Theoretical Themes Research Articles

Designing Virtual Customer Environments for New Product Development: Toward a Theory

Virtual customer communities enable firms to establish distributed innovation models that involve varied customer roles in new product development. In this article I use a multitheoretic lens to examine the design of such virtual customer environments, focusing on four underlying theoretical themes (interaction pattern, knowledge creation, customer motivation, and virtual customer community-new product development team integration) and deriving their implications for virtual customer environment design. I offer propositions that relate specific virtual customer environment design elements to successful customer value creation, and thereby to new product development success.

A Moratorium on Suspicion?

One of my colleagues stopped me in the hall recently to explain how happy she was to have reached a moment in her academic career when she no longer had to teach literature. Another colleague buttonholed me at about the same time to tell me he could no longer imagine teaching literature in any context other than cultural studies-that is, in a setting in which the literary text was at most an illustration of an ideological, historical, or theoretical theme, no different from any other cultural manifestation. No wonder undergraduates demonstrate dwindling interest in taking a major in literature. For a host of reasons, they come to the university less interested in studying literature than previous generations of students were, only to encounter on their arrival professors who are more than occasionally apathetic toward or suspicious of literary texts. Student disenchantment can only grow in such circumstances.

The End of Nomadism? Society, State and the Environment in Inner Asia (review)

Humphrey, Caroline and David Sneath. 1999. The End of Nomadism? Society, State and the Environment in Inner Asia. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2140-8. 335 p. This volume is a bold synthesis of original field material and theoretical reflections as applied to six political districts in a region known as Inner Asia. The central argument of the book is that the use of pastoral resources should not be considered an outdated or threatened economic form. Instead the authors demonstrate the robustness of mobile historically and in specific state socialist jurisdictions within Russia, China, and Mongolia. The authors use their data on the sustainable nature of pastoralism to critique of a wide variety of anthropological and government literature that, they contend, affirms stereotypes of nomadic production as an unfocussed or undisciplined form of existence. Instead, they argue that if there is an end to nomadism in the region it will come from the irrational pressure of privatisation which forces rural producers to migrate to cities in search of other forms of work. The material for this volume was generated by an ambitious five year project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, which was based at the University of Cambridge from 1991 to 1995. The Project on Environmental and Cultural Conservation in Inner Asia recruited a team of local researchers from Siberian Russia, Northern China, and Mongolia, trained them in participatory research techniques, and then had them conduct extensive survey work in ten casestudy sites in their home regions. The resulting database is a compilation of rich new material on the culture and economy of the Mongolic and Turkic peoples of the region. The raw field material is available primarily in a series of unpublished reports collected by the Mongolia and Inner Asia Research Unit at the University of Cambridge and in two edited volumes (Humphrey & Sneath 1996a 1996b). The volume reviewed here represents a significant theoretical synthesis of the results of the project. The central theoretical theme of the volume, a bold rethinking of the idea of nomadism, was presented for the first time as a panel session of the semiannual conference of the Commission of Nomadic Peoples in Florence Italy in 1995. At that venue, one of the authors of this volume, David Sneath, and three colleagues (B. Dalai, C.Chou, D. Anderson), questioned whether nomadic peoples can be charactierized by features other than mobility. In this volume, this early discussion has been creatively theorised with a microeconomic model of labour efficiency within pastoral economies (p.297 figure 8.1). Here, mechanisation and industrial forms of labour organization are shown to apply successfully to two optimal combinations of labour and resources-one which involves mechanically harvesting hay and other forage to be transported back to the enclosures where animals are kept, and another in which vehicles can be used to expand the mobility of people and animals to physically move across the landscape. The authors make a powerful argument, backed up with ecological and statistical data from Mongolia and Tuva, that the latter strategy is not only equally viable but may in the long run be more ecologically sustainable than the alternatives. As a synthesis of a larger project, the argument moves quickly across a number of levels of analysis. The analysis is supported with highly contextualized excerpts from the life stories of pastoralists, simple bar graphs showing the main economic and sociological differences between the regions, and very broad characterisations of the effect of the policies of different state administrations on pastoralists who share similar traditions, beliefs, and language. …

L'écriture de la pratique professionnelle : mettre des mots sur des gestes

In the professional world of medical practice, the "tacit knowledge" which characterizes the clinical work of nurses has not often been the source of theoretical frameworks. In the context of a research and training scheme, some researchers have proposed nursing professionals a method consisting in exchanging letters about their practice. The written letters are used as clinical narratives, leading to a reflexive analysis of some of the main theoretical themes coming out of their practice. In order to act as consultants in their various specialized fields, the nurses need to identify a frame of reference.

From knowledge theory to management practice: towards an integrated approach

This paper critically contrasts the three main schools of thought on knowledge – namely, those that respectively conceptualize knowledge as situated in mind, process, and object – and assesses the resulting implications for knowledge management (KM). Against the background of the existing diversity of definitions of KM an integrated and holistic view of the KM value chain is put forward. Within this theoretical framework five main research streams (culture, knowledge location, awareness, evaluation, and absorption) are identified with a view to devising a practical concept of KM applicable in a business context. With a focus on knowledge flow and detailed approaches to potential solutions, conflicts and compatibilities between existing business strategies and KM are examined. A conceptual model is devised to offer a holistic integration of the theoretical and practical themes in order to serve as a framework for developing a future research agenda for the development of theoretically grounded, yet practical, KM business tools and applications.

Envisioning Fatherhood: A Social Psychological Perspective on Young Men without Kids*

Envisioning Fatherhood: A Social Psychological Perspective on Young Men without Kids* Using in-depth interviews and a purposive sample of 32 men ages 16-30 who have not yet fathered a child, our grounded theoy study examined how men envision aspects of fatherhood. Informed by symbolic interactionist and life course perspectives, our interpretive data analyses yielded two interrelated substantive dimensions: fatherhood readiness and fathering visions. We introduce five interrelated theoretical themes to sharpen our understanding of these dimensions, and discuss how' these dimensioirs, and discuss how the se dimensions and themes inform intenentions aimed at heightening young men's procreative responsibility. Key Words: fatherhood, grounded theory, male responsibiity, paternity, social psychology. Interest in the social psychology of fatherhood has grown significantly in recent years (Marsiglio, 1998). Much of the scholarship in this area focuses on how individuals construct meaning in relation to paternity, fathering, and the negotiation of family roles. Research on men's evolving identities as fathers, and their commitments to their children, is critical for understanding these social processes and the micro-level dimensions to the fatherhood terrain. This work is particularly vital when considering the diverse paths men take on their way to acknowledging and embracing their fecundity, paternity; and father roles, respectively. While much of the research germane to this area focuses on men who have already become fathers, we extend this literature by studying young single men's subjective experiences who have not yet, to their knowledge, sired a child or, in the case of most of our participants, impregnated a woman. Our analyses build upon earlier work with these data that focused on how males become aware of their perceived fecundity, experience themselves as procreative beings once they become aware, and view responsibility issues while orienting themselves toward their sexual and potential paternal roles (Marsiglio, Hutchinson, 8e Cohan, in press. We now focus on several issues that relate more directly to the social psychology of fatherhood. In particular, we highlight two main interrelated dimensions associated with men's efforts to envision aspects of fatherhood: sense of readiness for becoming fathers (fatherhood readiness); and views about the ideal fathering experience, images of the good or ideal father, and visions of future fathering experiences (fathering visions). In a more limited fashion, we discuss men's fantasies about what their children might be like and the comparative appraisals they use to organize their thinking about fatherhood. Throughout our discussion, we also emphasize how gender and relationship commitments can influence the way some men perceive specific issues. Because paternity, and in many instances social fatherhood, can be viewed as joint accomplishments involving a man and woman, we explore how men's orientation to prospective fatherhood is sometimes influenced by their involvement with particular romantic partners. We examine young men's thoughts about the prospects of fatherhood codependent of specific romantic relationships as well. Consistent with our grounded theory perspective, we have read our data with an eye toward capturing distinctive features of the way men express their thoughts about procreation, social fathering, and children. Our analyses revealed, for example, several preliminary themes that appear to cut across the dimensions listed above that characterize men's efforts to envision fatherhood. We introduce and define these themes when we analyze men's sense of being ready for fatherhood. These themes provide an explicit organizational structure for this section. Further, because we suspect that men's sense of readiness is linked to their image of what represents a good or ideal father, we then selectively use three of these themes to illuminate men's views about fathering in general, and more specifically, their visions about how they themselves plan to act as fathers. …

Hindutva in the West: mapping the antinomies of diaspora nationalism

This introduction provides a historical background to Hindu nationalism and examines several theoretical and empirical themes that are important for its analysis both in India and the diaspora. It is argued that there has been a relative neglect within the research field of diaspora nationalist movements and the impact they can have on constituting antisecular and absolutist orientations to minorities and majorities both within the diaspora and in the “homeland”. The introduction examines the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1920s and considers the debates about its relation to ethnic, nationalist, religious, racist and fascist ideologies. We consider how an examination of Hindu nationalism can modify many recent debates on “race” and ethnicity, multiculturalism and “diaspora”. Several themes relating to caste, gender and “Aryanism” are examined. The contents of this Special Issue are contextualized within these debates and a summary of the key themes of the contributions is provided.

From Modernism to Hypermodernism and beyond

In this interview, Paul Virilio talks at length about his life and numerous published works ranging from Speed & Politics: An Essay on Dromology to the recently translated Polar Inertia. Considering important theoretical themes and questions relating to post- and 'hyper'- modernism, poststructuralism, modernity and postmodernity, Virilio discusses his often controversial views on the cultural writings of Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida and Baudrillard. In so doing, Virilio not only clarifies many of his architectural, political and cultural concepts such as 'military space', 'dromology' and the 'integral accident' but also provides much food for thought for all those presently concerned with the social implications of the 'disappearance' of aesthetics, technoculture, information warfare, cloning and 'cyberfeminism'.

Putting soft OR methods to work: The case of the business improvement project at PowerGen

In 1994 PowerGen, a UK electricity generating company, conducted a business improvement project. The project used a participative approach involving soft OR and systems thinking, an approach that was developed in earlier projects in food retailing and mining. The aim of the project was initially to conduct a benchmarking exercise and develop an information systems (IS) strategy. As the project progressed the emphasis moved to business process redesign and downsizing in the light of new perceptions of business prospects. The paper describes the design and implementation of the intervention, the evolution of the project, the problems encountered, and the outcome. Throughout it describes in some detail the interaction that took place. Although many improvements to current operations were identified for implementation, it proved difficult to obtain agreement to a fundamental change in the organisational structure. Two years after the project finished a new organisation based on the project's analysis has been adopted. The case is discussed drawing on a number of recent theoretical themes that have emerged from the debate about the process of OR. Conclusions are drawn about the value of the methods used in the intervention, the practicalities of mixing several methods, and the future direction the research programme should take.

Vad är globalisering? Sociologin utmanad

During the 1990s, the concept of ”globalization” has been established in sociology and in the social sciences more generally. This article argues that sociological theory and research on globalization constitutes a new discourse within sociology; challenging some of the cornerstones of established sociology. The aim of this article is to investigate, analyze and critically discuss this discourse. The article has three parts. The first part argues that two conceptual pairs, nation state/globalization and global/local, represent the two most central theoretical themes in globalization discourse. These themes - as well as globalization discourse in general - are centred around conceptions about new relations between social relations and power on the one hand, and territoriality on the other. In the second part it is argued that this discourse refers to world society as the main research object of ”the sociology of globalization”. The third partdiscusses some aspects of the critique of established sociological theories and research strategies articulated in sociological theories of globalization. The conclusion argues that globalization discourse in some respects needs more empirical grounding and further theoretical development. However, its challenge must be taken seriously, not the least because it points to, and present meaningful analyses of, a number of present-day phenomena that are not so easily grasped by established sociological perspectives.

Reconstructing an urban and regional political economy: on the state, politics, scale, and explanation

This paper begins from the premise that a number of now fashionable institutionally focused accounts of urban and regional political economy often begin at a point that is analytically flawed (or at least partial) in that the institutional ensembles themselves—whether analyzed as an urban `regime', regional `thickness' or a local `regulatory mode'—are automatically assumed to be a pre-given part of the explanation. However, the authors contend that for a deeper analysis of urban and regional political economy to be advanced, these institutions themselves need to be explained. In order to proceed with such an explanation three key factors require more serious consideration. These are: (1) the need to outline one's chosen research object of enquiry, and all that this entails in terms of research methodology, theory selection, and an uncovering of the `constitutive properties' of causation; (2) a greater readiness to analytically interrogate the relational interplay between economic development, political governance and scale; and (3) an obligation to pay due respect to the politics of representation and active processes of state restructuring and political strategizing through and around which economic development is itself constituted. In order to explore these themes, the authors draw, variously, on a methodological (re-) reading of the regulation approach, recent theoretical innovations on the `politics of scale', Jessop's state-theoretical writings and his recently developed neo-Gramscian methodology for analyzing urban economic governance, alongside Jenson's political sociological approach towards the `politics of representation'. Where appropriate, they explore, briefly, ways in which these theoretical themes may be deployed in empirical research, by considering certain restructurings in and of the political economy of Britain during recent decades.

Public health versus private practice: the contested development of compulsory infectious disease notification in late-nineteenth-century Britain.

Public Health versus Private Practice: The Contested Development of Compulsory Infectious Disease Notification in Late-Nineteenth-Century Britain Graham Mooney* (bio) The administrative structures established in the Victorian era for the registration of sickness exist to this day. The pivotal epidemiological role of notification for the surveillance of diseased individuals continues to be discussed globally; the issues include ethical problems regarding HIV notification and patient confidentiality, the monitoring of reemergent infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, and the politically explosive issue of food hygiene scares such as salmonella and BSE. 1 Recent research has also begun to demonstrate the historical importance of disease notification for the development of local public health intervention in the late nineteenth century and the expansion in the volume and type of medical [End Page 238] services. 2 Nonetheless, the development of legislation for the compulsory notification of infectious disease remains largely a neglected topic. The understandable temptation thus far has been to subsume the few existing accounts of the history of disease notification under the more convenient umbrellas of cause-of-death reporting, death certification, and the collection of mortality statistics. 3 This article demonstrates that recent works examining the changing nature of public health policies toward the end of the nineteenth century in Britain, and the commodification of health care, all suggest a fresh way forward for research into infectious disease notification. The focus of public health action in mid-nineteenth-century Britain was primarily upon large-scale projects of “preventive” sanitary engineering. 4 However, very important incremental moves were made toward controlling individuals with contagious or infectious diseases who were perceived as a threat to wider society. By the beginning of the 1870s, for example, common lodging-house tenants with an infectious disease were reported to the local sanitary authority; prostitutes were inspected as a precautionary measure against the spread of venereal disease; and all infected people’s public movements were restricted, under the threat of removal from the community and into hospital. But these measures provided a means of control over only a small percentage of the populace. In the absence of a national register for sickness or disease, town authorities were pressured by their salaried public health officials to legislate for infectious disease notification, which would serve to bring all infected individuals—regardless of their economic status or occupation—under the gaze of the local sanitary department. 5 [End Page 239] The notification clauses that were introduced under Local Improvement Acts eventually found their way into countrywide legislation for the compulsory notification of infectious disease, but by no means was this transition from parochial to state law a smooth one. Legislation was most effectively hampered by opposition from the private medical profession—family practitioners—who maintained that notification jeopardized their confidential relationship with their patients, which was enshrined in the ancient Hippocratic oath. The inviolability of this confidentiality was contested by the public health profession, on the grounds that notification placed a greater value upon the physicians’ responsibility to the well-being of society than it did upon their relationship with individuals. In this article I will seek to evaluate the legitimacy of these claims and underline their central importance for a conflict that set the fundamental precepts of public and private medicine against one another. After providing a detailed examination of one particular case of medical opposition to notification in Liverpool, I will consider how the many theoretical and practical themes recurring in this conflict were articulated: the mode of notification—compulsory or voluntary, by either the householder or the family physician; the financial issues of remuneration and penalization; and state incursion into individual freedom. First, however, an introduction to the legislative framework is required. Legislation Preceding Compulsory Infectious Disease Notification Dorothy and Roy Porter have suggested that the introduction of the Infectious Disease Notification Acts in England and Wales in the 1880s and 1890s represented “a striking infringement of the traditional freedom to be sick, and to spread one’s sickness, with impunity.” 6 Despite this, they argue, the Acts aroused little public opposition, because “by the last quarter of the nineteenth century the public was becoming acclimated to a new medical rationality that might involve the trimming of its...

Demons and development: the struggle for community in a Sri Lankan village

Demons and Development: The Struggle for Community in a Sri Lankan VIlage. JAMES BROW. Tucson AZ University of Arizona Press, 1996; 218 pp. James Brow's Demons and Development: The Struggle for Community in a Sri Lankan Village brings together some of the problematic issues that have confronted development in South Asia over the last five decades. The book centers on the village of Kukulewa located in Sri Lanka's lowland Dry Zone, in the northern section of the country. The village was settled by the Veddahs, who are reputed to trace their origins to the aboriginal populations of Sri Lanka. This group traditionally practiced swidden cultivation and was relatively isolated from mainstream Sinhala society. Strong ties of kinship and mutually supportive relationships marked their culture. With the village's induction into the world of national politics and party patronage through the Village Awakening Program in the late 1970s, the isolation was ended. Subsequently, a dispute over the distribution of new homes among the residents of Kukulewa as part of the Program escalated into a feud that resulted in the formation of Samadigama, a separate village, by the recipients of the new homes. The book is an account of the destruction of conventional ways of life in a rural community, the rise of cultural hegemony and factionalism under the aegis of nationalism, and the negative effects of growth policies that do not pay sufficient attention to local resource availability and cultural background. In telling the tale of these two villages, Brow uses the villagers' voices to recount the story of the disruption of community life in Kukulewa. He poses the villagers as actors in the drama that unfolds, as collective identities as Veddahs and residents of Kukulewa clash with the desire of individual members of the community to gain power and wealth. He deftly interweaves his interpretation of the villagers' discursive practices into the narration, which makes the villagers' actions more comprehensible to the lay reader. Periodically he summarizes the central ideas and key findings of a chapter in a section titled Discussion. This is a helpful device, especially because it is used appropriately and sparingly. The book is divided into twelve chapters. The first chapter presents a compelling account of spirit possession of a brother and sister, both prominent among the residents of the newly-established Samadigama. It offers a glimpse of the feelings and actions that the splintering of the village community engendered, and points to tentative avenues of resolution of the conflict. In the second chapter Brow provides the reader with a short review of important theoretical viewpoints on community, nationalism, and cultural hegemony. The theoretical themes that are introduced in this chapter are used as interlocking frameworks to address and analyze development issues at the level of the village. Chapter Three describes Sri Lanka's history and culture and situates the Veddah community and its role within it. This historical context provides the background for the ongoing shifts in power, and makes explicit the importance of political power and patronage in contemporary Sri Lanka It also explicates the possible reasons for the exclusion of marginalized groups such as the Veddahs in the country. Chapter Four provides an analysis of economic changes that took place among the Veddahs after Sri Lanka gained independence from the British. The replacement of the indigenous economy based on barter and compensation for services in kind by the capitalist means of production over time evidently had far-reaching effects. Bonds of kinship and community were eroded and economic differentiation among the villagers, once negligible, became more pronounced. Other researchers have detailed similar outcomes in regions of the less developed world for nearly four decades. However, the inevitability of this consequence of development only serves to underscore its dangers, as clearly, increasing inequity across socioeconomic groups is inimical to development. …

The “Community” in Community Justice: Issues, Themes, and Questions for the New Neighborhood Sanctioning Models

In the past few years, interest in “restorative justice,” “community justice,” and other alternatives to adversarial/retributive paradigms have captured the imagination of a number of criminal justice professionals and community members. But while much attention has been devoted to programs associated with these movements, such as restitution and community service, community policing, community courts, and community corrections, citizen involvement as decision makers in the sanctioning process remains unexplored. This article compares four neighborhood decision-making models now being used with some frequency in the U.S. and Canada. In doing so, I examine several questions about how each model defines the role of the community in the sanctioning process and consider the influence of three theoretical themes in establishing priorities and focal concerns of each model.

Universidade da Terceira Idade: avaliação de estudantes

Os objetivos foram verificar com estudantes: a) quais os aspectos mais e menos apreciados de uma Universidade da Terceira Idade; b) quais os aspectos considerados mais e menos difíceis; e c) possíveis diferenças entre os grupos. Foi utilizado roteiro de entrevista com 24 sujeitos de 46 a 80 anos, divididos em três grupos: ex-alunos, alunos atuais e ingressantes. Os resultados foram sub-metidos à análise estatística e de conteúdo. As experiências mais valorizadas foram: disciplinas teóricas, temas e atividades, também considerados mais fáceis. Foram relatadas poucas dificuldades ou aspectos menos apreciados, sendo a avaliação da Universidade predominantemente positiva.

The Works of Peter M. Blau: Analytical Strategies, Developments and Assumptions

This paper examines the fundamental theoretical approaches and research interests of Peter M. Blau by focusing upon three distinct stages in his work: exchange theory, status attainment theory, and macrostructural theory. A discussion of four general issues reveals various continuities and transitions in these analytical strategies. The features examined are (a) research interests in social stratification, (b) investigative strategies, (c) analytical focus and assumptions, and (d) micro/macro units of analysis. It is argued that the three approaches rest upon different conceptions of society which, in respective order, are the “multilevel model of societal exchange,” “optimistic image of modern, mass, industrial society,” and “guardedly optimistic image of modern differentiated society.” Attention is directed to the importance of the status attainment phase for understanding other dimensions of Blau's work, the development of certain theoretical themes in his various analytical strategies, and the presence of a basic conceptual opposition involving the role of values and structural forces in society which permeates much of his analyses.

Reworking E. P. Thompson's `Time, Work-Discipline and Industrial Capitalism'

This paper attempts to lay foundations for a new account of the histories of times in England (and beyond). A disjuncture has arisen between much recent writing about time and the most influential general accounts of time and society in the historic and contemporary West. The latter emphasize a social and geographical diffusion of a modern time competence, stemming from intensified industrial work-discipline, and centred on clock time, whereas the former emphasize the multiple and qualitative nature of times. Through a discussion of major theoretical themes (the multiplicity of time-senses and of time-disciplines; the skilfulness of temporal practices; and symbolic facets of time), we point to central topics in a reformulated account of western time-senses.

Class voting and the Labour Party in Britain: The analysis of qualitative data on voting preference in the 1987 General Election

The paper analyses open-ended data from the 1987 British Election Survey. Respondents were asked their reasons for voting the way they did, and the responses were recorded verbatim. Replies from working-class and middle-class Labour voters were analysed, and content analysis was used to match responses to the main theoretical themes in the psephological literature. The main focus of analysis was on the prevalence of class and class-related references. Somewhat surprisingly, a great many of the reports from the respondents echoed the class themes outlined by Butler and Stokes in the 1960s. Moreover, class-related responses were very strongly represented in the middle-class component of the sample. The implications of the findings for estimations of the prevalence of class voting are explored.

Economic restructuring and gender in Canada: Feminist policy initiatives

This paper examines Canadian policy responses to economic and political restructuring over the past decade and the attempts by feminist groups to influence this agenda. It considers the success of these attempts to have gender issues taken up in the macro policy environment and relates feminist policy positions to theoretical themes emerging from the feminist economic literature on macroeconomics and adjustment.

Music, Culture, and Experience: Selected Papers of John Blacking

One of the most important ethnomusicologists of the century, John Blacking is known for his interest in the relationship of music to biology, psychology, dance and politics. He attempted to document the ways in which music-making expresses the human condition, how it transcends social divisions and how it can be used to improve the quality of human life. This volume brings together eight of Blacking's most important theoretical papers which reveal his theoretical themes such as the innateness of musical ability, the properties of music as a symbolic or quasi-linguistic system, the complex relation between music and social institutions and the relation between scientific musical analysis and cultural understanding.