Theory Of Society Research Articles

Risk society and the challenge of sustainable rural development in the era of pesticides

This study addresses the issue of pesticides in agriculture from the perspective of risk society theory. Through a comprehensive literature review, the study explores the central concepts of the theory, such as manufactured uncertainty, individualization of risks, and the globalization of effects. Pesticides are an emblematic example of modernity's risks. Their widespread use, driven by the pursuit of high productivity, conceals dangers to human health, biodiversity, and ecosystems. The complex and often invisible nature of the impacts of pesticides makes it difficult for society to perceive the risks. This invisibility, combined with unequal access to information and the lack of transparency from the industry, exacerbates the problem. Methodologically, this article presents itself as an exploratory narrative literature review. The final considerations point to ecological-based agriculture as a promising path for building a fairer, more sustainable, and safer agricultural system. Furthermore, Ulrich Beck's risk society theory underscores the urgency of seeking sustainable alternatives for agriculture and public policies that promote social and environmental justice, focusing on agroecology and organic production. This is essential to building a fairer and more sustainable future for the next generations. Additionally, it is important to highlight the need to bring this debate into the realm of public security, as this area plays a crucial role in promoting more sustainable societies with fewer individual and collective risks.

Transition in action: toward a social theory of the governance of transitions.

This article explores how a re-interpretation of the socio-technical, socio-ecological and transition design approaches to transition from the point of view of Niklas Luhmann's general systems theory of society. The need to understand and promote changes that include a technological and ecological dimension has led to different approaches, such as socio-technical or socio-environmental approaches, to incorporate links with society. While these approaches often include sociological insights, they rarely offer a general understanding of how these are embedded into society. We need a new environmental sociology that helps catalyze change processes with a collectively reorganized society, empowering more radically transformative actions to change the current structures and processes that have led us to where we are today. The article offers a cross-sectional look at the socio-ecological and socio-technical systems literature, specifically for what concerns their understanding of the 'systems' in transition and how they can be governed, and re-interpret it from the theoretical lens of the deep sociological knowledge, which refers to the profound understanding of social systems and their dynamics, embedded in Luhmann's theory of social systems. From here, we suggest the second-order coupling for a sociologically grounded understanding of the interactions that comprise socio-ecological and socio-technical systems, heterogeneous and almost self-organizing assemblies of social, technical, and natural elements and processes. At the same time, third-order couplings are analyzed, focused on governance, relationships between operations, and structures mediated by a deliberate attempt to ensure coherence and coordination against the autonomy and heterogeneity of socio-techno-ecological systems. Therefore, this manuscript offers a deeper conceptual and methodological understanding of socio-techno-ecological couplings and systems in the context of sustainability transformation and gives insights into its governance.

Theory of society and cultural sociology. Niklas Luhmann and after

Theory of society and cultural sociology. Niklas Luhmann and after

Adam Smith, human betterment, and his erroneous indentification with self-interested human action

In this essay I discuss the proposition that Adam Smith has been widely misinterpreted as asserting in his second book, The Wealth of Nations, that emergent modern economies are driven by the strictly selfish motives of their human inhabitants. The propositions articulated in his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which offered a theory of society, extended seamlessly into his second book, and continued to be part of his theory of economy. In both works, he distinguished the universal state of being self-interested from actions taken in one's self-interest, and modeled people as creating and following rules of propriety that enabled them to better get along with their neighbors. This distinction explains why, in his second book, he refers to people following their “own interest” in their “own way” explicitly avoiding any suggestion that people pursued only their strictly selfish interests in the process of wealth creation. That cautionary effort failed, although Smith continues to be a spectacularly successful theorist of society and economy, especially of interest to scholars in behavioral and experimental economics.

Discursive and institutional standards of justice in the modern world-system

In the article the essence of standards of justice in the modern world-system is outlined in a general way. It is shown that these standards emerged in the European capitalist world-economy in consequence of the French Revolution. Standards of justice are interpreted as ideological semantic constructions that have been institutionalized simultaneously with establishment, first, of the ideology of liberalism as the geoculture of the modern world-system and, second, — of model of liberal state. Standards of justice are considered within theoretical theses and methodological guiding lines of I. Wallerstein's theory of the modern world-system. However, some theoretical theses of J. Alexander's civil society theory are also used to supplement and concretize considered in the article problems with some new arguments. For instance, Alexander's conceptual toolkit helped to distinguish discursive and institutional standards of justice. Reasons and peculiarities of establishment of standards of justice are considered and role these standards played in the providing of development of the modern world-system is shown. In particular, it is elucidated that owing to these standards elites of the core countries of the modern world-system managed to redirect the rebellion energy of the lower strata from antisystemic revolutions to struggle for inclusion to liberal state. This helped to calm the lower strata down and to guard structures of the modern world-system against essential damages. Standards of justice contributed to legitimation of social order of the modern world-system. Full integration of the lower strata to newly created national societies reinforced social solidarity, and this strengthened the core states even more. It is shown that for today in particular countries of periphery and semi-periphery trends of revision of current standards of justice and their replacement by alternative semantic constructions become visible.

Social problems of the informatization of the society

The article is devoted to the problems of the impact of informatization on society. Some theories of the post-industrial information society are discussed. These theories are constructed on emphasizing the role of the influence of informatization on the social development of society. An attempt is made to trace the basic ideas of D. Bell's, Y. Masuda's, J. J. Servan-Schreiber's, and A. Toffler's theories of the information society. Some other empirical researches on the economic and social consequences of informatization are analyzed. The attention is paid to phenomena of the information industry, the social role of electronic communications, information technology and work, social limitations on the use, and political aspects of the new information technology, as well as the problems of the international transfer of information.

More, better feedback please: are learning analytics dashboards (LAD) the solution to a wicked problem?

There is a long-standing lack of learner satisfaction with quality and quantity of feedback in health professions education (HPE) and training. To address this, university and training programmes are increasingly using technological advancements and data analytic tools to provide feedback. One such educational technology is the Learning Analytic Dashboard (LAD), which holds the promise of a comprehensive view of student performance via partial or fully automated feedback delivered to learners in real time. The possibility of displaying performance data visually, on a single platform, so users can access and process feedback efficiently and constantly, and use this to improve their performance, is very attractive to users, educators and institutions. However, the mainstream literature tends to take an atheoretical and instrumentalist view of LADs, a view that uncritically celebrates the promise of LAD's capacity to provide a 'technical fix' to the 'wicked problem' of feedback in health professions education. This paper seeks to recast the discussion of LADs as something other than a benign material technology using the lenses of Miller and Rose's technologies of government and Barry's theory of Technological Societies, where such technical devices are also inherently agentic and political. An examination of the purpose, design and deployment of LADs from these theoretical perspectives can reveal how these educational devices shape and govern the HPE learner body in different ways, which in turn, may produce a myriad of unintended- and ironic- effects on the feedback process. In this Reflections article we wish to encourage health professions education scholars to examine the practices and consequences thereof of the ever-expanding use of LADs more deeply and with a sense of urgency.

Projective Psychological Tests from the Point of View of Neural Network Theory of Society

It is shown that the issues raised by the international expert community in the discussion regarding the legality of using projective techniques (in particular, tests such as the Luscher test, the Szondi test and the Dellinger test) can be resolved on the basis of an adequate interpretation of the concept of “archetype” and an analogy with neural networks. At the same time, the interpretation of the concept “archetype” is based on the neural network theory of society, which allows us to remove the difficulties that arise with the traditional interpretation of this concept. It is shown that there is an equivalent scheme for the testing procedure, in which the testing itself can be reduced to the functioning of the external (output) layer of the general neural network, which also includes a neural network formed by the human brain. This approach makes it possible to remove many of the criticisms put forward against the use of projective techniques (even declaring them pseudoscientific), but it implies a significant change in existing approaches to the interpretation of results obtained when using tests of the type in question. Namely, within the framework of the proposed approach, not every possible combination of images on which the test is built makes sense. Such a meaning can be given only to some of them, specifically to those that are most often encountered in experiments. Such combinations, which can be interpreted as basic, are interpreted on the basis of an analogy with images recognized by a neural network. The remaining combinations are treated as images containing errors; they are reduced to the basic ones based on an analogy with the methods used in constructing error-resistant codes.

The Impact of Modern Politics on Civil Society in Indonesia: A Review of Muhammadiyah's and Nahdlatul Ulama's Political Khittah

<p>Modern politics, which is of interest to some, has detrimental effects, including on civil society. The main purpose of this research is to determine the impact of modern politics on the subject of research, namely civil society in Indonesia. Through a study of the political khittah of Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, it is corroborated with the theory of civil society from Muhammad Abdul Fattah Santoso and K.H. Asep Saifuddin Chalim. This research uses a literature study method that collects data in the form of books and scientific journals related to the research theme. This research suggests that the impact of modern politics on civil society is quite diverse, ranging from dynastic politics that is authoritarian and disrupts the stability of democracy, the level of trust in leaders in this case the government decreases, to the emergence of an apathetic and pragmatic paradigm towards politics itself. In addition, social media, which is used as a forum for modern politics, contains a lot of hate speech and discredits other groups, which can change the existence of civil society. Muhammadiyah seeks to reconstruct on the basis of the Denpasar Khittah in 2002 coupled with offering a social contract to the government and reflecting on its attitudes and policies towards politics so far. Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama is based on the 1984 NU Khittah which contains the principles of decision-making in political matters, along with reflecting on its attitudes and policies towards politics from time to time.</p>

Baudrillard's Critical Theory of Political Economy

Baudrillard is a famous French postmodern philosopher with a vast array of theories and writings. Based on Baudrillard's reflection on Marx's critique of political economy, the article takes the social and ideological origins of the theory of mimesis as the starting point of the study. Unlike Marx, Baudrillard's theory of mimesis involves a 'model' that appears as the initial form of the mimesis. Baudrillard's argument that the proliferation of mimesis and simulation has led to the demise of the real, and that the real world can be produced through modelling without the need for prototypes, adds a new dimension to reflections on Marx's critical theory of society, and expands the horizons and methodologies of contemporary Marxist research. The paper traces the premise and development of the theory of mimesis by analysing the turn towards consumer society, and presents the specifics of mimesis theory as a whole by keeping in mind Baudrillard's principle of symbolic exchange and his reflections on modern technology. This paper analyses the concept of mimesis based on Baudrillard's later theories, and attempts to explain the specific connotations of mimesis and its related concepts. This paper focuses on three related concepts of mimesis: "mimesis", "hyperreal" and "implosion", and explains in detail the differences between these four concepts on the basis of Baudrillard's work. Based on Baudrillard's work, the differences between these four concepts are explained in detail. Explores the symbolic order, social entities, and media influences in which the concept of "mimesis" occurs.

When sociology must comprehend the incomprehensible: interpretation of Weber and Durkheim in the sociology of Theodor W. Adorno

In this article, we will delve into Theodor W. Adorno’s sociology. The general aim is to study Adorno’s theory of society and its relation to sociological interpretation. What primarily distinguishes Adorno from other sociologists (of his time and today) is that he considers society to be the fundamental concept of the discipline. Theorising on the post-liberal capitalism of his time, Adorno proposes the concept of the exchange society, which is understood as an antagonistic totality that reproduces itself through the suffering it inflicts on socialised individuals. Within texts dating back to the 1960s, such as ‘Society’, Adorno engages in an exploration of comprehensive sociology and the sociology of social facts, reciprocally examining them. He confronts one with the other in a proposal of an interpretative model of the comprehensibility or incomprehensibility of society. This intellectual confrontation, while avoiding synthesis, leads Adorno to two main outcomes. First, it yields a diagnostic perspective on social theory, portraying capitalist society as simultaneously rational and irrational, comprehensible and incomprehensible. Second, it hints at a sociological interpretation of specific phenomena. In addition to exploring this central theme in Adorno’s sociology, we will also shed light on his distinctive approach to classic texts and concepts. Specifically, Adorno links to the received terminologies but incorporates them into constellations that imbue them with eloquence by revealing the underlying objective moments they encapsulate. The theoretical significance of this article lies in the aim to demonstrate that Adorno’s contributions to sociology are not merely borrowed from philosophical contemplations. Instead, they arise from an immanent critique of the sociological tradition.

Unveiling the nexus: unravelling the dynamics of financial inclusion, FinTech adoption and societal sustainability in Malaysia

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of perceived benefits-risk dynamics on financial inclusion, the factor driving fintech adoption, the mediating effects of financial inclusion on perceived benefit-risk dynamics and fintech adoption, and the societal sustainability effects of fintech adoption. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative study with 258 respondents in Sarawak, Malaysia. PLS-SEM was used to investigate the associations. Findings This study suggests that only non-monetary benefits and regulatory risks significantly influence financial inclusion. In addition, financial inclusion acts as an intermediary for non-monetary benefits and regulatory risks. Besides, a direct relationship exists between financial inclusion and fintech adoption, as well as between fintech adoption and societal sustainability. Research limitations/implications This model explores a few benefits and risks. Also, technological and legislative changes may alter research outcomes. Besides, this study only samples Sarawak, Malaysia. Therefore, country-specific factors, including technology infrastructure, financial services accessibility and cultural variations, may affect participant responses. This study offers a novel perspective on fintech by including Valence, Public Good and Sustainable Information Society theories. Practical implications Financial inclusion’s non-monetary benefits must be emphasised to remove barriers and meet user requirements. Fintech firms should also work with authorities to comply with regulations and help marginalised populations by prioritising sustainability. Social implications Fintech growth requires innovation, consumer protection and fair competition. Fintech firms can enhance financial inclusion to address inequalities (SDG10). Governments and fintech solutions should incorporate financial and digital literacy into education (SGG4). Originality/value Financial inclusion, fintech adoption and societal sustainability are examined using emotional, sociological and societal sustainability aspects.

Investigating Posthumanism through the Medium of Self-Representation Using Instagram's Augmented Reality (AR) "Camera Effect"

The Augmented Reality camera effects feature on Instagram provides users with the freedom to create, experiment, and share visual content without limitations, thereby presenting diverse self-images. Remarkably, Indonesia, ranking fourth globally in terms of Instagram users in 2022, demonstrates remarkable adoption of this AR camera effects feature, indicating rapid adoption of new media technology. This research investigates how users engage with this technology to redefine their identities and transcend traditional human boundaries. Through a desk study method, this study analyzes the "Camera Effect" feature on Instagram as a focal point for understanding the phenomenon of self-representation and exploring the concept of posthumanism. By referencing Frank Webster's theory of information society and the posthuman concept in literature, this research reveals that the AR feature on Instagram is a powerful cultural medium for self-representation, overcoming limitations between humans and technology in Indonesian Society. Self-representation becomes pivotal in posthumanism, and AR technology enables exploration and experimentation of diverse identities and expressions. Thus, Instagram's AR technology provides users with new ways to represent themselves, transforming the paradigm of representation and self-identity.

AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN FUCHS ON COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES

Christian Fuchs is Professor of Media Systems and Media Organization at the University of Paderborn. He is editor of the open access journal tripleC - Communication, Capitalism & Critique and publishes on the political economy of communication, digital media and society, media and society, information society theory and critical theory.

Cross‐national governmental treatment toward atheists since 1816

AbstractAs the atheist population grows globally, understanding how governments treat the growing population is vital. Two theories, group threat theory (GTT) and world society theory (WST), offer differing predictions. GTT suggests increasing atheists may face unfavorable treatment because religious groups perceive them as a threat. Conversely, WST proposes that a more interconnected world culture advances secularism, which promotes positive treatment for atheists. This study explores the interplay between these theories and sheds light on how governments treat atheists across countries. Utilizing a comprehensive panel dataset spanning nearly 200 years, we investigate governmental treatment toward atheists, analyzing data from diverse countries and tracking changes over time. Our results reveal that as the proportion of atheists increases, their treatment by governments becomes more favorable, challenging the tenets of GTT. We also find that embeddedness in political or economic networks is related to more favorable treatment of atheists.

The evolution of the phenomenon of bureaucracy in the context of decentralization of power

The article provides an analysis of the concept of “bureaucracy” from the point of view of its evolution, in the context of processes of decentralization of power. The article represents a theoretical study and sociological understanding of this phenomenon, as well as the processes that determine its development in the post-modern era. The authors analyzed existing theories and approaches to the study of bureaucracy; shows the prerequisites and conditions influencing the change in the appearance of the bureaucracy; the influence of the processes of decentralization of power on the evolution of approaches to its study is analyzed. Identification of the main prerequisites, causes and trends in the evolution of ideas is a necessary methodological basis. This allows us to build theoretical and practical mechanisms for introducing decentralized power practices in modern societies. Based on the analysis, the authors conclude the following: the modern appearance of bureaucracy in theoretical ideas is characterized by the presence of publicity, various platforms for interaction between society and government. It is also necessary to present a mechanism for the co-participation of citizens and other structures of society (local communities, business communities, non-profit organizations) in public administration. Taken together, communication theory and information society theories have led to the current state of bureaucracy theory in the course of its evolution.

Advancing advocacy communication theory: a theory grounded in undocumented college students’ motivations and strategies for challenging oppression

ABSTRACT Undocumented college students experience a myriad of stressors (e.g. fear of deportation, limited access to educational resources; Enriquez, Morales Hernandez & Ro. 2018. Deconstructing immigrant illegality: A mixed-methods investigation of stress and health among undocumented college students. Race and Social Problems, 10(3), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-018-9242-4) because of systemic oppression, and they often engage in various advocacy efforts to challenge those oppressive systems. Although different persuasion (e.g. Reasoned Action Approach, Anger Activism Model; Fishbein & Ajzen. 2010. Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. Psychology Press; Turner. 2007. Using emotion in risk communication: The anger activism model. Public Relations Review, 33(2), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2006.11.013) and social movements theories (e.g. Mass Society Theory; Theory of Relative Deprivation; Bernstein & Crosby. 1980. An empirical examination of relative deprivation theory. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16(5), 442–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(80)90050-5) can describe why minoritized group members advocate on behalf of their ingroup, these theories primarily focus on traditional advocacy efforts. rather than representing advocacy as multidimensional. Consequently, this paper introduces Advocacy Communication Theory (ACT), which argues that advocacy communication is a complex and multidimentional process consisting of advocacy strategies at the individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy levels. ACT also identifies predictors of advocacy communication by drawing from communication and psychological factors, and it discusses the potential health implications associated with engaging in advocacy communication.

Cyber Activism in Iran: A Case Study

One of the most obvious characteristics of Iran’s protests in September 2022 is the emergence of a type of cyber activism that, unlike mass activism, is formed first in cyberspace. Networks have redefined social action and structure in our societies and have important consequences on production processes, power, and culture, challenging political systems, and creating legitimacy crises. The subject of the present research is important because cyber activism has an external aspect and has changed the shape of Iran’s social movements. This article is based on the Twitter data analysis method and using MAXQDA. Referring to Castells’ network society theory, it addresses this question: What role did the Twitter play in September 2022 in Mahsa Amini’s social movement? This article shows that the Twitter, in the context of existing dissatisfactions and in the absence of active organizations and parties, has led to an increase in cyberactivism in Iran. This cyberactivism encompasses mass self-communication, occupation of urban space, horizontal leadership, globalization of messages, mobilization and guidance of public opinion, nationalism, the subjectivity of women, and their identification has been its external manifestation.

Постиндустриальная парадигма промышленной политики в современной России: перспективы и противоречия реиндустриализации

The article analyzes the contradictions and prospects of the process of re-industrialization as an expression of industrial policy in the modern Russian state. The article compares the conceptual approaches to the interpretation of the essence of post-industrial economic development that have been developed in the Western tradition. The concepts of “post-industrialism” and “re-industrialism” are characterized as close in meaning and origins, but at the same time containing fundamental differences. They are related to the globalist neoliberal orientation of the theory of post-industrial society, which questions the value and content of the sovereign national way of economic and political development. The author of the article proposes a number of imperatives of re-industrialization, following which will ensure the continuity and efficiency of import substitution, as well as the restoration of industrial potential, taking into account the introduction of the latest scientific and technological domestic developments. The key point of the state industrial policy, based on the understanding of the role of knowledge in production and social sphere, is to provide institutional conditions for reindustrialization, its legal strengthening and development of a system of risk mitigation for private business as a way to stimulate investment in innovation.

Analisis Perilaku Konsumsi Masyarakat pada Event dan Konser di Kalangan Mahasiswa di Kota Surakarta

The increasing number of concerts and events in Surakarta has heightened public interest, particularly among university students. However, the organization of these concerts and events indirectly leads to a change in student behavior, making them more consumptive. The purpose of this research is to understand the consumption behavior of the community and its impact on participation in events and concerts in Surakarta. This study uses Jean Baudrillard's theory of consumer society and Theodor Adorno's theory of the culture industry. The research employs a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. The findings of this study reveal that the consumption behavior and the impact of organizing concerts and events make students more consumptive, as evidenced by the increased purchase of tickets and food, as well as additional expenses incurred to maintain their lifestyle.