Japan and the multiplicity of cultural programmes of modernity

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Some Sociological Observations on the Response of Israeli Organizations to New Immigrants

Preliminary observation suggests that the contact between Israeli officials and newly arrived immigrants from traditional societies is considerably less bureaucratic than might have been predicted. For example, analysis of several cases of such bureaucrat-client relationships indicates that officials often add the role of teacher to their relatively specific roles as bureaucrats by teaching newcomers how to perform in the role. Moreover, the official often becomes not only a teacher but also a kind of informal leader. This indicates that under certain conditions, formal organizations may give birth to incipient social movements, a direction of organizational change wholly unanticipated in the theoretical literature. The case material is analyzed in terms of (1) a theory of role impingement in which bureaucratic roles are seen to become intertwined with roles that are bureaucratically irrelevant to the conduct of formal organization and (2) a theory of socialization where the official serves as socializing agent for his clients

Modernidades múltiplas

A ideia de modernidades múltiplas pressupõe que a melhor forma de compreender o mundo contemporâneo - e de explicar a história da modernidade - é concebê-lo como história de constituição e reconstituição contínua de uma multiplicidade de programas culturais. O termo "modernidades múltiplas" tem duas implicações. A primeira é que modernidade e ocidentalização não são idênticas; o padrão, ou padrões, ocidentais de modernidade não constituem as únicas modernidades "autênticas", mesmo se foram historicamente precedentes e se continuaram a ser uma referência central para outras visões da modernidade. A segunda é que o termo modernidades implica finalmente o reconhecimento de que essas modernidades não são "estáticas", que se encontram antes em constante mutação.The idea of multiple modernities presumes that the best way to understand the contemporary world - indeed to explain the history of modernity - is to see it as a story of continual constitution and reconstitution of a multiplicity of cultural programs. The term "multiple modernities" entails two implications. The first one is that modernity and westernisation are not identical; the western pattern or patterns of modernity are not only "authentic" modernities, even if they were historically prior and continued to be central reference ont for other modern visions. Second, the term modernities entails finally the recognition that such modernities are not "static", but continually changing.L’idée des modernités multiples présuppose que la meilleure manière de comprendre le monde contemporain - et d’expliquer l’histoire de la modernité - c’est de le concevoir en tant qu’histoire de constitution et de reconstitution continuelle d’une multiplicité de programmes culturels. Le terme "modernités multiples" a deux implications. La première est que la modernité et l’occidentalisation sont deux choses différentes; le modèle, ou les modèles occidentaux de modernité ne constituent pas les seules modernités "authentiques", même si historiquement elles ont été précédentes et si elles ont continué d’être une référence centrale pour d’autres visions de la modernité. La deuxième est que le terme modernités revient à reconnaître que ces modernités ne sont pas "statiques" et qu’elles sont plutôt en constante mutation.La idea de modernidades multiples presupone que la mejor forma de comprender el mundo contemporáneo y de explicar la historia de la modernidad es concebirlo como historia de constitución y reconstitución contínua de una multiplicidad de programas culturales. El término "modernidades múltiples" tiene dos implicaciones. La primera es que la modernidad y occidentalización no son idénticas; el patrón, o patrones, occidentales de modernización no constituyen las únicas modernidades "auténticas", incluso si fueran historicamente precedentes y si continuaran a ser una referencia central para otras visiones de la modernidad. La segunda es que el término modernidades implica finalmente el reconocimiento de que esas modernidades no son "estáticas" sino que se encuentran en constante mutación

Political modernization : some comparative notes

DraftCover title"#1361 L2"--handwritten on cover"DRAFT -- not for publication or quotation"--CoverIncludes bibliographical reference

Designing multiplayer games to facilitate emergent social behaviours online

This paper discusses an exploratory case study of the design of games that facilitate spontaneous social interaction and group behaviours among distributed individuals, based largely on symbolic presence 'state' changes. We present the principles guiding the design of our game environment: presence as a symbolic phenomenon, the importance of good visualization and the potential for spontaneous self-organization among groups of people. Our game environment, comprising a family of multiplayer 'bumper-car' style games, is described, followed by a discussion of lessons learned from observing users of the environment. Finally, we reconsider and extend our design principles in light of our observations

GPs are from Mars, Administrators are from Venus: The Role of Misaligned Occupational Dispositions in Inhibiting Mandated Role Change

Research on mandated occupational role change focuses on jurisdictional conflict to explain change failure. Our study of the English National Health Service highlights the role of occupational dispositions in shaping how mandated role change is implemented by members of multiple occupational groups. We find that tension stemming from misaligned dispositions may emerge as members of different occupations interact during their role change implementation efforts. Depending on dispositional responses to tension, change may fail as members of the different occupations avoid interactions. This suggests that effective role change can be elusive even in the initial absence of conflicting occupational interests

The Cold Peace: Russo-Western Relations as a Mimetic Cold War

In 1989–1991 the geo-ideological contestation between two blocs was swept away, together with the ideology of civil war and its concomitant Cold War played out on the larger stage. Paradoxically, while the domestic sources of Cold War confrontation have been transcended, its external manifestations remain in the form of a ‘legacy’ geopolitical contest between the dominant hegemonic power (the United States) and a number of potential rising great powers, of which Russia is one. The post-revolutionary era is thus one of a ‘cold peace’. A cold peace is a mimetic cold war. In other words, while a cold war accepts the logic of conflict in the international system and between certain protagonists in particular, a cold peace reproduces the behavioural patterns of a cold war but suppresses acceptance of the logic of behaviour. A cold peace is accompanied by a singular stress on notions of victimhood for some and undigested and bitter victory for others. The perceived victim status of one set of actors provides the seedbed for renewed conflict, while the ‘victory’ of the others cannot be consolidated in some sort of relatively unchallenged post-conflict order. The ‘universalism’ of the victors is now challenged by Russia's neo-revisionist policy, including not so much the defence of Westphalian notions of sovereignty but the espousal of an international system with room for multiple systems (the Schmittean pluriverse)