Functionalist Models Research Articles

What It Means to Be Human: A Response to Harzheim.

This response engages critically with Harzheim's review of Thomas Fuchs' In Defense of the Human Being: Foundational Questions of an Embodied Anthropology. Fuchs' work offers a profound exploration of embodied cognition, arguing that human cognition and existence are deeply shaped by our physical interactions. Harzheim's critique highlights significant aspects of Fuchs' framework, including his critique of functionalist models, the impact of transhumanist technologies, and ethical concerns in healthcare technology. This paper extends Harzheim's review by proposing an integration of functionalist and embodied cognitive models, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive evaluation of technological impacts, and advocating for a more robust ethical framework that considers social equity. Additionally, it addresses the is-ought distinction and explores the implications of technological advancements on human identity and mental health. Doede's critique is also discussed, underscoring the importance of integrating diverse cognitive models and addressing technological determinism. Overall, this response calls for a more nuanced and inclusive approach to the discourse on embodied cognition, aiming to enrich the scholarly conversation and address the complexities and implications of Fuchs' analysis.

A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis of first-hand conceptualisations of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a growing phenomenon that correlates with significantly negative outcomes including psychopathology, hospitalisation and suicide; however, there exists little consensus on how to best understand it. This lack of conceptual consensus risks inconsistent clinical practice in a population that often reports poor experiences of professional support, therefore an understanding of how individuals conceptualise their own NSSI without attempting to fit it into existing causal and functionalist models is needed. This review sought to examine and synthesise first-hand conceptualisations of NSSI in existing qualitative literature using interpretive phenomenological synthesis. A systematic database search of qualitative literature was conducted, including interviews with individuals with experience of NSSI across all ages and settings, published in English from 1950 to 2022. Twenty-three studies were included in the final meta-synthesis. Three superordinate themes were generated via the synthesis: (1) NSSI is embedded in the social world; (2) NSSI is symbolic and communicative; and (3) NSSI represents taking back agency. This synthesis, comprised of both reported data and the themes identified by the researchers in the papers, highlighted that NSSI is a diverse behaviour that is inextricably linked with sociocultural context and that, paradoxically, it can be simultaneously communicative and private. This research urges an introspective examination of how clinicians and researchers in the field conceptualise NSSI and how this juxtaposes with how individuals who engage in the behaviour conceptualise it.

Complex causal structures of neighbourhood change: Evidence from a functionalist model and yelp data

In this study, we articulate a functional model of neighbourhood change and continuity, adapted from a classical model proposed by Stinchcombe in 1968. We argue this model provides a relatively simple way to capture key aspects of the complex causal structure of neighbourhood change that are implicit in much neighbourhood change research but rarely formulated explicitly. To evaluate the model, we formulate six testable propositions, which we empirically test with large-scale data from Yelp.com. We illustrate our approach with the case of Toronto, but find broad support for all propositions in an analysis of six cities. A conclusion reflects on the value of incorporating functionalist models into neighbourhood research and policy.

Modernity in the wilderness? Architects’ role in developing rural Hungary, 1930–1960

The aim of this article is to survey a longer period in Hungarian architecture starting from around 1930 and into the 1960s in order to investigate how subsequent generations of modern architects related to the social and housing problems of the countryside. It is widely held that although social sensitivity was a dominant feature of the modernist agenda, it was limited to an urban context, with little regard for rural areas unfamiliar to the movement’s leading proponents. Since the most radical and best-organized group of Hungarian architects was a section of the international organization Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne, their theoretical work was largely guided by the group’s centre in Zürich. This article traces some of the visions that were set against these ‘imported ideas’ and the extent to which these visions could be realized under the Horthy regime, which was at the time gradually moving towards the far-right. Furthermore, it maps the process that led to the confrontation between modernists and regionalists in the early 1940s. It also shows how the bipolar discourse revolving around social modernization was resolved by the democratic transformations of 1945, which set the stage for temporary cooperation between rivalling factions and led to architects reaching an understanding with reconstruction in mind. However, the hope for a strong and independent farming class and long-term development and planning policies backed by peasant parties was dashed by the communist breakthrough in 1948 As a result, the issue of rural housing would be raised anew only in the 1960s, when the Kádár regime made concessions to the collectivized peasantry. In the final section of this article, I will discuss why both the functionalist modern and regionalist models offered by architects failed. The family house type, which had been spontaneously developed by ‘self-help building’ and was condemned by the architecture profession in a new debate of the 1960s, cannot be explained by mere ideological or cultural discrepancies but through a profound socio-psychological analysis.

Exploring the Social Dimension of Business Models for Circularity

This article explores the implications of differing cognitive models for developing business models for circularity. We argue that the circular economy might enable a sustainable development approach depending on the how the managerial practices are framed by cognitive models of sustainable business and systems thinking. Differing approaches could enable reflexive or radical reflexive management practice and an orientation imbued by concern for others. Cognitive models are associated with vastly different assumptions regarding the extent of separation or embeddedness between social and material worlds. Radical-reflexive approaches and a concern for others are more likely associated with new business models for circularity, while a reflective and separatist approach combined is more likely associated with traditional efficiency-based and functionalist models for circularity. We suggest that exposure to a functionalist approach may set the foundations for future adoption of a more reflexive worldview.

Forma e função no desenvolvimento fonológico: quando uma palavra é uma palavra

Neste estudo, com o intuito de discutir o pareamento de forma e função no desenvolvimento linguístico inicial, apresentamos o método proposto por Vihman e McCune (1994) para a categorização das produções iniciais do bebê na transição entre balbucio e palavras. Antes de apresentar o método, discutimos os modelos emergentistas/funcionalistas que norteiam o método proposto pelos autores, a saber, o modelo biológico de Locke (1993), o modelo de auto-organização de Kent (1984) e o modelo funcionalista de Bates e MacWhinney (1989). Após apresentar o método, por meio da análise de dados de transição de sete crianças, três da cidade de São Paulo e quatro da cidade baiana de Vitória da Conquista, exemplificamos os passos para categorização dos dados e observamos que o pareamento de forma e função ocorre após 1 ano e 7 meses. Por fim, discutimos a variabilidade inter e intradialetos no que se refere ao pareamento de forma e função no desenvolvimento linguístico inicial.

The “Smart Work” Myth: How Bureaucratic Inertia and Workplace Culture Stymied Digital Transformation in the Relocation of South Korea’s Capital

ABSTRACTStarting in 2012, the South Korean government has implemented a large-scale relocation of its central government agencies, which are now split between the existing capital city (Seoul) and a new administrative-capital city (Sejong). One of the most controversial aspects of the relocation has been the bureaucratic inefficiency caused by its split nature. ICT-enabled solutions, dubbed “Smart Work”, were adopted to deal with this challenge, but have not been effective in avoiding inefficiency. In this article, we argue that different forms of organisational inertia created resistance to switching from traditional work routines to Smart Work’s ICT-assisted equivalents. Various forms of inertia – psychological (anxiety around learning new technologies), cognitive (culture/norms in face-to-face work routines), technological (stickiness of pre-existing IT system), political (continued influence from elected officials), and resource allocation (success bias from previous digital government projects) – significantly influenced public managers’ work practices in Sejong. These types of inertia, we argue, have reinforced face-to-face communication rather than digital communication, on-site visits rather than video-conferencing, and fixed-time work rather than flex-work. Our findings challenge dominant views from functionalist models of digital transformation and emphasise the importance of cultural congruency between workplace norms and technophilic business processes.

Evolution of Language. Continuity and Discontinuity through Models and Empirical Data

Abstract. Over the last years, the debate about language evolution has been dominated by functionalist models looking for continuity among various animal species to understand language evolution and its nature. In this work, I analyze the theoretical mistakes of such approach, that ignoring structural body transformation does not allow the application of evolutionary methods to the study of functions. Here I propose a naturalistic approach, based on Evo-Devo perspective, which considers biological constraints as the necessary “mechanical trigger” upon which language function could have evolved. This framework, through the examination of the comparative study of the peripheral and central structures of vocal articulation, allows us to both avoid functional leap in language evolution and at the same time, guarantee species-specificity of language.

Levels of Explanation for Ideas of Impurity

When trying to understand purity practices and conceptions of impurity, which often seem enigmatic, scholars construe “explanations” on very different levels and frequently do not distinguish clearly between cause and effect. In the present article, I seek to disentangle various levels or types of explanation, ranging from evolutionary and historical, through cognitive and social, to structuralist and symbolic. While many attempts to explain impurity look for origins, reasons, or at least backgrounds, others rather aim at the results, or functions, of various ideas and practices of purity. Some explanations focus on analogies and correspondences, even treating purity codes as object lessons or illustrations of beliefs. Several explanatory models are frequently used for claims at levels to which they do not belong. Special critique is directed against the misuse of functionalist, structuralist, and symbolic models beyond their validity at a certain level of reception, for arguing or implying more than they can actually accommodate. The usefulness and integration of biopsychological and cognitive linguistic models for solving certain key questions without imposing ideological superstructures is argued.

Tracing Fidelity to the Discursive Field and Aesthetic Adequacy in Translation: A Transcultural Perspective

<p>There are established internationally recognised standards of assessing translation quality; however, it is the means of determining their appropriateness and acceptability in different social contexts that is debatable. The article traces discourse fidelity through some selected linguistic and aesthetic criteria of compliance with the standards of “accuracy”, “adequacy”, “correctness”, “correspondence” and “fidelity” in the target language translation process. These criteria are then tested for aesthetic equivalence through the analysis of the translation of the historically compelling text, the Luganda evangelical epic <em>TukutenderezaYesu </em>(We praise you Jesus) of the international Anglican Revival Movement into a modern Runyankore video-recorded and choreographed version. To this end, the author draws on cultural semiotics, functionalist and textual theoretical models that take translation quality assessment beyond linguistic acceptability. Among other findings, one note that beyond the translator’s linguistic skills, the emphasis in tracing discourse fidelity and aesthetic adequacy in translation, needs to be placed on the sensitivity to the discourse in question, the “situationality” of the translated text, the translator’s interpretative ability and the information/communication technology used to circulate the final product.</p>

La crítica a la historieta en Argentina en los años sesenta y setenta. Entre la semiología y los estudios sobre la “cultura popular”

Este artículo analiza una serie de trabajos sobre historieta realizados en Argentina en los años sesenta y setenta, revisando distintas concepciones y modos de abordar el género en el marco de los incipientes estudios sobre medios masivos. Su conclusión desmiente las perspectivas que han considerado que los estudios de comunicación de aquel periodo se basaban simplemente en modelos funcionalistas y en teorías de la manipulación.

PENDIDIKAN TENTANG KESADARAN HUKUM BAGI ANAK BERMASALAH HUKUM DI LAPAS


 Problems faced in optimizing the quality of "Education for Learners in Tangerang correctional institution" today is the contradiction between the values of hope (das sollen) with the values of reality (das Sein), and the dominant factor affecting the quality of the "Education students in Tangerang correctional institution ", is a factor of the input instrument of education. Qualitative study, this study aims to find patterns of education in accordance with the legal awareness education for students penitentiary child. The research process was conducted based on the qualitative method, which is natural, descriptive, inductive, and discover the meaning of a phenomenon. Educator Qualifications research results that have a faithful and devoted personality, friendly, full of tenderness, acting as a parent, insightful, and empathy, positive impact on the development process; Development Planning combines the Bottom Up Top Down; Approach and method that combines coaching and religious functionalist models, through: the example (example), habituation and training, creation of favorable situation, discipline, implementing worship deeply, accelerate the process of coaching, Evaluation of Education in Prison, the need to involve the role students, families, and communities, thus serving as a feed back to the improvement of the quality of coaching in prison.
 Keywords: education; awareness; law; child.

Abolitionists and the Eloquence of Abuse: Revisiting Status and Rhetoric in Social Movements

Current discussions of contentious performances profitably draw upon a revival of theories of culture, emotion, and performance. Yet status theory and status claims-making continue to be neglected in the mix because of their received associations with classical tension theory and unpopular functionalist models of collective behavior. Because most social movement participants are outsiders to the ‘halls of power,’ their dependence upon the rhetoric of status in cultivating moral influence is much more fundamental than previously acknowledged, although this relation is hinted at in Tilly's notion of contentious performances. Efforts to recover status theory navigate between two major mistakes in past theories of collective behavior: the voluntaristic overemphasis of affective manipulation by charismatic leaders, and the deterministic conflation of status with large reified social structures. The concept of reception fields is proposed to refer to the relational, fluid, social–psychological status dynamics between movement leaders and audiences during contentious performances, in which distinction and rhetoric are mutually constitutive. The article situates eloquence or the emotional energy of protest rhetoric in the dramaturgical performance of status dynamics within the immediate reception field. The utility of this approach to status rhetoric is illustrated with respect to American antislavery abolitionism.

Uso de avisos para la explotación y la trata de jóvenes en América Latina

This article presents an interpretative analysis of the results of the investigations carried out from the organizations of civil society, the State and the academy in Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia, whose object of study has been notices with and without sexual content used to attract young people to the exploitation and trafficking. It shows answers to basic questions from the functionalist models, and structuralism critic of social communication, such as: What is the relationship between classified ads and sexual slavery? Who use and what is the purpose of using classified ads with and without sexual content? Where is the source of this type of investigations and what is the reason for carrying them out? What type of analysis methodologies are used to make the interpretation of this phenomenon? What results have been obtained? What are the challenges those investigations impose on us? This article offers a characterization of the modus operandi or the way how it behaves capturing youngsters through mass, alternative, and informal media in pro of the prevention to vulnerable victims. In the same way, it makes strategies developed by each of the agents that act against trafficking in persons available.

Neofalantes as an active minority: understanding language practices and motivations for change amongst new speakers of Galician

Abstract In this article we use Moscovici's (1976) notion of active minorities as a framework to explain the linguistic practices and motivations behind linguistic change amongst new speakers of Galician. Revitalization policies since the 1980s brought about changes in the symbolic and economic value of Galician on the linguistic market. However, this has not been significant enough to change the rules of social mobility and Spanish has continued to be the language of prestige. Despite this, neofalantes ‘new speakers of Galician’ have opted for linguistic change and engage in the process of majority language displacement. We argue that this displacement can at least in part be explained by a move away from functionalist models of language contact and shift and towards an understanding of these processes from a language conflict perspective. This allows us to explain the practices of neofalantes as not simply deviations from the sociolinguistic “status quo” but as reactions to it and as proponents of social change. To explore the behavioural styles and practices of neofalantes as an active minority, we analyse the discourses which emerge from discussion groups involving twelve new speakers of Galician about their sociolinguistic practices.

„SPALVOTŲJŲ REVOLIUCIJŲ“ FENOMENAS REVOLIUCIJOS TEORIJOS POŽIŪRIU. TULPIŲ REVOLIUCIJA KIRGIZIJOJE

Revolutionary studies have a long history starting from Thucydides, Plato and Aris­totle, going through historians of Middle Ages and finishing by four generations of modern revolutionary research for the moment. History school (I generation) develo­ped elaborate descriptions of the stages of some of the major social revolutions up to their day (often surprisingly accurate for later events as well) without a clear theory of “why” revolutions occurred or what accounted for their outcomes. The general the­ories of the 1960s (II generation) of T. R. Gurr, J. C. Davies, Ch. Johnson and others used social psychological and functionalist models to address the “why” question, but were subject to the criticism that their causal variables (relative deprivation, subsys­tems disequilibria, and the like) were vague, difficult to observe, or hard to measure. The third generation moved to the macrosociological level of comparing national cases in which the key variables included class relations, the state, the international economy etc. The search for causal patterns of social revolutions was pursued in The­da Skocpol’s path-breaking work “States and Social Revolution”, the 1979 capstone of third-generation structural theories. The reign of third-generation theories of revolution appears to be over. No equ­ally dominant fourth-generation theory has yet emerged, but the lineaments of such a theory are clear. Afourth generation of revolution theory is going to reverse all of Skocpol’s key stipulations. It treats stability as problematic, sees a wide range of factors and conditions as producing departures from stability, and recognizes that the processes and outcomes of revolutions are mediated by group identity, networks, co­alitions and cultural framework; leadership and competing ideologies; and the inter­play among rulers, elites, popular groups, and foreign powers in response to ongoing conflicts. Still the fourth generation of revolutionary studies like all others before it can not fully explain a newly appeared phenomenon in the field of revolutionary research – “colourful revolutions” (do not to speak about many other problems of revolutionary theory, starting from the conundrum of defining revolution term and finishing by the problem of creating of the general theory of revolution). Colourful revolution (but not all researchers apply a “revolution” term to this phenomenon) is not well elaborated for the moment. It is clearly related to existing studies of revolution and may be partially explained using their insights (especially defining the causes of the revolu­tions), but it is unique in its implementation technique. The core idea in this context is a postmodern idea of bio-power (conception of the rule over people body and mind), firstly proposed by Michel Foucault. Practice demonstrates that the governments in post-soviet societies are hardly prepared to notice, perceive and counter applying of such technologies used by opposition, but on the other hand the examples of Belarus and Russia shows that it is possible to minimize the possibility of colourful revolutionin one separate country. In this context “ tulip revolution” in Kyrgyzstan is an ex­ample of transformation from classical violent revolution (like “Great Revolutions”) to “colourful revolution” (the most demonstrative example is “orange revolution” in the Ukraine) with a great role of accidence in this event.

IDEALS OF CITY PLANING IN THE SOVIET PERIOD / SOVIETINIO PERIODO MIESTŲ PLANAVIMO IDEALAI

The text is focused on ideals and values hidden under the Soviet period city planning. Soviet urban planning visions of the first half of the 20th century were balancing between naive fiction and visionary concepts. Of course, the industrial building methods and functionalist city models were present not only in the Soviet Union, but in this country especially they were transformed and adapted to the specific political and social situation. Economic aspects dominated the city planning of the Soviet era, but transformations of cities on such a scale were impossible without utopian thought. Visions by soviet architects and planners have already become a part of the legend of mass housing, still not properly discussed. Article in Lithuanian. Santrauka Tekste žvelgiama į idealus bei vertybes, kadaise slypėjusias už sovietinio periodo miestų planavimo. Drąsios ateities miestų vizijos, balansuojančios ant naivios fikcijos ir vizionieriško mąstymo ribos, darė įtaką socialistinio planavimo praktikai. Nors industriniai statybos metodai ir funkcionalistinis miesto modelis nėra tik Sovietų Sąjungai būdingas reiškinys, tačiau čia jis buvo transformuotas ir pritaikytas konkrečiai politinei ir socialinei situacijai. Nepaisant ekonominių ir praktinių aspektų dominavimo statybos procesuose, stambaus masto miestų transformacijos nebuvo galimos nepasitelkus utopinio mąstymo. Sovietinių architektų ir planuotojų vizijos yra masinės statybos legendos dalis, apie kurią nėra pakankamai kalbama.

Conflicto, equilibiro y cambio social en la obra de Max Gluckman

The paper discusses Max Gluckman's contribution to the critic of the functionalist's models in anthropology, and his theoretical-methodological proposal to the analysis of conflict. In the first section, I will describe Gluckman's biography in order to situate him in the British intellectual scene of the mid-twenty Century. In the second section, I will analyze the Extended-Case: a qualitative methodology based in the case studies and in the introduction of a historical perspective to the ethnographical view. The third section describes Gluckman's theory of conflict and its central elements (recovered from his classic book Custom and Conflict in Africa). The fourth section deals with the concepts of equilibrium and social change, also describing a typology of conflicts. Last but not least, the paper discusses Gluckman's contributions to actual anthropo- logical challenges.

Going back to the crossroads: Visions of a democratic media future at the dawn of the new South Africa

The hostile standoff between the print media and the African National Congress (ANC) on the issue of the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal for the print media in 2010 seemingly depended on divergent views on the role of the media in society. The article traces the origins of this discursive conflict back to one of the earliest political debates on the issue of the role of the media in a new South Africa. It occurred in July 1992 as part of a media conference hosted in Johannesburg by the Nieman Institute (see Ecquid Novi 1992, 13(1): 93–121). The focus of the research is four speeches delivered at the conference by representatives of the main political stakeholders of the day. In reference to a theoretical overview of a range of different theories of the press and journalism, similarities and differences between the visions and discursive strategies of the different political stakeholders at that sensitive stage in the negotiations for a new dispensation will be explored. By returning to an arguably seminal historical juncture, this article aims to 1) constructively contribute to the debate in a democracy which faces numerous challenges, and 2) explore alternative postmodern and postcolonial theoretical alternatives to the often hierarchical and static normative functionalist models of the press. The article concluded that in 1992, the ANC had already adopted many of its critical perspectives in addressing the perceived shortcomings of the mainstream commercial media – such as ownership concentration, and unfair and unequal representation. But, interestingly, the ANC also had normative functionalist expectations of especially the development role of the media. In other words, the ANC regards the media as a possible tool in the creation of a harmonious, integrated, prosperous society. At the same time the party faced resistance from the National Party, which proposed a neoliberal pluralist role for the media in a new South Africa. The suggestion is that the media sector in fact adopted the view of the NP almost wholesale. If this is accepted, the extent and depth of the conflict between the ANC and the print media in 2010 becomes clearer. The article closes with a practical suggestion that both the ANC and the print media should reconsider the dominant discourse of professional journalism, in order to make consensus possible.

Will Science and Consciousness Ever Meat? Complexity, Symmetry and Qualia

Within recent discussions in the Philosophy of Mind, the nature of conscious phenomenal states or qualia (also called ‘raw feels’ or the feel of ‘what it is like to be’) has been an important focus of interest. Proponents of Mind-Body Type-Identity theories have claimed that mental states can be reduced to neurophysiological states of the brain. Others have denied that such a reduction is possible; for them, there remains an explanatory gap. In this paper, functionalist, physicalist, epiphenomenalist, and biological models of the mind are discussed and compared. Donald Davidson’s Anomalous Monism is proposed as a unifying framework for a non-reductive theory of qualia and consciousness. Downward Causation, Emergence through Symmetry-breaking, and Dynamical Systems Theory are used to show how consciousness and qualia emerge from their neural substrate and can also be causally efficacious.