11, 2001, one sixth-grade social studies teacher designed probing questions and developed meaningful learning experiences relating historical events to current concerns of the students supplementing their curriculum and textbook. Through verbal and written interactions, the students demonstrated in-depth understanding of September 11, 2001, and consequential global ramifications. Subsequently, this teacher used the same strategy to engage learners in additional historical events effectively integrating social studies and literacy to introduce conflict analysis, increase critical thinking, expand text connections, and enhance literacy skills.     

Randall Collins,Ideas and Ritual Solidarity

Sociological Forum -     

Introduction: Human Longevity,Utopia, and Solidarity

Biomedical and geriatric technologies are having major impacts on the development and management of human longevity. Our contention in this special issue is that longevity should be considered as a point of departure for new forms of politics in which social sciences, in particular sociology and politics, can play an important role. In this introduction, we argue that emerging consumer markets in biomedicine are incrementally redefining the relationship between old age and society. Techno‐economic transformations are creating new sites of vulnerability that are masked by medical utopias of good health and “living forever.” In this context, it is unlikely that such technologies will be able to overcome inequalities in distribution and may well exacerbate various forms of injustice. By drawing on notions of institutional precariousness and scarcity, we conclude that to maintain any degree of social solidarity, increasing longevity will force the emergence of a “sociology of limits.”     

Solidarity and Responsibility,Ontologically (Categorically)

Vygotsky proposed that schools have an essential role to play in the socialization of scientific or academic concepts. The aim of this article is to expand and revise Vygotsky's proposal using Grice's work on the informal logic underlying everyday conversations. We argue that both academic and everyday conversations rely on Grice's Cooperative Principle and his maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner. These two types of conversations do differ, however, in terms of the degree and type of accountability to which the participants are subjected. For example, even among familiar interlocutors, mathematics explanations must exhibit informativeness, logical coherence, veridicality, relevance, and clarity. One teacher's requesting and revoicing strategies (types of conversational metamessages) are examined to illustrate the contributions of a Gricean perspective to our understanding of the socialization of the mathematics register.     

Social Solidarity, Democracy and Global Capitalism*

Dans cette étude, nous examinons les hypothèses des partisans de la «mondialisation>> et proposons des solutions totalement opposées. Dans la première partie, nous réfutons les arguments suivants au sujet de la «mondialisation>>: la souveraineté nationale s'érode dans tous les pays; la part de propriété transnationale est plus importante que par le passé; la «mondialisation>> constitue la conséquence inévitable du changement technologique; et la libéralisation de l'économie à l'échelle mondiale renforce la démocratic Dans la deuxième partie, nous examinons les solutions de rechange démocratiques que peuvent offrir les anciens et les nouveaux mouvements sociaux. L'utilisation de fonds d'investissement gérés par le public et engagés selon les besoins des collectivités est considérée comme une solution de rechange à l'orientation axée sur le marché mondial des entreprises transnationales.
This paper critically examines the assumptions of the advocates of "globalization" and develops an alternative that is the polar opposite. The first half of the paper challenges the following assumptions about "globalization": that national sovereignty is eroding for all countries; that the level of transnational ownership is higher now than in the past; that "globalization" has been the inevitable result of technological change; that democracy is strengthened by global economic liberalization. The second half of the paper examines the prospects for the creation of democratic alternatives to globalization in old and new social movements. Socially controlled investment funds that have "location commitment" to communities are seen as an alternative to the globalization vision of transnational corporations.     

Past Activeness,Solidarity, and Local Development Efforts1

Abstract Actions by local groups and leaders constitute an essential but poorly understood element of many rural development strategies. Previous studies suggest that local development efforts can influence community change, but questions remain about why localities differ in mobilization to achieve development goals. Drawing upon community field theory and human ecology, this study uses data for rural school districts in Pennsylvania to examine the argument that activeness in the past and development of solidarity can contribute to a higher probability of local mobilization than would be predicted by ecological characteristics alone. Hierarchical regressions support this argument for some local actions, while canonical correlations show a generalized pattern strongly associated with past activeness and solidarity.     

Reciprocity and Romance

This article examines the place of romance in the lives of single mothers. Drawing on interviews with single mothers in a rural state, I challenge prevailing views of relationships between single mothers and romantic partners that highlight the issues of exchange and that emphasize the possibility that women will be exploited by men. I argue instead that although single mothers generally adhere to the norm of reciprocity in their other relationships, in romantic relationships they accept substantial imbalances. In explaining this surprising finding, I consider the significance of romance within the context of the daily lives of single mothers and I explore how romance can become a strategic explanation for imbalance.     

Not Necessarily Solidarity

Since the idea of “women's rights as human rights” emerged, there has been a wave of international donors, organizations and transnational feminist activists successfully delivering pressure and resources in the struggle to mitigate violence against women worldwide. Through these transnational networks, decisions regarding which local problems to address and how to manage them are often made at the international level. Most scholarship has rightly celebrated the advances for women's rights that have been made possible due to the impact of international organizations and transnational advocacy networks. However, there are many dilemmas that arise from this North-centric approach to assigning and managing priorities – especially among development aid organizations. Coordination with international donors is often necessary and has been a major source of advances. However, there are still some potentially harmful impacts of having to engage in these networks in order to address violence against women – including a disproportionate focus on short-term results while neglecting long-term goals. This article articulates these dilemmas and explains how international feminist human rights norms can be more successfully translated into a stronger sense of solidarity across borders and more sustainable advances for women. Examples are drawn from the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.     

The Biosociology of Solidarity

For well over a century, sociologists have directed considerable attention to understanding and explaining the processes that produce social solidarity – the feeling of interpersonal connectedness that binds members of society together. Despite the centrality of solidarity to sociological thought, many sociologists remain unaware of the biosocial processes and mechanisms that create and sustain it. We espouse a biosociological viewpoint, which illuminates solidarity as a complex and fascinating interplay between biological and social elements. In this paper we discuss three important advances within the field of neuroscience that point to exciting new avenues of research for sociologists: (i) the discovery of mirror neurons, (ii) developments in the understanding of brain plasticity, and (iii) increased appreciation of the role of non‐conscious processes in social interaction. Additionally, we discuss ongoing basic and applied research to demonstrate how sociologists can capitalize on recent scientific developments to advance their own research agendas. VIDEO ABSTRACT ‐ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is9de_ajheM&hd=1     

Romance re- and Russian voz-

This article, based on documents from a Kyiv archive, explores the preconditions of famine in Ukraine through the 3rd All-Ukrainian Party Conference of July 1932, convened to discuss the grain crisis in the republic. It discusses recent historiography on the subject and the findings of Ukrainian historians. It argues that the causes of the famine may need to be broadened and that the argument that the famine should be regarded as genocide based on ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians is too narrow. Other factors that need to be considered are ignorance of local conditions, based in part on administrative restructuring during the time of the grain procurements campaign, lack of farming experience on the part of plenipotentiaries sent to the villages, overuse and misuse of land, a dramatic drop in livestock prior to 1932–1933 linked to collectivization, and above all the incompetence of Soviet party and government leaders at all levels.     

Social Structure,Social Solidarity and Involvement in Neighborhood Improvement Associations*

This paper examines membership and participation in neighborhood improvement associations. Individual-level and contextual-level structural variables associated with the community of limited liability model are important for the decision to join associations but not to participate in them. Also, social ties in the community are more important than psychological attachment for both membership and participation. However, neither social ties nor attachment serve as intervening variables in the relationship between structural variables and membership.     

The Social Economy in Bolivia: Indigeneity,Solidarity, and Alternatives to Capitalism

The social economy (SE) is alternatively conceptualized as a third sector (between the private and public sector); or by a typology of the organizations involved (such as cooperatives, non-profit organizations and social enterprises); or by the principles and values driving such activities (such as cooperation, mutual benefit, and democracy). One important consideration is often overlooked, namely that the SE emerges in different forms and with varied emphases depending on location. The SE is ‘place-based’—rooted in specific geographic, historical, cultural, and socioeconomic settings. This article explores the conceptualization of the SE in the Bolivian context from the perspective of government and civil society actors. The research took place after the country recognized the importance of the social, cooperative and community economy in their new constitution and found that the understanding of the SE in Bolivia relates strongly to the country’s indigenous and colonial heritage.     

On Irony in Oliver Twist

Irony is the most widely used rhetoric in the novel Oliver Twist written by the English novelist Charles Dickens.In this thesis,the author mainly analyze how verbal irony is used to achieve the semantic deviation expecting to contribute to the undentanding of the great novel     

The Problems of Irony: Philosophical Reflection on Method,Discourse and Interpretation

This article provides a broad overview of the problem of irony to contemporary hermeneutics. It offers a thematic account of the effects of irony on interpretation, and argues that the problems of irony are embedded within the relation between the free play of irony and the regulative role of interpretative discourse. It argues, against hermeneutic theories such as that of Hans‐Georg Gadamer, that the “problems” which irony poses for interpretation can be seen as symptomatic of irony's identification: that irony is, essentially, problematic. It argues that any account of irony needs to account for the value of irony as a problem, rather than subsuming such problems into larger models of understanding. The article explores this notion by looking at the interpretative “discourse of irony” and noting its thematic features. It is argued that the account of irony as a negation of meaning is intrinsically tied to the construction of a sovereign economy in response to the excesses of ironic possibility, but that such a construction is determined only by the stepping‐away from the initial ironic possibilities which enabled its construction. Using the work of Gadamer as an example, the article argues that this in itself does not close irony, but produces yet more irony which frustrates the interpretative act while lending itself to interpretative possibility.     

Intergenerational Solidarity and Support Between Adult Siblings

Using a Dutch national sample containing 1,259 triads (two siblings, one parent), we examined whether practical support and emotional support between siblings are enhanced by intergenerational solidarity and how this differs for brothers and sisters. Sibling support was affected by sibling dyad characteristics and by the relationship with the parent. Having a poor relationship and low contact frequency with the parent enhances sibling emotional support, pointing to a compensating mechanism, which is stronger among brothers. Sibling support is also positively related to parental support, suggesting a reinforcing mechanism, especially among sisters. The results contribute new information about influences on sibling support in adulthood and demonstrate the value of including family context variables in research on specific family relationships.     

Family Structure History and Adolescent Romance

This study examined the association between family structure history and adolescent romance. Using a national sample drawn from Add Health (N= 13,570), family structure at Wave I was associated with the likelihood that adolescents were involved in a romantic relationship at Wave II and, among those in a relationship, the number of relationships they had since Wave I. Cumulative family instability and its timing were also associated with these outcomes and largely drove the family structure effects. Gender and age interactions suggest that experiences of family instability were more consequential to the romantic lives of boys and younger teens.     

Power,Exchange and Solidarity: Case Studies in Youth Volunteering for Development

The proliferation of volunteering for development (V4D) models, approaches and funding sources means V4D is no longer able to be neatly located within the third sector. The enormous diversity of interactions within the Youth V4D (YV4D) field provides an opportunity to examine new and different activities and trajectories to ascertain the extent to which the traditional values of V4D, reciprocity and solidarity continue to form part of YV4D. Using the classical third sector model of Evers and Laville (The third sector in Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2004), and drawing on Polanyi (The great transformation: the political and economic origins of our time, Beacon Press, Boston, 2001 [1944]) and Mauss (The gift. The form and reason for exchange in archaic societies, Routledge, London, 1990 [1925]), in particular their concepts of redistribution and reciprocity, we present three case studies of new hybrid YV4D trajectories—university YV4D, state YV4D programmes, and volunteer tourism/voluntourism—to reveal the different logics and features of contemporary YV4D. We argue that understanding these contemporary YV4D trajectories requires a focus on organisational and stakeholder structures of diverse volunteering activities, their relational logics and the forms of reciprocity they involve. We find that in the YV4D case studies we explore the neoliberal market logic of exchange, along with political ideologies and state interests, affects the YV4D model design.

     

Educated in Romance: Women,Achievement, and College Culture (Book)

This article outlines a dialogical approach to understanding how South Asian-American women living in diasporic locations negotiate their multiple and often conflicting cultural identities. We specifically use the concept of voice to articulate the different forms of dialogicality-polyphonization, expropriation, and ventriloquation-that are involved in the acculturation experiences of two 2nd-generation South Asian-American women. In particular, we argue that it is important to think of acculturation of the South Asian-American women as essentially a contested, dynamic, and dialogical process. We demonstrate that such a dialogical process involves a constant moving back and forth between various cultural voices that are connected to various sociocultural contexts and are shaped by issues of race, sexuality, and gender.