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Association Football: A Study in Figurational Sociology (Routledge Research in Sports History)

This book presents a synthesis of the work on early football undertaken by the authors over the past two decades. It explores aspects of a figurational approach to sociology to examine the early development of football rules in the middle part of the nineteenth century. The book tests Dunning’s status rivalry hypothesis to contest Harvey’s view of football’s development which stresses an influential sub-culture outside the public schools. Status Rivalry re-states the primacy of these latter institutions in the growth of football and without it the sport’s story would remain skewed and unbalanced for future generations.

Associative Democracy and the Crises of Representative Democracies (Critiques and Alternatives to Capitalism)

The familiar problems of democratic capitalism have given way to a deep crisis challenging the basic forms of governance introduced around the late 18th century and then gradually expanded and developed until the late 20th century. Associative Democracy and the Crises of Representative Democracies argues that we are in urgent need of normative guidelines and a strong understanding of a broad range of institutional options and innovative experiments in associative democracy in order to address the structural problems that existing institutional arrangements are confronted with whilst maintaining and strengthening democratic forms of government and governance. The argument is developed against the background of a thorough survey of empirical social scientific studies on the crises of capitalisms and representative democracies. This book focuses primarily on democratic alternatives, though it also works out principles and institutions of democratic socialism as alternatives to capitalism. After introducing the theoretical approach, the book illustrates the ways this framework of analysis can be of use, with particular focus on three issues that are highly topical when it comes to the challenges our institutions are confronted with: democratic governance in relation to ecological crises and uncertainty; the threats to democracy raised by the crisis of political parties and representative party-democracy, and the challenges related to privatization and marketization of public services, particularly in healthcare. The book concludes by exploring opportunities to democratize the economy, locating viable alternatives to capitalism in the tradition of democratic socialism. This urgent and thought-provoking book will be of great interest to academics and students in various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, including political science, sociology, and economics.

Associative Democracy and the Crises of Representative Democracies (Critiques and Alternatives to Capitalism)

The familiar problems of democratic capitalism have given way to a deep crisis challenging the basic forms of governance introduced around the late 18th century and then gradually expanded and developed until the late 20th century. Associative Democracy and the Crises of Representative Democracies argues that we are in urgent need of normative guidelines and a strong understanding of a broad range of institutional options and innovative experiments in associative democracy in order to address the structural problems that existing institutional arrangements are confronted with whilst maintaining and strengthening democratic forms of government and governance. The argument is developed against the background of a thorough survey of empirical social scientific studies on the crises of capitalisms and representative democracies. This book focuses primarily on democratic alternatives, though it also works out principles and institutions of democratic socialism as alternatives to capitalism. After introducing the theoretical approach, the book illustrates the ways this framework of analysis can be of use, with particular focus on three issues that are highly topical when it comes to the challenges our institutions are confronted with: democratic governance in relation to ecological crises and uncertainty; the threats to democracy raised by the crisis of political parties and representative party-democracy, and the challenges related to privatization and marketization of public services, particularly in healthcare. The book concludes by exploring opportunities to democratize the economy, locating viable alternatives to capitalism in the tradition of democratic socialism. This urgent and thought-provoking book will be of great interest to academics and students in various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, including political science, sociology, and economics.

The Associative Economy: Insights beyond the Welfare State and into Post-Capitalism

Are Welfare States in crisis? Forty years after Gunnar Myrdal's seminal Beyond the Welfare State it is still little grasped in the 'reform' debate that the whole structure and economies of our societies are being transformed. This book reasserts the importance of a new employment and productive model - that of the 'associative economy' - which integrates social solidarity with economic planning.

Assumptions of Social Psychology: A Reexamination

This book is a thorough revision of the successful Assumptions of Social Psychology, first published in 1969. Reexamining the implicit and explicit assumptions concerning inquiry as to the nature of the human organism, it takes as its major thesis the idea that the epistemologies utilized by social psychologists -- encompassing behavioral, intentional, and historical analyses -- are complementary rather than contradictory. After examining key figures in the history of Western epistemology, such as Descartes, Vico, Hume, and Kant, contemporary issues such as the nature of causation, intentions, behavior, rhetoric, and hermeneutics are discussed. A major thesis is that the epistemologies utilized by social scientists encompassing behavioral, cognitive, and historical analyses are complimentary rather than contradictory. In order to demonstrate this, the historical underpinnings of social psychological epistemologies and an argument for the complimentarity of major social psychological theoretical approaches are developed. Most importantly, some of the possibilities for building explanation of social phenomena, which are alternatives to existing forms of explanation, are discussed.

Assumptions of Social Psychology: A Reexamination

This book is a thorough revision of the successful Assumptions of Social Psychology, first published in 1969. Reexamining the implicit and explicit assumptions concerning inquiry as to the nature of the human organism, it takes as its major thesis the idea that the epistemologies utilized by social psychologists -- encompassing behavioral, intentional, and historical analyses -- are complementary rather than contradictory. After examining key figures in the history of Western epistemology, such as Descartes, Vico, Hume, and Kant, contemporary issues such as the nature of causation, intentions, behavior, rhetoric, and hermeneutics are discussed. A major thesis is that the epistemologies utilized by social scientists encompassing behavioral, cognitive, and historical analyses are complimentary rather than contradictory. In order to demonstrate this, the historical underpinnings of social psychological epistemologies and an argument for the complimentarity of major social psychological theoretical approaches are developed. Most importantly, some of the possibilities for building explanation of social phenomena, which are alternatives to existing forms of explanation, are discussed.

Ästhetik des Angenehmen: Städtische Freiräume zwischen professioneller Ästhetik und Laiengeschmack

Architekten haben andere ästhetische Vorstellungen als Laien. Zudem täuschen sie sich auch über den Laiengeschmack und dies umso mehr, je weiter ihre professionellen ästhetischen Vorstellungen vom Laiengeschmack abweichen. Diese Diskrepanz zwischen professioneller Ästhetik und dem Laiengeschmack ist Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung. Es soll also einerseits herausgearbeitet werden, welche ästhetischen Ansprüche die Bevölkerung an städtische Freiräume hat, andererseits inwieweit und worin sich diese von der professionellen Ästhetik der Landschaftsarchitekten unterscheiden. Die These ist, dass diese Unterschiede gerade in den letzten Jahrzehnten eher größer geworden sind.

Ästhetik und Organisation: Ästhetisierung und Inszenierung von Organisation, Arbeit und Management (Organisation und Gesellschaft)

Die Beiträge des Bandes diskutieren die Ästhetisierung und Inszenierung von Arbeit, Organisation und Management im Kontext der Diagnose eines ästhetischen Kapitalismus, einer fortschreitenden Kulturalisierung der Ökonomie und des Aufstiegs kreativer, immaterieller und ästhetischer Arbeit. Unternehmen, Arbeitsprozesse, Produkte und Dienstleistungen geraten zunehmend in den Fokus ästhetischer Gestaltung – es geht um Aussehen, Ausstrahlung, Glanz und Atmosphäre. Der Band thematisiert dabei auch problematische Effekte einer Ökonomisierung des Ästhetischen und einer Ästhetisierung der Ökonomie und erschließt somit neue Perspektiven für eine kritische Organisationsforschung.

Ästhetiken in Kindheit und Jugend: Sozialisation im Spannungsfeld von Kreativität, Konsum und Distinktion (Edition Kulturwissenschaft #100)

In Kindheit und Jugend ist eine Auseinandersetzung mit ästhetischen Darstellungs- und Wahrnehmungsweisen hochgradig relevant. Die Bedeutsamkeit ästhetischer Positionierungen - etwa durch die Wahl der Kleidung oder Accessoires, durch Make-up oder technische Geräte - kann einerseits als Anzeichen einer sehr erfolgreichen Kommerzialisierung von Kindheit und Jugend gedeutet werden. Andererseits zeugt sie aber auch von einem Gespür, mit dem sich Kinder und Jugendliche die Alltagswelt, in der sie leben, zu eigen machen. Um die sozialen Verhältnisse von Ästhetiken, Ökonomien und Generationenbeziehungen in den Blick zu nehmen, versammelt dieser interdisziplinäre Band Forschungsperspektiven zu Alltagsästhetiken in Kindheit und Jugend.

Ästhetische Praxis (Kunst und Gesellschaft)

Die bis in unsere Gegenwart hineinreichende Gewissheit, dass es sich bei ästhetischer Praxis um die Praxis von Künstlern und die Wahrnehmung von Kunst durch ein Publikum handeln müsse, ist brüchig geworden. Eine Reihe von Indizien legen den Schluss nahe, dass der Bereich ästhetischer Praktiken und das Kunstfeld in der Gesellschaft eine nur noch partiale Deckung aufweisen. Beispiele für ästhetische Praktiken finden sich in der Mode, der Werbung und dem Design ebenso wie in den neuen Medien sowie in der Musik- und Videospielindustrie. Aber auch Kosmetik-Ketten und Parfümerien, Schönheitschirurgen, Tätowierungsshops, Büros für Inneneinrichtung- und Landschaftsarchitektur, Blumenläden sowie Wellnessbetriebe annoncieren ihre Produkte und Dienstleistungen als ästhetisch. Angesichts des sowohl rasant steigenden Gebrauchs des Adjektivs „ästhetisch“ in der alltäglichen Lebenspraxis als auch des vermehrten wissenschaftlichen Bedürfnisses, das „Ästhetische“ an (bis dato) unverdächtigen Stellen in der Gesellschaft nachzuweisen, sind die Beiträge dieses Bandes entlang einer Leitfragestellung organisiert: Soll man das verstärkte Aufkommen ästhetischer Praktiken in der Gesellschaft in einer eher kulturwissenschaftlichen und -soziologischen Perspektive verstehen und also als eine „Selbstentgrenzung der Künste“? Oder zieht man dazu besser eine zwar nur äußerst selten gebrauchte, nichtsdestotrotz ebenso einprägsame wie aufschlussreiche Formel Adornos heran und begreift die Ästhetisierung der Gesellschaft als eine „Entkunstung der Kunst“?

Ästhetischer Widerstand gegen Zerstörung und Selbstzerstörung (Kunst und Gesellschaft)

In verschiedenen Beiträgen dieses Bandes wird soziologisch und ästhetisch, kunst- und literaturwissenschaftlich erörtert, wie aus ästhetischen Erfahrungen Widerstandskraft gegen Zerstörung und Selbstzerstörung entwickelt wird. Es wird gezeigt, dass Kunst und Gesellschaft nicht ohne ästhetischen Widerstand zu machen sind. Dieser äußert sich nicht nur in der Produktion und in der Rezeption von Kunst, sondern auch in vielfältigen Praxen der Lebenswelt. Welche Rolle spielt ästhetische Erfahrung heute für die Fragen des guten Lebens und wie ist Ästhetik mit dem Leben selbst verbunden? Wie kann das Verhältnis von Ethik und Ästhetik heute gesellschaftlich und politisch gedacht und vermittelt werden? Und vor allem: Wie kann der Destruktionsdynamik als Sucht und Sog gesellschaftlicher Selbstzerstörung durch ästhetischen Widerstand wirksam Einhalt geboten werden?

Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today (SpringerBriefs in Astronomy)

This White Paper describes the state of astrobiology in Europe today and its relation to the European society at large. With contributions from authors in twenty countries and over thirty scientific institutions worldwide, the document illustrates the societal implications of astrobiology and the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to European society. The White paper has two main objectives: 1. It recommends the establishment of a European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) as an answer to a series of challenges relating to astrobiology but also European research, education and the society at large. 2. It also acknowledges the societal implications of astrobiology, and thus the role of the social sciences and humanities in optimizing the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to the lives of the people of Europe and the challenges they face.This book is recommended reading for science policy makers, the interested public, and the astrobiology community.

Astrobiology, History, and Society: Life Beyond Earth and the Impact of Discovery (Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics)

This book addresses important current and historical topics in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth, including the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The first section covers the plurality of worlds debate from antiquity through the nineteenth century, while section two covers the extraterrestrial life debate from the twentieth century to the present. The final section examines the societal impact of discovering life beyond Earth, including both cultural and religious dimensions. Throughout the book, authors draw links between their own chapters and those of other contributors, emphasizing the interconnections between the various strands of the history and societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life.The chapters are all written by internationally recognized experts and are carefully edited by Douglas Vakoch, professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute.This interdisciplinary book will benefit everybody trying to understand the meaning of astrobiology and SETI for our human society.

Astrology in India: A Sociological Inquiry

This book critically examines the larger world of astrology in India, its ubiquity and relationship with religion, caste, gender, class and aspirations. It looks at astrology through an empirical and phenomenological lens, analyzing different meanings and questions associated with it. How do people see astrology—as magic, science, religion, or a knowledge system? The volume analyses the role of astrology in religious and social ceremonies; the interplay of faith and fear; beliefs, practices, mysticism, and skepticism in middle-class households; and gendered negotiations in everyday life. It also delves into how astrology has emerged as a livelihood and an industry, the continued fascination with it even in an era of technological advancement, and its domination of the vernacular media. Insightful and highly comprehensive, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of sociology, political sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies and urban Sociology.

Astrology in India: A Sociological Inquiry

This book critically examines the larger world of astrology in India, its ubiquity and relationship with religion, caste, gender, class and aspirations. It looks at astrology through an empirical and phenomenological lens, analyzing different meanings and questions associated with it. How do people see astrology—as magic, science, religion, or a knowledge system? The volume analyses the role of astrology in religious and social ceremonies; the interplay of faith and fear; beliefs, practices, mysticism, and skepticism in middle-class households; and gendered negotiations in everyday life. It also delves into how astrology has emerged as a livelihood and an industry, the continued fascination with it even in an era of technological advancement, and its domination of the vernacular media. Insightful and highly comprehensive, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of sociology, political sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies and urban Sociology.

Astrology in the Workplace: The Zodiac Guide to Creating Great Working Relationships

Have you ever wondered what makes your work colleagues tick? Is your boss a firebrand, a visionary or someone you can always turn to? Are your colleagues creative or intensely practical? World-renowned astrologer, Penny Thornton, stresses the huge influence that zodiac signs have on your working relationships. Discover how to work best with your colleagues or put project teams together: will a feisty Scorpio work well with a pragmatic Taurean, or will an energetic Capricorn lock horns with dogmatic Leo? This book includes: • A guide to each element-fire, earth, air and water • An insight into the curriculum vitae of each sign, their strengths and weaknesses • What each sign is like as a boss and a worker • The best careers for each sign • Tables showing how well each sign relates to other zodiac signs Astrology in the Workplace is an insightful guide full of great advice to improve your working relationships.

Astroturf: Eine neue Lobbyingstrategie in Deutschland?

Asyl als Anspruch?: Der Alltag des Rechts und Rechte im Alltag von Asylsuchenden (Gesellschaft der Unterschiede #78)

Inwiefern fordern Asylsuchende (Menschen-)Rechte ein? Können in einem allumfassend rechtlich regulierten und von Unsicherheit geprägten Alltag überhaupt Ansprüche gestellt werden? Lässt die Asylpraxis Raum für Subjektpositionen abseits von Opferschaft? Andrea Fritsche nähert sich dem (Asyl-)Recht aus alltagssoziologischer Perspektive und fokussiert Asylsuchende als handelnde Subjekte und Rechteinhaber*innen. Dabei zeichnet sie Bedeutungen von Recht und Rechten in der österreichischen Asylwirklichkeit nach und schafft ein Verständnis für die Folgen rechtlicher, politischer und gesellschaftlicher Praktiken, die die Gewährleistung von Rechten an Dankbarkeit, Leistung und Anpassung koppeln.

Asyl verwalten: Zur bürokratischen Bearbeitung eines gesellschaftlichen Problems (Kultur und soziale Praxis)

Wie gehen Verwaltungsbehörden mit den oftmals komplexen und eigensinnigen Geschichten von Flucht und Asyl um, wie wird daraus ein »Fall« und wie entsteht eine Entscheidung? Im Kontext europäischer Koordinierungsversuche sind solche Fragen nicht nur von wissenschaftlicher, sondern auch von gesellschaftlicher und politischer Relevanz. Dieser Band trägt zu einem besseren Verständnis der Strukturen und Veränderungen lokaler Verwaltungspraxis in einem hoch brisanten, umkämpften und folgenreichen Handlungsbereich bei. Er versammelt Beiträge, die sich aus soziologischer, sozialanthropologischer und politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive mit behördlichem Handeln an unterschiedlichen Orten Europas befassen.

Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives (Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies)

Drawing on new research material from ten European countries, Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives brings together a range of detailed accounts of the legal and bureaucratic processes by which asylum claims are decided. The book includes a legal overview of European asylum determination procedures, followed by sections on the diverse actors involved, the means by which they communicate, and the ways in which they make life and death decisions on a daily basis. It offers a contextually rich account that moves beyond doctrinal law to uncover the gaps and variances between formal policy and legislation, and law as actually practiced. The contributors employ a variety of disciplinary perspectives – sociological, anthropological, geographical and linguistic – but are united in their use of an ethnographic methodological approach. Through this lens, the book captures the confusion, improvisation, inconsistency, complexity and emotional turmoil inherent to the process of claiming asylum in Europe.

Asylum Seekers in Australian News Media: Mediated (In)humanity

This book sheds light on how the public engage with, make sense of, and discursively evaluate news media constructions of people from asylum seeking backgrounds. As a case study, the author discusses her recent research combining Critical Discourse Analysis with a cultural studies Audience Reception framework to examine the perspectives of 24 Western Australians who took part in semi-structured interviews. During their interviews, participants were asked open-ended questions about: their general views on people seeking asylum, including Australia’s policy responses, their media engagement habits and preferences, and their views concerning how the Australian media represents people seeking asylum. The author compares and contrasts this research with broader interdisciplinary discussion, and the book will therefore appeal to students and scholars of migration, political communication, sociology, audience reception, critical media studies and sociolinguistics.

Asylum Seekers, Social Work and Racism

This book analyses social work through the concept of 'xenoracism' to challenge the outdated concepts of racism that still pervade social work. It illustrates how, through their discursive practices, social workers are able to counteract the dominant anti asylum seeking discourses.

Asymmetric Kernel Smoothing: Theory and Applications in Economics and Finance (SpringerBriefs in Statistics)

This is the first book to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to a newly developed smoothing technique using asymmetric kernel functions. Further, it discusses the statistical properties of estimators and test statistics using asymmetric kernels. The topics addressed include the bias-variance tradeoff, smoothing parameter choices, achieving rate improvements with bias reduction techniques, and estimation with weakly dependent data. Further, the large- and finite-sample properties of estimators and test statistics smoothed by asymmetric kernels are compared with those smoothed by symmetric kernels. Lastly, the book addresses the applications of asymmetric kernel estimation and testing to various forms of nonnegative economic and financial data. Until recently, the most popularly chosen nonparametric methods used symmetric kernel functions to estimate probability density functions of symmetric distributions with unbounded support. Yet many types of economic and financial data are nonnegative and violate the presumed conditions of conventional methods. Examples include incomes, wages, short-term interest rates, and insurance claims. Such observations are often concentrated near the boundary and have long tails with sparse data. Smoothing with asymmetric kernel functions has increasingly gained attention, because the approach successfully addresses the issues arising from distributions that have natural boundaries at the origin and heavy positive skewness. Offering an overview of recently developed kernel methods, complemented by intuitive explanations and mathematical proofs, this book is highly recommended to all readers seeking an in-depth and up-to-date guide to nonparametric estimation methods employing asymmetric kernel smoothing.

Asymptotic Statistics in Insurance Risk Theory (SpringerBriefs in Statistics)

This book begins with the fundamental large sample theory, estimating ruin probability, and ends by dealing with the latest issues of estimating the Gerber–Shiu function. This book is the first to introduce the recent development of statistical methodologies in risk theory (ruin theory) as well as their mathematical validities. Asymptotic theory of parametric and nonparametric inference for the ruin-related quantities is discussed under the setting of not only classical compound Poisson risk processes (Cramér–Lundberg model) but also more general Lévy insurance risk processes. The recent development of risk theory can deal with many kinds of ruin-related quantities: the probability of ruin as well as Gerber–Shiu’s discounted penalty function, both of which are useful in insurance risk management and in financial credit risk analysis. In those areas, the common stochastic models are used in the context of the structural approach of companies’ default. So far, the probabilistic point of view has been the main concern for academic researchers. However, this book emphasizes the statistical point of view because identifying the risk model is always necessary and is crucial in the final step of practical risk management.

At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memories, Identities and Belongings

This book explores how memories are used to re-establish a sense of belonging, analyzing the relationships between migrants' adjustment, assimilation and re-membering home. It considers memories as social expressions as well as the tensions and conflicts in representing and renegotiating memories in literature and cinema.