This response to McKenzie suggests that the issues of representivity, legitimacy and politics, inscribed within an institutional continuism characteristic of modernity within the McKenzie discourse, could well be recast within a reflexive view informed by insights derived with developing social theory. It briefly overviews the struggle for human…

This paper examines similarities and differences between structuration theory, habitus and complexity theory, as theories of social change. The paper suggests that structuration theory and habitus can theorize change, but that complexity theory offers a more complete theory of change because it focuses on social production rather than…

The evolution of lay literacy, the pervasive set of assumptions taken for granted by those who participate in a literate society, is traced from the 12th century. Research on the forms and assumptions of lay literacy over the change from an oral to a written to a computer society is urged. (MT)

Argues that to understand the changing social characteristics of Cuban exiles over 20 years of migration, one must understand the changing phases of the Cuban revolution. Explores Egon F. Kunz's theoretical framework for refugee migration in relation to Cuban exodus data. (GC)

According to the reviewer, Coleman claims that many current social policies deliberately or inadvertently undermine families, clans, religious organizations, and community institutions that have been sustaining social structures for thousands of years. Coleman suggests that "modern corporate actors" (even schools) cannot replace…

Provides historical perspective of mainstream psychotherapy and contrasts it with feminist therapy. States the major difference between them is that feminist therapy emphasizes change rather than adjustment. Argues that traditional therapy is charged with reinforcing society's mystifications, and allowing itself to be used in the service of the…

In this article I explain how the process of individualisation has led to the prioritisation of the self over aspects of community and place. The theories of risk society (Beck, 1992; Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 2002) and neoliberalism (Bourdieu, 1998; Forsey & Lockhart, 2004) are used to explain this process. These theories have three…

National Socialism, the German type of fascism, is analysed in this article with respect to the question of its ideological foundations, the ideology of the "Volk" community, and its consequences for a relevant type of social practice, "Volk" welfare. Under National Socialism the form of state social work intervention was…

This paper attempts to develop a theoretical framework to better understand the role of people's theater in bringing about social change. First, the paper provides a historical perspective on how people's theater evolved in Europe and the United States. The paper then investigates the rise of people's theater in such Latin American countries as…

Asserts that modern ideas about the nation can be characterized by an emphasis on outer boundaries, and that contemporary Norwegians put questions of units and boundaries into the foreground with particular force. Describes how boundaries are important in Norwegians' everyday lives, most notably in current debates about raising children and about…

Describes the economic and societal perspectives of information and its importance to society by analyzing the nature of the information sector. A new classification model of the information economy is proposed, and implications for policy decision making in an information society are suggested. (25 references) (LRW)

This article looks at the role of sociology and social theory in a selection from Brian Simon's historical writing. It also discusses his more explicitly methodological texts for, unlike many historians who form the basis for Bourdieu's observation, perhaps because initially he did not see himself as one, he frequently reflected on his theoretical…

In this response I argue that the notion of quality is embedded in the tension between powerful patterns of inherited epistemic and symbolic understanding and the dynamic of the creative, imaginative moments of understanding and design. This would take the idea of co-producer/creator of knowledge beyond the boundaries of (re)packaging commodities…

Explores similarities in the feminist visions of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Marge Piercy, and the differences in their works resulting from changes in women's real-world experiences and in the feminist movement itself between the 1880s and the 1980s. (AYC)

Describes the Lindisfarne Association, a community of contemplatives embodying the insights of William Irwin Thompson into post-industrial society. Examines the origins of the Association, Thompson's views on the transition from industrial civilization to planetary culture, and the distinctive features of the Association. (AYC)