25,267 research outputs found
Giving and Receiving Peer Advice in an Online Breast Cancer Support Group
People have access to experiential information and advice about health online. The types of advice exchanged affect the nature of online communities and potentially patient decision making. The aim of this study was to examine the ways in which peers exchange advice within an online health forum in order to better understand online groups as a resource for decision making. Messages collected over a one-month period from an online breast cancer support forum were analyzed for examples of advice exchange. The majority of the messages solicited advice through problem disclosure or requests for information and opinion. A novel form of advice solicitationââanyone in the same boat as meââwas noted as was the use of personal experience as a form of advice giving. Women construct their advice requests to target like-minded people. The implications in terms of decision making and support are discussed
The future of welfare: a Theos collection
Adrian Pabst and John Milbank argue against the social and economic liberalism that has dominated post-war Britain, in favour of a more mutualist vision. The welfare settlement, they argue, has tended to function as a substitute for high employment, decent jobs,
and widespread asset ownership â the statist model effectively (and ironically) propping up the free market one. In its place, they call for âresponsible reciprocityâ, a mutualised welfare settlement that is personal, local and participatory. This would demand a renewal
and extension of Attleeâs original idea of a unified insurance-based social security system alongside a âpreferential option for the poorâ, moving away from means-testing, putting in place what they call a Mutual Jobs Fund, and developing locally-based welfare schemes that embed people in meaningful relationships of reciprocity
Leading the transformation of learning and praxis in science classrooms
Individual science teachers who have inspired colleagues to transform their classroom praxis have been labelled transformational leaders. As the notion of distributed leadership became more accepted in the educational literature, the focus on the individual teacher-leader shifted to the study of leadership praxis both by individuals (whoever they might be) and by collectives within schools and science classrooms. This review traces the trajectory of leadership research, in the context of learning and teaching science, from an individual focus to a dialectical relationship between individual and collective praxis. The implications of applying an individual-collective perspective to praxis for teachers, students and their designated leaders are discussed
State of Civil Society 2013: Creating an Enabling Environment
Welcome to the second edition of the State of Civil Society report produced by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. This report is not ours alone. The 2013 State of Civil Society report draws from nearly 50 contributions made by people active in civil society all over the world -- from our members, friends, partners, supporters and others in the CIVICUS alliance. They contributed 31 new pieces of analysis and thinking on the state of civil society. Our analysis also benefits from 16 responses to a questionnaire from national civil society platforms that are members of either our Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA), or the International Forum of National NGO Platforms (IFP). Together, their contributions, published at http://socs.civicus.org, form the full report. Our summary report is a synthesis of this impressive array of perspectives. We believe that together their contributions offer a body of critical, cutting edge thinking about the changing state of contemporary civil society. We thank them for their efforts and continuing support. It is also important to acknowledge in this report the work of coalitions such as the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness and BetterAid, and the subsequent CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness, in bringing together many CSOs working in the development sphere in recent years to advance the debate on civil society's contributions to development effectiveness, including on the issue of the enabling conditions for civil society that are a necessary part of increasing CSO effectiveness. This report is also intended as a contribution to those wider efforts, in which we at CIVICUS are happy to be active partners
Why People Contribute Voluntarily to Innovation: Insights from South Africa 's Siyabuswa Educational Improvement & Development Trust
Innovation, South Africa
Civil society and international governance: the role of non-state actors in the EU, Africa, Asia and Middle East
Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only â or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. \ud
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Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil societyâs role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance
The Cancer Card: metaphor and humour in online interactions about the experience of cancer
Employing a dynamic system approach, this chapter investigates the use of one particular
metaphorâthe âcancer cardââon an online forum dedicated to cancer. Far from being a
common Card Game metaphor with a stable source-target mapping, the metaphor is
collaboratively developed (i.e. used, re-used, adapted) to express the idea that patients can
use their illness to their advantage in a variety of situations, while also reflecting a broader
tendency to employ humor as a strategy for coping with adversity. An analysis of all 106
instances of â(cancer) card(s)â on one of the threads of the forum shows that, though related
to English expressions like âplay the [âŠ] cardâ and to conventional conceptual metaphors like
LIFE IS A GAME, its use is specific to the interactions among the members of this online
community. Our analysis of the âcancer cardâ as a group-specific metaphoreme (Cameron &
Deignan 2006) emphasizes that multiple interacting factors must be considered to account for
such rich and complex phenomena as the use of metaphors in online interactions
Recommended from our members
Trust in the digital world - the return of the kings of old
Drawing principally on examples and literature from the Anglosphere, the author argues that the high salience given to "trust" and "trustworthiness" in recent scholarly literature, and which (notably in Putnam's work) attributes declining trust to a widely mistrusted mass media does not acknowledge the trustbuilding potential (realised in some instances) of interactive "Web 2.0" applications. Drawing on O'Neill's proposal that trust inheres in dialogue and mutual checking and verification, the author argues that "Web 2.0" media provide a variety of instances where the "dialogic" character of "Web 2.0" has established and enhanced trustworthiness. He argues normatively for a combination of "Web 2.0" interactivity and the adoption and implementation of self-regulatory codes in order to enhance the trustworthiness of the media
Unlikely Friends of the Authoritarian and Atheist Ruler: Religious Groups and Collective Contention in Rural China
This article examines the roles played by rural religious groups in China's local contentious politics. More specifically, it aims to explore whether religious groups stimulate or reduce collective contention when the ruler is both authoritarian and atheist. Drawing on national survey data and comparative case studies, this article finds that collective contention is less likely to occur in villages with religious groups that simultaneously overlap with secular social organizations and local authorities, and are hence more likely to serve as credible communication channels between local states and discontented citizens. This finding highlights two important issues that are often side-lined, if not outright neglected, in the existing literature. First, the relationship between religious groups and collective contention is diverse rather than uniform. Second, this relationship is shaped not only by religious groups but also by other important players in the local political arena
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