Patriarchy as Institutional

Constitutionalism beyond the State: Myth or Necessity? (A Pluralist Approach) Jean L. Cohen (bio) It is an understatement to say that the contemporary international society of states is deeply divided. Despite the happy consciousness of those who proclaimed the end of history and the worldwide triumph of the liberal democracy in the early 1990s, the legitimating principles for domestic polities around the globe remain diverse. True, the sovereign state form has been globalized in the aftermath of decolonization and the collapse of the Soviet empire. Yet we still inhabit a global pluriverse of 192 sovereign states whose political cultures, organizational principles, and conceptions of justice and legitimacy are diverse and at times in conflict with one another. Superimposed on this segmentally differentiated, pluralistic international society of sovereign states are the legal and political regimes of the functionally differentiated global subsystems of world society, whose institutional structures, decision-making bodies, and binding rules have acquired an impressive autonomy with respect to their member states and one another.1 These “regimes” or “subsystems,” of which the global political system is one, engage in new forms of global governance and lawmaking that reach beyond and penetrate within states. Individuals are increasingly ascribed rights and responsibilities under globalizing international law. This expanding individuation of international law seems to mark an important difference from the pre–World War II international legal system and from stereotypes of “Westphalian” sovereignty. Although states remain the main subjects that make international law, they no longer have the monopoly of the production of that law. Indeed the international organizations they have spawned seem to be transforming into “global governance institutions” (GGIs) which, like the sorcerer’s apprentice, tend to invert the principal/agent relationship extant at the time of their creation.2 These GGIs now regulate states and individuals, including the conduct of states toward their own citizens, in the name of the “international community,” importantly redefining (some would say abolishing) the sovereignty of states. As a result, states are bound by rules and regulations that make the old images of international society and the consentbased production of international law appear anachronistic. Yet there does not seem to be any overarching metarule for regulating interactions or conflicts among or within these globalizing legal and political orders.3 The hierarchy of authority among global, international, and domestic law remains unresolved. Moreover, there is an increasing awareness that some GGIs that provide a framework for collective goal attainment and peaceful conflict resolution among sovereign states can themselves be rights-violating. Instead of fostering a global rule of law, they are in certain key domains having constitutionalism- and democracy-eviscerating effects.4 [End Page 127] Organs of international organizations now engage in unanticipated forms of legislative, quasi-judicial, and administrative “governance” that directly (and sometimes adversely) affect individuals. The new “governance” functions do not come with oversight mechanisms, avenues of redress for those directly impacted, or new rules (higher laws) that regulate the expanded autonomy and powers of trans-, infra-, or supranational bodies or globalizing international organizations.5 Unsurprisingly, it remains contested how to conceptualize the relationship among these entities and what it ought to become. The conceptual divide is between those who mobilize the discourse of constitutionalism to characterize the increased juridification and regulatory reach of regimes of international law and governance, and those who view the multiplicity of sites of rule- and lawmaking through the lens of legal pluralism and reject the language of constitutionalism. What are the stakes of this dispute? The former see the constitutionalization of public international law as the way to tame the bellicose power politics and imperialist tendencies of nation-state sovereignty by constraining actors to solve their disputes through law while protecting human rights.6 The latter insist that the heterogeneity of international society and the pluralism of the international political system (along with the proliferation of international legal regimes within it) is a desirable antidote to hegemonic imposition that too often occurs in the name of “universalist” global law.7 This latter assessment expresses sensitivity to the asymmetry among global powers and to the emergence of new types of hegemony or imperial formations, not to mention the diversity of a still deeply divided international...

Altman, I., & Ginat, J. (1996). Polygamous Families in Contemporary Societies. Cambridge MA: Cambridge University Press. 512 pp. Paper ISBN 0-521-56731-9. Does polygamy exist in a contemporary Western society such as the U.S.? If polygamy exists, what form does such a marital arrangement take, especially when viewed against the fact that plural unions (bigamy) are under American law? What kind of woman would want to share her husband with another especially in a society that treasures individualism and freedom? And when it happens, what is the nature of the intra- household, and inter-household family relations? What are the dynamics behind such alternative forms of living arrangements? For instance, how are conflicts within and between different family members resolved? These are some of the issues addressed in Altman and Ginat's book, Polygamous Families in Contemporary Societies, based on observations of 26 fundamentalist Mormon families in two rural and urban communities in the U.S. Polygamy, or in this case, polygyny (a practice where one man marries more than one wife) is a common form of living/ marital arrangement found in many societies often characterized as developing or traditional. In studying these societies in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, researchers have shown that polygamous marriages are typically common in rural areas, occur among the less educated, and reflect larger differences in spousal age, all of which suggests that relationships within them may also be more traditional than in monogamous marriages (Caldwell & Caldwell, 1987; Clignet, 1970; Pison, 1985; Lesthaeghe, Kaufmann, & Meekers, 1989; Dodoo & Seal, 1994; Saucier, 1972; Takyi & Oheneba-Sakyi, 1994). In the western world, on the other hand, while there are a variety of living arrangements (e.g., co-habitation, gay and lesbian unions, etc.), the issue of plural marriages is often viewed with contempt and disgust. This contempt for polygamous unions may be related to a number of issues that cut across some of the value systems of American society. Foremost among these is the fact that Americans and other western societies tend to cherish their individualism. Since by their nature, non-monogamous unions seem to contradict these values (e.g., individuation and romantic love), such marriages tend to be viewed with disdain. Second, the existence of plural marriages is often viewed in some circles as one of the means through which male dominance and advantage (especially in the sexual realm) are maintained and perpetuated. Third, some Western feminist social thinkers often equate plural marriages with the oppression of women. If women are to be free from male dominance and their status in society is improved, then it is fair to assume that monogamous unions offer the best option for female emancipation. In spite of these reservations, Altman and Ginat point out that in contemporary American society, polygamous marriages still exist. The existence and persistence of such unacceptable forms of marriage, they argue, results in part from the fact that polygamous partners view their form of marriage as a religious act-a calling in Weberian terms. According to Altman and Ginat, the realization that this form of living arrangement is often considered by the larger society has created a siege mentality among the practitioners. Consequently, the fundamentalist Mormons who practice polygyny, they argue, have been less willing to express their beliefs in public. After establishing the existence of polygynous unions among contemporary Mormons, the authors go on to trace the historical background of the Mormon Church from their sojourns in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois to Utah, where they finally settled. Altman and Ginat also detail the intrigues that went on within the group before the formal acceptance of the polygyny as an official theology. The writers are quick to point out, however, that even during this early period, not all members of the church accepted the doctrine of polygyny. …

This paper aims to explain crisis of authority of copyrights that is to prove incoherence between copyrights and a copying culture. In institutional meaning it is a conflict between formal and informal institutions. A formal institution is copyrights and informal one is set of standards and social behavior patterns which could be called a copying culture. Goal of the paper is demonstration of basic factors determining the afore-mentioned incoherence and reasons for its persistence. Performance of the afore-defined goal is associated with verification of two hypotheses. The first states that the crisis of the copyrights appeared because of Internet (which is a technical tool of a contemporary society). The second hypothesis states that enforcement of formal rights observance is hampered since it is not supported by informal institutions. The paper is divided into three main parts. The first part demonstrates an extent of crisis of copyrights and some probable reasons of the crisis are considered. The second part includes case studies related to enforcement of the copyrights which is aimed to explain reasons for persistence of the crisis. The third part focuses on alternative solutions of the problem which is conflict between formal and informal institutions. The paper is based on scientific reports on information goods non-market trade in Poland, Germany, USA and Sweden.

Sustainable societies require that a diverse set of risks (e.g. socio-economic, environmental, political and cultural) that intervene with peoples’ wellbeing levels are systematically addressed. Here we focus on life satisfaction and the social cohesion effects driven from the perceptions of others in contemporary societies. We postulate that perceptions of risk as drawn from ‘otherness’ are dependent upon citizens’ evaluations of trust in key societal institutions and their perceptions of civic (socio-economic and cultural) distance. Trust is a risk mitigation factor whereas distance exacerbates perceptions of exposure to various risk parameters. This constitutes a complex policy intervention challenge suggesting that the use of decision-making tools that are able to handle a large set of information is appropriate. To that extent, we propose the use of a hybrid TOPSIS-Entropy multicriteria technique and test our trust and distance risk effects hypotheses using case study data for Greece. After controlling for the socio-demographic and economic profile of respondents, we provide support for the role of trust in institutions and feelings of distance as determinants of life satisfaction. Important policy level implications are derived on the basis of these findings. Improvements in life satisfaction might be seen as policy interventions that aim at improving civil society institutions. Interventions might involve formal and/or informal institutions that affect both objective (e.g. safety/crime) and subjective (e.g. feelings of safety/disorder) quality of life judgements.

The paper deals with cultural embeddedness of public administration transformations in Serbia during postsocialism. Public administration reform represents an important aspect of transformation of overall institutional framework in contemporary societies. According to institutional approach, the changes of formal institutions (including public administration) are deeply embedded in informal institutions or culture. Theoretical and methodological framework of the GLOBE research program has been used as a basis for the empirical analysis. The goal of the paper has been to identify the scores on cultural dimensions in Serbia and to analyze the correlation of these scores with expectations of the public administration reform. The expected similarity of culture in Serbia with other East European cultures has been confirmed, as well as hypothesis about its norms and values as strong informal obstacles for successful public administration reform.

The article analyzes the connections between societal coercion and punishment in contemporary Western and related societies and a particular form of religion, namely Puritanism and its theocracy. It argues that Puritanism and its theocracy tend to determine the level of coercion and punishment in the US and hence make the latter path-dependent on the former. It traces the historical path from Puritanism in the past to coercion and punishment in the US in later eras and today. It adopts the concept and outlines the model of coercive theocracy represented in a functionalist scheme. It first re-examines the Puritan theocracy in early America, in particular its pervasive use and prescription of capital and harsh punishment and the reign of state terror overall. It then focuses on coercion and punishment in Western and other contemporary societies positing that Puritan theocracy or Puritanism has left an enduring legacy in these practices.

Previous article FreeContributorsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreJingyang Huang (黄靖洋) is a PhD candidate in the Division of Social Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include comparative political economy, Chinese politics, especially local development and government-business relations in China. His dissertation is about China’s security-industrial complex.Enshen Li (李恩深) is senior lecturer at the School of Law, The University of Queensland. His research interests lie primarily in the fields of criminal justice, criminology and sociolegal studies, with a special focus on criminal law and punishment in China. He is the author of Punishment in Contemporary China: Its Evolution, Development and Change (2018) and has published in British Journal of Criminology, Law & Social Inquiry, Social & Legal Studies, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Columbia Journal of Asian Law, among others.Susan McCarthy is professor of political science and program director of Asian & Asian American studies at Providence College in Rhode Island. Her research focuses on the politics of religion and ethnicity in contemporary China.Yuan Teng (滕媛) is assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, Central China Normal University. Her research focuses on sociology of education, rural education, and rural community development in China.Kellee S. Tsai (蔡欣怡) is dean of humanities and social science and chair professor of social science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include the political economy of contemporary China, subnational development, informal institutions, and reverse migration in China and India. Recent publications include a coedited volume, Evolutionary Governance in China: State-Society Relations under Authoritarianism (2021), and articles in China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Politics & Society, Studies in Comparative and International Development, and World Development.Dan Wang (王丹) is associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. She has expertise in the sociology of education. Her current research focuses on issues of education and community development in rural China.Yinxian Zhang (张尹霰) is assistant professor of sociology at Queens College in the City University of New York (CUNY). Her research focuses on political opinion, ideology, and the online public sphere in both authoritarian and non-authoritarian settings. Previous article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 88July 2022 Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/721029 Views: 243Total views on this site © 2022 The Australian National University. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

This article applies queer insights to liminality theories. It proposes a nuanced analysis of queer lived spatiotemporalities extending beyond the optimism toward a politics of liminality. It draws on ethnographic research tracing gay men’s embodied experiences and identity-making in gay leisure spaces in Chengdu, China. The results show how highly ambiguous and intersectional gay experiences include a constant negotiation between sexual liberation and social responsibilities, and they question liminality as always subversive and transformative in a linear sense. I argue that gay leisure spaces can be highly scripted by codes of conduct enacted through state apparatuses that sustain heteronormativity. While some gay spaces in China are tolerated in certain economic and cultural modes, they are fundamentally structured by formal (legal systems) and informal institutions (moralities and social norms). I advocate an extended power analysis of neoliberal leisure spaces concerning the promotion of equal rights for LGBTQ + people.

1. This paper was prepared with the financial help of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant #410-93-1400). It is a revised version of a paper presented at the XIIIth World Congress of Sociology of the International Sociological Association in Bielefeld (Germany, July 1994). Michel de Seve and Gerard Bouchard Abstract: Using data extracted from parish registers of the Saguenay Region in Quebec from 1842 to 1971, this study explores the usefulness of the Erikson and Goldthorpe model of social to describe the historical evolution of relative mobility in a frontier region. The conclusions of this study are two-fold: 1) relative mobility has only changed in minor ways between 1842 and 1971, 2) in so far as it has changed, it had converged toward the core model of social observed in contemporary industrialized societies by Erikson and Goldthorpe. Resume: A l'aide de donnees extraites des registres paroissiaux de la region du Saguenay au Quebec entre 1842 et 1971, cette etude examine la pertience du modele fondamental de fluidite propose par Erikson et Goldthorpe pour decrire l'evolution historique de la mobilite relative dans une region en voie de developpement. Deux conclusions principales sont proposees: 1) la fluidite sociale a peu change entre 1842 et 1971, 2) en autant que celle-ci a change, elle a evolue vers le modele fondamental de fluidite observe dans les societes industrielles contemporaines par Erikson et Goldthorpe. Objectives Two main theses are currently discussed by analysts of intergenerational social mobility in a historical perspective: - according to some authors (Erikson and Goldthorpe, 1992), not only contemporary industrial societies share a similar of relative mobility but this fluidity regime has mostly remained constant since the beginning of the XXth century, - according to others (Ganzeboom, Luijkx and Treiman, 1989), intergenerational exchanges between social positions in these contemporary societies are increasingly easy, even after eliminating the effects of the evolution of the social positions' distribution. Recent debates published in the European Sociological Review (vol. 8, no. 3, December 1992) show that statistical models reflecting these two conceptions explain approximately the same proportion of observed relative mobility in contemporary industrial societies (Jones, 1992). Unfortunately, as far as we know, historical data required to test both hypotheses are very rare. On the one hand, contemporary data used by Erikson and Goldthorpe (1992) or Ganzeboom, Luijkx and Treiman (1989) have been collected during the second part of the XXth Century and they can at best provide a picture of social mobility since the beginning of the XXth Century. On the other hand, recent analysis of historical data using sophisticated models as those of van Leeuwen and Maas (1996), Miles (1993) or Fukomoto and Grusky (1993) do not allow for firm conclusions concerning the changing or stable character of the during the XIXth Century: while the first two suggest that this has changed, the last one supports the hypothesis of a constant relative mobility regime. In Quebec, there exists only one study having compared the occupational mobility over a relatively long time period: Garon-Audy (1979) has examined three cohorts of young married men between 1954 and 1974 and pointed to a weak equalization of mobility odds over time. Reanalysed by Beland (1987), these data seem rather to indicate a stability in the association between fathers' and sons' positions. It seems necessary to complement these two last studies for at least three reasons: 1) the occupations of both the sons and fathers used in these studies are observed at the beginning of their careers (son's occupation at his wedding and father's occupation at the birth of his son, usually both before the age of 30), 2) the categories used for classifying these occupations do not permit comparisons with studies of other societies and 3) the period in question (1954 to 1974) is relatively short and recent. …

Background and Purpose: The body has undergone significant aesthetic transformations throughout the centuries. A normalization has gradually taken place in contemporary Western society regarding the criteria attributed to a healthy and attractive body. The image of a thin body is omnipresent in how we conceptualize aesthetic norms in Western societies. This dominance of bodily beauty, this idealization of thinness, generates and reinforces a "cult of the body" that is already prevalent in our current societies. Methods: We believe our understanding of the "cult of the body" could be enlightened by the writings of Michel Foucault and Nikolas Rose. Results: The forthcoming article will initially delve into how immanent power operates within normative disciplinary practices, technologies of the self, and neoliberal practices. It will then seek to comprehend the extent and influence of the normative regime on the social construction of societal ideals of beauty and thinness to which adolescents in contemporary societies may be exposed. Implications for Practice: Foucault's and Rose's works allow us to expose power relations and interrogate the patient's body as constructed through technical and medical discourse. Their work allows for questioning, reevaluation, and deconstruction of certain paradigms in mental health nursing and raises awareness of not unquestionably accepting a single psychiatric and mental health nursing epistemology. Finally, they provide important insights for nursing practice, especially when it comes to comprehending how societal standards around beauty and health influence the behaviors and body image of adolescents.

Often fiction and religion have been seen as separate moments or genres, but recent encounters between the two fields – such as fiction-based religions or religious controversies with regard to works of fiction – show that a thorough discussion of the religious in the fictional and the fictional in the religious is important. It may be consequential for what we understand religion to be in the study of religions today. The fantasy genre, with its other worlds, magic and superhuman characters, is extremely successful in contemporary Western popular culture. This article discusses the genre of fantasy fiction and analyses how selected examples of contemporary fantasy fiction represent and mediate religion. It argues that fantasy fiction both reflects and forms religious interests and religious fascination in contemporary society, and, in combination with the related new virtual worlds of the supernatural, fantasy fiction, that it provides sites for exploration of religion. This article is not a study of new religious movements, or of locating and analysing classically religious practitioners who use fantasy fiction in religions. Rather, the author seeks to understand the current pervasive presence of religion in fantasy fiction, and to discuss its significance in contemporary Western societies, as well as its implications for the understanding of religion. The author suggests that we should acknowledge, to a greater degree, the extent to which religion can be mixed with commerce, titillating entertainment, shared emotions, and everyday concerns. In addition, the author suggests that we should make more room for partial and shifting religious engagements in religion, and acknowledge a place, in the category of religion, for supernatural popular culture. The current fantasy popularity surge indicates not only a weakening of institutionalised religions, but also of the importance of belief and absolute truth claims in religion, and instead we see an increased visibility of ‘the religious’ and shifting and partial forms of religion in the West.

Societal organization – complexes of economic, legal, political, social, and moral institutions – is highly correlated with per capita income in contemporary societies: most developing countries are “collectivist,” whereas the developed West is “individualist.” In collectivist societies the social structure is “segregated,” in the sense that each individual interacts socially and economically mainly with members of a particular religious, ethnic, or familial group. Within these groups, contract enforcement is achieved through informal economic and social institutions. Little cooperation exists between members of different groups, but members of collectivist societies feel involved in the lives of other members of their group. In individualistic societies, the social structure is “integrated,” in the sense that economic transactions are conducted among people from different groups, and individuals frequently shift from one group to another. Contract enforcement is achieved mainly through specialized organizations, such as courts. Self-reliance is highly valued. Sociologists and anthropologists believe that the organization of society reflects its culture, an important component of which is cultural beliefs. Cultural beliefs are the shared ideas and thoughts that govern interactions among individuals and between them, their gods, and other groups. Cultural beliefs differ from knowledge in that they are not empirically discovered or analytically proved. Cultural beliefs become identical and commonly known through the socialization process, by which culture is unified, maintained, and communicated. That cultural beliefs influence outcomes is intuitive, but formal examination of the relations between cultural beliefs and societal organization is subtle.

Reclaiming Afghanistan

An important concern within contemporary Western societies is how religious adherents view and engage religious diversity. This study attempts to further understandings regarding religious diversity in contemporary society through the accounts of American Christian religious exemplars whose religious identification spans the conservative evangelical, liberal Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions. Ninety‐six in‐depth interviews were conducted with individuals recognized by their congregational leadership as exemplifying Christian virtues and thereby Christian commitment. Weak denominational allegiances, accompanied by salient identification with broad Christian religious traditions were found. Mainline/liberal Christians tended to identify conservative/evangelical Christians as ‘others’, while conservative/evangelical Christians identified Mormons as ‘others.’ Also, a shift in attitudes toward Catholics was found among Protestants, and attitudes toward non‐Christian religions were respectfully civil across a range of theological understanding of these religions. The implications of these findings for religious identity in contemporary society are explored with particular attention to religious diversity.

In this chapter we turn to the operation of the Athenian popular courts. Just as in the case of Athenian statutes, court verdicts played a vital role in maintaining order despite the absence of the operation of the rule of law. I argue that the courts may have had a substantial impact on Athenian behavior despite the ad hoc nature and inherent unpredictability and inscrutability of individual court verdicts. While the Athenian courts did not reliably and predictably enforce the laws under which cases were brought, the courts did, in the aggregate, enforce norms. Many of these norms were informal social norms, not subject to explicit legal regulation: norms relating to the treatment of friends and family and private sexual conduct, for example. Other norms enforced by the courts were the subject of statutes, but were unrelated to the charge in the case. I refer to these norms enforced by the courts as “extrastatutory norms,” meaning that they were unrelated to the statute at issue in the case in which they were raised, though some of these norms were the subject of other statutes.