Suchergebnisse

The subject of this article is pluralism as spelled out in the social theories of John Rawls of the USA and Jean Lyotard of France. Despite their differing perspectives, these prominent social thinkers of our time share some similar views on the issue of pluralism. Both contend that contemporary societies are inherently pluralistic because they are characterized by the proliferation of incommensurable narratives/doctrines. Rawls considers pluralism as the positive outcome of the expansion of civil society; Lyotard, on the other hand, aligns pluralism with the demise of grand narratives that he believes hopelessly suffer from the problems of overextension. Moreover, both insist that it is equally wrong to assume the possibility of an overarching paradigm that acts as the politics of all and sundry. These remarks are interesting in light of the fact that Rawls and Lyotard belong to two distinct intellectual traditions. Whereas Rawls adheres to liberalism in its political form, Lyotard adopts a postmodernist stance on politics. Rawls, from a postmodern perspective, is paradigmatic of modernism in its social and political manifestations. Lyotard, in contrast, is opposed to the Enlightenment project a project at the hubs of which are the themes of synchronization and progress.

The medical community, along with other government agencies, has created its own frame of environmental illness. This frame has been generally accepted by the American public. In this paper we discuss framing in general and the factors related to how the environmental illness frame has been constructed and maintained. We offer a brief history of the medical institution and illustrate the frame with its definitions of environmental illness. Qualitative data from a study of Oak Ridge, a contaminated community located in Tennessee, are examined to analyze the consequences of challenging the environmental illness frame. Implications for future research are discussed.

In this paper we argue that a movement's longevity depends on its ability to develop and sustain a strong sense of collective identity. We investigate social movement endurance by examining the Rastafari, whose membership is comprised primarily of disadvantaged Jamaicans of African descent. While many social movements fade after a short‐lived peak, the Rastafari not only has persisted, but it also has become globally important. Despite its radical posture and its perceived threat to the Jamaican established order, the movement has prevailed for more than six decades. On the basis of a number of concepts derived from different theoretical traditions in social movement theory, we examine the dynamic processes involved in the construction of collective identity among the Rastafari. We are particularly interested in the concepts of "cognitive liberation,""movement culture/boundary structure," and "the politics of signification." These concepts allow us to describe and analyze the key dimensions of the Rastafarian collective identity. This framework, we argue, enhances our understanding of collective identity as well as the processes contributing to social movement longevity.