Suchergebnisse

J. K. De Vree's "A Theory of Human Behaviour and of the Political Process" (see SA 26:2/78J2195) is criticized. The behavior model offered is faulted on the grounds that it is inconsistent & that it is difficult if not impossible to interpret. That the model is inconsistent is easy to see, thanks to its formal presentation. This criticism might not be very serious, due to the fact that it may be remedied through some small adjustments. The author's own interpretation of his model is not congruent with it. In particular, formulae containing variables that range over both cardinal & ordinal numbers seem impossible to interpret. It is concluded that the problems noted are due to too high a level of generality being sought. In Een reactie op De Vree's 'A Theory of Human Behaviour and of the Political Process' (A Reaction to De Vree's 'A Theory of Human Behavior and of the Political Process'), G. P. de Bruin argues that De Vree's theory is empty of empirical significance, & the theory's weakness can be traced to its mathematical axiomatic foundation. It is argued that the set theoretical concepts of ordinal & cardinal numbers have been misinterpreted, & that the whole problem of measurement in social sciences is merely 'axiomatized away'. In Een ordinale algebra en empirische theorie: een antwoord op Kritiek (An Ordinal Algebra and Empirical Theory: An Answer to Criticism), J. K. De Vree concedes that the theory is so far empty, & that the nature of its relationship to empirical data remains an unsolved problem. This is the case with all general theories & does not constitute a valid objection. It is further argued that the proposed axiomatization is nothing more than a systematization of the system of numbers & relations used in actual empirical research, & that far from axiomatizing away the measurement problem, a systematic account is given of the number system without which measurement would not be possible. A. Orianne.

De Grounded Theory Approach van Glaser en Strauss (1967) heeft vanaf het begin als methode van kwalitatief onderzoek de aandacht getrokken, met name in de sociale wetenschappen, maar ook in de verplegingswetenschap en gezondheidswetenschap. De belangstelling vanuit deze laatste disciplines heeft wellicht te maken met de onderzoeksthema's van Strauss, die vanaf begin 1960 wetenschappelijk onderdak vond bij de School of Nursing van de University of California in San Franscisco. Hij zette daar een succesvol onderzoeksprogramma op, waarin hij de methode verder ontwikkelde in uiteenlopende gezondheidszorgonderzoeken. Maar het leidde ook tot meer. Rond Strauss verzamelde zich een kring van kwalitatieve onderzoekers, waaronder Kathy Charmaz, Adele Clarke en Juliet Corbin, die elk in zijn voetsporen een eigen methode van kwalitatief onderzoek ontwikkelden (zie Charmaz, 2006; Clarke, 2005; Corbin, 2008). De methode die Strauss in Qualitative analysis for social scientists (1987) beschrijft, lijkt aan hun werkwijzen ten grondslag te liggen. Dat geldt bij uitstek voor Juliet Corbin, want zij schreef samen met Strauss een bewerking van dat boek onder de titel Basics of qualitative research. techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, dat in 1990 verscheen. Een tweede editie volgde in 1998, waarover ik eerder een recensie schreef in KWALON (De Boer, 1999). Nu is een derde editie verschenen met Corbin als eerste auteur. Strauss, die in 1996 is overleden, wordt nog wel opgevoerd als tweede auteur. Deze derde editie van Basics of qualitative research verschilt in veel opzichten van de eerste en de tweede. De 'hand' of beter 'de geest' van Strauss lijkt steeds meer naar de achtergrond te verdwijnen. Corbin ontwikkelt in deze editie een geheel eigen interpretatie van de Grounded Theory Approach (GTA). Corbins aanpak kan kernachtig omschreven worden als een 'conceptbenadering': 'Concepts/themes are the foundation for the analytic method described in this book' (p. 53). Met het 'concept' als grondbeginsel bouwt Corbin haar benadering op, waarbij zij hier en daar op eclectische wijze elementen van de 'vroegere' Grounded Theory Approach inpast.

The concept of empowerment is hard to miss in the field of social work, (health)care and welfare. Here, empowerment seems to stand for the autonomy and competence of the individual, who learns to make a positive contribution to society. In this book, Richard de Brabander traces the evolution of the notion of empowerment: whereas its roots can be found in the civil rights movement and its fight against oppression and injustice, nowadays the term is mostly used in strategies to make people adapt to dominant norms. While it should motivate us to resist patterns of exclusion and to create new ways of living, today that meaning seems to have turned into its opposite. - In politieke discussies en beleid op het gebied van sociaal werk, zorg en welzijn vliegt de term empowerment je al snel om de oren. Empowerment staat dan voor het versterken van de kracht van het individu, dat zich positief leert inzetten in de maatschappij. In dit boek volgt Richard de Brabander de ontwikkeling van het begrip empowerment: hoe het zijn wortels vindt in de strijd tegen onrecht en onderdrukking, maar vandaag de dag lijkt omgeslagen in het tegendeel daarvan. Empowerment wordt veelal gebruikt om mensen zich te laten aanpassen aan de heersende normen, terwijl het juist zou moeten aanzetten tot verzet, kritiek en nieuwe manieren van leven.

The bad reputation in the social sciences of social Darwinian theories is one of the main hindrances to paying attention to ethology, the biological study of behavior. Although developments in this area of research suggest interesting implications for political science, so far, very few political scientists have dealt with these matters. First, the biological way of thinking about behavior is introduced. The object & method of ethology are dealt with, & attention is paid to the problems of function, causation, & history of behavior of animal & man. The neo-Darwinian theory of evolution, which is fundamental to ethology & to the main argument presented here, is summarized. It is concluded that morphology & behavior are both evolutionary organisms. Next, man is considered in the perspective of evolution. The belief in a rigid distinction between nature & nurture is discussed. The modern biological view that the human capacity for making culture is genetically coded is accepted. In a second part, some aspects of this biological view of behavior, relevant to political science, are discussed. From a comparison of definitions in ethology & political science, it appears that social behavior is the most important problem in both disciplines. Social scientists usually study behavior as an autonomous subject while biologists integrate their vision of behavior in the larger context of evolution. There is a fundamental similarity between ethological concepts of social behavior & some recently developed conceptions of political behavior. It is argued that relinquishing the more traditional focus of political science on state-oriented or group-centered action is an important condition.

People like to live in a safe neighborhood. Areas with a variety of facilities like houses, offices and shops seem to be an important strategy to improve the safety of a neighborhood. More people on the streets means better social control, is the thought behind this strategy. But do people on the streets have consideration for each other? This book is a theory on urban environment, public familiarity and trust on the one hand. On the other it is a very practical plea for a careful planning and nuanced governance of the public space

People like to live in a safe neighborhood. Areas with a variety of facilities like houses, offices and shops seem to be an important strategy to improve the safety of a neighborhood. More people on the streets means better social control, is the thought behind this strategy. But do people on the streets have consideration for each other? This book is a theory on urban environment, public familiarity and trust on the one hand. On the other it is a very practical plea for a careful planning and nuanced governance of the public space. - Iedereen woont graag in een veilige buurt. Gevarieerdere buurten waar wonen, werken en winkelen elkaar afwisselen zijn een belangrijke strategie geworden om veiligheid te bereiken. Van ogen op straat gaat sociale controle uit, zo is dan de gedachte. Maar hebben mensen met ogen op straat ook oog voor elkaar? Oog voor Elkaar is enerzijds een theorie over stedelijke omgeving, publieke familiariteit en vertrouwen. Anderzijds is het een praktijkgericht, op alledaagse verhalen gebaseerd pleidooi voor zorgvuldiger vormgeving en beheer van stedelijke openbare ruimte.

Typical of current work in contemporary Soviet political theory is the work of V. N. Danilenko, a specialist in French political theory which appeared in Sovjetskoje Gosoedarstvo i Pravo (1976, Apr). Danilenko analyzes some French political theorists. The needs of ideological struggle require attention to new development in bourgeois ideology. The crisis of world capitalism as well as the emergence of formerly colonial nations has created a need for a renovation of political theories. Today's interest in the typology of political systems is typical of that renovation effort. The French theorists are criticized for assuming the independence of the political & economic structures & for not recognizing the role of ideologies as well as of social & geographic factors. They absolutize political systems & study them abstractly. By contrast, Marxist-Leninist political science asserts that a political system is an expression of the relations between classes & of the means by which the dictatorship of the ruling class is enforced. Therefore, the important criteria in the classification of bourgeois systems are: the rights & liberties of the Wc, how the Wc is represented in the parliamentary institution, what share the Wc has in state power & to what extent the state is forced to respond to PO & use democratic means of government. The Soviet juridical literature is criticized for not recognizing the full diversity of bourgeois systems. However, Marxism-Leninism brings to light what all these systems have in common: they are dictatorships of the bourgeoisie. A. Orianne.

Social mechanisms that have generated the social construction of threatening immigrants in Europe are described, focusing on the situation in Flanders, Belgium, using Pierre Bourdieu's (eg, 1985 [see abstract 86Q6505]) semiotic-praxiological theory of the construction of social space & the genesis of social groups as a theoretical framework. Similarities between historical & socioeconomic conditions in the 1930s & 1980s are related to the repeated emergence of the theme of the "migrant problem" in political discourse; at the end of the 1930s, it referred exclusively to the Jews who had migrated from Eastern Europe & Germany, whereas in the 1980s, it was used for Muslim (Turkish & Moroccan) guest workers hired in the 1970s. It is argued that, in both cases, the discourse of the threatening immigrant attempts to redraw the social space by targeting the economic, & hence, the cultural & social, capital of the target groups. Socioeconomic change is used to legitimize anti-Judaism/-Islamism, resulting in a (cultural) racism that fuels ethnonationalism. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

It is assumed that it is the purpose of a theory to explain something. An explanation is an answer to a question of the linguistic form 'why 7'; its logical structure is of the following form: L1,....Ln That is, on the basis of a certain set of postuC1 ....Cn lates, or 'laws,' (L1,....Ln), & a set of given, observed 'circumstances' (C1,....Cn), 'E', the conclusion is deduced. Accordingly, the character of an explanation & consequently, of J a theory, is deductive. II - As regards the structure of a theory several elements should be distinguished. (1) The logical mathematical, or probabilistic system in which the theory is formulated. (2) The calculus which may be conceived as the axiomatic nucleus of the theory & which consists of a set of primitive concepts & postulates governing the use of the primitives. On the basis of primitives & postulates new concepts & theorems are deduced. It is to be noted that the content of the primitives (their 'meaning') consists of the way they are used within the relational structure of the calculus; that is they are defined implicitly. (3) An interpretative system of rules connecting the 'abstract' calculus with other structures of knowledge. In this way the calculus can be given cliff interpretations, which constitute models of the initial calculus. In order to explain empirical reality, there should at least be an empirical model of the calculus, that is, the calculus has to be connected with observable reality. In this case the interpretation is given by a set of 'operational definitions' as they are commonly called. It is shown that these definitions can be conceived as 'quickly decidable sentences' by means of which the empirical model can be falsified. III - The role which theory construction plays with regard to the formation of reality is indicated. Making explicit its logical structure & its empirical interpretation, theory formation leads to 'intersubjectively transmissible knowledge.' It results in the construction of a reality which transcends individual & parochial idiosyncracies & which is accessible to everybody. Of the conditions a theory should fulfill, 2 stand out: (a) it should be consistent, & (b) it should be falsifiable. Finally, it is shown that there is some ground to assume theory formation to be possible-even in the soc sci's-difficult though it may be. IPSA.

Dwarse vrouwen; Voorwoord; Het dwarsverband: betekenissen van autonomie; De ontdekking van het geheim Drie generaties seksuele ontwikkeling in multicultureel Nederland; Moederland Marokko, vaderland Nederland Ervaringen van Marokkaans-Nederlandse vrouwen met meervoudige loyaliteiten; Negen vrouwen; Komedie of Drama?Emancipatie onder regie van de meerderheid; Autonomie in mijn moedertaal; Alleenstaande moeders: emancipatie tegen de stroom in; (G)roeien met de riemen die je hebt Thuiswerkende vrouwen in de Tarwewijk in Rotterdam.

Tested is Andre Gunder Frank's dependency theory regarding the world capitalist economy, in which the ties between the metropolis (developed countries) & the satellites (developing countries) are extremely detrimental to the latter, ie, metropolitan countries expropriate the surplus formed in the satellites, thus precluding the development & deforming the economies of Third World countries. Hypotheses comprising the crucial elements of the theory are examined based on World Bank & UN statistics for 109 countries. The theory's focus on external factors & economic ties is criticized, as well as its allegation of a negative relationship between dependence & development. It is argued that a more adequate theroy of imperialism & dependence requires at least some attention to both national & international power & dependency relations: the internal balance of power in developing countries must be analyzed in terms of the interests of competing groups in the economic, political, & social realms, while international relations should be studied in connection with these interests so as to understand their interactional effects. 8 Tables, 2 Figures, 1 Appendix, 31 References. Modified HA

The consistency between Karl Popper's political theory & his philosophy is analyzed based on a comparison of his anti-utopianism in The Open Society and Its Enemies. Vol. I, Plato (London, 1986) & The Poverty of Historicism (London, 1960). The dependence of his model of the open society on his special understanding of deontological liberalism is discussed, with special attention to his weak rebuttal to the counterarguments of utopianists. M. Meeks