The Concept(s) of Trust in Late Modernity,the Relevance of Realist Social Theory

In this paper, we argue that trust is an important aspect of social reality, one that realist social theory has paid little attention to but which clearly resonates with a realist social ontology. Furthermore, the emergence of an interest in trust in specific subject fields such as organization theory indicates the growing significance of issues of trust as market liberalism has developed. As such, the emergence of an interest in trust provides support for Archer's characterisation of late modernity in The Reflexive Imperative (2012) as a period of heterogeneity and greater incongruity. Commenting on this provides an opportunity to discuss the issue of habit in relation to trust and also the importance of the analysis of integration as a means to explain problems of trust. The commentary draws on examples from finance.     

Service user involvement in Swedish mental health and social care: an analysis of ideological dilemmas and subject positions in a collaboration context

Service user involvement is steadily on the rise, bringing questions of tokenism and power imbalance. This article studies service user organisation representatives (URs) and human service organisation representatives (HSORs) in mental health and social care strategic collaboration councils through qualitative interviews and participant observations. Talk on service user involvement through UR is studied through the discourse analytical concepts of ideological dilemmas and subject positions. The participants' constructions, actions, and rhetoric therein are considered. Findings show participants' oscillation between standpoints within two main themes: the ideal vs. the inadequate UR and balancing power positions. The first theme discusses the missing perspective brought by UR narrations in terms of expected conduct and awareness of organisational conditions. This also concerns service users' positions as being simultaneously dependent and independent. The second theme concerns the implicit UR influence and the explicit HSOR influence. User involvement through URs is construed as a needed narration told by citizens with rights and responsibilities, while conditioned, as the UR is a layperson with mental health problems. The actions accompanying such constructions cause HSORs to balance between paternalism and professionalism and URs between adaptation and using their voice. In this, the URs have a stronger influence than acknowledged.     

How context influences the ideologies and strategies of disabled people’s organisations: a case study from Cambodia

Abstract

Studies of disability movements have centred on exploring how movements have emerged and how their strategies have been devised to effectively advocate for the rights of the people with disabilities they represent. However, little attention has been focused on examining their organisational contexts and how they shape ideologies and choice of strategies, which have implications for the success of their advocacy endeavours. This article seeks to contribute to knowledge in this area by studying the case of a disabled people’s organisation in Cambodia. The resource dependency of disabled people’s organisations on international development partners results in their ideologies and strategies being driven by the latter. This has not only fragmented their resources, but also made their endeavours less relevant to the needs of people with disabilities. This may act to prevent such organisations from building a common ground for collective action, and from effectively pressing for social change.     

Peers,proactivity, and problem-solving: A multilevel study of team impacts on stress appraisals of problem-solving demands

ABSTRACT

To date, there is a paucity of research on team-level impacts on the individual stress appraisal process despite the recognised role of teams for solving problems. Applying a multilevel approach, this study investigates the cross-level impact of team problem prevention behaviours on employee stress appraisals of problem-solving demands. It was hypothesised that team problem prevention would moderate the individual-level relationship between problem-solving demands and stress appraisals. Data were collected from 43 work teams comprised of 192 team members including all team leaders who also provided evaluations of their team’s problem prevention behaviour. Results supported the hypothesised cross-level moderating effects on challenge appraisal, but not threat appraisal. As one of the first studies to demonstrate that stress appraisals are impacted by the group, not just by individual factors, the results support a multilevel conceptualisation of stress appraisals. The findings also highlight implications for practice, broadening the scope of possibilities for stress management interventions to utilise team-level strategies such as leadership development programmes and/or team building initiatives.     

Organisation,Emergence and Cambridge Social Ontology

John Searle has mistakenly claimed that emergence is the central concept in the account of social ontology defended by Tony Lawson, the central figure in the project now regularly referred to as Cambridge Social Ontology. This is not the case. Rather, if any concept can be considered central for Lawson, it is organisation. In this paper, I explain how Searle could misunderstand Lawson and, in doing so, I bring out the importance of organisation for understanding how phenomena, both social and non-social, are constituted.     

Editorial

Abstract

The editorial to the inaugural issue of this Journal stated that it was interested in cultural and ethical issues, studies of joint alliances, and organisational transformation, with an interest in receiving papers that relate to the change processes that organisations pass through, or factors that affect these change processes. It was indicated that in addition, interest lies in not only organisational change, but in broader processes of social change, as well as cybernetics and systems perspectives. It was also stated that the Journal would seek to shape organisation theory. There is a particular interest in the change imperative for organisations pursuing purposes and interests and, over time, taking actions that interactively define where they are going, and whose future pathways are influenced by internal or external change. We stated that the Journal looks to change as an increasingly strategic agenda, and is interested in discussing cases where the relationship between organisational behaviour, structure and culture may be central. While the papers in this edition address this relationship in different ways, all are centrally concerned with this double issue. They have been assembled in a double issue not only because of their relative interconnectedness that defines an overall theme, but also to enable the maintenance in variety. We say this while noting that at least one of these papers (that is closely related to some of the core interests of this journal) is of unusual length, and that there is also an extensive obituary that is in itself a reflective academic paper by an eminent author.     

Exploration of Equality and Processes of Non-Hierarchical Groups

Abstract

This article argues that, in a non-hierarchical organisation, when value determined by position is taken away, other hierarchies emerge which introduce new power dynamics and can undermine the equality afforded by this context. It discusses various forms of hierarchy that can emerge and implications for non-hierarchal organisations. Research was undertaken with four non-hierarchical community projects on how value can be found for individuals and how they value their colleagues outside of any forms of hierarchy. The article argues that there is uncertainty as to the role of processes in this context, and they are often associated with power and control in a hierarchical context. It discusses findings from the research that show how processes can be reinvented and created to suit the relational and operational needs according to the setting.     

Social investment agenda setting: A personal note

This article reconstructs how, under the umbrella of the Europea Union (EU), discreet opportunities for EU social policy agenda setting opened for academic expertise from the late 1990s to the 2020s. This began with the Dutch presidency of the EU in the first half of 1997, endorsing the notion of ‘social policy as a productive factor’, followed by the 2000 Lisbon strategy for Growth and Social Cohesion in the open economy. The social investment landmark publication was Why We Need a New Welfare State, written by Gøsta Esping-Andersen et al., for the Belgian presidency of 2001. Ultimately, cumulative academic insights and feedback from country-specific reform experiences found their synthesis in the Social Investment Package in 2013. EU political codification of social investment took effect with the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights in December 2017. The paper concludes on the future for social investment with some personal reflections as an engaged scholar.     

La réforme du droit du travail en Turquie: entre emprunts,transpositions et statu quo

Dans la lignée des travaux récents sur les idées «nomades», leur circulation et leur transposition, l'auteur montre comment les normes du travail consacrées par l'OIT et l'UE ont été introduites en Turquie et adaptées au contexte national. Il revient sur les raisons qui ont poussé les partenaires sociaux et la commission chargée de rédiger la nouvelle loi sur le travail de 2003 à partir de cette base et analyse l'issue du processus de réforme législative correspondant, notant que les normes internationales ont parfois été modifiées dans l'exercice, alors que certains éléments de l'ancien code du travail ont perduré, notamment le régime d'indemnisation du licenciement.