Social Theory

This article will discuss how two theoretical frameworks can be useful in the analysis of conflict situations in social work practice. By viewing situations from the perspective of competing and differing values, social workers are able to come to respect the positions of those with whom they are in conflict. The respect that emanates from being empathic and validating towards another's values is crucial for negotiating resolution to difficult conflict situations.

The emergence of complexity theory presents itself as a new, potential framework that might be expected to make a contribution to contemporary, critical social theory. The following is a theoretical exploration of complexity theory and its possible interpretations, uses, and limits in critical social theory. By analyzing the work of Anthony Giddens, and Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, it is argued that the concept, language, and metaphor of complexity theory may be utilized in social theory as a formalized strategy to describe, understand, and model the dynamics of both social and cultural systems. As a result, complexity theory may provide a model that is either/both/neither modern or/and/nor postmodern. This characterization of complexity theory is exactly what makes its study and possible application important to contemporary, critical social theory.

Engaging Terror seeks to reveal the diverse forms of terror that persist in contemporary societies. For instance, cultural forms such as the fine arts, film, literature, mass media, religion, and market economy continue to define and limit rationality and freedom through institutionalized forms of terror. In this way, terror shapes our experiences not only through the politics of nation-building and international relations, but also through the social and ideological production of fear in everyday life. Topics covered in this volume include the representation and production of terror from a multiplicity of sites, ranging from mental health practices and organized religion, to news coverage and musical scores.

So far, critical social theory has made sparse use of the complexity paradigm. One of the few social theorists who have explicitly engaged complexity theory is Anthony Wilden, who has come up with his own method of critical analysis of social phenomena. After introducing some central concepts of complexity theory, we will present an exposition and evaluation of Wilden's project. We will then examine the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and their application of complexity to social theory that is neither a totalizing scientific view nor a postmodern paradigm shift exclusively, but includes both in a contradictory but coherent theory of discourse, subjectivity, identity, and action.

"Bioarchaeological studies of children have, until recently, centered on population data–driven topics like mortality rates and growth and morbidity patterns. This volume examines emerging issues in childhood studies, looking at historic and prehistoric contexts and framing questions about the nature and quality of children’s lives. How did they develop their social identity? Were they economic actors in early civilizations? Does their health reflect that of the larger community?

Children’s lives differ significantly from those of adults due to disparate social identities and variable growth needs. Comparing field research from a variety of sites across Europe and the Americas, the contributors to this volume demonstrate that children not only have unique experiences but also share, cross-culturally, in daily struggles. In some of the cases presented, this is the first time that child remains have been examined in any detail, making Tracing Childhood an essential resource for scholars and researchers in this growing field. "

An essay co-authored with Molly Zuckerman in which we comment briefly on contemporary bioarchaeological research on sex and gender. We discuss a few areas where recent advances have enabled researchers to contribute to larger anthropological discourses in new ways. In particular, we highlight two examples from our own work in which bioarchaeology uniquely illuminates the links between sex, gender, social identity and community-level patterns of health and disease in antiquity.

In his essay, Contradiction and Overdetermination (1969), Althusser attempts to make a distinction between Hegel’s and Marx’s dialectic by focusing on the concept of contradiction. Althusser argues that far from being simply an inversion of Hegel’s idealist dialectic, Marx’s materialist dialectic is something quite different. What is key to the understanding of an overdetermined contradiction, according to Althusser, is the way in which it explains supersession and the processes of change involved in the dialectical process itself. This paper argues that at the level of theoretical abstraction the mystical, according to Althusser’s account, actually becomes the kernel encased in a rational shell. More specifically, Althusser’s account of overdetermined contradiction still retains a magical quality, despite his claim that Marx’s dialectic avoids the ‘mystical character’ found in Hegelian dialectics.

"This collection brings together established and emerging scholars in communication studies to examine the relationship between communication and the economy in contemporary society.

Providing context for ongoing debates in the field as well as opening new areas of research, the collection brings a sense of continuity and coherency to an area of study that, until recently, has received little commentary at the level of disciplinary objectives and commitments.
Through concrete case studies and theoretically informed essays, the chapters explore a range of important disciplinary topics – from the rhetoric of economics to the role of language in mediating financial crises.

Written with an eye towards engaging a wide audience, this collection is a welcome addition to any course that focuses on the relationship between culture, the economy and communication including the rhetoric of economics, political economy and communication and cultural studies of the economy.""

Materials are determined in relation to our (material) bodies. They acquire their qualities with respect to their observed effects, their production capacity, and their value/s. Natural resources are therefore derivative forms of material stuff. Their form is determined by placing materials at the beginning of some chain of effects, by treating them as external to some production process (i.e. as "natural"), and by attaching politico-economic values to them.