bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Taiwan's Nationalistic Politics and Its Difficult 'Status Quo'
Authors: Chang Mau-Kuei Michael
Published: January 2018

Taiwan’s growing calls for independence have provoked China and heightened the risk of military conflict in the region. This paper addresses two issues: first, it seeks to provide a short historical overview of the development of Taiwanese nationalistic self-assertion; second, it questions the commonly held notion of keeping the ‘status quo’, which is in effect always changing and dynamic. The paper uses a historical-institutional framework for its interpretation. It explores the origin and rise of Taiwanese nationalism in its relationship to Taiwan’s past, and the changing geo-political contexts in which it is situated. It then analyses the importance of electoral institutions and the struggles to broaden poltical participation and legitimation. Several disparate sources of Taiwanese identity are also discussed, namely: (i) Taiwan as a frontier territory of the Manchu Empire, which was later colonized and modernized by the Japanese; (ii) the transformation of the ROC regime, its indigenization and grounding in Taiwan in the context of its long separation from China and its international isolation. This indigenization process has been gradually accomplished through electoral struggles and by revising the electoral system and the constitution.
The Fifth Plenary Session: A Note on Recent Policy Initiatives and China's 11th Five-Year Plan
Authors: Brødsgaard Kjeld Erik
Published: January 2018

n/a
Om fotografering og fotografi som forskningsstrategi i barndomsforskning
Authors: Rasmussen Kim
Published: January 2018

Employing photography and photos in research on childhood

This article deals with the question of whether the process of photography and its result the photo can contribute to empirical studies of childhood, and if so, what does this research strategy mean for both the researcher and the researched (the children). The article is based on two sources. The first is a pilot project in three parts of Den-mark in which children spontaneously took pictures of their daily lives (including family, friends, activities, institutions) for a week. The second is the use of photo-graphy in ethnographic research.
The children constructed a set of empirical material about their lives as lived in different social arenas in the photos as well as explanations of these in discussing them with the researcher. While the material is not sufficient to provide a conclusive answer to the questions raised in this article, it does provide material for serious reflection.
Rational Choice og socialt-normative aktørmotiver i arbejdslivet - en kritisk revision af den klassiske visdom
Authors: Scheuer Steen
Published: January 2018

Rational choice and social normative actor motives at work: a critical revision of received wisdom

This article challenges the received wisdom’ of human relations theory from Mayo to present day organization theory, and that of sociological theory in general that has regarded workers’ social motivations and social norms as being opposed to rational choice types of motivation. Through a critical re-reading of classical studies in indus-trial sociology (including the Hawthorne experiments by Roethlisberger and Dickson, the Luton studies by Gold-thorpe, Lockwood and colleagues and Burawoy’s Manu-facturing Consent), it is shown that workers on the floor shop in these studies had mixed motivations, that is, they applied social-normative motivations for only some of their actions. These social normative motivations diverged at times from rational choice motivation, but at other times converged with the workers’ rational choice motives.
The critical review of the literature shows that not only do workers have both types of motivation, but that they actively and reflectively choose between them in concrete situations, and that these choices are often based on a reasonable level of information. Modern organization theo-ry then throws the baby out with the bath water in its critique of rational choice actor motives. Rational choice and social normative motives supplement each other in understanding workers’ behaviour.
Den sociala kroppen som känslans boning - ett utkast till en teori om vårt emotionella jeg
Authors: Engdal Emma
Published: January 2018

The social body as the dwelling place of emotion: an outline of a theory of the emotional self

This article discusses a crucial problem for the sociology of the emotions: how to understand the constitution and disposition of emotion. This problem is explored first through three theoretical approaches, positivism, symbolic interactionism and social constructionism. Thereafter an alternative approach is presented, which makes a funda-mental distinction between drive (that is thirst, hunger, sex) as a biological phenomenon and emotion (for instance, shame, pride, happiness, grief) as a social phenomenon. It is argued that the latter has its origin in the social process of role taking’, in the sense suggested by G. H. Mead. In contrast to Mead, however, role taking is not only a cog-nitive (and normative) process, but also an emotional one. Language and an ability to think or reflect are acquired in this process, along with a social body and an ability to feel emotions (among other abilities). Hence, both a cognitive (normative) self and an emotional self have their origins in the social act. Following from this the article develops a critique of the dominant view of the social as something exclusively cognitive, and it is argued that the social per se is a multi-dimensional process.
Bagom talentbegrebet. En sociologisk analyse af forudsætninger for den excellente sportspræsentation
Authors: Pedersen Inge Kryger
Published: January 2018

Beyond the concept of talent: A sociological analysis of the path to achievement
of excellence in sport.

This article starts with an analysis of the concept of talent, because this concept is usually employed in such a way that talent itself is indistinguishable from its effect. This obstructs any rational analysis of the actual paths to achievement that are pursued in the field of sport. An alternative concept of talent is presented, that refers to a particular kind of praxis as well as to particular conditions that must be fulfilled in order to establish and maintain a career in the sphere of elite sport.
Both literature analyses and own interviews indicate that the achievement of excellence in sport is characterized by success in sustained employment and perfectionization of technique (both as regards the sport and as regards psychological techniques), by discipline in relation to all aspects of sports work (from training to arriving on time), and by attitude (training is not considered boring or mere-ly obligatory). It appears that there is nothing extra-ordinary or superhuman about the many minor acti-vities on the path to achievement of excellence. What produces the mundane state in which achievement of excellence occurs is that these activities are performed consistently and correctly under the right conditions.
Livsstil og energiforbruget - analyseret med bourdieusk optik
Authors: Kuehn Susanne
Published: January 2018

Lifestyle and energy use: as analysed with concepts from Bourdieu

This article focuses on the concept of lifestyle. This is a concept that is widely used in environment studies, but is often used as an empirical rather than theoretical con-cept. The article raises the question as to whether a sociological concept of lifestyle can provide newer insights about the relationship between lifestyle and energy use. The article develops a sociological concept of lifestyle based on the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu. In this framework lifestyle is closely related to the concepts of habitus, field and social space. The article shows how this framework is fruitful as it provides insights into the social processed and dynamics behind energy use. Energy use is here under-stood as salient, related to symbolic competition between different classes and fractions of classes and fundamental power relations. Furthermore the analyses focuses on the reproduction of habits and social struc-tures rather than rapidly changing social patterns, a perspective that often dominates lifestyle analyses.
Individualisering og institutionalisering - om individualiseringens betydning i et moderne demokratisk samfund
Authors: Larsen Øjvind
Published: January 2018

Individualisation and institutionalisation: The Significance of Individualisation in a
modern democratic society

In recent years modern sociology has discussed the increasing individualisation. However there is no consensus about how this individualisation should be understood. In this article, I present the thesis that individualisation is not a new phenomenon, but is rather a fundamental feature of modern society, as Hegel discussed maintained in his Philosophy of Law from 1821. Individualisation, as we witness it today should then be seen as the development of modern society, and it isn’t a problem in itself. But it becomes a problem when it cannot be institutionalised. Put in another manner, the problem arises when institutions are not adapted to individual development. In modern society the state has become plural, it can no longer maintain the sovereignty that it is given in Hegel’s philosophy. Institutions within the state such as the market and civil society can no longer be summarized within one framework. This means that there is no final instance that can secure individual?s continual self-reflection. The question then is if such a modernity can be normatively cohesive if there no longer is a final instance that can judge normative questions. Sociology must point out this question of the connection between individualisation and institutionalisation and the necessity of democratising institutions if modernity is to be a successful project.
Medarbejderinvolvering i ord og gerning - en kritisk diskursanalyse
Authors: Nørgård Dahl Poul
Published: January 2018

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Employee Involvement in Both Word and Deed

Discourse analysis deals with the use of language as social practice. The focus of analysis is on text, discursive practice as well as social practice. Its purpose is to show how social and cultural change takes place. Critical discourse analysis sees aspects of social practice as discur¬sive, that is, a practice in which written and oral manifestations are produced and interpreted. These texts are both constituted by and constituent for social practice. This dialectical approach ma¬kes discourse analysis particularly use¬ful for apprehending social changes. While this approach can help reach an understanding of the main discourse be¬hind the text itself, there are problems with the theoretical analysis of how dis¬course construes subjectivity and the meaning of body language for the dis¬course.
A discourse analytical review of orga-nization literature on employee involve¬ment and face to face communication re¬veals that employees are seen in the ab¬stract, they are objectivized, and are seen as harmony seeking, rational individuals without histories or biographies. To exemplify discourse analysis in face to face communication with employees, a videotaped conversation between a fac¬tory director and one of the production leaders is analyzed and reveals the domi¬¬nant discourse that characterizes the con¬versation and how the factory director places the problem on the production leader. Discourse analysis can provide a critical theoretical insight into employee involvement by for instance revealing the paradox that by making the employees into objects, they are supposed to become independent, responsible subjects. Hen¬ce it can be useful in contributing to un¬derstanding employee involvement.
Sociologiens problemer i en social verden uden grænser
Authors: Bertilsson Margareta
Published: January 2018

An unrestricted social world and the problem(s) of sociology

Sociology has been characterized as an embattled science all through its century-long history. Now, by the turn of the mil¬lennium it is still considered a controver¬sial science: contemporary discussions in the USA have made it clear that so¬ciology risks implosion from the inside either because it is evolving into a science of cultural differences mirroring the ma¬ny forms of contemporary moral redresses or else as an esoteric symbol system out of touch with social reality. The article starts out with surveying some such con¬temporary arguments, raised by socio¬logists and directed against the sociolo¬gical discipline in the 90´s.
Seen from within the system of the modern sciences, sociology is typically what has been called an “unrestricted” science. It harbours a wide variety of theo¬retical and methodological approaches without any real centre. Profound que¬stions have recently been raised if socio¬logy as a discipline is falling apart in various specialties with regard to sub¬stances, theories, and methods. Network arrangements among cognitive special¬ties threaten the classic disciplinary mo¬del of science today in general, and so¬ciology is especially threatened by such de-centring tendencies.
But the thrust of the argument in this article is to view the alleged dissolution of sociology in light of the wider theme of an eventual dissolution of the notion of the “social”. Could it be, by the end of the 20´s century, that our social world assumes different characteristics than those contained in the old framework of the nation-state. Many different notions of the term social are then listed aiming at the question if the term social itself is but a late historic construction, pertai¬ning in particular to the glue that was to hold the territorial state together. As a “resource” the social world is a precondi¬tion of human life, but as a “topic of dis¬course”, and a theme of sociology, em¬ployments of the term social need consi¬dering a future social world without de¬finite borders.
Due to the expansion not the least of mass technology, the social world has been transformed immensely. The expan¬sion process can be captured as a three¬fold process: individualization, contrac¬tualization, and mediatization. Whereas the old container theory stipulated a more or less unified model of the social, a new vision of the social requires us to accom¬modate to this overriding and threefold expansion process. However, these diffe¬rent processes may pull in different cog¬nitive directions - and the question will be raised in the end if the future of socio¬logy can find a “reflective equilibrium” and maintain its disciplinary bounda¬ries or if the discipline will dissolve as a consequence of the dissolution of its own subject-matter?
Sociologiens janushoved(er)
Authors: Allardt Erik
Published: January 2018

The Janus Face(s) of Sociology

There exists in sociology a continuous tension between a positivitic and herme¬neutic approach. Sociologists perform many activities in a similar manner as natural scientists do. They try to gather data about observable events in a syste¬matic and painstaking manner, and they try to discover regularities and invariant forms in social action and society. On the other hand sociologists are future¬-oriented and many of their theories and concepts are built on images of a world, that has never yet existed. Concepts such as democracy, the welfare state and eco¬nomic equilibrium are ideal images, ne¬ver fully attained. It is important in socio¬logy to work and generalise on observa¬ble data, but it is also important to reali¬se that there are no simple social facts. In societies and social life unpredictable events and situations will always occur. People have begun to see the world and also act in an entirely new way. This due to the open nature of social reality. It does not make social sciences obsolete, but it contains a warning against confident predictions of social tendencies.
The polarity and tension between an atomistic, individualist pole and a com¬munitarian, cultural pole is one of the deepest and most pervasive themes in modern thought. In the social sciences this polarity is represented in a dividing line between a structural and a cultural approach. There are good grounds for maintaining that most social phenome¬na can not be explained and understood properly unless both these two approa¬ches are used. The dichotomy between a structural and a cultural approach or a distinction between Gesellschaft and Ge¬meinschaft has been part of sociology for most of its life as a scientific discipline. The present global and social develop¬ments - globalization - have intensified this conflict between instrumental ra¬tionality and the need for communal and cultural identity. Consequently, it has al¬so led to growing efforts in combining the two approaches mentioned above either within sociology in the attempts of combining positivistic and hermeneu¬tic research traditions in addressing the social problems or in the efforts of socio¬logists forming creative and efficient net¬works between sociology and scholars from other disciplines. Both efforts are presently the fertile path in the social sciences but it makes it necessary to be very open to what is happening within other social and human sciences.
Automobilisering som mobilitetsparadigme - refleksioner over biler, bilister og deres spatiotemporaliteter
Authors: Beckmann Jörg
Published: January 2018

Automobilization as mobility paradigm. Reflections on cars, drivers and spatio-temporalities

This article attempts to provide a theoretical contribution to ‘traffic and mobility sociology’. The article discusses three central dimensions of automobilization. The first is automobilization’s spatio-temporal context. Automobilization has opened the urban structure and liberated the individual from its physical limitations, while it has created a more dangerous and spread out structure, which constantly forces both humans and commodities to keep moving. The second dimension is the subject of automobilization. While the car has liberated the modern individual from spatio-temporal structures, it has embedded its users into a more mobile life form. The third dimension is the vehicles themselves. Cars are surprisingly alike in their structure, however they take on human characteristics. The article argues that automobilization has become reflexive. Under reflexive automobilization almost all ‘autosubjects’ are engaged in defining, interpreting and responding to the car’s environmental threats, not necessarily in a self-critical fashion. Rather their responses often merely lead to a reproduction of traditional ‘auto-spaces’.
Om relationen mellem provokeret abort og familiedannelse
Authors: Knudsen Lisbeth B.
Published: January 2018

The relationship between induced abortion and family formation.

This article examines the relationship between induced abortion and family formation. It argues that the exis-tence of the possibility of induced abortion has contribut-ed to making family formation an issue of choice. The article examines the development of induced abortion in Denmark and makes certain comparisons with other European countries. The Danish legislation on induced abortion (within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy) was based on medical social and feminist arguments. Abortion was viewed as an alternative to other forms of prevention. In the 1990’s the arguments have changed; now induced abortion is to be considered the final resort after other forms of prevention failed. And too from previously viewing induced abortion in terms of women’s health or family wel-fare, the arguments now argue that abortion is a (potential) killing of a child and therefore should be avoid-ed. Since the Danish law went into effect in 1975, both the abortion rate and the absolute number of induced abor-tions has fallen. Danish statistics indicate that abortion and fertility development are not complementary, both fell until 1983, and since then the abortion rate has remained stable while the fertility rate has increased. European figures indicate that countries with a high age at birth of the first child, have a low rate of induced abortion, and that it is not just access to induced abortion that makes a low fertility level possible. Late family formation is not related to a high rate of abortion.
Perspektiv och perspektivförskjutningar inom nordisk
Authors: Allardt Erik
Published: January 2018

Paradigms and vicissitudes in the perspectives of 20th century Nordic sociology

Both as regards its own development and its cultural impact 20th century was an era of sociology. There was, however, in the central focuses considerable vicissitudes, clearly observable in the sociology of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The de-velopmental patterns can be divided into three periods: (1) an emphasis on evolution and evolutionary explanations of social behavior up to the First World War, (2) a during most of the century prevailing dominance of a sociology emphasizing socialization and societies as wholes with their social structure, normative rules and social func-tions, and (3) at the end of the century an emerging rise of a new view of social life with an accentuation of uncer-tainty, agency, and semiotic interpretation. The institu-tionalization of Nordic academic sociology occurred in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s.

Towards the end of this period reorientations and protests against the prevailing sociology began to emerge. The dominant research interests today may be summed up in the following four orientations:cultural sociology with an emphasis on semiotic constructions of reality, feminist studies with a special interest in gendered experiences of women, studies of the conditions of the Nordic welfare state, and historically oriented macro social science with a focus on large-scale both European and global trans-formations.
Nationel identitet i globaliseringenstid
Authors: Gundelach Peter
Published: January 2018

National Identity in Times of Globalisation

Theories of globalisation and individualisation argue that the role of the nation state is diminishing and that consequently national identity is losing importance for the individual. Based on general observations and surveys, this article suggests that national identity is still very important – at least in Denmark. Survey data for Denmark, for instance, shows that national pride has increased during the last 20 years. The Danish population also seems to have a high level of chauvinistic attitudes. The national identity is a taken for granted “banal” nationalism that has developed over more than 100 years. This type of national identity is maintained through symbols and societal institutions, and is integrated in the individual’s worldview.

National identities consist of boundary maintenance as well as “cultural stuff”. Boundary maintenance in Denmark is especially strong when compared to Sweden, but Danes also seem to have generally positive sentiments towards the populations in Norway and Sweden. Thus they express a sort of vague fee-ling of Scandinavian identity. Recent attempts at creating a regional identity from above by the European Union have not proven successful, and are not likely to succeed in the near future. Local identity is becoming more important to most Danes.
Videnskabelighed i et cyborg-perspektiv - TV-programmet Big Brother som videnskabeligt eksperiment
Authors: Jensen Casper Bruun , Lauritsen Peter
Published: January 2018

Scientificity in a cyborg-approach

By what criteria can it be decided whether a statement is scientific or not? Some scholars stress the objectivity of the statement, whereas subjective dimensions of the scientific activity are viewed as bias ideally to be removed. Others abandon the notion of objectivity as the ideal of research, and view scientific authority as an instrument of power. The purpose of this article is to establish a perspective on sociological scientificity, which is not dependent on these dichotomous positions. Following Donna Haraway, we call this approach a ‘cyborg-approach’. We claim it has the potential to redefine the problem of scientificity without undermining it. Impor-tantly, the cyborg-approach dissolves several deeply imbedded modern dichotomies, not least the radical divide between the human and the technological. Dissolving these implies reconsidering the notions of objectivity and scientificity anew. From a cyborg-perspective scientificity can be reached by the construction of ‘partial connec-tions’ with the investigated. To illustrate this approach we draw on a discussion of the TV-show Big Brother.
Institutionsanalyse og biogrfisk metode
Authors: Rasmussen Kim , Smidt Søren
Published: January 2018

Institutional Analysis and Biographical Method

During the last 20 years most young danish children are into day-care institutions already at the age of 1-2 year. Children spend a lot of time in institutions and perciece many importent impressions and experiences by their institutional life. Although this is a fact, we until now have almost very little knowledge about the traces of childrens institutionalized lifes.
The research project “Traces of Childrens Institutional Life! - a project belonging to the new sociological childhood research with it’s focus on children as social actors and it’s intention to let children participate as informants, gather informations about the institutional life from 46 young people between 16-24 years. The open question put forward to the participants was: What do you remember from your life in day-care institutions? The project used a triangel of methods: the young people wrote down in narratives their recollections and expiriences, afterwards they were interviewed, and 10 of the young people reviewed their old day-care institution while guiding the researchers around and telling about their memories.
Those biographical inspired methods has been useful in this kind of institutional analysis. The biographical method bring us both importent informations about each single individual as well as important informations about the day-care institution, when the empirical material from each of the participants is brought together in a way which makes it possible to observe patterns and tendencies in it. The methods makes it possible too, representing the children as creative actors not passive victims. The methods support the childs view and expirience innate the young peoples accounts - but at the expence of the professionals. If empirical reseach in the future must investigate long time lasting traces of day-care institutions or other related institutions, we will recommand a triple method like the one used in this study.
Metodologiska val i studien av biografiskt material - metodologiska val och deras epistemologiska konsekvenser i studien av biografiskt material
Authors: May Vanessa
Published: January 2018

Epistemological Questions Concerning the Study of Biographical. Material: The Consequences
of Choise of Methodology

Using my own research on written life stories of Finnish lone mothers as a case study, this paper examines the consequences of choice of methodology when using biographical material as data. I focus on two methodo-logical alternatives: analysing biographical material as documents of preceding events, or as meaning-making con-structs. Treating biographical material as a gateway into studying events in people’s lives reduces the heuristic value of the material, and consequently questions of truth and reliability become problematic. Nevertheless, this still seems to be the preferred methodological alternative of many sociologists. If biographical material is analysed for its own sake, focussing on the creation of meaning through story-telling, the above-mentioned problems of truth and reliability diminish considerably. Using research on lone motherhood as an example, I ex-plore arguments for the use of narrative analysis, examining what it has to offer methodologically, theoreti-cally and conceptually.
Kronisk sygdom som biografisk hændelse - et studie af bypassopererede kronisk hjertesyge menneskers biografiske arbejde
Authors: Antoft Rasmus
Published: January 2018

Chronic illness as biographical occurrence – a study on bypass operated individuals and

their biographical work.

The primary focus of this article is on bypass operated chronically ill peoples attempt to re-establish their biographical work, their everyday life. The everyday life experiences based on routines and obviousness are subjugated by the chronicle illness influence on the life narrative, its future character and the way in which it affects the shaping of identity, the biographical work. Two different themes are central in individual’s narratives about their everyday life with a chronic heart disease. These themes concern their self-presentation in inter-action with others and their anxiety directed at the future life with the illness, with the anxiety of death. This study shows that every bypass operated and chronically ill participant have experienced difficulties in reshaping their normal biographical work. Their ability to regain social action as part of the biographical work and their shaping of self-identity, has been altered significantly. In various situations this leads to potential stigmatisation, but also to a lack of acceptance in the role-playing of a chronic ill, be that in interaction with strangers or intimate social relations. This causes identity dilemmas, paradoxes in self-presentation and, as a consequence, self-deception in everyday life. The existential problem of anxiety and its subjugating character in the lifeplaning and biographical work is to be explained by the risk of reoccurrence of the heart disease, and by the latency of the possible terminal nature of the disease. The nature of the illness ruptures routines and the predictability of everyday life, thus manifesting itself in key situations of everyday life. In addition to this, the anxiety generates a lack of ability to act actively, that is, the individuals ability actively shape its lifeplaning and its biographical work.
Kvinders islamiske aktivisme i et transnationalt perspektiv
Authors: Christiansen Connie Carøe
Published: January 2018

Women’s Islamic activities in a transnational perspective
This article discusses the potential of Islamic activism to assist in the integration of immigrant Muslims in Europe. Islamic activism is conceived as a social space of trans-national activity, for instance connecting Moroccan immigrants in Denmark with their homeland. The discussion is based on material from Fes, Morocco and Copenhagen, Denmark. The development of “transnationalism from below” takes place in the micro-dynamics of migrants’ social practices, and reaches beyond national borders. Instruction in the Quran, which Moroccan work migrants received in their childhood, is reactivated in Copenhagen when their daughters take up Quran study. These daughters organize religious instruction according to centuries’ old principles from Morocco and the Middle East. In Fes, Islamist activist women are preoccupied with promoting social reform among their fellow Muslims. In Copenhagen they are engaged in activities that aim to integrate immigrant women into Danish society. In both countries, however, Islamist women strive to teach other Muslim women how to practice and understand their religion. In Copenhagen, teaching iqh (Muslim jurisprudence) assists the new Muslim population to articulate a Muslim standpoint in their new homeland. The article challenges the assumption that maintenance of connections to the country of emigration necessarily delays integration in the new homeland. It claims that Islamic activism constitutes a step towards the formation of a local Muslim identity.
Det økonomiske felt
Authors: Bourdieu Pierre
Published: January 2018

Pierre Bordieu: The Economic Field

The aim of this article is to construct an economic theory that is close to the practical logic of the agents. Bourdieu’s concept of habitus allows one to replace the rational agent of economic theory with a more realistic account of economic practice. This article contributes to restoring economics to its true nature as an historical science by giving economic theory an anthropological foundation. To do so requires that the market be regarded as a social and historical construction, i.e. as a field of forces, in which a specific struggle takes place. The structure of the economic field is defined by the distribution of different forms of capital, and economic strategies are circumscribed by this structure. As a site of struggle or competition in which prices are used as weapons in company strategies, the economic field is highly dynamic. Technological capital often plays an important role in the subversion of the established hierarchies, especially when innovation results in redefinition of the borders between fields. However, companies are fields in themselves, i.e. sites for internal struggles, which contribute to their strategies. And too, a company’s strategies depend on the relation between its position in the field of production and the position of its clients in social space.
Implicit religion som sociologisk fænomen
Authors: Riis Ole
Published: January 2018

Ole Riis: Implicit religion as a sociological phenomenon

The article focuses on ‘implicit’ religion, which is a term employed for forms of manifestation that are not part of the official, institutionalized definition of religiosity. The article has two purposes. The first is to delimit the sphere of themes in implicit religion and structure a sociological approach to it. The second is to explore the fruitfulness of this approach for sociology. The article explores how implicit religion can be studied at the societal, organizational and individual levels, as popular religion, civil religion and as privatized religion. It shows how a study of implicit religion adds new dimensions and nuances to the study of encounters between the secularized majority in Denmark and the large Muslim minority.
Multikulturalismernes kønsblinde øje. Mangfoldighedsudfordringer og kønsligestilling
Authors: Mørck Yvonne
Published: January 2018

Yvonne Mørch: The Gender Blind Eye of Multiculturalisms. The challenges of diversity and gender equality.

The article discusses the tension between different types of rights/rights of recognition as well as different forms of solidarity. The analysis takes its starting point in a question posed by Susan Okin: Is multiculturalism bad for women? The focus, then, is on the relationship between gender equality and the new multicultural challenges. The author stresses the importance of gender sensitivity when negotiating and developing different kinds of multiculturalisms. The aim of the article is to contribute to the development of better analytical tools to be used in our understanding of different processes of transformation

taking place in a globalized world.
Den diskursive distribution af struktur og agens
Authors: Jørgensen Marianne Winther
Published: January 2018

Marianne Winther Jørgensen: The discursive distribution of structure and agency. An ana-lysis of subject positions in the human sciences

One of the central issues in sociology is the relation between structure and agency. While there have been many discussions and proposals about the relationship between them, none has been accepted as a final answer. This article explores that issue employing Foucault’s diagnosis of modern man, and suggests that the question of structure and agency is posed in a way that precludes such an answer. This does not, however, render all discussion obsolete, but rather leaves space for a perspective on the discursive construction and distribution of structure and agency. Two texts are examined, one by Bourdieu and one by Tyler. Both have a similar objective – employing texts in a way to further agency, but these authors see their own role differently. Bourdieu gives himself and science a privileged position as regards access to knowledge, while Tyler sees structures as agents and himself as deliverer, that is, spokesperson for an inevitable development. The author proposes conceiving agency as an “empty form“ and argues that there is a need for agency in order to discuss responsibility and to localize potential for change.
Præsidenter kunne være anderledes
Authors: Horsbøl Anders
Published: January 2018

Anders Horsbøl: Presidents can be different. Outline of a discourse analytical study of public opinion formation

The purpose of this article is to link discourse analysis and theories of public space in order to investigate the formation of public opinion in the mass media. In this regard discourse analysis is understood a neither a fixed method nor a universal theory of the social, but as a per se interdisciplinary approach that needs to be articulated with knowledge systems in specific studies. The article employs the concept of public sphere as developed and rethought by Habermas and a Luhman-style approach to help conceptualise central features of the political and mediated public space in modern complex societies. This conceptualisation leads to a number of rearticulations of discourse analysis as a perspective on formation of public opinion, resulting in a focus on interdiscursivity, reflexivity and recontextualisation. A case study of the Austrian media at the time of the presidential election in 1998 serves as a point of reference and is analysed in order to illustrate how the approach can be applied.
Dansk kvindehåndbold i medierne: Fra "jernhårde ladies" til småpiger
Authors: Agergaard Sine
Published: January 2018

Sine Agergaard: Danish women’s handball and the media: from iron ladies to little girls

The media have been interested in the Danish national women’s handball team since the beginning of the 1990s because the team has brought back international victories. However, an analysis of the two latest international sports events in women’s handball reveals a shift in the depiction of the Danish national team. At the European championships (Euro 2002), the media constructed a strong national sentiment that helped to support the Danish handball ladies, while at the World Cup in 2003, the same media produced ironical reports about the physically andmentally weak Danish handball girls. Using Wuthnow’s and Zeuner’s studies of the written, spoken and ritual contributions to discourses, this analysis compares one Danish newspaper’s and one TV-channel’s depiction of the two international sports events. In the first event, the media constructed a national community of discourse with written and spoken reports from Euro 2002 as a ritual course of events for the Danish handball ladies. In the second event, the media produced different national, physiological and psychological discourses to explain the defeated girls. The article also discusses the media’s tendency to focus on gender stereotypes when discussing top female athletes, such as masculine strength or feminine weakness instead of gender variety.
Byen, magten og netværket: en ny bysociologis læsninger af de urbane interventioners repræsentationelle logik
Authors: Jensen Ole B.
Published: January 2018

Ole B. Jensen: The city: power and network. A new urban sociology’s reading of the representational logic of urban interventions

This article presents an analytical framework for revitalising the field of urban sociology. It draws on two forms of discussion within sociology. On the one hand, there is the contemporary discussion among sociologists such as Sassen and Castells. On the other hand, the framework involves an understanding of social practices as spatial and material, as well as being embedded in cultural and normative contexts of meaning. Thus by applying a general frame for understanding social action as both spatial and symbolic practices, the article suggests that we can gain a better understanding of how particular interventions in urban space are embedded in a network of representations, institutions and agents, as well as how they reflect a particular power and rationality configuration. The analytical framework is tentatively applied on the empirical case of the urban harbour front development in Aalborg, Denmark.
Tekst- og diskursanalyse som sociologisk fremgangsmåde
Authors: Kjerulf Petersen Lars
Published: January 2018

Text and discourse analyses as sociological pratice

Text analysis must be regarded as a central component in sociological inquiry. Relations of power and domination and societal processes as such are establi¬shed and maintained through knowled¬¬ge and communication, i.e. through texts. Therefore sociology should be in¬terested in identifying the knowledge and the meanings, i.e. the discourses, that are prevalent in a society, a commu¬nity or various organisations – and in the texts of such social organisms. The purpose of this article is to argue that the identification of societal discourses, and thereby the production of sociolo¬gical insight, can be very profitably con¬ducted through text analysis. First the concept of discourse is clarified. With reference to Ricoeur and Foucault dis¬course is understood as a system of meaning and knowledge, a system that is in motion and works in multiple ways, but still has some sort of coheren¬ce. To identify discourses in a group of texts, different techniques can be appli¬ed focusing on various aspects of text structure. Through such techniques the interpretation of texts can be qualified, and a maximum of accordance between the sociological analysis and the wor¬kings in and of a text can be approa¬ched. Texts are elements in signification processes involving senders and recei¬vers and their (re)construction of mean¬ing. While it is very important to consi¬der the context of texts, there is no point in privileging the reception in significa¬tion processes when identifying mean¬ing. The only accessible trace of the sig¬nification process, i.e. the text itself, might just as well be the focus of attention.
Individual Differences Versus Consumer Readiness Variables Predictive Power Over Internet Banking Adoption in South Africa
Authors: C. Aguidissou O. , Shambare Richard , R. Rugimbana
Published: January 2018

Self-service banking technology is gaining recognition globally in spite of its numerous challenges. Debit cards, ATMs and other Self Service Technologies (SSTs) are well received in South African market; however, customers seem cynical about Internet Banking (IB). IB consumerâ€™s adoption patterns frameworks are tested within this paper based on a framework providing for the South African market with the best explanatory power. Thus, investigating consumer readiness (CR) and individual differences (IDs) variables as common groupings usually cited in the literature consumer variables predictive efficacy, provide better understanding of the consumers towards SSTs in South Africa.CR comprises role clarity, ability and motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic), while IDs includes inertia, technology anxiety, need of interaction, previous experience and demographics. This study purposes to identify among IDs and CR variables, which one with greater predictive power on IB adoption in South Africa.Considering this gap within the body of knowledge, in relation with IB adoption behaviour among the South African consumer is therefore the present article primary objective. Consumerâ€™s individual differences (technology anxiety and education variables specifically) as exogenous variables, through a large sample size (n=1516), descriptive quantitative analysis, were found in context of South African market with greatest predictive power for IB adoption by comparison over consumer readiness. In South Africa particularly for marketers, these findings therefore are a set of relevant keys that can be useful in promoting IB adoption.
Strategic Planning and Performance of Nigerian SMEs: The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Characteristics
Authors: G. Makinde Olubisi , U. Asikhia Olalekan
Published: January 2018

Studies that considered the moderating effect of entrepreneurial characteristics on the relationship between strategic planning and performance of SMEs are few. This research is aimed at investigating the relationship between strategic planning and SME performance while also considering the moderating effect of entrepreneurial characteristics on the relationship between these two variables. The study employed the use of survey research design using the owners/managers of 4,535 SMEs registered with SMEDAN as the target population.  Correlation analysis was used to establish the extent of the relationship between strategic planning and performance of SMEs while hierarchical regression analysis was used to establish the moderating effect of entrepreneur characteristics on the relationship. Findings showed that there exist a statistically significant positive relationship between strategic planning and performance of SMEs in Lagos State, the study also indicated that entrepreneurial characteristics significantly moderates the relationship between strategic planning and performance of SMEs. The study concluded that entrepreneurial characteristics being exhibited influenced the performance of the business. Policy implications and recommendations were made.
A Theoretical Model to Measure Managerial and Leadership Competence of Business School Managers
Authors: Shaikh A. , Bisschoff C. A. , Botha C. J.
Published: January 2018

A theoretical model to measure managerial competence was developed by evaluating two previous models with similar aims. In addition to the original eight management competencies, another eight competencies were identified and applied to determine the management competencies needed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution with its fast-changing business environment. The article narrows down eleven management competencies and develops measuring criteria for each; in total 42 criteria. The eleven business competencies are leading change, cultural intelligence, team building, conflict management, communication skills, a global leader mindset, emotional intelligence, career awareness, personal value system, and external and ethical influences. The model is a theoretical model and presents management competencies relevant to the modern business environment. The value of this study resides in a strong theoretical basis for postmodern business environmental skills that managers need to maintain completeness of their organizations as well as providing a sound point of departure for other researchers of managerial competence.
The Effect of Government Support on the Success of Small and Medium Enterprises: A Comparative Study between South Africa and China
Authors: M Rankhumise E , H Masilo K
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this article is to present evidence of a study conducted in two provinces of South Africa and one in China. The study investigated the effectiveness of the support mechanism for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how government support agencies are making strides in providing this support. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with branch managers, a project director and business advisors. It emerged from the findings that efforts are being made to provide valuable support to small businesses. It further emerged that small businesses still face challenges such as lack of access to funding, market to serve, lack of a one-stop office and the unwillingness of service providers to enter into contract with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (more relevant to the South African situation).It is recommended that financial service providers partner with SME support agencies.