In Breakable Glasses: Toward a Naturalist Orientational Cosmology

The author develops the formula, "that process that gives rise to all that exists," as a specification of the cosmos within which human life may find meaningful, ethical orientation. Her position intends to be consonant with the natural sciences and conversant with traditional orientational cosmologies of the world religions. After analyzing each of the key terms in this central formula, she provisionally proposes three ethical stances (humility, responsibility, and celebration) that might follow from orientation to the cosmos seen as "that process that gives rise to all that exists.

Psychoanalysis and God: A Comparative Analysis of Jacques Lacan and John of the Cross

The author makes the case that Lacan and John of the Cross, taken together, reveal the full spectrum of the human journey toward God. Lacan s psychoanalytic theory is a valuable resource for understanding the earlier stages of the comprehensive spiritual development of the human person. By contrasting Lacan s thought with the spiritual theology of John of the Cross, the author finds that both of them coordinate their understanding of human psychology in terms of the tripartite division of the imaginary, the symbolic, and the real

Institutional entrepreneurs as translators : a comparative study in an emerging activity.

This paper analyzes the reasons why some institutional entrepreneurship strategies failed to translate an institution while other succeeded, by paying a specific attention to the interaction between material and discursive dimensions in the translation process. A theoretical framework integrating both dimensions of translation is first proposed in order to study strategies of competing entrepreneurs. Then a comparative study of three entrepreneurs translating practices of corporate social evaluation in the French context is used to investigate the processes through which competing translators achieved their objective more or less successfully.neo-institutionalisme; translation; corporate social responsibility;

Pouvoir. Une analyse par les institutions

Les chercheurs néo-institutionnalistes se sont attachés récemment à intégrer la question du pouvoir dans leur corpus théorique. Pourtant, la plupart de ces travaux se focalisent sur le volontarisme des acteurs et sur la manière dont ils manipulent les institutions. Notre papier offre un autre point de vue en insistant sur le rôle des institutions. Nous soutenons que le processus d'institutionnalisation réfère à la manière dont des pratiques, des outils et des modèles institutionnalisés acquièrent une forme de pouvoir et modèlent les actions. Nous distinguons, pour ce faire, trois dimensions du pouvoir (pouvoir épisodique, domination et contrôle) qui correspondent à trois étapes du processus d'institutionnalisation. Lorsqu'elles sont « tenues pour acquises », les institutions ne sont plus manipulées par les acteurs de manière stratégique mais elles exercent au contraire un véritable contrôle. Nous discutons des implications de cette analyse pour la recherche en théorie des organisations et de ses articulations possibles avec la théorie critique.neo-institutionnalisme, contrôle, pouvoir, études critiques

Animated Times: Critical Transitions and the Maintenance of Field-Configuring Events

International audienceRecent research has pointed to the challenge facing recurrent field-configuring events (FCEs)in trying to remain dominant in their fields over sustained periods. Based on a revelatory historical case studyof the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the leading FCE in its field, this paper explores how a fieldconfiguringrole can be maintained over time. We focus specifically on the FCE organization, and highlight theimportance of critical transitions, relatively short periods of time when fundamental changes were made to itsformal and informal governance rules, which redefined the event’s identity and scope, and thus ensured itremained the dominant event for field participants. In terms of the organizational dynamics facilitating criticaltransitions, we emphasize the importance of conflict as a driver of change, as well as the particular role of localstakeholders in renewing FCEs that are organized recurrently in the same location

Is corporate social responsibility a new spirit of capitalism?

Our study casts doubt on whether the managerial literature on corporate social responsibility is currently capable of developing a persuasive discourse to bring about change in corporate capitalism. By applying the framework and methodology of the spirit of capitalism, introduced by Boltanski and Chiapello, to a corpus of managerial books, we suggest that corporate social responsibility exhibits the core characteristics that together exemplify the ‘spirit of capitalism’. However, corporate social responsibility deals inadequately with the two key characteristics of the spirit of capitalism—security and fairness—by disregarding individual security and tangible rewards for workers who play decisive roles in enacting the spirit. The lack of consideration for workers could weaken the potential of corporate social responsibility to grow into a new spirit of capitalism and to bring about changes envisioned by critical management studies in corporate capitalism

Esquisse d'une analyse des stratégies locales d'adaptation de l'ordre traditionnel face à la globalisation

La plupart des travaux récents sur la diffusion internationale des institutions se sont intéressés à la manière dont les pratiques se diffusaient globalement et sur la façon d'éviter l'affrontement avec les institutions locales en place, en adaptant ces pratiques. Ce faisant, aucun de ces travaux n'envisagent les stratégies mises en œuvre par les acteurs locaux pour maintenir les fondements de l'ordre institutionnel traditionnel face aux pressions à la globalisation. Cet article explore cette dimension, grâce à l'analyse des stratégies déployées par les acteurs au sein d'un district industriel, pour s'adapter ou résister aux pratiques qui tendent à se diffuser mondialement. Cette étude ébauche un cadre d'analyse des stratégies mises en œuvre par les acteurs pour assurer la résistance institutionnelle, un thème notoirement sous-développé dans l'analyse institutionnelle.globalisation, district industriel, adaptation, neo-institutionnalisme, coopération

The biological determinism of John Steinbeck as seen in Sea of Cortez and as exemplified in his novels

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityBy thus searching for evidences of Steinbeck's philosophy as he bas outlined it in Sea of Cortez, and illustrated it in his fiction, it can be seen that a coherent philosophy dominates all of Steinbeck's writings. By analyzing this philosophy in terms of the accepted philosophical schools ot thought it can be seen that the theory of biological determinism is consistent with those concepts which are Steinbeck's and its application thereby justified

Mouvements sociaux, organisations et stratégies

En France, les « mouvements sociaux » renvoient souvent, dans le langage commun, à une réalité négative, synonyme de protestations sociales, qui seraient soit le produit principal du corporatisme de certains corps de métier (les « cheminots »), soit la voie que choisissent d’emprunter les salariés afin de réagir face à des situations désespérées comme les fermetures sauvages d’entreprises ou les délocalisations massives. [Premières lignes de l'article