Hasil untuk "Sociology"

W. Buckley

W. Petersen, M. Weber, E. Fischoff

W. C. Allee

F. Bechhofer, N. Denzin

Patricia Ewick, S. Silbey

B. Heraud

N. Mclaughlin

J. Turner, Jan E. Stets

Jeffrey C. Alexander

c ovom broju Diskrepancije predstavljamo jednog od najutjecajnijih americkih drustvenih teoreticara druge polovice dvadesetog stoljeca. Jeffrey C. Alexander jos od svog cetverotomnog djela “Teorijska logika u sociologiji” razvija originalnu i utjecajnu teorijskoistraživacku tradiciju. Od uspostavljanja neofunkcionalizma kao teorijskog pravca do trenutnog rada na strogom programu u kulturnoj sociologiji, njegov je utjecaj bio sve snažniji, međutim, rijetko prelazivsi nacionalne granice Sjedinjenih Americkih Država. U knjizi “Znacenja drustvenog života” , njegovom glavnom djelu iz podrucja kulturne sociologije, sakupljeni su reprezentativni radovi koje je objavljivao posljednjih nekoliko godina u razlicitim strucnim casopisima. Cilj mu je bio demonstrirati mogucnosti strogog istraživackog programa u kulturnoj sociologiji, uzevsi u obzir lingvisticki obrat u filozofiji, novo otkrivanje hermeneutike, strukturalisticku revoluciju u humanistici, simbolicku revoluciju u antropologiji i kulturni obrat u americkoj historiografiji. Teme kojima se bavi protežu se od Holokausta, preko informacijske tehnologije i civilnog drustva, do sociologije zla. U ovom cemo prikazu ukratko navesti osnovne nalaze njegovih teorijskih i empirijskih studija predstavljenih u osam poglavlja, izostavivsi, međutim, programatsko prvo poglavlje prevedeno u sklopu temata “Strogi program u kulturnoj teoriji” . U drugom se, najduljem, poglavlju u knjizi (O socijalnoj konstrukciji moralnih univerzalija: “Holokaust” od ratnog zlocina do traume drame) Alexander bavi Holokaustom. Bez obzira sto je Holokaust jedna od najucestalijih tema u drustvenim znanostima nakon Drugog svjetskog rata, Alexander iz jedne nove, strogoprogramske kulturne perspektive, pokusava prikazati kako je teklo diskurzivno uspostavljanje “specificnog i situiranog historijskog događaja...koji je pretvoren u poopceni simbol ljudske patnje i moralnog zla” . Ta je kulturna transformacija, tvrdi Alexander, postigla takav status jer je izvorni historijski događaj, traumatican samo za određenu grupu (Židove), tijekom posljednjih pedeset godina bio redefiniran kao traumatican događaj za cjelokupno covjecanstvo. Polazeci od teorije nužno kulturno konstruirane kolektivne traume, kojom se posebno bavi u trecem poglavlju, preko pracenja razvitka progresivnog narativa koji se odvijao u americkom drustvu neposredno nakon rata, uokvirivanja masovnih ubojstava putem identifikacije sa žrtvama i prociscenja americkog drustva koje se kroz njega odvijalo, Alexander pokazuje kako je Holokaust zadobio svoju svjetsko-povijesnu univerzalnost kroz simbolicki generiranu, emocionalno nabijenu participaciju nežrtava u traumi-drami masovnog ubojstva Židova. Detaljnom je analizom masovnih medija i mnogobrojne relevantne literature uspio naslikati uvjerljiv portret trajektorija jednog “apsolutno zlog” događaja, smjestivsi u srediste analize kulturne strukture koje su bile kljucne u njegovoj konstrukciji. Trece je poglavlje, naslovljeno “Kulturna trauma i kolektivni identitet” , Valerio Bacak

J. Goldthorpe

J. Urry

Xiaoyu Yan

The cosmic "Great Silence" revealed by the Fermi paradox remains a central puzzle in contemporary science. Existing explanations such as the "Big Filter," "Zoo Hypothesis," and "Dark Forest" theory are trapped in isolated frameworks of "hypothesis list paradigm" that resist falsification. This paper proposes the "Recursive Panopticon Hypothesis" arguing that under the uncertainty of recursive higher-order deterrence, cosmic civilizations will universally adopt "silence" as their optimal survival strategy through rational risk avoidance. To test this hypothesis, we innovatively introduce the interdisciplinary research paradigm of "Computational Cosmic Sociology." By constructing a highly parameterized Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) simulation, we abstract civilizations as rational agents with risk perception, strategy learning, and interactive memory evolving within a simulated cosmic grid. The model's core lies in a utility function based on recursive deterrence theory and a network co-evolution mechanism connecting micro-decisions with macro-social structures. Research findings indicate: "Silence" is an evolutionarily stable strategy; the "Dark Forest" state is merely a special case of system instability under extreme resource scarcity and high-density civilizations; civilizational interactions spontaneously form structured social networks with small-world properties; and a hypothetical "Ultimate Civilization" can effectively maintain order. This study aims to drive paradigm shifts, from listing mutually exclusive hypotheses to a unified, computable theoretical framework, thereby establishing an empirical foundation for cosmological sociology and providing profound insights for SETI strategies.

Eleonora Alfinito, Matteo Beccaria

The social organization of microorganisms has long been a fascinating and challenging subject in both biology and sociology. In these organisms, the role of the individual is far less dominant than that of the community, which functions as a superorganism. The coordination is achieved through a communication mechanism known as quorum sensing. When the community is healthy, quorum sensing enables it to regulate the development of potentially harmful individuals. This study employs an agent-based quorum sensing model to explore the relationship between metabolic functions and social behavior. It also examines how a polyculture responds to variations in the metabolic characteristics of its components. Finally, we identify a particularly stable condition in which the components cooperate to maximize the overall health of the colony. We refer to this state as resonance for life.

Alessandra Teresa Cignarella, Anastasia Giachanou, Els Lefever

Stereotypes influence social perceptions and can escalate into discrimination and violence. While NLP research has extensively addressed gender bias and hate speech, stereotype detection remains an emerging field with significant societal implications. In this work is presented a survey of existing research, analyzing definitions from psychology, sociology, and philosophy. A semi-automatic literature review was performed by using Semantic Scholar. We retrieved and filtered over 6,000 papers (in the year range 2000-2025), identifying key trends, methodologies, challenges and future directions. The findings emphasize stereotype detection as a potential early-monitoring tool to prevent bias escalation and the rise of hate speech. Conclusions highlight the need for a broader, multilingual, and intersectional approach in NLP studies.

Lourens Waldorp, Tuan Pham, Han L. J. van der Maas

Motivated by modelling in physics and other disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, we derive the mean field of the general-spin Ising model from the variational principle of the Gibbs free energy. The general-spin Ising model has $2k+1$ spin values, generated by $-(k-j)/k$, with $j=0,1,2\ldots,2k$, such that for $k=1$ we obtain $-1,0,1$, for example; the Hamiltonian is identical to that of the standard Ising model. The general-spin Ising model exhibits spontaneous magnetisation, similar to the standard Ising model, but with the location translated by a factor depending on the number of categories $2k+1$. We also show how the accuracy of the mean field depends on both the number of nodes and node degree, and that the hysteresis effect decreases and saturates with the number of categories $2k+1$. Monte Carlo simulations confirm the theoretical results.

Armand Lacombe, Michèle Sebag

Conditional Average Treatment Effect (CATE) estimation, at the heart of counterfactual reasoning, is a crucial challenge for causal modeling both theoretically and applicatively, in domains such as healthcare, sociology, or advertising. Borrowing domain adaptation principles, a popular design maps the sample representation to a latent space that balances control and treated populations while enabling the prediction of the potential outcomes. This paper presents a new CATE estimation approach based on the asymmetrical search for two latent spaces called Asymmetrical Latent Representation for Individual Treatment Effect (ALRITE), where the two latent spaces are respectively intended to optimize the counterfactual prediction accuracy on the control and the treated samples. Under moderate assumptions, ALRITE admits an upper bound on the precision of the estimation of heterogeneous effects (PEHE), and the approach is empirically successfully validated compared to the state-of-the-art

Dana SOLONEAN

In 1995, the Romanian government launched the first large-scale education reform since the fall of communism. Largely financed through a World Bank loan, the reform targeted the sector’s core dimensions: mission, content, governance, and subjectivities. Textbooks were placed at the center of these transformations, with more than half of the total reform budget allocated to creating a free market for publishing companies responsible for producing textbooks and educational materials. This paper seeks to uncover the explicit and implicit rationalities that underpinned this decision. It argues that, in line with neoliberal ideology, textbooks were regarded as the most cost-effective investment in education. By the same token, the introduction of open competition in the private sector for the publishing, printing, and distribution of textbooks was framed as the most appropriate way to ensure higher textbook quality. However, the decision to prioritize textbooks was not solely driven by economic considerations. Drawing on critical approaches to textbook research, the paper contends that in the post-communist context, textbooks were seen as key instruments for disseminating the “legitimate knowledge” associated with the emerging political-economic order. However, the textbook reform could not have been carried out without the support of Romanian education specialists, who were both ideological and materially co-opted. Finally, the article highlights the inherent contradictions embodied in the ‘textbook’ in postcommunist Romania, particularly in relation to centralization, student–teacher relations, and social justice.

Saleh Rahimi, Faramarz Soheili

IntroductionBibliometric analysis is widely acknowledged as a robust and systematic approach for examining extensive scholarly literature. It serves as a vital tool for mapping the landscape of contemporary research across various academic fields. The increase in bibliometric studies over the past decade highlights their growing importance in evaluating the evolution and impact of scientific inquiry. Among these methods, co-word analysis emerges as a powerful technique for uncovering conceptual connections between ideas and themes within a discipline. By analyzing term co-occurrences, this approach revealed underlying thematic clusters, prevailing trends, and evolving patterns over time, providing a dynamic perspective for interpreting the intellectual structure of a research domain.  Materials & MethodsThis study utilized bibliometric analysis to examine scholarly literature. Data were processed using VOSviewer, UCINet, and BibExcel software. The data were extracted from the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) database using the keywords “globalization” or “globalisation”. Plain text files obtained from the ISC database were imported into BibExcel. Employing natural language processing techniques within this software, key terms (nouns or noun phrases) were extracted. A frequency threshold of 4 was established, meaning a term had to appear at least 4 times in the sample to be included in the bibliometric map. This threshold is recommended to effectively eliminate irrelevant terms. Following several processing steps, a symmetric matrix was created and converted into a correlation matrix. This matrix was then imported into VOSviewer, which assessed the strength of relationships between the remaining terms that met the threshold. The extracted data spanned 25 years (1999–2023) and included 1,281 documents containing 4,502 author keywords. After standardization, 2,169 unique keywords remained. By applying the threshold, a 162×162 matrix was generated with diagonal cell values set to zero. Cluster analysis was conducted using the K-means method in VOSviewer. Discussion of Results & ConclusionThe terms “globalization”, “Iran”, and “cultural globalization” ranked first to third with frequencies of 703, 54, and 45, respectively. The keyword “globalization” with 703 occurrences emerged as the central concept within the research domain.Cluster analysis in VOSviewer identified 11 clusters related to globalization concepts:Globalization and economyGeopolitics of globalizationGlocalizationGlobalization and anti-globalizationGlobalization and transnationalizationCultural globalizationGlobalization of educationGlobalization and national securityGlobalization and identityGlobalization and geocultureGlobalization and urban environmentUsing UCINet, centrality and density scores were calculated for each cluster, resulting in a strategic diagram. The origin of the diagram was set at the mean centrality (7.14) and density (0.541). Notably, Cluster 7 (globalization of education) exhibited the highest centrality (18.857) and density (1.451), indicating strong internal and external conceptual linkages. First Quadrant (High Density/Centrality): Clusters 6 (cultural globalization) and 7 (globalization of education) represented core themes characterized by high cohesion and centrality, demonstrating extensive interconnections with other aspects of globalization. Second Quadrant (High Density, Lower Centrality): Clusters 9 (globalization and identity) and 10 (globalization and geoculture) were specialized subfields that exhibited cohesion but had limited influence on broader research trends. Third Quadrant (Low Density/Centrality): Clusters 2 (geopolitics), 3 (glocalization), 4 (anti-globalization), 5 (transnationalization), 8 (national security), and 11 (urban environment) consisted of emerging or declining topics with underdeveloped connections. Fourth Quadrant (Low Density, High Potential): Cluster 1 (globalization and economy) showed low centrality but high potential for future growth, reflecting globalization impact on national and international economies through concepts like economic growth and the KOF Globalization Index.This study underscored globalization as an interdisciplinary topic that spans foundational concepts and specialized applications. Researchers are encouraged to investigate the emerging areas identified in the third quadrant: geopolitics of globalization, glocalization, anti-globalization, transnationalization, national security, and urban environment. Although currently underdeveloped, these themes hold significant potential for shaping future scholarly discourse.

Anshu Kumari, Manish Tiwari, Rahul Mor et al.

Abstract Gender and sustainability are crucial in agriculture, which remains a significant source of global employment. However, urbanization, industrialization, and technological advancements have reshaped the sector, impacting labor dynamics and gender roles. Traditional agricultural labor faces challenges due to low wages, physically demanding tasks, and unfavorable working conditions. Addressing gender disparities and promoting inclusive work environments is essential for achieving sustainability. According to the ILO (International Labour Office) decent work encompasses productivity and equal employment opportunities for both genders. This study aims to review the literature on gender, sustainability and agricultural development using a bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed articles. The findings identify five main research domains: gender dynamics and roles, agriculture and climate change, sustainability and development, human and labor dynamics, and environmental and technological aspects. Additionally, four key scientific communities led the research: Gender studies, agricultural economics, environmental management, and rural sociology. Emerging research trends focus on gender roles in sustainable farming, environmental innovation, and labor governance in agriculture. Spain, the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada lead in knowledge production, contributing significantly to these research domains. This review highlights the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to address the complex issues of gender and sustainability in agriculture. It also specifies a target for expectations research, highlighting that the ILO’s definition of appropriate employment can guide efforts to improve gender equity and labor conditions, ultimately supporting sustainable development in the agricultural sector.

L. Freeman