Search results for "Social construction"
showing 10 items of 79 documents
Developing a new approach to managing and mediating conflicts
2017
Generally speaking, words can be elusive and they need to be carefully selected when conveying messages, ideas and proposals between parties. This is all the more evident in mediation process as language has to be neutral and mediators should avoid expressions directing parties. In this regard, recent theoretical developments in postmodern social theory and the social constructionist movement in the social sciences and humanities have provided the field of alternative dispute resolution with a new approach to managing and mediating conflicts. These developments are organized around the ‘narrative approach’ which helps us to see how the language we use to describe and understand our conflict…
Nazis, Pollution, and no Sex
2004
This article briefly summarizes the German research literature on scandal and then outlines a theory of scandal as a socially constructed communication pattern. The theory distinguishes macro- and micro-level approaches for addressing the question of which malfunctions a society selects for scandal. The manifest and latent functions of scandals are discussed with special emphasis on the role of the mass media. The authors’concept of scandal is linked to the concept of political culture. The article then reviews, from a comparative cross-national point of view, (a) scandals that were formative for the development of democratic political culture in Germany, (b) scandals that are linked to th…
Folk theories of algorithmic operations during Internet use: A mixed methods study
2021
We used the folk theory perspective to investigate Internet users’ understanding of algorithms during their Internet use. Empirically, we conducted a mixed-method study. First, we carried out semi-...
The role of recruitment agencies in imagining and producing the ‘good’ migrant
2013
This paper focuses on representations of labour migrants and interrogates how such imaginaries shape migrant recruitment and employment regimes. The recruitment and employment of labour migrants inevitably involves a range of knowledge practices that affect who is recruited, from where and for what purposes. In particular, this paper seeks to advance understandings of how images of ‘bodily goodness’ are represented graphically and how perceptions of migrant workers influence the recruitment of workers to the UK from Latvia. The research described in this paper is based on interviews with recruitment agencies, employers and policy makers carried out in Latvia in 2011. The analysis results in…
Beyond the Cultural Turn: A Critical Perspective on Culture-Discourse within Public Relations
2017
International audience; In 1992, Sriramesh and White (1992) pointed to the importance of culture for public relations. Two decades later, public relations scholars had answered their call in force (e.g., Bardhan & Weaver, 2011; Carayol & Frame, 2012; Edwards & Hodges, 2011; Sriramesh & Vercic, 2012). Sriramesh and other PR scholars have criticized much previous public relations research for its focus on the work of Hofstede and cultural characteristics that are apparently common across countries (Sriramesh, 2009), rather than approaches which present culture as a social phenomenon on the level of the social group (Frame, 2012), or as a communication resource or tool-kit (Swidler, 1986). Sri…
The political attribution of values to Intangible Cultural Heritage: the consuetudinary courts
2021
En el año 2009 la UNESCO incluyó el Tribunal de las Aguas de Valencia y el de Hombres Buenos de Murcia en la Lista Representativa del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad. Ambas instituciones de derecho consuetudinario fueron reconocidas a través de la más elevada categoría de protección inmaterial a nivel internacional. A lo largo de las últimas décadas se han emitido resoluciones consultivas (culturales, jurídicas) y desarrollado una agenda de investigación que suscitan el interés por el análisis de los valores atribuidos o atribuibles a ciertas manifestaciones culturales (materiales o inmateriales) cuya apelación serviría a los actores sociales y políticos para justificar su re…
Do the right thing! A study on social representation of obedience and disobedience
2014
Abstract The present research is aimed at investigating through a mixed-method approach the dimensions underlying the psychosocial constructs of obedience, disobedience and the relations between them. To this end, we consider the attitudes toward (dis)obedience being socially constructed, and we chose the theory of social representations (Abric, 2003; Moscovici, 1961) as the theoretical framework of this study. The data, collected on a sample of 190 individuals, allowed us to define these social objects, reducing both their complexity and polysemy. Obedience and disobedience were both seen by research participants as context-dependent behaviours, neither positive nor negative, per se . Also…
Authenticity in Extra-curricular Mathematics Activities: Researching Authenticity as a Social Construct
2015
In this chapter I study authentic aspects in mathematics education, in particular with respect to mathematical modelling. I define ‘authenticity’ as a social construct, building on the French sociologist Emile Durkheim. For an aspect to be authentic, it needs to have: (1) an out-of-school origin and (2) a certification of originality. The study validates this definition, asking: what authentic aspects can be identified within mathematics education? Data were collected from the excursion Railway Timetable Dynamics. During the excursion secondary school students were exposed to research carried out by university mathematicians on behalf of the National Railway Company. The authentic aspects w…
Striving at partnership: parent–practitioner relationships in Finnish early educators' talk
2010
ABSTRACT In Finnish early childhood education and care, partnership has been introduced as a general approach in the parent–practitioner collaboration. Based on qualitative interviews with practitioners, the article studies, from a social constructionist and discourse analytic perspective, whether partnership is actualised in parent–practitioner relationship and how it is done. The results show that the ideas about parent–practitioner collaboration are not coherent. In the vertical frame the collaboration is considered as a hierarchical relationship but in the horizontal frame, which reflects the partnership approach, parallel expertise and proximity are emphasised. However, the ideal of pa…
Leadership Manipulation and Ethics in Storytelling
2012
This article focuses on exerting influence in leadership, namely manipulation in storytelling. Manipulation is usually considered an unethical approach to leadership. We will argue that manipulation is a more complex phenomenon than just an unethical way of acting in leadership. We will demonstrate through an empirical qualitative study that there are various types of manipulation through storytelling. This article makes a contribution to the literature on manipulation through leadership storytelling, offering a more systematic empirical analysis and a more nuanced view of the topic than previously existed by outlining how managers engage in manipulative storytelling and what kind of ethics…