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This article surveys developments in recent social theory in the course of outlining a new rationale for Politics following the subject's own expansion and in the light of developments in post-empiricist thought. It suggests reasons for thinking of Politics as a cultural rather than a positive science. It outlines a number of core or primary political problems which comprise the intellectual foundations of the discipline. It suggests, overall, that Politics is especially concerned with maintaining and improving the viability of human association(s) in the light of conditions created by the rise and expansion of complex societies.

A new rationale is presented for political studies in light of the trend away from empirical consideration of the discipline. The question of the many subfields within political studies & their contribution to an integrated field of study is also addressed. To tie the subfields together into one structure, it is recognized that each focuses on some aspect of human associations; thus political studies as a discipline examines the different types of human associations, & how individuals can live together in a community. Such an examination does not constitute a physical science, but rather a cultural science. 31 References. A. Cole

Abstract
Although research has shown the importance of prosocial motivation for academic engagement in public good (universities' so-called 'third mission'), research is yet to examine such motivation in depth. This study develops an empirical understanding of the dimensions of prosocial motivation in academics' engagement, focusing particularly on societal engagement. Self-determination theory and conceptual forms of prosocial motivation (principlism, egoism, collectivism, and altruism) assist in interpreting the dimensions. We conducted twenty-five qualitative interviews with academics in the field of health science in Germany. Three dimensions of prosocial motivation emerged from the data: (1) personal, (2) academic role, and (3) academic field. The results demonstrate how the various conceptual forms of prosocial motivation are reflected in these dimensions. Additionally, we advance our understanding of how intrinsic and extrinsic elements are reflected in academics' prosocial motivation. We offer important theoretical, managerial, and policy implications by significantly improving the understanding of academics' prosocial motivation.

The neighborhood context affects social capital, yet scholars do not adequately account for the dynamic nature of the social spaces people occupy in measuring social capital. Research has focused on neighborhood effects as though the neighborhood space is fixed across all inhabitants without regard for the ways individuals define their neighborhoods considering their own spatial location and social interactions. Using a neighborhood–level social capital measure, we examine the relationship between cognitive neighborhood boundaries and social capital in residents (N = 135) of two public housing communities in a Southern urban city. As collective efficacy (bonding social capital) increased so too did the predicted size of one's cognitive neighborhood. GIS maps demonstrated that participant boundaries included areas of commerce and services necessary to build and maintain social capital. Larger cognitive neighborhoods suggest one may interact with a wider array of people to achieve instrumental and expressive returns despite the high–poverty neighborhood context.

The article is devoted to the problem of organization of a productive dialogue between represen­tatives of different sciences during the comprehensive interdisciplinary research of man in the context of traditional culture. The prerequisites to the given problem statement have been formed during a long-term experience of joint field studies made by the authors in Russia (Adygea, Russian North, Bashkiria, Burya­tia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Khakassia, Yakutia and other regions) and Mexico, as well as through the analysis of relevant results of academic and research work. As a solution of the given task, the authors develop the methodological construction "metaposition" that allows to approach to complexity and interdisciplinarity of research through the principle of dialogue in the common sociocultural field. Metaposition as a technology of organization of polyprofessional cooperation of different experts in a common research space is aimed at development of scientists' skills of fi­xation, systematization and representation of the results of their work taking into account positions of their colleagues from other subject areas. Realization of this technology leads to creation of a metalanguage and to widening of researcher's scientific culture (theoretical frames of each expert, style of their scientific reaso­ning and personal qualities). The development of metaposition as a stable system of cooperation between different positions of researchers suggests three interrelated stages: defining the research's common field; revealing the borders of scientific positions; constructing the interpositional dialogue. Opportunities of application of the methodological construction "metaposition" at different stages of field research (before the field, at the field, after the field, during analysis of the field data) are concretized through a relevant algorithm and supported by examples from the field practice.