Conceptual Typology Research Articles

Legitimation work in privatized criminal justice: Softening, shrinking, and signaling

How do private companies justify taking on criminal justice functions? Building on writing on legitimacy and privatization, this article describes three rhetorical practices intended to increase the legitimacy of private companies carrying out criminal justice functions: softening (obscuring the use of force); shrinking (demonstrating deference to the state); and signaling (proclaiming alignment with pro-social values). The article demonstrates the analytic utility of these categories by considering public-facing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports produced by one prominent company in the private corrections industry (CoreCivic). The conceptual typology of legitimation work brings together several dynamics that are common in privatized criminal justice and provides an analytic toolkit for future study. A discussion considers how researchers can use this typology to examine legitimation work by other private firms and industries that engage the criminal justice system.

A conceptual typology of energy citizenship

Energy citizenship is viewed as playing an essential role in the transition towards sustainable energy systems on a national and global scale. However, as a social science concept it is rather fuzzy and insufficiently elaborated. This paper proposes a conceptual typology of energy citizenship that aims for a balance between various competing understandings, in full awareness of ontological and disciplinary differences. The identification of conceptual dimensions and categories for the typology is based on a thorough literature research in the fields of energy social sciences and political sciences, resulting in the formulation of ten ideal types. In a next step, the conceptual typology was empirically tested and substantiated by mapping 596 cases of energy citizenship across Europe. This article presents the conceptual background of the typology and describes the ten ideal-types, highlighting conceptual characteristics, and illustrating them with salient examples. The conceptual typology captures the breadth of energy citizenship, encompassing both existing and possible types. It can be used by practitioners in the design of initiatives and/or policies acknowledging the various possible contributions of energy citizenship to a more sustainable, just and democratic energy system, and in social science studies on transformative social innovations, (dis)empowerment and “knowings of governance”.

Socialist Tendencies in the South-South Cooperation: Typology of States, Independence and Development

ABSTRACT The article focuses on interactions and cooperation between peoples and countries of the Global South which are getting more relevant in the contemporary era. It analyses mainly socialist tendencies in the South-South cooperation by specifying three issues: a conceptual typology of states, and interrelated concepts of independence and development. It proceeds in the following sequence of steps. First, it explains the typology of states in the Global South, specifically by using the global comparative typology of socialist countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Second, it identifies the basic kinds of periods of the struggle for independence and the struggle for development since World War II to specify the cooperation conceptually in a chronological way. From perspectives of social and political philosophy and global studies, the article contributes to the understanding of cooperation in the contemporary multipolar and multilateral tendencies in the world.

تطبيق دروس السلامة المستفادة من قطاع الطيران المدني التجاري على صناعة النفط والغاز

Commercial aviation safety-related protocols and initiatives have received considerable interest from several industries due to the widely recognition of their effectiveness as an ultra-safe industry. And yet, it’s not clear how to adopt these protocols in oil and gas sector. Thus, this article provides a typology of these protocols to apply to the oil and gas sector. This paper examines seven examples of error counter measures used in commercial aviation safety. Examples are Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) methodology. This would help in developing a conceptual typology that might potentially apply to the oil and gas industry. The initiatives examined in this article fall into twofold themes: concepts that seek to increase collective awareness of safety values; and concepts that promote safety by design. The results of this research revealed that all task checklists, joint safety briefings, and the confidential safety reporting system are protocols that help users routinely enhance workplace safety. However, initiatives such as the sterile cockpit system and LOSA approach in frontline operations fall under the responsibility of middle and upper management to ensure safety performance. Examining and discussing the proposed typology with the sector’s safety experts and front-line professionals before the implementation process would highlight any unanticipated challenges, and therefore proactively reduce them to promote an organizational safety culture in the oil and gas sector which enables operational cost reduction and mitigates loss-time injury. Finally, this study outlines that it is possible to benefit from aviation safety standards in the oil and gas sectors and achieve higher safety performance. Keywords: Oil & Gas Safety; Occupational Safety; Safety Management; Safety Culture; Aviation Safety; Threat and Error Management.

Developing a typology of interventions to support doctors’ mental health and wellbeing

BackgroundThe problem of mental ill-health in doctors is complex, accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and impacts on healthcare provision and broader organisational performance. There are many interventions to address the problem but currently no systematic way to categorise them, which makes it hard to describe and compare interventions. As a result, implementation tends to be unfocussed and fall short of the standards developed for implementing complex healthcare interventions. This study aims to develop: 1) a conceptual typology of workplace mental health and wellbeing interventions and 2) a mapping tool to apply the typology within research and practice.MethodsTypology development was based on iterative cycles of analysis of published and in-practice interventions, incorporation of relevant theories and frameworks, and team and stakeholder group discussions.ResultsThe newly developed typology and mapping tool enable interventions to be conceptualised and/or mapped into different categories, for example whether they are designed to be largely preventative (by either improving the workplace or increasing personal resources) or to resolve problems after they have arisen. Interventions may be mapped across more than one category to reflect the nuance and complexity in many mental health and wellbeing interventions. Mapping of interventions indicated that most publications have not clarified their underlying assumptions about what causes outcomes or the theoretical basis for the intervention.ConclusionThe conceptual typology and mapping tool aims to raise the quality of future research and promote clear thinking about the nature and purpose of interventions, In doing so it aims to support future research and practice in planning interventions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of doctors.

The Nexus between the Digital Service Economy and Intraregional Wage Inequalities

The upsurge in wage inequalities is a common prediction in the literature analyzing the labor market outcomes of the diffusion of information and communication technologies and automation technologies. More controversial, instead, is the relationship between wage inequalities and digital technologies. This article addresses this issue on conceptual and empirical grounds. Specifically, the article elaborates on the distinction between digital technologies adoption and digital transformation and derives a conceptual typology of the different modes of digital service economy, that is, different types of digital transformation, each characterized by specific consequences in terms of intraregional wage inequalities. Empirically, based on an analysis of 164 European regions in the period 2009–16, the article documents that only regions characterized by the most pervasive types of digital service economy experience a rise of intraregional wage inequalities, a result that partly mitigates the automation anxiety frequently dominating the public and, sometimes, the scholarly debates.

From Confrontation to Cooperation: Describing Non-State Armed Group–UN Interactions in Peace Operations

Abstract In various conflict contexts where the state is unable to maintain security and public order, non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and the United Nations (UN) conduct their activities alongside one another. While previous research has focused on hostile relations between the UN and NSAGs, less attention has been given to collaborative interactions. This paper aims to address this research gap by formulating a novel conceptual typology of NSAG–UN interactions in the context of a peace operation. The typological framework comprises two-dimensions: firstly, the thematic field of interaction including human rights, humanitarian needs and governance, security, and political processes and, secondly, the nature of interaction ranging from confrontation to cooperation. Based on the typology, interaction activities between the UN and NSAGs in two peacekeeping operations—the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)—are systematically documented and described. While both cases show confrontation in the security field, UNOCI also commonly cooperated with NSAGs on security-related issues; MINUSMA instead cooperated with NSAGs primarily regarding the political process. The analysis further proposes factors that may explain such variation, including institutional arrangements and NSAG characteristics. The conceptual framework presented in this paper is crucial in advancing knowledge about an empirical phenomenon that we know little about and that has important implications for different forms of “local” engagement in peace operations and the effectiveness of UN policies and practices.

Embodied interaction: a turn to better understand disabling marketplaces and consumer vulnerability

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to extend current understanding of disabling marketplaces by substantiating embodied interaction, between service providers and disabled consumers, as interlinked multimodal activities in a material environment. The study is based on three extensive datasets on service production and provider-consumer interactions, gathered from several public sector markets containing private service providers. Using different qualitative and semi-ethnographical methods, the study makes three contributions: i) a more embodied construct of disability, materialised in a conceptual typology of embodiment and materiality, advancing research into what disables consumers from being active members of marketplaces; ii) identifying themes of disabling marketplace interactions which contribute a more fine-grained understanding of the relationship between embodiment and how consumers experience vulnerability – an explanation of how consumers with disabilities appropriate space and ascribe meanings to a place; and iii) substantiating previous research into ‘bodily dys-appearance’.

Artificial intelligence in government: Concepts, standards, and a unified framework

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in generative language modelling, hold the promise of transforming government. Given the advanced capabilities of new AI systems, it is critical that these are embedded using standard operational procedures, clear epistemic criteria, and behave in alignment with the normative expectations of society. Scholars in multiple domains have subsequently begun to conceptualize the different forms that AI applications may take, highlighting both their potential benefits and pitfalls. However, the literature remains fragmented, with researchers in social science disciplines like public administration and political science, and the fast-moving fields of AI, ML, and robotics, all developing concepts in relative isolation. Although there are calls to formalize the emerging study of AI in government, a balanced account that captures the full depth of theoretical perspectives needed to understand the consequences of embedding AI into a public sector context is lacking. Here, we unify efforts across social and technical disciplines by first conducting an integrative literature review to identify and cluster 69 key terms that frequently co-occur in the multidisciplinary study of AI. We then build on the results of this bibliometric analysis to propose three new multifaceted concepts for understanding and analysing AI-based systems for government (AI-GOV) in a more unified way: (1) operational fitness, (2) epistemic alignment, and (3) normative divergence. Finally, we put these concepts to work by using them as dimensions in a conceptual typology of AI-GOV and connecting each with emerging AI technical measurement standards to encourage operationalization, foster cross-disciplinary dialogue, and stimulate debate among those aiming to rethink government with AI.

Occupational Stress: An Impediment to Quality Nurse–Patient Relationship – A Rapid Review

Given the complex nature of the effect of occupational stress also known as work or job stress, on the quality of nurse- patient relationship, it appears a daunting task reaching a unified definition of work stress because of the acknowledged fact that a singular approach may not be able to encompass the breadth of the phenomenon. This study aims to provide a general review of some of the challenges of stress on nurse–patient relationship, and causes of occupational stress were examined in light of the conceptual typology that portrays various sources of workplace stress and strategies in preventing occupational stress. The data for this study were from published studies. Electronic databases of Medline, Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar were searched using keywords: occupational stress, nurse- patient relationship and quality of nursing care literatures were retrieved and screened for eligibility. The date limit considered in the literature search was from 2016 to 2023 to capture only the variables identified in this study objective. Stress sources are consequentially known to produce dire organization and extra-organizational outcomes such as low morale, poor performance, career uncertainty, poor care, health problems, work-life conflict, turnover, and other reverse that undermine the competitive objectives of business. Stress curative measures are discussed to assist nurses to understand the significance of providing effective stress management interventions that can enhance employee well-being and organizational productivity.

Destroying Democracy for the People: The Economic, Social, and Political Consequences of Populist Rule, 1990 to 2017

ABSTRACT The recent populist wave has raised questions about the implications of populism for democracy. Some scholars express optimism that populism may be a source of democratic revitalization, bringing about sweeping changes in accordance with the majority will. More often, populism is viewed as a threat to liberal democracy, combining calls for radical change with disdain for core democratic institutions and norms. We consider the possibility that these outcomes may not be mutually exclusive and develop a conceptual typology for understanding the consequences of populist rule. We then use cross-national panel fixed-effects models to analyze the effects of populist leadership between 1990 and 2017. We first examine whether populists have economic and social effects in line with their core aspirations. Left-wing populists are quite effective at implementing their agenda: they reduce income inequality, regulate markets, and incorporate marginalized groups. Right-wing populists are also fairly impactful: for instance, they raise tariffs, cut taxes, and restrict the rights of women and gay people. However, populists of all stripes are associated with the rapid and severe erosion of liberal democratic institutions. Populists, we conclude, often destroy democracy in the name of the people.

A taxonomy of marketing organizations.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00911-5.

First steps towards FAIRization of product-focused sensory data

The emergence of open science makes it necessary to formalize data and knowledge in a way that adheres to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. The objective of this work was to lay the foundations for such a FAIRization of sensory data. After an explanation of the rationale, the main characteristics of sensory evaluation methods were identified, and a data-centric typology of the different types of measures was proposed. This typology enabled us to classify the sensory evaluation methods regardless of whether they were used in “sensory only” or “consumer-centric product-focused” research. To complete this conceptual typology, minimal information standards have been defined to help in the reporting and interpreting of sensory evaluation data. These standards include a data format and metadata related to sensory evaluation measures. Based on the typology and metadata, several aspects related to sensory data aggregation were discussed, and examples were presented to demonstrate the interest of such a grouping of datasets. The outputs of this work were intended to be implemented in the “sensory evaluation measures” branch of TransformON, a food ontology. Thus, this work opens up new perspectives related to the use of ontologies for data-driven research related to food sustainability. Moreover, it invites the sensory science community to adopt a broader perspective regarding sensory measures.

Rethinking Volunteering as a Natural Resource: A Conceptual Typology

Volunteering can be understood as a human-made, renewable resource that can be grown and recycled, and whose continuation and volume of flow can be influenced by human beings positively as well as negatively. We extend the metaphor and break down the monolithic concept into three categories: traditional (wild salmon), third party (farmed fish), and spontaneous (marine zooplankton). Each volunteer resource (a) manifests in particular forms of volunteer service, (b) serves different purposes, (c) has different antecedents, (d) is harvested in different ways by different stakeholders meeting different conditions, and requires a specific form of management, based on its (e) benefits and challenges, (f) resource level, (g) propagation methods, and (h) sustainability needs. The three resources are fluid and interact dynamically. The distinction of three volunteer resources and their dynamics extends the conceptualization of volunteering as a natural resource and informs a new research agenda.

The innovation potential of Islamic crowdfunding platforms in contributing to sustainable development

PurposeThis paper aims at explaining variances in the contribution of Islamic crowdfunding platforms (ICFPs) to sustainable development (SD), by adopting an institutional logic perspective (ILP). ICFPs represent a dual institutional overlap between two logics (the Western-mainstream and the Islamic logic) which have an impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) interpretations, practices, and decisions and whose conflicts are mitigated by choosing different resolution strategies. The authors aim at showing that this choice affects SD differently.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a conceptual typology through the following steps: (1) choice of variables and identification of corresponding variable domains, through literature review. Variables chosen are the elemental CSR dimensions related to various social and environmental corporate responsibilities to whom diverse meaning and emphasis are given under the Western-mainstream and Islamic logics. (2) Identification of three distinct ideal types of ICFPs, building on different resolution strategies to mitigate conflicts between logics; (3) development, for each ideal type, of a set of implications related to SD; (4) implementation of a first test aiming at assigning real cases to each ideal type.FindingsThe authors identify Western-mimicking (platforms adopting as resolution strategy decoupling or compartmentalizing strategies), Islamic-driven (platforms focusing on one prevailing logic) and Syncretism-inspired (platforms adopting hybridizing practices) ideal-types.Originality/valueIt is the first paper suggesting ILP to explain variances in crowdfunding platforms' role in addressing SD. It focuses on a specific type of CF platforms till now neglected.

Current Challenges for German Business in the Russian Market

The reaction of leading German companies in the Russian market after the start of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine is considered. Companies interested in resolving the situation as soon as possible decided whether to leave the Russian market or not. The author analyzed the decisions of firms in the general context of winding down German business activities after 2014. After the acute phase of the pandemic ended, trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Germany showed a tendency to recover. However, since February 24, 2022, German companies with a small number of exceptions have generally supported anti-Russian sanctions. The conceptual typology of firms’ decisions, i.e., exit, activity compression, stabilization, and continuation of work in a difficult environment, is explored. It is concluded that the long-term trajectory of the real actions of German companies has fundamentally changed. The analysis made it possible to establish that the foundation of pragmatic market relations towards Russia is being eroded in the German foreign economic policy. This explains why German companies declare their willingness to pay. If during the annexation of Crimea to Russia groups of lobbyists for the interests of the German economy fought to maintain contacts, now such efforts are coming to naught.

Public Moralities, Citizen Voices, and Disparate Fears

This article examines the contours of “the public’s morality(ies)”, either as an aggregate of individuals’ public hopes and fears or (in the plural) as particular mixes of hopes and fears stemming from individual (or coalitional) moral convictions. Our theoretical understanding of one aggregate “public morality” relies upon Derek Edyvane’s presentation of a civic virtue premised upon an austerity whereby citizens value a collective sense of protection as highly as the realization of their individual public aspirations. We scrutinize Edyvane’s theoretical construct in reference to a collection of citizen letters responding to Gerald Ford’s 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon made available by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. These letters illustrate a conceptual typology of public morality that reflects various combinations of the public hopes and fears Edyvane delineates; this typology accommodates most of the available letters. Psychological studies pertaining to prosocial behavior, individual moral convictions, and conspiracy beliefs are reviewed to understand sectarian fears that animate current political discourse. In this regard, we offer examples of political utterances appearing to fall outside Edyvane’s treatment of public fears. A final discussion considers how citizen fears arising from disparate moral convictions affect administrative decision-making. It also directs attention to behavioral public administration that offers a micro-level perspective on individual behavior that impacts governance.

Multi-actor co-innovation partnerships in agriculture, forestry and related sectors in Europe: Contrasting approaches to implementation

CONTEXTInnovation is an important driver of increased productivity, sustainability and resilience in agriculture, forestry and related sectors. An analysis of how different types of multi-actor co-innovation partnerships function can help to identify the reasons why some are more successful than others in ‘speeding up’ innovation. OBJECTIVETo provide a framework for the analysis of the co-innovation process, we developed a multidimensional conceptual typology of co-innovation activities based on a review of 200 such partnerships involving farmers and foresters from across Europe. This framework is based on innovation systems theory and the prevailing policy context of the ‘multi-actor approach’. METHODSThe overarching concept or dependent variable measured by the typology is ‘effectiveness of co-innovation by a multi-actor partnership’ and the two dimensions of the overarching concept are the ‘structural components of the Organisational Innovation System’, with four categories, and ‘attitude towards interaction’, with two categories. The result is a matrix of eight ‘ideal types’ of co-innovation activity. These eight types are characterised according to first-order constructs derived from our research data. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe results show that the co-innovation process can successfully take contrasting forms according to the ‘contextual contingencies’ encountered by the partnership. In other words, no one ideal type is intrinsically ‘superior’ to another but may be more ‘appropriate’ in given circumstances. Factors influencing approaches to implementation include actor capacities, aspirations and networks, the co-innovation topic and its influence on the partnership size and the workplan structure, the type of co-innovation activity outputs and the need to engage with the ‘larger periphery’ of stakeholders, and the nature of the enabling environment. SIGNIFICANCEThe typology is not a classification since the ideal types represent organisational forms that might exist rather than real partnerships. However, the analytical framework it provides will help policy makers and programme managers to develop targeted interventions, according to actor needs and local circumstances, for ‘speeding up’ innovation.

Explaining ambiguity in scientific language

The idea that ambiguity can be productive in data science remains controversial. Efforts to make scientific publications and data intelligible to computers generally assume that accommodating multiple meanings for words, known as polysemy, undermines reasoning and communication. This assumption has nonetheless been contested by historians, philosophers, and social scientists, who have applied qualitative research methods to demonstrate the generative and strategic value of polysemy. Recent quantitative results from linguistics have also shown how polysemy can actually improve the efficiency of human communication. I present a new conceptual typology based on a synthesis of prior research about the aims, norms, and circumstances under which polysemy arises and is evaluated. The typology supports a contextual pluralist view of polysemy’s value for scientific research practices: polysemy does both substantial positive and negative work in science, but its utility is context-sensitive in ways that are often overlooked by the norms people have formulated to regulate its use, including prior scholars researching polysemy. I also propose that historical patterns in the use of partial synonyms, i.e. terms with overlapping meanings, provide an especially promising phenomenon for integrative research addressing these issues.

World Christianity and Indigenous Experience: A Global History, 1500–2000, by David Lindenfeld.

<i>World Christianity and Indigenous Experience: A Global History, 1500–2000</i>, by David Lindenfeld.