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The landscape of social theory has changed significantly over the
three decades since the publication of Anthony Giddens and Jonathan
Turner's seminal Social Theory Today. Sociologists in the
twenty-first century desperately need a new agenda centered around
central questions of social theory. In Social Theory Now, Claudio
E. Benzecry, Monika Krause, and Isaac Ariail Reed set a new course
for sociologists, bringing together contributions from the most
distinctive sociological traditions in an ambitious survey of where
social theory is today and where it might be going. The book
provides a strategic window onto social theory based on current
research, examining trends in classical traditions and the cutting
edge of more recent approaches. From distinctive theoretical
positions, contributors address questions about how social order is
accomplished; the role of materiality, practice, and meaning; as
well as the conditions for the knowledge of the social world. The
theoretical traditions presented include cultural sociology,
microsociologies, world-system theory and post-colonial theory,
gender and feminism, actor network and network theory, systems
theory, field theory, rational choice, poststructuralism,
pragmatism, and the sociology of conventions. Each chapter
introduces a tradition and presents an agenda for further
theoretical development. Social Theory Now is an essential tool for
sociologists. It will be central to the discussion and teaching of
contemporary social theory for years to come.
In Model Cases, Monika Krause asks about the concrete material
research objects behind shared conversations about classes of
objects, periods, and regions in the social sciences and
humanities. It is well known that biologists focus on particular
organisms, such as mice, fruit flies, or particular viruses when
they study general questions about life, development, and disease.
Krause shows that scholars in the social sciences and humanities
also draw on some cases more than others, selecting research
objects influenced by a range of ideological but also mundane
factors, such as convenience, historicist ideas about development
over time, schemas in the general population, and schemas
particular to specific scholarly communities. Some research objects
are studied repeatedly and shape our understanding of more general
ideas in disproportionate ways: The French Revolution has
profoundly influenced our concepts of revolution, of citizenship,
and of political modernity, just like studies of doctors have set
the agenda for research on the professions. Based on an extensive
analysis of the role of model cases in different fields, Krause
argues that they can be useful for scholarly communities if they
are acknowledged and reflected as particular objects; she also
highlights the importance of research strategies based on neglected
research objects and neglected combinations of research objects and
scholarly concerns.
In Model Cases, Monika Krause asks about the concrete material
research objects behind shared conversations about classes of
objects, periods, and regions in the social sciences and
humanities. It is well known that biologists focus on particular
organisms, such as mice, fruit flies, or particular viruses when
they study general questions about life, development, and disease.
Krause shows that scholars in the social sciences and humanities
also draw on some cases more than others, selecting research
objects influenced by a range of ideological but also mundane
factors, such as convenience, historicist ideas about development
over time, schemas in the general population, and schemas
particular to specific scholarly communities. Some research objects
are studied repeatedly and shape our understanding of more general
ideas in disproportionate ways: The French Revolution has
profoundly influenced our concepts of revolution, of citizenship,
and of political modernity, just like studies of doctors have set
the agenda for research on the professions. Based on an extensive
analysis of the role of model cases in different fields, Krause
argues that they can be useful for scholarly communities if they
are acknowledged and reflected as particular objects; she also
highlights the importance of research strategies based on neglected
research objects and neglected combinations of research objects and
scholarly concerns.
NGOs set out to save lives, relieve suffering, and service basic
human needs. They are committed to serving people across national
borders and without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or religion,
and they offer crucial help during earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, and
pandemics. But with so many ailing areas in need of assistance, how
do these organizations decide where to go--and who gets the aid?
In" The Good Project," Monika Krause dives into the intricacies of
the decision-making process at NGOs and uncovers a basic truth: It
may be the case that relief agencies try to help people but, in
practical terms, the main focus of their work is to produce
projects. Agencies sell projects to key institutional donors, and
in the process the project and its beneficiaries become
commodities. In an effort to guarantee a successful project,
organizations are incentivized to help those who are easy to help,
while those who are hardest to help often receive no assistance at
all. The poorest of the world are made to compete against each
other to become projects--and in exchange they offer legitimacy to
aid agencies and donor governments. Sure to be controversial, "The
Good Project" offers a provocative new perspective on how NGOs
succeed and fail on a local and global level.
NGOs set out to save lives, relieve suffering, and service basic
human needs. They are committed to serving people across national
borders and without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or religion,
and they offer crucial help during earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, and
pandemics. But with so many ailing areas in need of assistance, how
do these organizations decide where to go--and who gets the aid?
In" The Good Project," Monika Krause dives into the intricacies of
the decision-making process at NGOs and uncovers a basic truth: It
may be the case that relief agencies try to help people but, in
practical terms, the main focus of their work is to produce
projects. Agencies sell projects to key institutional donors, and
in the process the project and its beneficiaries become
commodities. In an effort to guarantee a successful project,
organizations are incentivized to help those who are easy to help,
while those who are hardest to help often receive no assistance at
all. The poorest of the world are made to compete against each
other to become projects--and in exchange they offer legitimacy to
aid agencies and donor governments. Sure to be controversial, "The
Good Project" offers a provocative new perspective on how NGOs
succeed and fail on a local and global level.
The essays in this book, written by people involved either involved
in the strike (graduate students, faculty, organizers) or who are
nationally recognized writers on academic labor, offers lessons on
what the GSOC strike says about the current role of the university
in public life, and how the pressure for universities to realign
themselves along the lines of private corporations has broad
implications for the future of higher education.
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