Constructing the Social System

Constructing the Social System PDF Author: Bernard Barber
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100067522X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
Barber constructs a provisional, generalized, substantive theory of the social system, which he uses as the starting point and focus of his specialized researches. In this collection of his major writings in social system theory, Barber shows how he has used and developed such a framework over the last fifty years and demonstrates the application o

The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality PDF Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453215468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

The Social Construction of Technological Systems

The Social Construction of Technological Systems PDF Author: Wiebe E. Bijker
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262521376
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
"The impact of technology on society is clear and unmistakeable. The influence of society on technology is more subtle. The 13 essays in this book have been written by a diverse group of scholars united by a common interest in creating a new field - the sociology of technology. They draw on a wide array of case studies - from cooking stoves to missile systems, from 15th-century Portugal to today's Al labs - to outline an original research program based on a synthesis of ideas from the social studies of science and the history of technology. Together they affirm the need for a study of technology that gives equal weight to technical, social, economic, and political questions"--Back cover.

The Project as a Social System

The Project as a Social System PDF Author: Henry Linger
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781921867040
Category : Project management
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The inaugural Asia Pacific Research Conference on Project Management was held in February 2010 at Monash University, Australia"--Back cover.

Social Systems and Design

Social Systems and Design PDF Author: Gary S. Metcalf
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 443154478X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
We live in the worlds that we help to create every day. Every activity either supports an existing system or effects some change, however small. But is it possible to consciously create the worlds in which we want to live? This volume brings together systems theorists and practitioners who have worked on that question for decades. It explores connections between design and systems ideas to explain why some efforts have been more successful than others, and what is needed if we are to move forward. It offers reflections on early and large-scale attempts at impacting societal systems, as well as proposals for taking those ideas into the future. Examples date back to the Club of Rome in the 1960s and look forward to the creation of ecologically sustainable systems in the future. They address the need for collaboration and inclusion in settings from communities to corporations. And while theories are presented as support for the examples, they are explained in practical ways meant to be accessible both to students and to general readers.

The Dynamics and Evolution of Social Systems

The Dynamics and Evolution of Social Systems PDF Author: Jürgen Klüver
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780792364436
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The central topic of this book is the mathematical analysis of social systems, understood in the following rather classical way: social systems consist of social actors who interact according to specific rules of interactions; the dynamics of social systems is then the consequences of these interactions, viz., the self-organization of social systems. According to particular demands of their environment, social systems are able to behave in an adaptive manner, that is they can change their rules of interaction by certain meta rules and thus generate a meta dynamics. It is possible to model and analyse mathematically both dynamics and meta dynamics, using cellular automata and genetic algorithms. These tools allow social systems theory to be carried through as precisely as the theories of natural systems, a feat that has not previously been possible. Readership: Researchers and graduate students in the fields of theoretical sociology and social and general systems theory and other interested scientists. No specialised knowledge of mathematics and/or computer science is required.

Constructing Organizational Life

Constructing Organizational Life PDF Author: Thomas B. Lawrence
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198840020
Category : Organizational behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
Across the social sciences, scholars are increasingly showing how people 'work' to construct organizational life, including the rules and routines that shape and enable organizational activity, the identities of people who occupy organizations, and the societal norms and assumptions that provide the context for organizational action. The idea of work emphasizes the ways in which people and groups engage in purposeful, reflexive efforts rooted in an awareness of organizational life as constructed in human interaction and changeable through human effort. Studies of these efforts have identified new forms of work including emotion work, identity work, boundary work, strategy work, institutional work, and a host of others. Missing in these conversations, however, is a recognition that these forms of work are all part of a broader phenomenon driven by historical shifts that began with modernity and dramatically accelerated through the twentieth century. This book introduces the social-symbolic work perspective, which addresses this broader phenomenon. The social-symbolic work perspective integrates diverse streams of research to examine how people purposefully and reflexively work to construct organizational life, including the identities, technologies, boundaries, and strategies that constitute their organizations. In this book, the authors define social-symbolic work and introduce three forms - self work, organization work, and institutional work. Social-symbolic work highlights people's efforts to construct the social world, and focuses attention on the motivations, practices, resources, and effects of those efforts. This book explores eight distinct streams of social-symbolic work research, drawing on a broad range of examples from the worlds of business, politics, sports, social movements, and many others. It provides researchers, students, and practitioners with an integrative theoretical framework useful in understanding social-symbolic work, a survey of the main forms of social-symbolic work, a rich set of theoretical opportunities to inspire new studies, and practical methodological guidance for empirical research on social-symbolic work.

The Theory and Scholarship of Talcott Parsons to 1951

The Theory and Scholarship of Talcott Parsons to 1951 PDF Author: Bruce C. Wearne
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521370035
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Bruce C. Wearne's detailed examination of Talcott Parsons' development as a scholar of social theory.

Making Societies

Making Societies PDF Author: William G. Roy
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452251827
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This book shows how the social constructions of time, space, race, gender and class intersect with each other to produce particular social phenomena that are enduring and significant for our society. Leading the reader through examples drawn from around the world, the author shows how these categories are social constructions; historically formed, ideologically loaded, and subject to change.

Designing Social Systems in a Changing World

Designing Social Systems in a Changing World PDF Author: Bela H. Banathy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475799810
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
In this original text/reference, Bela H. Banathy discusses a broad range of design approaches, models, methods, and tools, together with the theoretical and philosophical bases of social systems design. he explores the existing knowledge bases of systems design; introduces and integrates concepts from other fields that contribute to design thinking and practice; and thoroughly explains how competence in social systems design empowers people to direct their progress and create a truly participative democracy. Based on advanced learning theory and practice, the text's material is enhanced by helpful diagrams that illustrate novel concepts and problem sets that allow readers to apply these concepts.