Siting Praxeology. The Methodological Significance of “Public” in Theories of Social Practices

The concept of “site” is at the center of current debates in theories of social practices as well as in cultural anthropology. It is unclear, however, how to assess the associated methodological assumption that overriding social structures or cultural formations can manifest themselves in sites. The article draws on the conception of social practices and introduces the notion of “publicness” in order to explicate how and why sociality and social structures can be accessed through “siting”. Sites as well as social practices, it is claimed, have to be conceptualized as essentially public and thus principally observable phenomena. This assumption of publicness implicit to both site ontology and theories of social practices is unfolded on the basis of a praxeological reformulation of the paradigm of joint attention elaborated in developmental psychology. To avoid presentist misinterpretations, we then conceptualize sociality as chains of practices across time and space, drawing on the works of Theodore Schatzki, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Anthony Giddens and Bruno Latour. The public carriers of practices (artifacts, symbols, media, bodies) and the translocal structures they establish acquire particular significance in these approaches. In a further step, we present some methodological consequences of the “publicness assumption” and support our arguments by referring to Pierre Bourdieu's study on Distinction.     

Positioning Theory and Terrorist Networks

This paper makes use of a new development in social psychology, Positioning Theory, the study of the way rights and duties are ascribed, attributed and justified to and by individuals in local social groups. It links this theory with a generally Vygotsky inspired approach to understanding the means by which people are brought into terrorist networks. Focusing on the use of the Internet as a device to bring mentor and novice together, the unique role of chat rooms and personal conversations made possible by the Internet in this psychological process is revealed. Examining Vygotsky's ideas about the influence of a collective identity on the development of individual identities by psychological symbiosis in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) sheds new light on the positioning of terrorist recruits. Incorporating Wittgenstein's concept of hinges into understanding the groundings of individual positions explains how the jihadist form of life turns on the unexamined grounding of beliefs about the non-believers.     

Social Workers and Supervision Orders: A Case of Occupational Uncertainty

Summary A distinctive feature of the supervision order is that it canbe administered either by the Probation Service or by the LocalAuthority Social Services Department. An examination of the case files on a large sample of boys (N=971)aged 14–16 placed on supervision orders for criminal offencesreveals a number of differences between the way in which workersin the two agencies approach the task of supervision. The findingssuggest that social workers are in some respects less professionallysecure and certain as to their purpose in performing their supervisorytask than are probation officers. This is accounted for by locatingtheir practice in a number of intersecting contexts, includingan occupational ambivalence over the exercise of authority anda lack of clarity in relation to the role of welfare in thecontext of juridical requirements     

Making Things Clearer by Making Them Fuzzy: Counseling Illustrations of a Fuzzy Graphic Rating Scale

The development and evaluation of a fuzzy graphic rating scale to measure work attitudes are outlined. Some examples of participants' fuzzy responses are included to illustrate the potential usefulness of this approach.     

Some advantages of Canadian disunity: how Quebec sovereignty might aid economic development in English-speaking Canada*

Les conflits relatifs au partage des pouvoirs entre de grandes communautés ethniques possédant chacune un ensemble complet d'institutions peuvent aboutir à une décentralisation telle que l'État cesse d'être un instrument efficace de planification économique et que l'économie du pays commence à en souffrir. Le cas de tiraillements Canado-québécois illustre ce type de processus et soulève la question suivante: l'avenir économique du Canada ne serait-il pas plus prometteur si le Québec devenait indépendant? Jurisdictional disputes between large, institutionally complete ethnic communities in a single society may promote so much decentralization of authority that the state becomes ineffective as an economic planner. Economic decline may result. The Canada/Quebec case illustrates this process and suggests that Quebec independence may improve Canada's economic prospects.     

Canadian fertility trends: a further test of the Easterlin Hypothesis

Selon Richard Easterlin, le taux de fertilite d'une cohorte est inversement proportionnel a sa taille relative. C'est principalement aux Etats-Unis qu'on a trouve des donnees
peut-itre pas a ce pays. En general, il semble qu'au Canada les taux de fertilite relatifs de grosses cohortes sont plus Pleves que ceux de cohortes plus petites, et ceci malgre le fait que les taux de fertilite ont diminue pour toutes les cohortes au cours des dernieres annees. Lorsque I'on examine la taille relative des cohortes en contrdant les effets d'ige et de periode, la relation entre la taille de la cohorte et son taux de fertilitP disparait completernent ce qui reduit plus encore la validite de I'hypothPse de Easterlin
Richard Easterlin has argued that the fertility rate of a cohort is inversely related to the relative size of that cohort. Evidence to support this proposition has been derived primarily from studies in the United States. A breakdown of Canadian fertility trends to decompose age, period and cohort effects suggests that Easterlin's hypothesis may not hold for the Canadian situation. Overall, larger Canadian cohorts appear to have higher relative fertility rates than do smaller cohorts, despite the fact that fertility rates have declined across all cohorts in recent years. Focusing on relative cohort size, and controlling for age and period effects, the relationship between cohort size and fertility disappears completely further minimizing the validity of the Easterlin Hypothesis. supportant cette these. Une analyse de la fertilite au Canada, qui distingue entre les effets d'ige, de periode et de cohorte indique que I'hypothese de Easterlin ne s'applique     

The Davies Quartet: A Comment on 'Skills, Knowledge and Qualities in Probation Practice'

Summary The publication of the ‘Davies Quartet’—fourlinked studies of probation training and practice directed byMartin Davies—has created considerable interest. In thispaper the main findings are outlined and the discussion thenbroadened to raise certain epistemological questions which arisefrom the studies. It is argued that to take some of the studies'conclusions and recommendations at face value would be premature:firstly it is necessary to interrogate the theoretical and assumptiveframeworks from which these conclusions and recommendationsderive.