Critical Social Theory Research Articles

A Method to the Madness: Applying an Intersectional Analysis of Structural Oppression and Power in HCI and Design

With increased focus on historically excluded populations, there have been recent calls for HCI research methods to more adequately acknowledge and address the historical context of racism, sexism, gendered racism, epistemic violence, classism, and so on. In this article, we utilize Black feminist epistemologies to serve as critical frameworks for understanding the historical context that reveals the interconnected systems of power that mutually influence one another to create unequal outcomes or social inequalities for different populations. Leveraging Black feminist thought (BFT) and intersectionality as critical social theories of design praxis, we introduce intersectional analysis of power—a method that enables HCI researchers, designers, and practitioners to identify and situate saturated sites of violence in a historical context and to transform the ways in which they engage with populations that have been historically oppressed. Engaging in self-reflection as researchers, we apply an intersectional analysis of power to co-design technologies with community street outreach workers who address violence in their predominantly Black communities. We: (1) identify the saturated site of violence; (2) identify the intersecting systems of power and who holds power (past and present); (3) describe the “conceptual glue” that binds these intersecting systems together and the assumption(s) that those who hold power are employing to guide their interactions; (4) examine the ways in which Black people are subjugated, surveilled, and/or expected to assimilate to “normative” ways of being and behaving; and (5) identify acts of resistance. This article contributes an alternative to traditional HCI and design methods that falsely perpetuate a lens of neutrality and colorblindness that centers on whiteness, innovation, and capitalism and ignores the history of State-sanctioned violence and structural oppression.

Ukrainian feminism as a factor of social changes

The article discusses the theoretical foundations of Ukrainian feminism, substantiates its practical significance for social changes in society. The subject of research attention is the individual and collective dimensions of feminism, the influence of this important social phenomenon on the value evolution of Ukrainian society. Attention is focused on the goal-rational and value-rational dimensions of the women's community, its moral and normative foundations. The role of the Ukrainian lifeworld in the value demarcation of Ukrainian women from imperial sociality is understood. Emphasis is placed on the European social prerequisites of Ukrainian feminism, its consistency with liberal and communitarian ideas. The fundamental methodological approaches of representatives of postcolonial studies and critical social theory are analyzed. The national specificity of Ukrainian feminism as a social alternative to the distorted imperial forms of sociality is noted. Synthesized are theoretical and practical approaches that interpret feminism as a complex social phenomenon that has rational and sensual components. The reasons for the predominance of sensuality in the conditions of total alienation and its conditioning by historical factors are explained.

Disciplined appetites: Reimagining food and nutrition programs for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Medical nutrition therapy is recommended for people living with HIV/AIDS to improve health and wellness; however, there is a lack of food and nutrition programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in Nova Scotia, Canada. The aim of this study was to explore the beliefs, values, and experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS in relation to food and nutrition programs. A critical social theory lens with two disciplinary contexts: critical health geography and critical dietetics guided this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people living with HIV/AIDS and analysed for themes. The three main themes were identified: (1) intersections of social determinants of health, wellness, and food security; (2) discursive shaping of food and nutrition in relation to HIV; and (3) the dynamic nature of HIV care. Participants offered recommendations on how food and nutrition programs might be reimagined to be more accessible, inclusive, and effective for people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Ideology and simultaneously more than mere ideology”: On Habermas’ reflections and hypotheses on a further structural transformation of the political public sphere

“Ideology and simultaneously more than mere ideology”: On Habermas’ reflections and hypotheses on a further structural transformation of the political public sphere

Application critical social theory in investigating nursing competency in context of Vietnam

Background: Competency of nurses is a critical component that drives the quality of healthcare. Investigation of required competencies among nurses in particular context is essential to foster nursing services. Objectives: The aim of this article is to share the researcher’s experiences and give out explanations of the application of the Critical Social Theory through investigating nursing competency in context of Vietnam. Methods: An ethnography approach with data collection methods of participant-observations, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions was conducted. Critical Social Theory was applied as theoretical foundation in order to gain deeply and fully understanding competencies of nurses. Results: It’s shown that using the Critical Social Theory as a theoretical foundation to investigate nursing competency in Vietnam context is applicable. This Theory is a school of thought whose primary goal is to improve the human condition. The theory focuses on general theoretical problems, as well as specific studies of concrete problems of contemporary social organization. The tactic focused on breaking with traditional hypothetical deductive methods, which are oriented towards the preservation and gradual reformation of the status quo. Its intention is to be a radically different approach which would consider the human construction of social forms of life and the possibility of their recreation. By applying the theory, it allows the researcher to explore and deeply understand what nurses think and act. Conclusion: To hear all nurses’ voices and smell the meaning of their behave in order to gain a rich and fully understanding of competencies of nurses, the Critical Social Theory is a suitable choice.

Lone founders, family owners and borrowing cost: Are female directors influential?

PurposeThis study examines the effect of lone founder and family ownership on borrowing cost. In addition, the study examines the moderating influence of gender diversity on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a sample of non-financial firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 2012–2021. The authors used ordinary least squares regression analysis method to test the hypotheses along with generalized method of moments estimation technique to control for unobserved heterogeneity, simultaneity and dynamic endogeneity.FindingsThe authors report that borrowing cost is higher in lone founder ownership, whereas borrowing cost is lower in family firms due to lesser risks attached to such firms by lenders. Further, the presence of female directors on the board weakens this relation in the case of lone founder ownership, whereas their presence further reduces borrowing cost in family-owned firms. Additionally, using the framework of critical mass theory, the authors found that higher number of female directors on boards reduces borrowing cost. Overall, this study’s results provide empirical support for social identity and critical mass theories in the sample firms.Originality/valueThe study provides novel evidence of the influence of lone founder and family ownership on borrowing cost in an emerging economy, as well as the moderating effects of gender diversity on this relationship.

The Synthesis of “Ujamaaism” of Nyerere and Habermas’ Critical Social Theory

The main aim of this paper was to demonstrate the synthesis of “Ujamaaism” of Nyerere and Habermas’s critical social theory. However, the study used critical and analytical methods. “Ujamaaism” is a new term coined by the author to explain the socialist theory of Nyerere. The study found that critical social theory elements were in a good position to correct the “Ujamaaism” of Nyerere to be a more useful theory because it failed to realise its expectations. It follows that the critical social theory of Habermas was in a good position to have the best correction for reinstating “Ujamaaism” praxis in Tanzania because of its nature of critical consciousness, critical reflection, enlightenment, autonomy as well as emancipation, which help human being to come out from all social restrictions and conditionalities that hinder them from reaching self-awareness. These values were not much reflected by Nyerere, as a result, the study aimed to re-create the “Ujamaaism” of Nyerere

Toward a critical social theory of AI: Knowledge, information, and intelligence in the later works of André Gorz

In his last scholarly work, L’Immatériel, André Gorz grapples with the emergence of the new cognitive capitalism based on immaterial labor and capital and, crucially, he seeks to comprehend how advanced technologies—such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, ICTs, and specifically, AI—reshape the very nature of the human subject. Despite its vital contributions, his conventional form of humanism—one that draws clear lines between organic human culture and inorganic machinic systems—is questioned and challenged by the increasingly complex and pervasive interplay between the two domains. Focusing on his later writings, this essay critically examines Gorz’s social theory of cognitive capitalism with particular reference to knowledge, information and intelligence. In doing so, the essay draws out some theoretical implications of Gorz’s defense of the humanities against post-human civilization for the development of a critical social theory of AI.

The role of gender equality in Iranian female tourism entrepreneurs’ success

ABSTRACT Gender (in)equality in entrepreneurship has been getting more attention in recent decades. The number of female entrepreneurs repeatedly reported less than males due to cultural issues, education, and lack of support. Moreover, launching start-up apiaries is more challenging for Asian women in tourism, and the likelihood of unsuccessful experiences is higher among them. Accordingly, the lack of empirical material on female entrepreneurs in tourism and gender equality issues, especially in middle east countries, are the two main gaps. Therefore, this paper tries to reveal the Iranian female entrepreneurship experience to fulfil these gaps. This research applied a qualitative research design leading with social constructivism and critical theory. 12 Iranian female tourism entrepreneurs participated in semi-structured online interviews. The snowball sampling technique was applied to collect data that was analysed thematically. The findings of this study highlighted that family responsibility, legal disparities, credit constraints, and the social construction of gender roles and norms are among the hurdles restricting females from engaging in social and economic opportunities. Moreover, the participants mentioned that the lack of social, government, and sponsors’ support and a platform for training and sharing peers’ experiences impact their businesses.

Collective case formulation in situations of violent radicalization: A critical perspective in training.

Case formulation is used in clinical training to weave together theoretical perspectives and support a shared plan of action. Although a cornerstone of clinical practice, critical social theorists have highlighted the risks of depoliticizing political struggles and of reifying and fixing subjects when using psychopathology and case formulation to address situations of injustice. In the field of violent radicalization, this risk is increased by the extreme affects evoked by terror in practitioners and in societies. This article explores the challenges of training clinicians in the field of violent radicalization. It does so by analyzing a Community of Practice (CoP) that was developed to support practitioners involved in this domain of practice in Quebec, Canada. Four focus groups with CoP participants and participant observation of nine CoP meetings were conducted. Thematic and narrative analyses were used to explore the training potential of the CoP and to identify the discursive processes and group dynamics associated with this modality. Results indicate that the diversity of professional perspectives and social positionalities in the group plays a central role in helping participants become aware of their biases and in developing more complex understandings of cases and of their social embedding. Results also suggest that the collective holding of risk is key to preserve practitioners' investment in patients involved with violent radicalization. The sensitive issue of partnership between health and social services and security agencies is also addressed. Results suggest that CoPs with strong leadership allow for experiential training to enhance clinical and critical thinking.

Poverty discrimination under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act: A transformative substantive equality approach

This article considers the implications of a transformative substantive equality interpretation of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (the Equality Act) for the interpretation stage of a claim of poverty-based discrimination. It draws from the work of the critical social and global justice theorist, Nancy Fraser, to briefly develop and extend existing transformative accounts of substantive equality that are faithful to the constitutional text and its legislative expression in the Equality Act. The article shows that the Equality Act could be interpreted to capture poverty discrimination that manifests along three intersecting axes, namely ‘misrepresentation’, ‘maldistribution’, and ‘misrecognition’. These axes highlight the political marginalisation, material disadvantage and pervasive prejudices, violence and stigma that characterise the disadvantages of poverty. The article then proposes three inquiries of an unfair discrimination analysis under the Equality Act that provide adjudicators with a critical legal framework to interpret the various stages in line with a transformative substantive equality approach.

The ends of radical critique? Crisis, capitalism, emancipation: a conversation

ABSTRACT In a discussion of Albena Azmanova’s book Capitalism on Edge (Columbia University Press, 2020), Amy Allen, Paul Apostolidis, Lea Ypi and Albena Azmanova debate key issues critical social theory confronts today. How should critical theorists re-engage with the critique of capitalism without entrapment in old ideological certainties? They revisit the classical debates about transformative agency, direction and methods of change, and the place of normative ideals and of moral theory in the critique of capitalism in light of the current historical juncture.

The Relationship Between Critical Social Theory and Interpretive Description in Nursing Research

This paper is an examination of the methodological and theoretical perspectives of a study with an inquiry focus on the experiences and perspectives of staff who worked at an injectable opiate assisted (iOAT) clinic. Twenty-two staff members, including nurses, social workers, and peer support workers, were interviewed. The goal of the study was to uncover how the clinic staff provided care to the clients who attend the clinic, their perspectives on how the clinic program impacted both them and their clients, and their experiences with the program itself. This interpretive descriptive study was underpinned by critical social theory. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify recurring, converging, and contradictory patterns of interaction, key concepts and emerging themes. In this paper we examine and discuss how the relationship between critical social theory and interpretive description enhanced the study. Examples from the study are presented to provide insight into the relationship.

Communicative rationality and the evolution of business ethics: corporate social responsibility and stockowner–employee partnership–An empirical case study in Republic of Korea1

Communicative rationality and justice, the main objectives of Habermas’ reconstruction of critical social theory, can be defined as the fair distribution of opportunities to speak, the inclusive participation of social actors, the accessibility of topics without restriction, the willingness to not only speak but listen, two-way vibrant interaction, self-transformation via learning from others, and reaching voluntary agreements over common goals and values. The concept of communicative reciprocity is essential here. Those equipped with the norm of reciprocity can better comprehend diversities and complexities, as well as the conflict-ridden aspects of social life, and thus can develop a stronger capacity of nurturing sensitivity to live in harmony with other people. This paper attempts to apply the concept of communicative rationality and reciprocity to the areas of business ethics in order to explore the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Ecological and Social Governance (ESG) as innovations in corporate governance. In addition, this paper will draw special attention to Stockowner–Employee (SOE) partnership as a new experiment of business ethics in Republic of Korea. By doing so, this paper aims to grasp the attributes of those who are more capable than others of understanding the norms and practices of CSR within an economic enterprise, with the view that reciprocal sympathy can serve as a communicative basis for what we might call responsible capitalist culture. The main arguments this paper makes are: (1) the recent change in the value orientations of shareholders in support for CSR and ESG can be interpreted as an expression of communicative reciprocity and justice; and (2) the transformation of business ethics in the direction of CSR and ESG means that classical liberalism has begun to turn to a “responsible” liberalism. Survey data collected from a Korean company will be analyzed to show how the norm of reciprocity is reflected in the relationship between corporations and society on the one hand and between shareholders and employees on the other.

DAS FISSURAS ENTRE SER E DEVER SER: AUTORREFLEXÕES DE UMA PROFESSORA DE EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA

ABSTRACT: Since the 1980s there has been a certain fascination with the theme of the reflective/researching teacher. Little is said, however, that this discussion is part of a larger one, which criticizes positivism and rationality. Following the tradition of Critical Social Theory, some theoretical and methodological assumptions were discussed in order to then reflect on the teaching practice and the school context in which this author is inserted. Violence and indifference as inherent to the civilizing process, of which education is part, and the confrontation of the contradictions between the teacher’s being and “must be” as an antidote to the reproduction of barbarism, appear as central themes. The use of records and memories of the period of initiation to teaching and insertion in the work environment (years 2019 and 2020) was made, with attention to my doing teaching and a latent “teacher must be” in daily school life, in its interconnections with social and cultural aspects. In the elaboration work (cognitive and affective) of the experience, the little rationality prevailing in the school space was one of the key points of the analysis, revealing itself, among others: the insistence on rhetoric and educational postulates, at the expense of denying reality; the predominance of the principle of competition, especially among peers and with singularities that relate to gender issues; and the difficulty of facing violence in physical education classes. It ends with some notes on teacher self-reflection, especially the urgency that the ethical-political principle overlaps merely instrumental/performative objectives in this process.

INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE WITH REFERENCE TO FEMALE SUBJUGATION IN MANTO'S SHORT STORIES: A HABERMASIAN LENS

In this research work, Saadat Hasan Manto's short stories are textually analyzed using a Habermasian lens. Manto's ideas on female subordination, societal supremacy, and freedom are stressed in this paper. The main goal of this qualitative study is to demonstrate the applicability of Manto's discovery in the modern day within the context of Habermas' critical social theory. This study illustrates unequivocally how social institutions' instrumental rationality colonizes and rationalizes the lifeworld. According to Habermas, societal structures like political and economic systems are encroaching on our daily lives. He is worried about the lines separating the lifeworld and the system. Additionally, Habermas' realistic objective for critical theory is for human liberty to be unhindered by any superfluous shackles. The short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto are drawn from Mottled Dawn: Fifty Sketches and Stories of Partition translated by Khalid Hasan and Manto's Selected Short Stories translated by Aatish Taseer. According to the study's findings, Manto and Habermas both reject social structures that oppress people and exert unjust dominance or colonization. The goal of maximizing human emancipation is shared by both. According to the results of the textual analysis, Manto's characters like Saughandi, Nesti, Raadha, and Mozail do not accept submission and advocate for independence from ideological, political, and social restraints. Keywords: Life world and System, instrumental rationality, social structures, domination, emancipation

Verbal, Visual, and Gestural Expressions of Social Criticism for Anti-Social Behavior of Indonesian People in an A Mild Video Commercial

Video commercials are an essential tool in advertising nowadays. Many Products right now use video commercials as their main tool to advertise their product; cigarettes are not an exception. However, since they cannot display the products in the commercials due to the rules in Indonesia, cigarette companies use creative methods to advertise their product. Instead, the companies use verbal, visual and gestural expressions to deliver the messages of what the companies want to say. In this thesis, I aim to discover how social criticism of the anti-social behavior of Indonesian people is portrayed through verbal, visual and gestural expressions in A mild video commercials. I used Multimodal Discourse Analysis, social criticism, and anti-social behavior theory to help analyze the data. Next, I analyze each piece of data in accordance with each mode and connect it with the social criticism message. Based on my analysis, I found out that the message of the social criticism in the video commercials can be seen through the linguistic mode, visual mode, and gestural mode. In conclusion, using social criticism in video commercials is an effective way for companies to give messages to viewers.

Bristol School of Multiculturalism as Normative Sociology

The Bristol School of Multiculturalism is a political theory/sociology interdisciplinary approach to its subject matter, which has been described as a form of normative sociology. It is normative in the way that a lot of critical social theory (e.g., Foucauldian) is not and is not merely “deconstructive” but also a constructive engagement with the concerns of co-citizens. It, however, eschews the abstract, top-down universalism of Rawlsian liberal egalitarianism in favour of a context of national citizenship and pays particular attention to bottom-up political struggle. However, unlike some other activist-oriented perspectives or standpoints, it is neither antistate nor antinational but is guided by a sense of inclusive unity or the common good. Essential to this unity is “recognition” and institutional, not merely symbolic, accommodation of minorities and a perspective on the “multi” which goes beyond the black-white binary and a secularist exclusion of political claims-making by religious and ethnoreligious groups such as Muslims in western Europe. Critically, the Bristol School of Multiculturalism is not just normative in that it does normative sociology, but most importantly, it engages in political theory to justify its normative perspective against objections and rival normative positions. So, the Bristol School of Multiculturalism is perhaps not just a normative sociology but also a form of normative sociological theory.

Analyzing social wrongs

Analyzing social wrongs

Race and Ethnicity in the Pandemic

This study begins with the historical understanding of race and its modern perspectives as a social construct amid social identity and critical race theories. Next, race and ethnicity are explored within the context of COVID-19, whereby those of non-white backgrounds are seeing different disastrous health outcomes and experiencing heightened levels of racism in the pandemic. Examples and analyses from around the world are then provided, which have resulted in health disparities and increased racism against non-white people, such as the high-rise apartment building disasters, rural Indigenous communities, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Adding fuel to the fire, there have been rumours internationally of certain ethnic groups carrying and spreading COVID-19.