An ontology of power and leadership

In this article I draw upon the social ontologies developed by John Searle, Roy Bhaskar, Margaret Archer and Tony Lawson in order to distinguish between power and leadership. To do so, I distinguish the different organizing principles behind natural phenomena, collective phenomena and institutional phenomena, and argue that an understanding of those different organizing principles is essential to a clearer conceptualization of power and leadership. Natural power and cultural power, as I argue, depend upon the organizing principles of natural phenomena, and differ depending on whether those organizing principles have been transformed by humans, in which case it becomes cultural power, or not, in which case it simply is natural power. Leadership emerges with the ability of making other humans share mental states through collective intentionality. Institutional power, in contrast, is connected to the creation of a deontology of rights and obligations that provide what Searle calls desire‐independent reasons for action.     

Social ontology,practical reasonableness,and collective reasons for action

I argue that the ontology of human social institutions and collective intentionality could be anchored in the normative notion of ‘practical reasonableness’ as collective reason for action. This involves the deontic idea of mutuality, accepted rules, and shared attitudes of other‐regardedness. I examine John Searle's three primitive notions of social ontology: collective intentionality, assignment of social functions, and constitutive rules and procedures. I use these notions to provide a plausible basis for understanding how people reason, in order to arrive at practically reasonable decisions and collective agency. Searle argues that social reality, institutions, processes, and facts are grounded in collective intentionality and the acceptance of social rules, procedures, and functions. I argue that collective intentionality and socially accepted rules are anchored in the need for human interdependence that engenders the social rules and norms or attitudes of ‘practical reasonableness’. I analyze the concept of ‘practical reasonableness’ as a representation of human mode of reasoning that involves collective intentionality.     

On the historicity of social ontology

The question I raise is whether the basic features of mind, social categories, and society are unchanging or changing. Some understandings of ontology would seem to suggest that social ontology is a branch of metaphysics. However, as the history of concepts such as metaphysical and ontology indicate, our concepts and knowledge are historical. It is widely held that society is concept- and activity-dependent. I examine critically two strands of social ontology in terms of their answers to this problematic: (1) John Searle’s theory of the construction of social reality and (2) critical realist theory of mind and society as interlaced emergent layers of reality. Apart from emergence in natural systems, there is also emergence beyond nature as consciousness, agency and society cannot be completely explained in terms of biological realities; but how and when did this emergence occur? We need an account of the emergent order of language, reflectively conscious mind, and institutions not only for its own sake, but also because the process whereby new objects and properties emerge may be on-going, path-dependent, diverse, and open-ended. The main argument is that the object of study of social theorists is geo-historically specific, liable to diversity within any given world-historical epoch, and open to further changes and new forms of emergence in the future.     

On the Distinctively Human: Two Perspectives on the Evolution of Language and Conscious Mind

In this paper, two alternative naturalistic standpoints on the relations between language, human consciousness and social life are contrasted. The first, dubbed “intrinsic naturalism,” is advocated among others by the realist philosopher John Searle; it starts with intrinsic intentionality and consciousness emerging from the brain, explains language as an outgrowth of consciousness and ends with institutional reality being created by language‐use. That standpoint leans on what may be described as the standard interpretation of Darwinian evolution. The other type of naturalism, in contrast, making use of the concept of evolutionary niches, suggests that the search for the explanatory mechanisms of language and consciousness should begin with the human community (of social action), because that is the cultural niche for everything distinctively human to evolve, including language and human consciousness.     

Nothing is Concealed: De-centring Tacit Knowledge and Rules from Social Theory

The concept of "tacit knowledge" as the means by which individuals interpret the "rules" of social interaction occupies a central role in all the major contemporary theories of action and social structure. The major reference point for social theorists is Wittgenstein's celebrated discussion of rule-following in the Philosophical Investigations. Focusing on Giddens' incorporation of tacit knowledge and rules into his "theory of structuration", I argue that Wittgenstein's later work is steadfastly set against the "latent cognitivism" inherent in the idea of tacit knowledge and tacit rules. I also argue that the idea of tacit knowledge and tacit rules is either incoherent or explanatorily vacuous.     

Game theory,cheap talk and post‐truth politics: David Lewis vs. John Searle on reasons for truth‐telling

I offer two potential diagnoses of the behavioral norms governing post‐truth politics by comparing the view of language, communication, and truth‐telling put forward by David Lewis (extended by game theorists), and John Searle. My first goal is to specify the different ways in which Lewis, and game theorists more generally, in contrast to Searle (in the company of Paul Grice and Jürgen Habermas), go about explaining the normativity of truthfulness within a linguistic community. The main difference is that for Lewis and game theorists, “truthful” signaling follows from an alignment of interests, and deception follows from mixed motives leading to the calculation that sending false information is better for oneself. Following in the Enlightenment tradition, Searle argues that practical reasoning, which involves mastery of at least one language, requires that actors intend to communicate. This intention includes constraining the content of statements to uphold veracity conditions. After distinguishing between these two accounts, I will articulate the implications for explaining, and even informing actions, constitutive of post‐truth politics. I argue that the strategic view of communication is sufficient neither to model everyday conversation nor to reflect a public sphere useful for democratic government. Both the pedagogy of strategic communication as cheap talk, and its concordance with new digital information technologies, challenge norms of truthfulness that underlie modern institutions essential to an effective public sphere.     

Housing and the Social Exclusion Agenda in England

In the period immediately following its election in 1997 the current Labour government in the UK declared a commitment to ‘combating social exclusion’ to be at the core of the domestic policy agenda. The interpretation of the term ‘social exclusion’ has been the source of extensive debate. This paper focuses on one aspect of the current debate, exploring the relationship between housing and social exclusion, both in theory and in contemporary central government policy in England. I argue that theoretical imprecision is a very real issue, not least because it allows policy makers to refer to rather vague causal mechanisms or social processes to justify actions and interventions. I identify some of the areas that require further exploration and theoretical development if we are to have a rigorous understanding of the concept of social exclusion and its link to housing. Most fundamentally, I suggest that the question of whether the concept of ‘social exclusion’ contributes anything valuable to our ability to understand social disadvantage needs to be addressed directly.     

Intake strategies: organising the intake of new social assistance inquirers

This article looks at how the intake of new social assistance clients is organised in Sweden and which factors affect the existence of special intake units, using interview and register data from 100 Swedish municipalities. The discussion is organised along two distributional principles: that of general access for all citizens and that of social assistance only to those who are in need. The results show that different intake types can be distinguished: to promote or limit both access to the social assistance units and the possibility for selection among the callers. Examining factors that affect the organisation of intake in special intake units, the results show that factors related to the economic and demographic structure of the municipalities have no, or only in indirect, effect on the organisation of intake. Intake is instead mainly related to the structure of the whole social assistance unit. In addition, some factors related to professional norms have an impact.     

Analysing Social Values in Identification; A Framework for Research on the Representation and Implementation of Values

This article contributes to the concept of social values by presenting analytical tools that explore how social values are classified, re‐presented and interpersonally performed in the construction of identities. I approach social values as classificatory systems of acceptability and desirability that are collectively generated. The meanings of social values are embedded in culture and in power imbalanced social relations; they constantly undergo reformulation in identification processes and are also used to define the social order. I suggest that social values can be analysed in relation to aspects of representation and interpersonal positioning that are also involved in the construction of identities: Value classifications involve compartmentalising moral orders into e.g. good, desirable, important, necessary; value projects are concerned with how value classifications and content occupy roles and become oriented to action; and value positioning is concerned with how narrators align with value classifications and projects as well as with individuals and groups seen to share or reject such classifications and projects.     

Increasing User Choice or Privatizing Risk? The Antinomies of Personalization

Within a very short space of time, the concept of personalizationhas come to occupy a central place within dominant social workand adult care discourses within the UK. Through an analysisof one influential model of personalization, this paper willexplore the factors behind the concept’s current popularity.I shall argue that this popularity is due primarily to its congruencewith key themes of New Labour thought, including individualization,responsibilization and the transfer of risk from the state tothe individual. I shall conclude that, given its acceptanceof the marketization of social work and social care, its neglectof issues of poverty and inequality, its flawed conception ofthe people who use social work services, its potentially stigmatizingview of welfare dependency and its potential for promoting,rather than challenging, the deprofessionalization of socialwork, the philosophy of personalization is not one that socialworkers should accept uncritically.     

Informal Networks of Care: Issues Raised by Barclay

Summary In calling for the creation of ‘community social work’,the Barclay Report argues that social workers should aim todevelop informal caring networks. This entails exploiting anindividual's informal social contacts, such as kin, friends,and neighbours, to provide care. This paper firstly examinesthe assumptions and thinking behind the concept of informalcaring networks. It then assesses the feasibility of using differentinformal relations in care provision by analysing the normativepatterning and exchange content underlying them. It concludesthat strategies like Barclay's are unlikely to be successfulbecause they entail a transformation of these relationshipsthat is incompatible with their normal organisation.     

The Impact of Social Capital on Labor Force Participation: Evidence from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey

Objectives . Few studies apply the concept of social capital to labor force participation. In this research, I study the relationship between friendship networks and labor force participation as represented by employment and hours worked. Methods . I test five hypotheses representing social capital with network structure, network quality, and network diversity using nationally representative data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey. Since this survey enables comparisons across racial/ethnic and gender groups, I am also able to specify how social capital interacts with race/ethnicity and gender to influence labor force participation, while controlling for other prominent theoretical concerns such as human capital theory. Results . I find that friendship networks are generally positively related with increased labor force participation. Further, I find significant social capital differences based on race/ethnicity and gender. Conclusions . I illustrate that social capital can be applied across a broader racial/ethnic/gender spectrum. The findings suggest that programs that attempt to bring valuable labor market information to individuals and communities lacking employment–related information are likely to be effective in reducing inequality, especially if combined with programs for developing human capital.     

Social Participation and Family Welfare: The Money and Time Costs of Leisure in Australia

The concept of social exclusion has become a central organizing concept in social policy research. Indeed "social exclusion" has displaced many of the terms formerly in use, such as "inequality", "deprivation" and "poverty". Social exclusion is a multidimensional concept embracing economic, social and political deprivations, that alerts us to the significance of social identity, culture, agency and, ultimately, power relations. In contrast to some earlier research traditions, the perspective of social exclusion draws our attention to how people can be "shut out of society" by their inability to participate in customary leisure activities. The ability to participate in leisure is the product of both access to leisure goods and services, and a sufficient quantity of leisure time. An analysis of Australian Household Expenditure Survey data shows that the consumption of leisure goods and services is powerfully determined by income. Consequently, low income can lead to exclusion from leisure participation. However, analysis of Time Use Survey data also shows that access to time for leisure participation is most powerfully determined by hours of employment, family responsibilities and gender. After controlling for working hours, household income has no significant effect on available leisure time. A leisure-time poverty line, based on half-median leisure time, is used to show which groups are most excluded from leisure by time constraints. The paper concludes by considering a range of policies to alleviate social exclusion from leisure participation.     

“Koe wai hoki koe?!”, or “Who are you?!”: Issues of trust in cross‐cultural collaborative research

Abstract

Cross‐cultural research designs are increasingly employed in the New Zealand context to investigate a range of complex social and environmental issues. However, there is little guidance for researchers who work for mainstream organisations and hapū (subtribe(s)) and iwi (tribe(s)) on how to undertake cross‐cultural collaborative research. Trust is a key issue that makes cross‐cultural research possible and it is surprising that issues relating to trust have not featured widely in the literature. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences working cross‐culturally and collaboratively with a hapū in Northland, New Zealand. We discuss how a mainstream research organisation worked with a community health trust and developed a working relationship with a hapū, forming the basis of a community‐driven collaborative evaluation of a central government‐funded project. Key findings were the establishment of a tuākana‐tēina relationship (where teacher and learner are interchangeable) between the members of the collaborative research team and the employment of appropriate research methods to develop a research agenda that ensured everyone would benefit from the research.     

Inquiring into ethics: the Australian Senate and human embryo experimentation

The main and dissenting reports of the Senate Select Committee on Human Embryo Experimentation differ in significant respects regarding the ethical issues at stake in experimental research on human embryos and about the appropriate approach to those issues. There are two related issues raised by the reports: who decides and what is decided? What is needed is a form of definition and conflict resolution that recognises that the biology of human reproduction and development is mediated by social and cultural organisation. Broadly based national and state advisory bodies are therefore central to a process that recognises at least three levels of decision making — social, institutional and personal.     

Social expenditures and public administration: are local social assistance costs in Sweden a matter of organisation?

Minas R. Social expenditures and public administration: are local social assistance costs in Sweden a matter of organisation?
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 215–224 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This study examines the connection between organisational factors and local social assistance expenditures in Swedish municipalities. The organisation of social assistance units, particularly those for the intake of social assistance inquirers, and the possible implications for local social assistance costs are highlighted. The study is based on interview data from medium‐sized Swedish municipalities combined with register data covering the years from 1997 to 2001. The results show that socioeconomic factors have an overall dominant effect, but also that organisational factors co‐vary with local social assistance expenditures. The results show a cost‐reducing effect for special intake units: firstly, when these units are analysed together with other forms of specialisation and secondly, when staff resources are taken into account. Thus, specialised intake organisation by itself does not play a cost‐reducing role, but does so in combination with certain other factors that characterise the internal organisation of the social welfare office.     

When risks turn to uncertainties: insights from the food markets in China and in Japan

The paper explores the relationship between risks and market organisation by means of two case studies. After defining the two concepts, it analyses how risks influence the functioning of markets, by means of the theory elaborated by Knight (1921). The Knightian focus on the role of judgments in risks analysis implies that the concept of rationality has to be enlarged beyond the rational choice theory. Similarly, markets cannot be defined anymore as simply an equilibrium between supply and demand: they are a special type of institution. Therefore, the analysis centres on how people make decisions and apprehend risks in relation to market structures. In the rest of the paper, two of the most prominent food safety crises in recent years are analysed based on this conceptual framework: the milk powder crisis in China (2008) and the sanitary crisis following the Fukushima nuclear accident (2011). It is shown that they represent two types of market risks, one generated by the food market organisation and the other one related to the definition of the product quality.     

Social Inclusion and Sport: Culturally diverse women's perspectives

Sport and recreation can help communities to build social inclusion and celebrate diversity. Yet some sport and recreation activities require conformity to social and cultural norms, risking suppressing difference and reinforcing inequality and exclusion. This paper explores these tensions by examining access and barriers to sport and recreation for a large group of Australian women: those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Qualitative data shows that while sport industry representatives justify catering primarily for a mainstream participant base, culturally diverse women identify barriers requiring strategic and targeted policy and program intervention. Implicating the spatial organisation of sport and recreation as sources of marginalisation, culturally diverse women highlight how access‐enhancing initiatives in public, commercial and community sport facilities can play key roles in promoting social inclusion.