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This paper argues that institutions are higher-level autonomous systems enacted by patterns of participatory sense-making. Therefore, unlike in the standard equilibrium theory, institutions are not themselves thought of as behavioural...more

This paper argues that institutions are higher-level autonomous systems enacted by patterns of participatory sense-making. Therefore, unlike in the standard equilibrium theory, institutions are not themselves thought of as behavioural patterns. Instead, they are problem domains that these patterns have brought forth. Moreover, these are not merely any patterns, but only those devoted to maintaining a specific strategy of problem solving, called the strategy of ‘letting be’. The latter refers to, following Hanne de Jaegher, a balance between underdetermination and overdetermination of individual behaviour by a collective. Such an understanding of institutions becomes an option once a hybrid ‘equilibrium + rules’ theory of institutions, such as the one proposed by Frank Hindriks, is supplemented with insights from enactivism. In this light, drawing a connection between these two areas is the additional, meta-theoretical goal of this paper. This connection is beneficial, I argue, in particular since it allows for a satisfactory, in-depth account of the normative character of institutions as well as their local character.

The article is dedicated to examining the changes in the status of teachers and classroom activities that occur due to the digitalization of education. The methodology chosen to describe and evaluate transformations in the educational...more

The article is dedicated to examining the changes in the status of teachers and classroom activities that occur due to the digitalization of education. The methodology chosen to describe and evaluate transformations in the educational process structure is the concept of interactive ritual. According to the theory proposed by E. Durkheim and further developed by R. Collins, ritual is an essential element of social reality that ensures its reproduction and guarantees social order. The introduction of digital technologies into the educational process affects the system of the established ritual structure and may lead to difficulties in intellectual production.

Enactivism, a form of cognitive science, has arisen this century which heralds a return to a positive form heteronomy, through a recognition of a relational mind we share with each other. This paper offers an explication of enactivism,...more

Enactivism, a form of cognitive science, has arisen this century which heralds a return to a positive form heteronomy, through a recognition of a relational mind we share with each other. This paper offers an explication of enactivism, drawing on philosophers, popular writers, and a psychoanalyst to make it understandable. It then draws parallels with indigenous cultures and in particular Māoritanga.

In the last few years, electronic media brought a revolution in the traceability of social phenomena. As particles in a bubble chamber, social trajectories leave digital trails that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of...more

In the last few years, electronic media brought a revolution in the traceability of social phenomena. As particles in a bubble chamber, social trajectories leave digital trails that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of collective life. To make sense of these traces a renewed collaboration between social and natural scientists is needed. In this paper, we claim that current research strategies based on micro-macro models are unfit to unfold the complexity of collective existence and that the priority should instead be the development of new formal tools to exploit the richness of digital data.

The intent of this article is to introduce the problem of food insecurity and hunger as a concern for social workers addressing drug addiction and the needs of addicts in Israel. This article discusses the results of a study comparing the...more

The intent of this article is to introduce the problem of food insecurity and hunger as a concern for social workers addressing drug addiction and the needs of addicts in Israel. This article discusses the results of a study comparing the food insecurity problem among addicts and non-drug addicts. Specifically, the objectives of this study were: (1) to conduct an analysis of the level of food insecurity in Israel; (2) to examine which individual characteristics are related to food insecurity among addicts and non-addicts; and (3) to better understand how food insecurity can be addressed in the context of social work treatment for addicts. Policy and practice recommendations are discussed.

Although Agent Based Models (hereafter ABM) are now regularly reported in sociology journals, explaining the approach, describing models and reporting results leaves little opportunity to examine wider implications of ABM for sociological...more

Although Agent Based Models (hereafter ABM) are now regularly reported in sociology journals, explaining the approach, describing models and reporting results leaves little opportunity to examine wider implications of ABM for sociological practice. This article uses an established ABM (the Schelling model) for this. The first part argues that ABM integrates qualitative and quantitative data distinctively, provides novel tools for understanding social causes and offers a significantly different perspective on theory building. The second part shows how the emerging ABM methodology is compatible with existing sociological practice while undermining several criticisms of ABM perceived to limit its sociological relevance.

Our work on this Special Issue began with a showcase symposium on the philo- sophical foundations of knowledge management (KM) at the AoM 2004 meeting and was continued through KM tracks at the EURAM 2005 and EGOS 2005 conferences. Our...more

Our work on this Special Issue began with a showcase symposium on the philo- sophical foundations of knowledge management (KM) at the AoM 2004 meeting and was continued through KM tracks at the EURAM 2005 and EGOS 2005 conferences. Our hope was to corral the variety of approaches in the KM literature and expose solid un- derpinnings against which the

«Сильная программа» в культурсоциологии, разрабатываемая Дж. Александером и его коллегами с середины 1980-х гг., позиционируется как главный носитель культурного поворота в социологии. В оценках сторонников и критиков внимание, как...more

«Сильная программа» в культурсоциологии, разрабатываемая Дж. Александером и его коллегами с середины 1980-х гг., позиционируется как главный носитель культурного поворота в социологии. В оценках сторонников и критиков внимание, как правило, сосредоточено на ее принципе «автономии культуры» и на том вызове, который она бросает традиционной институционально ориентированной социологии. В данной статье, напротив, акцентируются «сциентистские» мотивы сильной программы и вытекающие из них противоречия и ограничения для культурсоциологического теоретизирования.
The Strong Program in cultural sociology elaborated by J. Alexander and his colleagues since the mid-1980s is considered а major carrier of the cultural turn in sociology. Supporters and critics of the Strong Program tend to focus on its central thesis of “cultural autonomy” and on the challenge it poses to traditional, institutionally oriented social science. On the contrary, the article focuses on the “scientific” intensions of the Strong Program and the resulting ambiguities, limitations and contradictions for cultural-sociological theorizing.

KM is more an archipelago of theories and practices rather than a monolithic approach. We propose a conceptual map that organizes some major approaches to KM according to their assumptions on the nature of knowledge. The paper introduces...more

KM is more an archipelago of theories and practices rather than a monolithic approach. We propose a conceptual map that organizes some major approaches to KM according to their assumptions on the nature of knowledge. The paper introduces the two major views on knowledge -objectivist, subjectivist - and explodes each of them into two major approaches to KM: knowledge as

Advanced technologies such as drones, intelligent algorithms and androids have grave implications for human existence. With the purpose of exploring their basis for doing so, the paper proposes a framework for investigating the complex...more

Advanced technologies such as drones, intelligent algorithms and androids have grave implications for human existence. With the purpose of exploring their basis for doing so, the paper proposes a framework for investigating the complex relationship between such devices and human practices and language-mediated cognition. Specifically, it centers on the importance of the typically neglected intermediate layer of culture which not only drives both technophobia and-philia but also, more fundamentally, connects pre-reflective experience and socio-material practices with advanced technologies in the loop. Theoretically, the paper draws on contributions from performativist Science and Technology Studies and Radically Embodied Cognitive Science and pushes new grounds by stressing their compatibility. Yet, it also emphasizes the importance of the enlanguaged side of cognition which is a requirement for human-style socio-material practices and, hence, the emergence of cultures that fetishes certain technologies.

Placebos are commonly defined as ineffective treatments. They are treatments that lack a known mechanism linking their properties to the properties of the condition on which treatment aims to intervene. Given this, the fact that placebos...more

Placebos are commonly defined as ineffective treatments. They are treatments that lack a known mechanism linking their properties to the properties of the condition on which treatment aims to intervene. Given this, the fact that placebos can have substantial therapeutic effects looks puzzling. The puzzle, we argue, arises from the relationship placebos present between culturally meaningful entities (such as treatments or therapies), our intentional relationship to the environment (such as implicit or explicit beliefs about a treatment's healing powers) and bodily effects (placebo responses). How can a mere attitude toward a treatment result in appropriate bodily changes? We argue that an 'enactive' conception of cognition accommodates and renders intelligible the phenomenon of placebo effects. Enactivism depicts an organism's adaptive bodily processes, its intentional directedness, and the meaningful properties of its environment as co-emergent aspects of a single dynamic system. In doing so it provides an account of the interrelations between mind, body and world that demystifies placebo effects.

Настоящая рецензия ставит перед собой две цели. Во-первых, мы хотим познакомить отечественных читателей с одним из наиболее обоснованных вариантов типологизации и анализа этого многообразия, который представлен в монографии “Sociologies...more

Настоящая рецензия ставит перед собой две цели. Во-первых, мы хотим познакомить отечественных читателей с одним из наиболее обоснованных вариантов типологизации и анализа этого многообразия, который представлен в монографии “Sociologies of Interaction” .  Во-вторых, критическое рассмотрение "Социологий взаимодействия» позволяет выделить ключевые проблемы эмпирической классификации исследований социальных взаимодействий с точки зрения теоретической социологии Чтобы осуществить эту задачу, мы соотнесем проблематику рецензируемой монографии с ключевыми идеями двух основополагающих трудов по социологической теории общения, увидевших свет в начале XXI века.

This article argues that if being a professional sociologist entails too many unproductive intellectual commitments (which appear to have accumulated quietly over time as commitments do) then the result may be fatigue and loss of...more

This article argues that if being a professional sociologist entails too many unproductive intellectual commitments (which appear to have accumulated quietly over time as commitments do) then the result may be fatigue and loss of enthusiasm. By analogy with the recent informal movement for decluttering (reducing the commitments entailed by material possessions for greater psychological wellbeing) the article lists some candidates for unproductive commitments in sociology and explores the nature of their potentially demotivating effects. The candidates discussed (though there are probably others) are subjective defense of arbitrary disciplinary boundaries, unjustified anti-scientism, valorizing social theory, giving unsolicited advice, resistance to novelty, failing to resist enforced publication and engaging in political apologia. The article also considers the ways that such unproductive activities can feed off each other and be exacerbated by institutional pressures in neoliberal academia. The aim of the article is to help professional sociologists to reinvigorate themselves while recognizing the considerable restrictions and pressure under
which they now operate.

Статья представляет результаты исследования, нацеленного на поиск базовых сходств и специфических различий среди многообразия современных социологических концепций, рассматривающих общение как исследовательскую проблему. Данная цель...more

Статья представляет результаты исследования, нацеленного на поиск базовых сходств и специфических различий среди многообразия современных социологических концепций, рассматривающих общение как исследовательскую проблему. Данная цель реализуется на основании сравнительного анализа «наиболее сходных случаев» — четырех теоретических позиций, разработанных в рамках традиции осмысления общения, восходящей к Э. Дюркгейму и И. Гофману. Это концепция порядков взаимодействия Э. Роулз; теория ритуалов взаимодействия Р. Коллинза; концепция социального перформанса Дж. Александера; и теории межличностного поведения Дж. Тернера. Статья начинается с рассмотрения вопроса о том, какой феномен социальной реальности фиксируется словом «общение», какими базовыми характеристиками он обладает и с какими исследовательскими проблемами связан в социологии. Выделяется «дюркгеймианско-гофманианская» теоретическая традиция анализа общения в социологии. Далее представлен сравнительный анализ теорий Э. Роулз, Р. Коллинза, Дж. Александера и Дж. Тернера. Затем, на более высоком уровне абстракции, статья ставит вопрос о характере сходств и различий между рассмотренными теориями. Утверждается, что для их характеристики может быть использовано не парадигмальное различие, а выделение исследовательских дилемм, структурирующих концептуальные проблемы анализа общения в социологии. В заключение рассмотрен вопрос о месте социологии общения в современной социологии, в частности о ее соотношении с социологией повседневности и социологией эмоций.

This dissertation contains articles on business reengineering and organizational learning published over the last ten years. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 focus on reengineering, while chapters 5 and 6 consider knowledge and learning across...more

This dissertation contains articles on business reengineering and organizational learning published over the last ten years. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 focus on reengineering, while chapters 5 and 6 consider knowledge and learning across markets and within organizations. Each chapter is self-contained and can be read as a separate essay. Another way to approach this book is to view reengineering and learning as developments in organization theory. Reengineering can be interpreted as a recommendation to "organize around process," and learning "to organize around knowledge and the construction of meaning." Some theorists believe organization theory to be in a state of disarray . New ideas would emerge from firms and consultancies rather than from academics, and new organizational developments would proceed faster than our capacity to theorize about them. Moreover, there would be hardly any cooperation among and within the different organization disciplines addressing organizational problems, thus obstructing the growth of organization theory. Instead, each organization discipline and every theory group operating in these disciplines would pursue its own specialized research agenda, producing academically rigorous outcomes, but also an increasing divergence from managerial and organizational practice. All these contentions relate to the debate on rigor versus relevance that plays on ongoing role in organization theory. Reengineering and learning can therefore be seen as different, unrelated subjects, and as concepts of organization that can be evaluated in terms of their contribution to organization theory and the debate on rigor versus relevance. The five chapters can be read either way. This chapter serves as an introduction to the five essays. In addition, it poses the question: what can we learn from reengineering and learning if we consider them in the wider context of organization theory and the debate on rigor and relevance that is taking place within this context? I shall first describe the fundamental challenge of organization, and present an overview of the academic disciplines addressing this challenge. In doing so, a distinction is made between economics, organization studies, and organizational economics. Furthermore, the rigor versus relevance debate among and within these disciplines is briefly illustrated. This discussion not only allows me to introduce and summarize the five chapters dealing with reengineering and learning as separate subjects, but also to comparatively assess them in the much wider perspective of organization theory. Chapter 2 is a summary of five articles published in several journals in the early days of reengineering. It introduces the concept of reengineering and a reengineering typology on which the notion of balanced change is developed. Chapter 3 is a complete reprint of an article that reports on a quantitative-empirical study into the relationship between balanced change and organizational performance. It is representative of a number of publications that resulted from this research project. Of chapter 4, in which reengineering is critically assessed and its demise anticipated, four previous versions are in circulation. Learning across markets and within organizations is the subject of chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5, too, is a complete reprint of a previous publication, whereas chapter 6 is "hot off the press," and has not appeared in a journal yet. In total, this dissertation encompasses 18 publications, which I have collated alone or in

В статье рассматриваются теоретические и методологические основания современного социологического цивилизационного анализа, которые формируют альтернативную перспективу изучения российских постсоветских трансформаций. Этот подход...more

В статье рассматриваются теоретические и методологические основания современного социологического цивилизационного анализа, которые
формируют альтернативную перспективу изучения российских постсоветских трансформаций. Этот подход стремится преодолеть эвристическую ограниченность нормативного подхода к модернизации c идеей
универсальности характеристик модерного общества и детерминистско-редукционистских моделей модернизации российского общества.
В статье делаются предварительные замечания о перспективах применения цивилизационного анализа. Ключевыми факторами социетальных трансформаций и процессов модернизации в указанный период признаются взаимодействия с западным модерном, попытки адаптации западных культурно-институциональных структур и их рецепция в разных сферах современного российского общества. Эти отношения предлагается анализировать как «межцивилизационные взаимодействия», контакты и реакции разных исторически сложившихся «цивилизационных комплексов» и проектов модерна. Аналитическое преимущество такого подхода заключается в выявлении неявных культурных паттернов,
«структур сознания» и институциональных условий, которые определили оригинальную интерпретацию, отбор и модификацию западных культурных и институциональных заимствований. Особую роль в динамике модернизации и трансформации играет наследие советского проекта модерна и различные, порой конфликтующие между собой трактовки
западных идей и институциональных форм.

В статье рассматривается цивилизационный анализ как теоретическое направление современной социологии. В рамках веберовской традиции в исторической социологии сопоставляются структурно ориентированные подходы (Р. Коллинз, М. Манн) и...more

В статье рассматривается цивилизационный анализ как теоретическое направление современной социологии. В рамках веберовской традиции в исторической социологии сопоставляются структурно ориентированные подходы (Р. Коллинз, М. Манн) и концепции цивилизационного анализа (Ш. Эйзенштадт, Й. Арнасон). Рассмотрено исследование со-
ветской модели модерна в работах Й. Арнасона; подчеркивается значение концепций цивилизационного анализа для сегодняшней политической социологии; обсуждается влияние на политические процессы в постсоветской России религиозной традиции, цивилизационных характеристик советской модели модерна и советского имперского наследия.

Статья посвящена изучению интегративной перспективы в цивилизационном анализе. Основное внимание уделено реализации принципа уровневой интеграции в цивилизационных концепциях, «связи микро и макро» как важнейшей теоретико-методологической...more

Статья посвящена изучению интегративной перспективы в цивилизационном анализе. Основное внимание уделено реализации принципа уровневой интеграции в цивилизационных концепциях, «связи микро и макро» как
важнейшей теоретико-методологической проблеме в социологии. Обращается внимание на выраженный интегративный характер цивилизационных
концепций Н. Элиаса, Ш. Эйзенштадта и Р. Коллинза, демонстрируемый в отказе от уровневого детерминизма, замененного принципом взаимодействия и взаимозависимости институтов макроуровня, масштабных структур и процессов и микроуровня индивидуальных действий и межличностных взаимодействий. Подчеркивается, что в современном цивилизационном
анализе развиваются и другие направления интеграции — теоретико-концептуальный синтез иинтегративного анализа культуры, структуры и действия, а также культуры, экономики и власти как измерений цивилизационных комплексов.
Ключевые слова: интегративный подход, метатеория, цивилизационный анализ, цивилизация, интеграция микро и макро, структура, культура, действие,интерактивный ритуал.

В статье прослеживаются некоторые основные линии конвергенции и дивергенции во взаимоотношениях социологии и цивилизационного анализа. Вслед за Ш. Эйзенштадтом цивилизационная аналитическая перспектива, основанная на принципах автономии...more

В статье прослеживаются некоторые основные линии конвергенции и дивергенции во взаимоотношениях социологии и цивилизационного анализа. Вслед за Ш. Эйзенштадтом цивилизационная аналитическая перспектива, основанная на принципах автономии культуры и исто-рической контингентности, рассматривается как альтернатива од-носторонним «культурному» и «социальному» редукционизму и детерминизму в социологии. Классические теории (линейной) модернизации, с одной стороны, и (локальных) цивилизаций — с другой, характеризуются как два противоположных ответа на социологическую проблематику модерности, в основе которой лежит «двойной тезис» об исключительно западном происхождении и универсальном значении форм модерности. В то же время подчеркивается общность линейно-модернизационной и локально-цивилизационной теорий как разновидностей редукционистского детерминизма. В качестве альтернативы в объяснении динамики современных обществ рассматривается возникшая первоначально в русле социологической традиции цивилизационного анализа теория множественных модерностей. Особое внимание обращается на имманентный самой модерности характер источников множественности ее институциональных и культурных форм, причины которой не могут быть сведены исключительно к зависимости от траектории предшествующего развития. Цивилизационный анализ рассматривается как один из проектов трансдисциплинарной всеобъемлющей социально-исторической науки.
The paper examines some of the main lines of convergence and divergence between sociology and civilizational analysis. Following S.N. Eisenstadt ‘civilizational perspective’ in sociological theory is seen as an alternative to ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ kinds of reductionism and determinism. Theories of
modernization, on the one hand, and of local civilizations, on the other hand, are two extreme varieties of reductionist determinism. They offer contrary views on social and cultural dynamics of contemporary societies. Theory of multiple
modernities that has originated from sociological version of civilizational analysis is considered as an alternative to both of them. It is emphasized that multiplicity of cultural and institutional forms of contemporary societies should
not be reduced to the effects of cultural/institutional path dependence, but is to be regarded as inherent to the constitution of modernity as a ‘new’ distinct human condition.
Ключевые слова: цивилизационный анализ, социология цивилизации, модернизация, «автономия социальной структуры», «автономия культуры», множественные модерности.
Keywords: civilizational analysis, sociology, local civilizations, modernization, “autonomy of social structure”, “autonomy of culture”, multiple modernities.

In the last few years, electronic media brought a revolution in the traceability of social phenomena. As particles in a bubble chamber, social trajectories leave digital trails that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of...more

In the last few years, electronic media brought a revolution in the traceability of social phenomena. As particles in a bubble chamber, social trajectories leave digital trails that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of collective life. To make sense of these traces a renewed collaboration between social and natural scientists is needed. In this paper, we claim that current research strategies based on micro-macro models are unfit to unfold the complexity of collective existence and that the priority should instead be the development of new formal tools to exploit the richness of digital data.

This article critiques recent enactivist attempts to bridge an epistemological divide between the individual and the social (i.e. to fill in the posited macro-micro gap). Its central claim is that an inflated view of ‘autonomy’ leads to...more

This article critiques recent enactivist attempts to bridge an epistemological divide between the individual and the social (i.e. to fill in the posited macro-micro gap). Its central claim is that an inflated view of ‘autonomy’ leads to error. Scrutinising two contributions, we find that methodological solipsism taints Varela’s model: It induces De Jaegher and Di Paolo to ascribe social knowledge to perturbances –contingencies whose logic arises from the closed organization of an individual (De Jaegher and Di Paolo, 2007) and Steiner and Stewart to posit that the pre-dispositions of an organizationally closed world prompt individuals to “receive” shared norms (Steiner and Stewart, 2009). On our deflated view, neither organizational closure nor participatory sense making apply to most human cognition. Rather, we invoke a developmental process based on the recursive self-maintenance that is found in all organism-environment systems (including bacteria). Humans differ in that infants discover ways of making skilled use of phenomenal experience: they learn to predicate something of lived experience. As observers, they connect impersonal resources of culture (artifacts, institutions, languages etc.) with on-going social and environmental activity. This human kind of heteronomy links social processes to agent-environment systems that sustain –and are sustained by –historically positioned modes of life. Far from being organisationally closed, human subjects depend on using sensorimotoric prompts to connect the phenomenal with the impersonal and open up a partly shared, partly lived, reality.

Петербургская социология сегодня: Сборник научных трудов Социологического института РАН. Вып. 4. — СПб.: Нестор-История, 2013. С. 31-56. Статья посвящена изучению интегративной перспективы в цивилизационном анализе. Основное внимание...more

Петербургская социология сегодня: Сборник научных трудов Социологического института РАН. Вып. 4. — СПб.: Нестор-История, 2013. С. 31-56.

Статья посвящена изучению интегративной перспективы в цивилизационном анализе. Основное внимание уделено реализации принципа уровневой интеграции в цивилизационных концепциях, «связи микро и макро» как важнейшей теоретико-методологической проблеме в социологии. Обращается внимание на выраженный интегративный характер цивилизационных концепций Н. Элиаса, Ш. Эйзенштадта и Р. Коллинза, демонстрируемый в отказе от уровневого детерминизма, замененного принципом взаимодействия и взаимозависимости институтов макроуровня, масштабных структур и процессов и микроуровня индивидуальных действий и межличностных взаимодействий. Подчеркивается, что в современном цивилизационном анализе развиваются и другие направления интеграции — теоретико-концептуальный синтез иинтегративного анализа культуры, структуры и действия, а также культуры, экономики и власти как измерений цивилизационных комплексов.

This article introduces a collection of methodological reflections on mobilities research, and additionally discusses the general status of methodology in the scholarship. Fast advancements on empirical and conceptual levels of mobilities...more

This article introduces a collection of methodological reflections on mobilities research, and additionally discusses the general status of methodology in the scholarship. Fast advancements on empirical and conceptual levels of mobilities studies have not been equivalently matched by efforts on the methodological front. While microsociological and phenomenological approaches are predominant in the scholarship, large-scale studies on mobility tend not to systematically analyse research frameworks used in the process of knowledge production. The articles featured in this special section examine some of the methodological challenges and innovations arising within several topical strains of mobilities studies. This introductory article argues that multi-scalar and critical methodologies are necessary for further expanding the analytical and interventional possibilities of a mobilities research agenda. 150 A. D'Andrea et al.

Although Agent Based Models (hereafter ABM) are now regularly reported in sociology journals, explaining the approach, describing models and reporting results leaves little opportunity to examine wider implications of ABM for sociological...more

Although Agent Based Models (hereafter ABM) are now regularly reported in sociology journals, explaining the approach, describing models and reporting results leaves little opportunity to examine wider implications of ABM for sociological practice. This article uses an established ABM (the Schelling model) for this. The first part argues that ABM integrates qualitative and quantitative data distinctively, provides novel tools for understanding social causes and offers a significantly different perspective on theory building. The second part shows how the emerging ABM methodology is compatible with existing sociological practice while undermining several criticisms of ABM perceived to limit its sociological relevance.

The intent of this article is to introduce the problem of food insecurity and hunger as a concern for social workers addressing drug addiction and the needs of addicts in Israel. This article discusses the results of a study comparing the...more

The intent of this article is to introduce the problem of food insecurity and hunger as a concern for social workers addressing drug addiction and the needs of addicts in Israel. This article discusses the results of a study comparing the food insecurity problem among addicts and non-drug addicts. Specifically, the objectives of this study were: (1) to conduct an analysis of the level of food insecurity in Israel;

Abstract This study investigates the impact of the first-year program on the initial practice orientations of 2 distinct, equal-sized clusters of entering BSW students: micro-oriented and macro-oriented students. Results indicate that...more

Abstract
This study investigates the impact of the first-year program on the initial practice orientations of 2 distinct, equal-sized clusters of entering BSW students: micro-oriented and macro-oriented students. Results indicate that the proportion of students reporting a micro-practice orientation increased from 53.2% to 62.4% between the beginning and end of the year, whereas the proportion of students expressing a strong interest in macro-level practice decreased from 46.8% to 37.6%. At the end of the year, students interested in macro-level practice were also found to be interested in micro-level practice, indicating their generalist practice orientation. The findings are discussed in the light of 3 different approaches, which together provide a deeper understanding of the factors associated with students’ professional socialization.
 

After my conclusion in the previous chapter that objectivism does not provide a firm theoretical foundation for information management, the question probed in this chapter is whether or not subjectivism can offer a convincing alternative...more

After my conclusion in the previous chapter that objectivism does not provide a firm theoretical foundation for information management, the question probed in this chapter is whether or not subjectivism can offer a convincing alternative basis.
Ultimately, the answer is negative because subjectivists rarely specifically pay attention to what is the bottom line for private and, increasingly, public organizations: the realization of economic value. Hence, there is no other way than to
combine objectivism and subjectivism into a comprehensive, integrative approach to information management. However, as illustrated in this chapter, the differences between both philosophical strands of thought are fundamental. In recent
years, advocates of subjectivism and practice-based social theory as one of its main applications have taken a giant leap forward in transcending the split between the object and the subject by suggesting that we should focus our attention on social practices and object-centered sociality. Following their suggestion, I demonstrate what subjectivist, practice-based information management could be, which includes a new definition for our discipline. However, due to the neglect of
economics in subjectivism, the divide between objectivism and subjectivism still exists. At the end of the chapter, therefore, I present the concept of ‘figure’ and ‘ground’ from Gestalt psychology as a metaphorical aid for all of us to rise above
this unproductive divide.

In this chapter, I illustrate how closely information management is rooted in the philosophical tradition of objectivism. I then address my second goal, which is to probe the question of whether or not objectivism provides a sound and...more

In this chapter, I illustrate how closely information management is rooted in the philosophical tradition of objectivism. I then address my second goal, which is to probe the question of whether or not objectivism provides a sound and solid foundation
for information management. With these goals in mind, I first explain what objectivism is, for which I extend this philosophical tradition with microeconomics, one of its most influential elaborations. I subsequently illustrate how deeply information management and the adjacent field of knowledge management have been affected by objectivist thinking. Objectivism has determined the domain, rationale, definition and goal that are commonly ascribed to information and knowledge management as well as the definitions of their core concepts information,
knowledge, communication and learning. Moreover, information and knowledge management show a deep appreciation for the market form of organizing, as suggested by microeconomics. Being an influential theory means that the underlying
theoretical assumptions get internalized into people’s belief systems, which can then become an established ideology. As a result, these assumptions help frame what the organizational challenges are and how to manage them. Summarizing
this chapter, Table 6.1 includes the objectivist and related economic assumptions upon which information management has been built. Finally, I return to the foundation question. With objectivist economics, information management has chosen a theoretical basis that has ironically proven to be incapable of dealing with the very core of its existence: information. Stigler’s (1961) observation still applies: ‘‘[Information] occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics’’ (in Babe, 1994, p. 49). Objectivism and economics are and will remain helpful in
information management, but need to be complemented by subjectivist theories that seek their contribution in the problems objectivism and economics cannot solve.