bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Science, Ideology and Confusing One's Beliefs with Facts: A Response to Huesmann
Authors: Fowers Blaine J. , Richardson Frank C.
Published: March 2007

Huesmann's assertion that his cognitive theory of aggression is a straightforward reflection of human reality is challenged as a confusion of objectivist and liberal individualist ideologies with facts. A hermeneutic alternative is suggested, within which human activity is understood in terms of intersubjective conventions and standards rather than being determined by natural laws. From this viewpoint, Huesmann's distinction between facts and values is not possible because the human life world is constituted by embodied meanings and values, the clarification and negotiation of which is central to being human. This perspective reveals Huesmann's theory and response to be but one of many creative interpretations of human living rather than the unbiased reflection of reality he claims it to be.
The Body in Psychology: Biological Entity or Social Construction?
Authors: Scott Campbell L. , Stam Henderikus J.
Published: March 2007

`The body', long a practical and theoretical focus in disciplines such as anthropology and sociology, has gradually emerged as a problem for psychology. The volumes by Harré, Radley and Ussher exemplify this trend-not only in their rejection of understandings of the body as entirely and implicitly biological, but also in their use of the body as a medium through which human experience may be articulated and socially grounded. This review considers the ways in which each author understands embodiment and suggests that these works are tied together by a desire to bridge individual/biological and social conceptions in such a way that an element of lived experience remains as a focus of their analyses. Nevertheless, tensions within these works as well as variations between them point to the (perhaps inevitable) lack of a consensual way of talking about bodies.
Heidegger and the Subject
Authors: Stenner Paul
Published: March 2007

This paper extracts key themes from Heidegger's philosophy and critically applies them to issues of relevance to psychology. A case is made that Heidegger's arguments concerning ontology before the subject/object distinction, his discussion of enframing, his concern with the understanding of being, and his distinction between modes of being are all important for a rethinking of psychological practice. Heidegger's contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics and existentialism are discussed and clarified in terms of distinctions between truth and correctness, the ontological and the ontic, and Being and beings. The conclusion points psychology towards a `deep reflexivity'.
When Experiments Serve Little Purpose
Authors: Wallach Michael A. , Wallach Lise
Published: March 2007

This paper attempts further to explicate and justify the belief, held by a number of critics of mainstream psychology, that much customary empirical research tells one little that could not have been known without it. Apart from questions of tautology or indeterminate relations to observation, many hypotheses are derivable from propositions that are unfalsifiable because they cannot be tested without relying on conceptualizations which imply the propositions themselves. Experiments that serve no purpose beyond the operationalization of such hypotheses are a misguided enterprise.
Disclosure as Discourse
Authors: MacMartin Clare
Published: March 2007

Conventional frameworks conceptualizing children's disclosures of sexual abuse are helpful in drawing links between the dynamics of abuse and its subsequent reporting (e.g. Summit, 1983) and in articulating developmental impediments to disclosure (e.g. Bussey & Grimbeek, 1995). But these models underemphasize the discursive (and, hence, social) basis of children's reports in that patterns of disclosure are depicted as individualistic phenomena. This article proposes a discursive reformulation of children's reports of sexual abuse. The concept of co-construction is applied to the research traditions of conversation analysis (e.g. Nofsinger, 1991), the discourse action model (Edwards & Potter, 1992), narrative analysis (e.g. Bruner, 1991), positioning theory (e.g. Harré & van Langenhove, 1992) and cultural discourses (e.g. Burman, 1995) to theorize children's reports of sexual abuse as socially situated collaborations. The implications of a discursive approach for concerns of power and social justice are discussed.
Mapping the Dynamics of Research on Autism
Authors: Courtial Jean-Pierre , Gourdon Louis
Published: March 2007

On the basis of recent research in sociology of science, moral development theory and cultural psychology, the authors argue that scientific knowledge consists of producing new social practices coordinated by scientific texts. A quantitative means of highlighting this process in a given field of research consists of calculating associations between centres of interest in scientific articles, through key words provided by computerized databases. If the concept of scientific culture is taken into account, the `sociocognitive' network of associations which is obtained is thus a structure linking the relationships of the human individual to his or her culture. Using the PSYCLIT database from 1978 to 1995, this approach produces a history and a synthesis of contemporary research into autism, and also describes the emergence of a new `distributed' paradigm of research. The sociocognitive network model is thus validated as a system of representation and simultaneously demonstrates the identity of the human individual with knowledge of the world through its scientific and technical culture.
Power and the Diffusion of Organizational Change within Multinational Enterprises
Authors: Ferner Anthony , Edwards Paul
Published: March 2007

A key question in debates on the multinational enterprise (MNE) is how it transmits industrial relations and other practices between units operating in different countries. This article treats MNEs as structures of power. It examines aspects of organizational power such as the possession and exchange of resources, the exercise of formal authority and the structuring of interests through `corporate culture'. In MNEs, it is argued, these strands of power give rise to different `channels of influence' for transmitting organizational practices across national borders. Having speculated on which `channels of influence' are likely to be found in different kinds of MNE, the article illustrates the functioning of MNE power structures by examining one concrete mechanism of cross-national transmission: the diffusion of best practice through `coercive comparisons'. It also considers the way in which corporate structures of power interact with systems of national power and authority, and how this affects the cross-national diffusion of employment practices.
The Decentralization of Industrial Relations: The Swedish Case in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Thornqvist Christer
Published: March 2007

In many countries there has been a move towards more decentralized labour market systems in the 1980s and 1990s. This process has been particularly notable in Sweden. This study analyses the origins of the Swedish decentralization from a historical and comparative perspective. The main emphasis is on ideological motives, linked to a shifting balance of power. The more decentralized Swedish industrial relations become, the greater the likelihood that the power relations between the two main parties change in the employers' favour. Even if internationally determined changes in the organization of work are important, changes in industrial relations still seem to be very much a question of a struggle between the different interests of employers and employees.
Working Time in Brazil
Authors: Rosso Sadi Dal
Published: March 2007

This article investigates the evolution of working time in Brazil from the standpoint of past history and present changes. Past history is summarized in a scheme of two processes, the first resulting in the construction of a pattern of long working hours, and the second including several changes whose basic meaning is not yet totally defined, but include a deregulation process with the introduction of time flexibility inside workplaces. A detailed analysis of contemporary changes is offered, leading to an interpretation based on the hypothesis of a deep reorganization of the labor force as businesses go into overall restructuring processes. The transition from the category of job to the category of work provides an illuminating insight into the nature of the changes underway. The article concludes with an analytical discussion about the use of the category of social praxis as a means to grasp processes that define and change working time arrangements in society.
The Problem of Time in Sociology
Authors: Bergmann Werner
Published: March 2007

This survey of sociological and psychological literature deals with the problem of time, covering major areas of sociology and related disciplines (economics, cultural anthropology, psychology and history). As a preface, contributions by the classical writers on the sociology of time are discussed briefly - Durkheim, Schütz, Sorokin and Merton, G.H. Mead. Six themes in the contemporary sociology of time (up to 1982) are examined: (1) time perspective and time orientation; (2) temporal ordering and social structure: time reckoning and the social construction of time schedules; (3) the time structure of specific social systems and professions: the economy, the legal system, the family, and formal organizations; (4) the evolution of social consciousness of time; (5) social change and time; and (6) the concern with time in social theory and methodology. It is shown that sociology has much to learn from its neighbouring disciplines, that no thorough sociological treatment of time has yet been done and, above all, that there is a lack of empirical studies that are adequately grounded in theory.
Past and Future in Young Women's Experience of Time
Authors: Leccardi Carmen , Rampazi Marita
Published: March 2007

Women's experience of time is marked by the multiple, interdependent, non-hierarchical times involved in the construction of female identity. This is, in fact, characterized by the overlapping of public and private times and by the mingling of cyclical and linear times. The specificity of this experience is clearly visible in the particular modalities of self-reflection with regard to the biographical past and also in the difficulties that accompany the female process of choice. On the basis of the findings of a 10-year research study of a qualitative nature on young people's (male and female) experience of time, this article aims to open a discussion concerning some theoretical and methodological problems relating to the way in which young women represent the past and the future.
Attitudinal Identification, Stimulus Complexity and Retrospective Duration Estimation
Authors: Zakay Dan , Lomranz Jacob
Published: March 2007

Using retrospective estimation, the reading time for social positions with which the reader identified was estimated to be longer than the reading time for positions which the reader opposed. In addition, greater complexity in formulating the social positions resulted in a higher estimated reading time. The two factors of attitudinal identification and stimulus complexity did not interact, and influenced estimated reading time additively. The highest estimated time was for complex positions with which the subjects identified, and the lowest estimated time was for simple positions that the subjects opposed. The findings are discussed in terms of epistemic motivations and a contextual-change model of retrospective duration judgement. Implications for understanding influence and persuasion processes in various social contexts are discussed.
Ph(r)ase Time
Authors: Ermarth Elizabeth Deeds
Published: March 2007

Historical time, which we take for granted as a basic common denominator in so much social, political and cultural practice, is a construction belonging to Renaissance and Reformation humanism, and one that is undergoing fundamental contemporary challenge across a broad cultural range from language to science. This article, building on the author's Realism and Consensus (1983) and Sequel to History (1992), and using material from different fields, notably physical science and political linguistics, explores ways of imagining a different construction of time and suggests some of the practical outcomes that such a cultural reformation portends.
TV Discourse and `Time-Space Distanciation'
Authors: Moores Shaun
Published: March 2007

This article pays particular attention to the temporal and spatial dimensions of TV discourse. It combines a case study of specific daytime programmes with more general reflections on the nature of mediated interaction in modern society - drawing on Anthony Giddens's discussion of `time-space distanciation'. One of the distinctive features of broadcasting is its sense of liveness and immediacy - made possible by the simultaneity of transmission and reception - and the author shows how this has given rise to certain communicative styles which simulate co-presence between television performers and their absent audiences. The consequences of these serialized para-social encounters for everyday experience are considered, and it is proposed that they contribute to new patterns of familiarity and estrangement in modern life.
Procreation Time
Authors: Tobler Christa
Published: March 2007

This paper focuses on one of the most obvious points of difference in the use of time by men and women, namely, on the time spent by women in the context of procreation. From a legal perspective, the paper discusses the question of how the European Community's sex equality law - and, more specifically, selected case law by the Court of Justice of the European Communities - as well as the legal theories underlying that law, address the issues of pregnancy and confinement. One of the findings is that an accurate time perspective seems to be lacking both in law and in theory.
Time, Temporality and Child Welfare
Authors: White Susan
Published: March 2007

This article presents data from a recently completed ethnographic study conducted in a British metropolitan social services department between 1993 and 1995. It argues that issues of time and temporality have central, but hitherto relatively neglected, analytic importance in understanding contemporary child welfare. It contends that rational `time(s)' may be classified both as `ordering' phenomena and as artefacts of social workers' situated ordering practices. So, while organizational rhythms form temporal patterns, social workers also make considerable use of rational time(s) in the construction of various types of accounts, particularly those of an `exonerative' nature. These references serve not only to preserve institutional realities, but also function as moral accounts, which maintain the consistency of the social workers' `altruistic' professional discourse during the course of morally tainted rationing activities.
The State and Dilemmas of Security: the Middle East and the Balkans
Authors: MESSARI NIZAR
Published: March 2007

This article argues that even if the state represents a solution to the security needs of one group of people, it may be a source of threat to another. This is so because the construction of the state is necessarily an exclusive process, and those who are excluded in some cases become a source of threat. In addition, the state sometimes represents a threat to its own people. In sum, on the basis of an existing critical literature within security studies, the article questions the role of the state in maintaining security. In this context, it utilizes the debate on identity formation to defend the necessity of constructing open and inclusive political spaces. It then applies this theoretical discussion to the cases of the Middle East and the Balkans, and argues that the alternative to the sovereign state that is being put in place in the Balkans might represent a valuable example for the Middle East.
Explaining Russian Endorsement of the CFSP and the ESDP
Authors: SPLIDSBOEL-HANSEN FLEMMING
Published: March 2007

This article analyses Russian endorsement of the CFSP and the ESDP. Employing two competing paradigms, it presents two very different sets of arguments to explain this policy. First, relying on neorealist assumptions, it argues that Russian support for the CFSP and the ESDP has to be viewed in a context of Russia's relative decline: working to restore its former position of influence in the international system, Moscow is encouraging the EU to continue development of the CFSP and the ESDP in the hope that these will eventually help undermine the so-called `unipolar trend' led by NATO and the USA. Second, using constructivist insights, the article argues that post-Soviet Russia has undergone a fundamental transformation, which has given it a more `Western' or `European' identity. This has led Moscow to draw still closer to the EU - the organization widely regarded in Russia as the epitome of `Europe' - and to welcome the continued development of the CFSP and the ESDP. The rationale behind this policy, then, is not to cause a weakening of the USA, but to build on the inclusive nature of the EU to help protect the norms now shared between `us' and the former `them'.
Jobs for People and Places
Authors: Konvitz Josef W.
Published: March 2007

Cities and regions should not compete to attract jobs, but instead should try to create them. Jobs-to-people is a strategic approach based on the valorization of local and regional assets, including the performance of firms based on their networks and local strengths, natural and created assets, and the capacity to enhance endogenous development. Taken together, these describe territorial capital. National policies and local and regional initiatives are increasingly engaged in the task of enhancing territorial capital.
Local Identities and Territorial Politics in Italy and France
Authors: Bull Anna , Milner Susan
Published: March 2007

This article compares two areas, Sesto San Giovanni near Milan and V6nissieux near Lyon, which until recently were characterized by a working-class culture and a communist identity, which in turn stemmed from a concentration of large-scale heavy industry and the presence of powerful trade unions. Both areas have gone through a process of severe de-in-dustrialization and deep social change, accompanied by significant political developments. The article examines the effects these changes have had upon the two localities, both from the point of view of social identities and of the role and orientations of local political actors. Research findings in both towns indicate that there is a congruence between underlying social identities and the specific solutions attempted by the main political actors to deal with de-industrialization. In Sesto, the Communist Party and the left-dominated council have reacted to a weakening of the communist subculture by shedding their traditional proletarian image. They are keen to promote the development of small-scale industry, relying on the resilience and vitality of the family and social networks. In Venissieux the social situation is closer to 'anomie', while the left subculture is closing ranks and adopting a defensive stance. The local council relies on central government for large-scale schemes of urban regeneration. Nation-specific patterns of political behaviour and socioeconomic development prevail over crossnational similarities. A common phase as urban conurbations dominated by a small number of large corporations and as centres of trade-union militancy and communist culture has given way to contrasting scenarios.
Liberalized Utilities, New Technologies and Urban Social Polarization
Authors: Graham Stephen
Published: March 2007

This article explores the urban social impacts of the radical liberalization and privatization of British utilities since the early 1 980s, and relates these impacts to broader shifts towards more socially fragmented cities. The article has three parts. The first part introduces the experimental political project through which British telecommunications, gas, water and electricity networks were privatized and liberalized during the 1980s. In the second part, the changing relationships between these key network utilities and the users of utility services are analysed and the broad logic of 'splintering networks' is identified. Three elements of this restructuring are explored: the 'rebalancing' of tariffs and cost-reflective pricing; the use of new metering technologies for 'cherry picking' affluent consumers while 'socially dumping' more marginal ones; and the development of new IT strategies for supporting the social construction of segmented markets. The concluding part of the article identifies the implications of the reorientation of utilities for social and spatial polarization within cities, and draws out implications for urban policy and research.
Lay People's Understanding and Use of Intelligence: An Indian Perspective
Authors: Srivastava Ashok K. , Misra Girishwar
Published: March 2007

This study explored the meaning of the notion of "intelligence" as understood and used by the lay people in India. In a multi-centric study, participants (n=1,885), varying along the dimensions of ecological context (rural/urban), schooling, age and gender, from five localities, volunteered. Responding to an open-ended question, participants described the characteristics of an intelligent person. Analysis revealed four major dimensions of intelligence: cognitive competence, social competence, competence in action, and emotional competence. Intelligence was conceptualised in terms of socio-affective regulation of one's conduct. It was considered an important attribute contributing to the well-being of the individual and the society. Results have implications for expanding the concept and assessment of intelligence to make it more inclusive encompassing the perspectives from non-Western cultures.
Culture and Psychology: Perspective of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Authors: Sinha Durganand
Published: March 2007

In spite of the heritage of cultural orientation the mainstream psychology accords only a peripheral place to culture in the study of behaviour. In its practice it became culture blind as well as culture bound. Experimental psychology eclipsed culture. However, as humans are natural and cultural beings there is need to have a culturally rooted psychology. The cross- culture psychology has recognised this and different kinds of culturally relevant studies have been undertaken. They vary with reference to the entry of culture in the psychological arena. Now culture is being treated as a system having bi-directional influences. Recent works from non-western cultures have increasingly shown the relevance of culture in understanding psychological processes.
Prototype Theory and the Conceptualisation of Culture
Authors: Sinha A.K.
Published: March 2007

The empiricist-functionalist view considers "social structure" as "patterns of kinship and descent" assuming that kinship relationships provide the primary network through which culture can be understood. However, componential analysis has the problem of psychological validity. The model claims to present the actual semantic previews by which the native operator thinks, besides being an equivalent calculus that permits the ethnographer to predict the native's overt behaviour accurately. The Fregian framework of clear boundaries, uniform ity, inflexibility and objectivism, held in high premium by the West, cannot be applied to all cultures. For instance, the concept of time varies across cultures-cyclic in the Indian tradition and linear in the Christian tradition.
Guru-Shishya Relationship in Indian Culture: The Possibility of a Creative Resilient Framework
Authors: Raina M.K.
Published: March 2007

The Indian perspective says that the aim of human life is to grow by inner and outer experience till man lives in god, realises his spirit, becomes divine in knowledge, in will and in the joy of his being. In the course of achieving this transforming experience, the guru holds a special place. The guru-disciple interaction touches deep and regressed layers of the two main features of the relationship, surrender of the shishya and intimacy with the guru. Real teaching is believed to occur when the disciple has disciplined himself and is tuned to the wavelength of the guru. Teaching, example, and influence play significant roles in mentoring. One very distinctive characteristic of guru-shishya relationship is its poly-variant nature. It indicates the all encompassing quality of this relationship. Dynamics of the relationship indicate that its basis was a complete transformation of the shishya by the guru.
Attention: Concept, Tests and Teacher Ratings
Authors: Das J.P.
Published: March 2007

The theoretical part of the present article discusses the nature of attention, its tests and meas ures, as well as the localisation of attentional deficit. Attention is selective, involves the in hibition of impulsive responses and resistance to distraction. In the second part, a review of three empirical studies, which explored the use of an attention rating scale for teachers to rate attentiveness of children in the classroom, are discussed. The teachers' ratings predicted performance of the same children on tests of attention outside the classroom situation. These predictions were significant, in that they established that teachers are responding to an import ant aspect of attention, resistance to distraction, as measured by the tests. In the concluding remarks, the dynamic testing of attention which may lead to improvements in attention deficit is discussed. The third part, the Appendices, contains examples of attention tests.
The Psychology of Developmen t and the Psychology of Literacy: A Poin t of Intersection
Authors: Bhola H.S.
Published: March 2007

The correlations between literacy and development are universally recognised, though not always fully understood. Since the individual is the locus of all learning as well as the agent of all development actions, psychological approaches to the study of the relationship between literacy and development should be promising. The essential question in the psychology of development is: What type and quality of human psyche is relatively more amenable to generating and sustaining development, both at the personal and societal levels? The essential question in the psychology of literacy is: What effect, if any, does literacy learning have on the psyche of the new literate? Finally, at the intersection of these two research and theory traditions lies another question: What is the role of literacy in development? Formulated in practical terms, we can ask the question: At this historical time, in the midst of the International Literacy Year, 1990, is development in the Third World possible without the universalisation of literacy in the region?
Ethnic Identities and Indigenous Psychologies in Pluralist Societies
Authors: Weinreich Peter
Published: March 2007

Current theorising about the sociopsychological processes of ethnic identity development and redefinition in pluralist societies is augmented by a framework of theoretical concepts, Identity Strudure Analysis, which places indigenous psychologies at its focus and indicates that conflicts within people's ethnic identities and between ethnic groups are generally to be expected. False expectations of engineering universal "harmony" represent an inadequate understanding of the sociopsychological development of ethnic identity in pluralist societies. Instead, potentials for resolutions of ethnic conflicts to tolerable levels need to be enhanced, while processes toward pathological ethnic conflict require to be contained. Consideration is given to fundamental conceptual issues in explicating ethnic identity processes in the socio-historical contexts of differing pluralist societies. Attention is directed to the necessity for the efficient operationalisation of identity con cepts, using, for example, the accessible Identity Exploration computer software, for rapid empirical investigations of the complexities of ethnic conflicts.
Alternative to Psychological Testing
Authors: Sen Anima
Published: March 2007

Mental tests have come in for a volley of criticisms ever since their inception at the beginning of the present century. Such criticisms came from many quarters, the promi nent among them being that the successful performance on such tests was primarily dependent upon acquired knowledge which was not equitably available to all indivi duals. The problem of bias (resulting from cultural, socio-economic and racial) has been experienced as discriminative against certain social and ethnic groups. Recent developments in psychology have mobilised efforts in the quest of alternatives to psychological testing technology. This paper examines the suitability of various attempts for measuring intelligence in terms of information processing speed (RT), inspection time (IT), STM, iconic image duration. It also reviews attempts made to diagnose functional psychosis in terms of memory processes in the form of Trace Inaccessibility (TI) of memory and assessment of personality in terms of signal detection parameters.
Anāsakti and Health: A Study of Non-attachment
Authors: Pande Namita , Naidu R.K.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the health consequences of an indigenous concept "Anāsakti" which means non-attachment. The scale measuring anāsakti was based on the characteristics of a man of steady wisdom "the sthitaprajña", described in the Bhagvad Gītā. It was hypothesised that those higb on anāsakti would experience less distress and exhibit fewer symptoms of strain when faced with stressful life events. Results showèd tbat anāsakt subjects were less distressed and exhibited fewer symptoms of ill health. Anāsakti was also found to be the most significant predictor of strain symptoms.
New Chinese Approach in Psychological Research
Authors: Wang Zhong-Ming
Published: March 2007

This paper reviews some major developments in psychology in China in the recent decade and summarises the main characteristics of the new Chinese approach in psychological research and applications in a developing country. Three aspects of the Chinese approach to psychological research are discussed in relation to the cultural context and social-economic developments: (a) close links with economic-social reforms and cultural context for the psychological process; (b) organisation and coordination of nationwide collaborative research projects; (c) facilitation of psychological models on the basis of research in China. Some problems and methodological issues in psychological research are discussed. Implications for developing countries as well as new directions of psychological research in China are highlighted.
Gender, Forests and Famine in 19th-Century Chotanagpur, India
Authors: Damodaran Vinita
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the links between deforestation and famine in the context of the late-19th-century food crisis in Chotanagpur. It attempts to understand the phenomenon famine as a gendered one, and explores the cultural and gendered meanings of hunger. In doing so it looks at the symbolism of the landscape and the gendering of it by local communities in Chotanagpur.
Learning, Spirituality and Management
Authors: Cochrane K.
Published: March 2007

The paper explores the relationship between learning, spirituality and management. The American philoso pher Gregory Bateson's theory on categories of learning provides the backdrop for the analysis and this is compared with a model of spiritual development developed by S.K. Chakraborty from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. These two models propose that spiritual development is linked with both learning and existence, but only those forms of learning and existence which are subjective in nature and inspire the learner to pursue a path of self development. The models suggest that while the traditional frameworks of spiritual teaching via the church and the like might satisfy many Christians, its domination is coming under threat by a growing number in the community who are seeking a form of spirituality that is less connected with dogma. The form of learning that this movement represents finds its parallel in management, with the emergence offlatter structures and finding ways to involve employees in the decision-making process. The article presents the results of a survey conducted at the 1998 Spirituality, Leadership and Management (SLaM) conference to determine attendees'views on spirituality, leadership and management, and how these comform to the expectations as outlined in Bateson's categories of learning and Chakraborty's categories of existence.
Relevance of Traditional Value Frameworks in Contemporary Chinese Work Organizations: Implications for Managerial Transition
Authors: Chatterjee Samir R.
Published: March 2007

This paper overviews the role of tradition in the structure, processes and behaviour of Chinese work organ izations. The traditional value frameworks combining Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist principles and prac tices had long been the surrogate of a well-defined legal structure in China. Social interaction based on the strong guanxi bonds dominates the managerial culture and such vehicles of social capital development are prerequisites of any substantive partnership building with China. The analysis presented in this overview attempts to explore the reasons for relative underdevelopment of managerial autonomy and innovation, and the predominance of collective face and networking. It is suggested that there are a number of strengths in the Chinese traditions that may be helpful in the emerging managerial transitions, while pointing out areas where breaking with the past may be necessary. This paper signals the importance of more research in Asian management to alleviate the ethnocentric basis of Western-oriented mainstream management.
Latin American Catalysis: As Seen through the Ibero-American Catalysis Symposia
Authors: Vessuri Hebe , Canino Maria Victoria
Published: March 2007

One of the ways scientists from the world peripheries can attempt to overcome isolation and lack of visibility is by networking and associating themselves at different aggregate levels, both nationally and internationally. Scientific meetings are specially apt grounds where scientists have a chance to make contacts and become more visible. Taking as its point of departure the fact that meetings constitute a pervasive yet neglected aspect of science, this paper concentrates on the analysis of participation in a type of scientific meeting of a regional scope that has taken place periodically since 1968 and is still an ongoing operation. It is argued that meetings of this sort deserve the attention ofstudents for a variety of reasons, especially because through time one may observe the evolution of the cognitive field and its institutional and group correlations that the series of meetings helped to create in the particular space configured by the periodical meeting.
Knowledge Networks and Technological Capabilities in the African Manufacturing Cluster
Authors: Oyelaran-Oyeyinka Banji
Published: March 2007

Clusters are characterised by two dynamic elements: the rates and types of technological learning, and the nature and intensity of networking. Firms in early industrialisation are largely imitative innovators drawing on a variety of formal and informal sources such as licensing and reverse engineering. There is, therefore, a significant correlation between firm-level technological capabilities and external knowledge networks. We define a knowledge network as a structure of interlinked actors that facilitate the process of learning in firms and institutions in the process of innovation. This paper identifies emerging knowledge networks in African clusters, illustrating with new empirical data front clusters in Nigeria.
The Transformation of the Research System in the Czech Republic
Authors: Provaznik ST , Filacek A. , Krizova-Frydova E. , Loudin J. , Machleidt P.
Published: March 2007

The end of the Cold War and the subsequent relaxation of the political barriers between the East and the West has ushered in a period of transformation in the countries of Eastern Europe. As part of the process of transforming the Czech Republic into a free market economy, a series of structural and other reforms have been introduced into the system of higher education.

This paper provides an account of this process based on an empirical study comprising some 50 case studies of research institutions ranging from non-university and university research to the enterprise based research sector. The paper maintains that the process of transformation has been relatively smooth and that the Czech research community has for the most part benefited from the changes introduced both in terms of increased cooperation at the international level and competition at the national level.
Technological Learning and Innovation in the Mexican Chemical Industry: An Exercise in Taxonomy
Authors: Arvanitis Rigas , Villavicencio Daniel
Published: March 2007

The article presents some results of a research carried out in the Mexican chemical industry, with the objective of reflecting on the capacities and the weaknesses of technological learning and firms' innovative behaviour. After defining in an operative way the notion of technological learning, we propose a taxonomy based on a multifactorial analysis which makes it possible to combine all the variables that we have chosen as indicators of technological learning and innovation. The principal finding is that the companies that have more 'technological' linkages with their environment and greater accumulation of technological capabilities paradoxically show relatively less innovative activity than other types of firms. Some exploratory hypotheses are offered by way of explanation.
Foucault and the Problem of Genealogy
Authors: Spiegel Gabrielle M.
Published: March 2007

This essay explores the implications of Foucault's use of genealogy as the basis of his philosophical investment in history. It contrasts Foucault's reliance on genealogy as a solvent of historical continuity and linearity, and his view of genealogy as aleatory, contingent, potentially disruptive and delegitimising, with medieval concepts of lineage and genealogical legiti mation and interrogates, on this basis, the utility of Foucault's postmodern theories for the analysis of medieval genealogical phenomena. It suggests that the concepts derived from a Foucauldian analysis of genealogy are not applicable to premodern societies, given that Foucalt's very notion of genea logy stipulates local genesis and definite contexts in which period-specific modalities of knowledge, power, thought, epistemologies and technologies are put into play in the societies analysed.
Technology and Culture among the Iron Workers of Bihar during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Authors: Choubey Asha Shukla
Published: March 2007

This paper focuses on the mining and metallurgical technology in Bihar in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This technology was integral to the traditional life of craftsmen and the key to under standing their culture. It analyses the craft production systems, market ing and financing patterns within which the iron workers operated. The paper seeks to explore a rather obscure area of past experience— the social and cultural ethos of the iron workers' community and to reconstruct their 'mindset', 'values' and the 'worldview'. Using various categories of oral traditions like proverbs, folk songs and tales, myths and popular literature, this paper emphasises that the cultural com plexities of the world of the iron workers had a rich symbolic content, with an underlying coherent and articulate philosophy of their own.
The Enchantment of the Alien: Metaphysics and Marginality in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Authors: Roeck Bernd
Published: March 2007

This article investigates why magical powers were ascribed to social out casts in late medieval and early modern Europe, or why they were placed in transcendent contexts. Taking its cue from ethnological approaches (Geertz, Douglas), it proposes a model of a complex cluster of factors, which could vary from region to region, from society to society. Single instances, such as dealing with fire, with 'unclean things', or the carrying out of nocturnal tasks, do emerge more distinctly when a comparative ap proach is adopted. This phenomenon assumed a special importance during the era of the counter-reformation, which the author interprets as an epoch of battles for the 'monopoly of magic'and for the formation of a theocracy.
Russian Studies in Medieval Indian History and Society: An Insider's View
Authors: Vanina Eugenia
Published: March 2007

Medieval Indian studies is a relatively new field in Russian Indology. Sym pathy for the Indian people and high esteem for the achievements of their civilisation failed to prevent generations of Russain Indologists from acquir ing a prejudiced attitude towards the medieval period of Indian history. The Soviet school of medieval Indian studies was connected with a certain break ing off with the traditions of classical Indology. The founders of the new school came from the ranks of either practical workers in Soviet-Indian re lations or specialists in colonial and post-colonial India. This, along with the impact of the particular socio-political processes in USSR/Russia had both a positive and a negative effect upon Soviet studies of medieval India.
Unani and Ayurvedic Medicine in Bangladesh: Cognition of Health Care Seekers at a Public Hospital
Authors: Shaheen Rukhsana , Shafiqur Rahman M.
Published: March 2007

This qualitative study on cognition of health care seekers at the Government Unani and Ayurvedic Degree College Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has used the tools of medical sociology. Data was collected by methodological mixes—in- depth interview with the care seekers and intuition of the researchers. Certain health care seeking cognition of people and the interplay of some elements asso ciated with the health care modus operandi in Bangladesh has been fathomed through this study. The emergence of a rationally competent medical pluralism is hinted at. The study provides directions for further research as well.
The Pot Calling the Kettle Black? Gender-specific Health Dimensions of Colour Prejudice in India
Authors: Johnson Sonali Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the fairness industry in India, tracing its historical and cultural origins, and exposing its impact upon contemporary Indian society. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, it shows how India's historical preoccupation with fair skin is in fact racism and sexism expressed through various cultural and historical mediums and reinforced by the contemporary beauty industry. It also highlights the risk of skin diseases such as ochronosis that are associated with the array of fairness products containing bleaching agents currently on the market. Consequently, the fairness phenomenon' in India is an important public health issue that has not to date attracted sufficient attention from academics or the medical establishment, unlike its parallel in black culture and society. The conclusion contains a list of recommendations to address the issue in a multidimensional fashion and is aimed at medical professionals, women's advocates, and those involved in the beauty and fashion industry.
Team Development Revisited: Preliminary Evidence Supporting a Two-barrier Model
Authors: Rickards Tudor , Moger Susan
Published: March 2007

We propose that theories of team development and of team creativity can usefully be integrated into a new framework. In this exploratory paper, we attempt such a synthesis, drawing on empirical evidence from studies with teams engaged in innovative projects. The framework proposes two structural barriers that bear on team performance. The weaker barrier differentiates teams according to the personal relationships established. The stronger barrier differentiates teams according to the levels of task performance achieved. Creative leadership is suggested as an important means whereby the barriers can be breached, through the provision of benign structures. The distinction between creative leadership and 'new leadership' forms is explored.
A Study of the Influence of Source Characteristics and Product Importance on Consumer Word of Mouth Based on Personal Sources
Authors: Mookerjee Amit
Published: March 2007

In mature markets, the information search mechanism of the consumer for purchase decisions includes per sonal sources, where word of mouth communication (WOM) is an important influence on decisions, judged by the diffusion process. At that stage, the information available to the consumer is through both commercial media as well as personal sources. When they further transmit recommendations, it is likely to be based on personal sources also. Opinion leadership is well understood in terms of the effects of mass media, but there is much less known about the impact of personal sources on this phenomenon. Marketers try to stimulate the right kind of WOM through mass media and it is further known that higher product importance generally stimulates more word of mouth. These two aspects of recommendation based on personal sources, viz., how recommendations are effected by the source characteristics of credibility and reliance on the information in their own purchase decisions; and the effect of product importance on the same, were studied in this survey. The results indicate that both source characteristics have a significant effect on recommendations based on information from personal sources. Further, there was no significant difference in the recommendation ten dency across product importance types, where recommendations were based on personal sources.
The Polarization and Differentiation of Employment Relations and New Organizational Models
Authors: Fuchs Manfred
Published: March 2007

The main effort set out in this article is to problematize that the newer organizational models, largely by introducing flexible employment relations and by radically dissolving the traditional boundaries of the firm, are losing their flexibilized workforce as a firm-specific source of success. Special attention is devoted to the linkage between the rise of flexible employment relations and the diminishing capability of newer organiza tional models to sustain firm-specific sources of competitive advantage. We argue that this decreasing capa bility is a consequence of the growing inability to retain a skilled and knowledgeable workforce. In the first part of the article we describe how the traditional organizational order is challenged. We then summarize the main structural deficiencies of the Fordist organization and argue that the newer organizational models do not offer a coherent solution to these problems. We continue to discuss the linkage between the consequences of the growing dissolution of standard employment and the decreasing capability of the newer organizational models to retain and reproduce the sources of their sustainability. We emphasize that the workforce increas ingly is a non-replicable and firm-specific source of sustainable advantage that cannot be easily imitated by competitors if retained within organizational boundaries.