29 research outputs found
‘Dominant ethnicity’ and the ‘ethnic-civic’ dichotomy in the work of A. D. Smith
This article considers the way in which the work of Anthony Smith has helped to structure debates surrounding the role of ethnicity in present-day nations. Two major lines of enquiry are evident here. First, the contemporary role of dominant ethnic groups within 'their' nations and second, the interplay between ethnic and civic elements in nationalist argument. The two processes are related, but maintain elements of distinctiveness. Smith's major contribution to the dominant ethnicity debate has been to disembed ethnicity from the ideologically-charged and/or anglo-centric discourse of ethnic relations and to place it in historical context, thereby opening up space for dominant group ethnicity to be considered as a distinct phenomenon. This said, Smith's work does not adequately account for the vicissitudes of dominant ethnicity in the contemporary West. Building on the classical works of Hans Kohn and Friedrich Meinecke, Anthony Smith has also made a seminal contribution to the debate on civic and ethnic forms of national identity and nationalist ideology. As well as freeing this debate from the strong normative overtones which it has often carried, he has continued to insist that the terms civic and ethnic should be treated as an ideal-typical distinction rather than a scheme of classification
Institutional assessment as an instrument of rationalization back to the school as a formal organisation
O papel central da avaliação, da avaliação institucional e dos
processos de garantia da qualidade de escolas e universidades
nas polÃticas educacionais é objeto de discussão, também
considerando a reforma do Estado. As teorias da nova gestão
pública e as perspectivas gestionárias são consideradas como
algumas das principais fontes de inspiração e de legitimação no
contexto dominante de uma educação contábil. Dados empÃricos
preliminares resultantes do processo de avaliação externa de
escolas básicas e secundárias portuguesas são apresentados
e interpretados de acordo com os principais conceitos e
representações organizacionais de escola presentes nos relatórios
externos. Examinando algumas das imagens e dos significados de
escola, cultura de escola, autonomia, objetivos, liderança e eficácia
presentes nos relatórios de avaliação, o autor releva a importância
das imagens formais, racionais e burocráticas de escolas. Várias
questões de investigação são apresentadas tendo por base aquilo
a que o autor chama o processo da hiperburocratização das
organizações educativas. Algumas dimensões do conceito de
burocracia de Max Weber são revisitadas, em articulação com
perspectivas neocientÃficas de garantia da qualidade e com as
tecnologias da informação e comunicação. O autor sugere que
maior relevância deve ser atribuÃda aos modelos formais e racionais
de interpretação das organizações educativas, pois os processos de
avaliação e de garantia da qualidade estão a contribuir para a
formalização de escolas e universidades e para a intensificação do
seu processo de racionalização, isto é, para a emergência de uma
imagem analÃtica das escolas como hiperburocracias.The central role of evaluation, institutional assessment and quality
assurance processes of schools and universities in education policy
is object of discussion also considering the reform of the state. New
Public Management theories and managerialist perspectives are
considered some of the main sources of inspiration and legitimation
in the dominant context of an audit education. Preliminary
empirical data from external assessment of Portuguese primary and
secondary schools are introduced and interpreted according to the
main concepts and organizational representations of school found
in external reports. Examining some of the central organizational
images and meanings of school, school culture, autonomy, goals,
leadership and effectiveness included in the external reviews, the
author stresses the importance of formal, rational and bureaucratic
images of schools. Several new research questions are presented
for further inquiry based on the hypothesis of what it is called by
the author the process of hyperbureaucratization of educational
organizations. Some of the main dimensions of the concept of
bureaucracy as presented by Max Weber are revisited in close
relation with neo-scientific approaches of quality assurance and
taking in consideration the use of information and communication
technologies. Accordingly the author suggests that much more
importance must be given to formal and rational models of
interpreting educational organizations because assessment and
quality assurance procedures are contributing to the formalization
of schools and universities and to the intensification of their process
of rationalization, i. e., to the emergence of an analytic image of
schools as hyperbureaucracies.(undefined
Novas formas organizacionais: onde se encontram as evidências empÃricas de ruptura com o modelo burocrático de organizações?
Whither Greek telecommunications policy? Politics, the state and telecommunications policy in Greece
To date, Greece has faced considerable difficulties in coming up to the demands of the new telecommunications era of liberalization and less governmental interference. This article examines the historical evolution of the policy and argues that it is the political, economic and social characteristics of Greece that affect decisively all attempts to adapt in the radically transformed telecommunications environment. As a result, both the EU's telecommunications policy and the integration process itself are redefined and undermined. However, the formulation of a clear and long-term telecommunications policy is vital not only for the telecommunications sector as such but also for the overall economic and social development of the country