Sociology of the Present: Reading Dostoevsky’s The Idiot Through a Hegelian Lens

Acknowledgments Introduction The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank: A Change Vignette Purpose, Concepts, and Practices PART I. CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES ON LEADING CHANGE Introduction Ch 1. Causality, Change, and Leadership by Gill Robinson Hickman and Richard A. Couto Barbara Rose Johns Analytical Elements Conclusion PART II. LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE Introduction The Environment of Organizational Change Purpose of Organizational Change Change Vignette: Technology Solutions Turns Disaster Into Dividends Ch 2. Concepts of Organizational Change What Kind of Organizational Change Do We Want or Need? Conclusion Ch 3. Concepts of Leadership in Organizational Change What Type of Leadership Do We Want or Need to Accomplish Change? Conclusion Ch 4. Organizational Change Practices Which Practices Do We Employ To Implement Change? Conclusion Applications and Reflections PART III. LEADING COMMUNITIY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE Ch 5. Community Change Context by Richard A. Couto, Sarah Hippensteel and Marti Goetz Introduction Purpose of Community Change Change Vignette: Citizens for the Responsible Destruction of Chemical Weapons Concepts of Change Concepts of Leadership Change Practices Conclusion Application and Reflection Ch 6. Crossing Organizational and Community Contexts Introduction Change Vignette: Microcredit to Rural Women Concepts of Change Across Organizational and Community Contexts Concepts of Leadership Across Organizational and Community Contexts Change Practices Across Organizational and Community Contexts Conclusion PART IV. LEADING POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE Ch 7. Political Change Context by Richard A. Couto Introduction Purpose of Political Change Change Vignette: Extraordinary Rendition Concepts of Political Change Concepts of Political Leadership Change Practices Conclusion Application and Reflection Ch 8. Social Change Context Introduction The Purpose of Social Change Change Vignette: OASIS: An Initiative in the Mental Health Consumer Movement Concepts of Social Change Concepts of Social Change Leadership Social Change Practices Conclusion Application and Reflection Ch 9. Crossing Political and Social Contexts Introduction Vignette: The Sikh Coalition Concepts of Political and Social Change Concepts of Political and Social Leadership Change Practices Across Political and Social Contexts Conclusion PART V. LEADING GLOBAL CHANGE Ch 10. Global Change Context by Rebecca Todd Peters and Gill Robinson Hickman Introduction Purpose of Global Change Change Vignette: Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Concepts of Global Change Concepts of Global Leadership Global Change Practices Conclusion Application and Reflection Ch 11. Crossing Global and Social Contexts: Virtual Activism in Transnational Dotcauses, E-Movements, and Internet Nongovernmental Organizations Introduction Change Vignette: Is Global Civil Society a Good Thing? Concepts of Virtual Change Concepts of Virtual Leadership Virtual Change Practices Conclusion Conclusion: Connecting Concepts and Practices in Multiple Contexts Epilogue: Leading Intellectual Change: The Power of Ideas by James MacGregor Burns Index About the Author About the Contributors

Social change is multi-dimensional which is measured against space, time, speed, direction, content and impact. Social change occurs because of culture, conflict, idealistic factors, the need for adaptation, environmental factors, economic and political factors, demographic changes, and social movements and change. The process of social change in contemporary Ethiopia is related to the history of transition of the country from the feudal system to the socialist revolutionary government and then to ethnic-based federal system of government. One of the social actions that contributed for the formation of new social order during the socialist regime in Ethiopia was the mass campaign against illiteracy through adult learning program. Post 1991 Ethiopia has entertained immense and rapid social changes reflected in the citizens socio-economic, political and cultural changes. Social work is supposedly responding to a social change process by unfolding and revisiting its teaching curricula and practice models to fit into the current needs of social change. According to advocates of structural social work, social change and social movements are the cores of social work action to overcome the root causes of injustice and oppression. In Ethiopia, like any other developing countries, social work is a very new profession. In contrast to the existing challenges of lack of professionalization of social work, there are promising efforts exerted in Ethiopia where social work becomes responsible for social change. However, social work in Ethiopia is in its early stage to evaluate its contribution for social change.

Globalization and Socio-Cultural Change in Qatar

Висвітлено специфіку джерел і принципи розвитку соціального капіталу як неодмінної складової процесів соціалізації економіки. Обґрунтовано потенціал освіти, громадського активізму (особливо волонтерства), а також соціальних інновацій як джерел розвитку соціального капіталу. Виявлено, що яскравим прикладом конструктивного впливу інновацій у цьому контексті є ігрофікація з метою ініціювання та підтримання процесів соціального згуртування. На перспективність і переваги ігрофікації вказує той факт, що її елементи вже сьогодні широко використовуються комерційними компаніями з метою згуртування персоналу. В Україні ігрофікаційні підходи також дістають застосування в практиці публічного менеджменту як окремих державних органів найвищого рівня, так і органів місцевого самоврядування для активізації комунікації та співробітництва у громадах.Визначено, що в науковому дискурсі нині фактично ігноруються освітні аспекти проблематики формування соціального капіталу. Поряд з тим, обґрунтовано висновок, що в сучасних умовах освіта має позиціонуватись як вагоме джерело соціального капіталу. В цьому контексті постульовано першочергове значення загальної (шкільної) освіти, яка справляє найширший суспільний вплив.Виявлено, що серед принципів розвитку соціального капіталу основоположними є ті, що утверджують його саме як економічну субстанцію та ресурс. Такими принципами визначено соціоцентричну раціональність, складний (Парето-ефективний) утилітаризм, синергію соціоекономічної взаємодії, її інституційну обумовленість, а також соціальну свободу. В цьому зв’язку поглиблено розуміння відмінностей між соціальною та індивідуальною свободою. Соціальну свободу як принцип розвитку соціального капіталу запропоновано розглядати з позиції комплексності, що передбачає врахування специфіки громадянської та економічної свободи, а також імперативів людського розвитку.

ABSTRACTSuperdiversity, on the one hand, calls for new frames, concepts, and methodologies to deal with a fluid reality characterised by rapid (social) changes. On the other hand, we also have a need to broaden our scope beyond the heavy focus on the urban metropolis as the locus of superdiversity. With this paper I want to contribute to the research addressing these challenges by infusing existing research within Linguistic Landscape Studies with a semiotic and ethnographic perspective and add to our existing knowledge of superdiversity by focusing on a ‘small’ Belgian city called Ostend instead of a cosmopolitan world city with millions of inhabitants. I argue that ethnographic linguistic landscape analysis (ELLA) enables us to describe, quite accurately, rapid social changes in complex superdiverse neighbourhoods. Moreover, ELLA enables us to move beyond a mere synchronic picture of superdiverse neighbourhoods and sketch a ‘stratigraphy’ and a historical perspective on them.

Conventional Wisdom and the Next Unknown

Santa Cruz County California has one of the oldest community indicator projects in the country, with the first year of the Community Assessment Project (CAP) starting in 1994 and continuing through 2006 and beyond. The CAP accomplishes four major goals: (1) to assess the quality of life in the county; (2) to educate community members about the economy, education, health, public safety, natural environment and social environment of the region; (3) to act as a catalyst for social and political change; and (4) to help evaluate the impact of social and political change in the county. This chapter will outline the history of the CAP, how the CAP reveals the quality of life in the county and educates community members, the successes of the CAP in acting as a catalyst for change in the community, challenges for the CAP, and recommendations for how the Santa Cruz County CAP, and other community indicator projects, might increase their ability to make political and social change.

This concluding chapter reassesses the book's diverse contributions and concludes that the subtext of hope and positive change is embedded in the larger story of the "Arab Spring." From a historical perspective, the odds of new media and communication technologies' contribution to massive public mobilization for political and social change have never been greater given the proliferation and sophistication of these technologies. From a practical perspective, social and political change cannot but remain contingent upon human action, and ICTs can further human action for social justice and political change.

[ 164 ] asia policy Culture and Politics in China’s Internet Randy Kluver Political leaders, activists, and academics have all shared a common expectation regarding China’s relationship to the Internet. Given the explosive growth of the number of users, China’s innovative use of technology, and the tension between the “Internet wants to be free” technology and China’s highly controlled political and social sector, the scene is a set for a classic “battle royale” between state control and a newly empowered citizenry led by issue advocates and Internet campaigns. Guobin Yang’s highly interesting and informed look at this battle brings together a number of narratives, including the role of transnational activists, utopian realism, and the style of contention online. His focus, however, is primarily on the role of netizens and civic associations in using the Internet to launch campaigns for justice, to challenge the rules and authority of central and local governments, and to push for greater openness in Chinese society. Given the large interest in China’s relationship to the Internet, of course, there are a number of works that address this issue, including Michael Chase and James Mulvenon’s You’ve Got Dissent: Chinese Dissident Use of the Internet and Beijing’s Counter-Strategies, Christopher Hughes and Gudrun Wacker’s China and the Internet: Politics of the Digital Leap Forward, and Zixue Tai’s The Internet in China: Cyberspace and Civil Society.1 Yang’s contribution is to weave together strands of the argument that has been made piecemeal by a number of other authors and to take a more nuanced perspective regarding the promise of the Internet. Indeed, at a time when observers in the West have largely lowered their expectations for Internet-driven political change, there remains a certain confidence that the Internet will indeed transform China, much as earlier advocates argued that trade would lead to a more open society. As evidence for this, one need look no further than the blurb by Governor Howard Dean on the cover of Yang’s book: “The ultimate instrument of individual empowerment is remaking one of the most controlling societies on earth.” 1 Michael Chase and James Mulvenon, You’ve Got Dissent: Chinese Dissident Use of the Internet and Beijing’s Counter-Strategies (Santa Monica: RAND, 2002); Christopher R. Hughes and Gudrun Wacker, China and the Internet: Politics of the Digital Leap Forward (New York: Routledge, 2003); and Zixue Tai, The Internet in China: Cyberspace and Civil Society (New York: Routledge, 2006). randy kluver is Executive Director of the Institute for Pacific Asia and Research Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. He can be reached at . [ 165 ] book review roundtable • the power of the internet in china The problem is that Governor Dean’s enthusiasm perhaps is more a projection of his own desires than a reflection of the reality of social life in China. Yang, for his part, acknowledges the role of the Internet in empowering individuals and activists but, to his credit, understands that there is much more ambiguity than is often acknowledged regarding the long-term social and political consequences of the Internet. What he does do is pull together multiple data points in such a way as to better articulate the capacity of new informationtechnologiesforacceleratingsocialandpoliticalchange.Thereare multiple narratives at play within Chinese cyberspace, including the use of the Internet by individuals to challenge governmental policies, to redress local or central governmental officials, and to build new forms of social alliances. But in addition to these positive trends, the Internet in China also has contributed to increased social bullying (such as through the “human flesh search engine” phenomenon), fraud, and disinformation. Yang very carefully sorts through these multiple narratives and attempts to locate the role of the Internet in a time of already rapid and extensive social and political change. This story, moreover, is difficult to tell: During the most rapid economic growth and social change in history, how does one isolate the role of one variable, even— or, rather, especially—when that variable is the Internet? China’s political and social makeover began long before 1994, when the Internet was introduced to China, and includes factors that seem far...

1 IntroductionThe last twenty years has brought rapid social, political and economic changes which have transformed the structure of society in many countries around the world, and especially in our region. A brief overview of these changes is sufficient to explain and justify attempts in recent years to reform education in most European countries. After the society clearly and profoundly changed it became necessary to reform education systems to be flexible, compatible with contemporary issues, and able to successfully tackle these challenges and the new realities.Education plays the most important role in the development and progress of an individual. It affects their social status and is the most important factor in economic prosperity and social emancipation. From a sociological point of view, the improvement of education does not happen solely because of individual needs, but originates and develops to meet the needs of the society. The educational system of any society is important for the overall social system. In static societies, the key function of the educational system is the transmission of cultural heritage to future generations. However, in today's modern world, education must respond to a number of other challenges and needs that it faces on a daily basis.Regardless of the level of development of society, education should be one of the most important social activities. Quality education is the main driving force of social progress. Today however, it is recognized that the most developed countries invest much more in education and different types of research in comparison to developing countries or underdeveloped countries.2 Changes in Educational SystemsCompetition for economic, military, and other forms of domination led to continuous analysis and re-evaluation of educational systems and the adoption of specific strategies for improvement with the aim of survival in the race for dominance. One of the most striking examples that authors constantly refer to is the competition between the United States and Russia in space exploration, especially after the Russian launch of Sputnik.Education is a key factor in social development. Social changes come with the collective transformation of individuals. Education is a process that allows all individuals to effectively participate in social activities and to contribute to social progress. Education systems then, have incalculable importance. Bringing about social change has a number of challenges however: professional, technical, social, moral, etc. These challenges require new standards and new approaches to training teachers both during faculty training as well as during their continuous professional development, because they have to be continuously trained in order to successfully face all the new challenges.After analysing the existing educational system, experts suggest specific needs for the transformation and harmonization of education systems, to new demands caused by social changes. Underscoring these needs, Patil (2012) suggests the following very common deficiencies in the current educational systems:(1) The present education does not generate or fortify the type of knowledge that is relevant to our changed society.(2) The technology associated with a particular body of knowledge is inappropriate to our stage of development in terms of its employment potential or investment demands.(3) Education has failed to provide a value-framework which may prepare committed politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, and professionals, on whom our nation can depend for a sophisticated system of support services, which will take the country to the highest level.The European concept of the new society, and its gradual application of those needs for the users of new educational services along with modern understanding of the role of education prepare teachers to face new demands within the education system. …

This article investigates some issues related to gender and education based on a qualitative, empirical study of women in higher education in the Toliara region of Madagascar. The focus is on how women’s participation in higher education has created changes in gender relations, and how these women have succeeded in achieving higher education. In spite of the interviewed women’s more influential social position and individual freedom, we found that the traditional gender expectations and economic expectations from the extended family are still present. Indeed, it appears that with rising social position and individual freedom, the pressure and demands from their extended families increase.

The transition of power from Lenin to Stalin directly changed the destiny of the Soviet Union, amounting to much more than just a simple change in leadership. Although to a significant degree, Stalin maintained many aspects of Lenin's leadership, there were still significant political and cultural changes which took place in Russia during the shift of power and ensuing political competitions. Three key political changes stemmed from this transition: 1.) Lenin's New Economic Policy was replaced by a series of policy changes that came to be called "The Great Turn"; 2.) There were significant changes in the formation of the Russian Communist Party, leading to conflicts between old guard Bolsheviks and new members; and 3.) There were significant changes in other policies used to control the country, including the use of police, gulags, and propaganda. In concert with these political changes, there were also two significant changes in the broader Soviet culture: 1.) The earlier revolutionary emphasis on Marxist-Leninism was systematically supplanted by an emphasis on total obedience to Stalinism and Stalin's dictatorship in the "Great Purge" of the 1930s; and 2.) The relative respect for the sovereignty of neighboring communistic countries under Lenin was supplanted by a much more imperialistic and expansionary policy of "state communism" under Stalin. This essay will explore the political and cultural changes as mentioned that stemmed from the transition in power from Vladimir Lenin to Joseph Stalin from 1922-1924, starting from the three political changes before proceeding into the analysis of broader social changes.

The adoption of women’s suffrage in national elections brought expectations of dramatic political and social change throughout the world. But the reality of suffrage was more nuanced. Many who lived through suffrage did not feel they were living through a revolution. Women did not vote in large numbers and their voting patterns did not appear to differ all that much from men’s. But like many notable social, economic, and biological changes, political change can accumulate in slow and gradual ways. Far from having little noticeable effect, recent research has shown that women’s suffrage has in fact brought about significant economic, social, and political change at the domestic level. This chapter describes these changes and presents novel evidence that women’s votes have also had a dramatic, pacifying impact on international affairs.

The present paper is part of a more general sociological study of university students in Lebanon as agents of social and political change. The aim is to identify and describe some basic social variables determining the attitudes of university students towards a revolutionary movement that, after the June War of 1967, provided an alternative to the policies of existing governments for solving the Palestine problem and for effecting political changes in Arab society. Because the Palestinian Resistance Movement presented itself as a spearhead of revolutionary political and social change in the whole of Arab society,' a sociological investigation on these lines should throw light on the social determinants of attitudes towards radical change in Lebanese and other Arab political systems. The same social forces shaping the attitudes of university students in Lebanon towards the commandos are likely to shape their attitudes towards other attempts to effect basic changes in the social fabric.

Differences in depressive symptoms and attitudes about political and social changes were examined for individuals with and without family histories of Stalinist persecution in several small villages in Russia and Ukraine. In a sample of 422 villagers, there were 37 family members of survivors of Stalinist purges. In comparison to villagers with no family history of persecution, those who had such history perceived their social life with other villagers and their life in general to be much improved in the late 1990s. They also reported much lower levels of depression than those without a history of persecution. Differences that were discovered could not be accounted for by demographic characteristics of the respondents. The results suggest that individuals with a history of family trauma related to political persecution may perceive their environment as more positive as a result of political changes and may cope with political transitions differently than persons who have no history of family persecution.