Delineating the Boundaries for Religious Speech in Public Discourse in Kierkegaard and Habermas

How is it that one of the most famous Christian thinkers - Soren Kierkegaard -- and one of the most famous contemporary secular thinkers -- Jurgen Habermas - both agree: the religious has nothing to say in the public realm of social, ethical discourse.

O capital dá a palavra:um estudo do discurso da responsabilidade social na revista Brasil Sustentável

O tema desta pesquisa é a formação do discurso da responsabilidade social empresarial por meio da revista especializada publicada pelo Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS), a Brasil Sustentável. A análise de um veículo de comunicação especializado no tema da responsabilidade social tem o objetivo de definir características que concorram para a elaboração de um discurso que ganha divulgação e relevância na sociedade, e assim contribuir para uma melhor compreensão desse fenômeno. Levando-se em conta um cenário de transformações do capitalismo no pós-moderno, o trabalho vai investigar como ocorre o processo de ressignificação do papel da empresa privada para uma nova inserção na agenda política de debates. O trabalho será desenvolvido com a base teórica das formulações da análise do discurso (AD), utilizando-se seus conceitos e ferramentas para um estudo do discurso da responsabilidade social empresarial inscrito num quadro social e histórico ampliado.(AU)

O capital dá a palavra:um estudo do discurso da responsabilidade social na revista Brasil Sustentável

O tema desta pesquisa é a formação do discurso da responsabilidade social empresarial por meio da revista especializada publicada pelo Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS), a Brasil Sustentável. A análise de um veículo de comunicação especializado no tema da responsabilidade social tem o objetivo de definir características que concorram para a elaboração de um discurso que ganha divulgação e relevância na sociedade, e assim contribuir para uma melhor compreensão desse fenômeno. Levando-se em conta um cenário de transformações do capitalismo no pós-moderno, o trabalho vai investigar como ocorre o processo de ressignificação do papel da empresa privada para uma nova inserção na agenda política de debates. O trabalho será desenvolvido com a base teórica das formulações da análise do discurso (AD), utilizando-se seus conceitos e ferramentas para um estudo do discurso da responsabilidade social empresarial inscrito num quadro social e histórico ampliado.(AU)

Inclusão social no meio universitário: o discurso e a vivência cotidiana do estudante na EACH-USP

A educação, enquanto um direito fundamental do homem, vem passando por processo de reconhecimento no decorrer da formação da sociedade, sua importância no exercício da cidadania e na garantia de direitos, atualmente é indiscutível, bem como propiciar a diminuição das desigualdades sociais. A Universidade São Paulo, vem implantando programas de inclusão social para estudantes oriundos da escola pública e os seus principais programas são o Programa de Inclusão Social da USP (INCLUSP), que tem previsto desde bônus nas notas do vestibular até outros mecanismos de acréscimo de bônus no vestibular, bem como o Programa de Apoio à Permanência e Formação Estudantil (PAPFE), com seus auxílios financeiros aos estudantes carentes. Evidente que estas iniciativas são louváveis, porém na prática cotidiana como assistente social, nos deparamos com as lutas diárias destes estudantes, as dificuldades que encontram para cumprir com as exigências acadêmicas. Propusemos, com este estudo sistematizar, analisar e teorizar o discurso da universidade confrontando-o com os relatos dos estudantes que foram contemplados por estes programas. Constatamos que a permanência estudantil abrange não só os aspectos materiais, mas bem como os aspectos simbólicos, desse modo não é garantida a inclusão social do estudante apenas com o auxílio financeiro, pois a exclusão social intramuros na universidade permanece

Sociología y drogodependencia: la mirada ténica en la intervención social. Fundamentos para la constitución de una sociología de las drogodependencias

Almost thirty years have passed since the City Council of Madrid approved the first Municipal Plan against Drugs, thus laying the foundations of the current commitment to offer assistance to drug addicts. A Service that has been continuously growing (in funding), maturing (in organizations) and diversifying (in actions) during these decades, in the same manner as the scenario in which these actions are deployed has been evolving. But, what can be said today about the status of drugaddiction intervention? This study adopts a sociological approach that starts with and is focused on what has been defined as the hegemonic vision on drug addiction, with the aim of studying (precisely and progressively) the different and most widely accepted theoretical-practical developments and to understand how certain conceptions or positions determine the form of this social fact. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to understand and evaluate the performative effects of certain practices, techniques and professionals on defining and addressing a reality that is in question and/or in conflict, as a social problem. In addition, this study is focused on identifying a series of fundamental elements to address what is understood as the state of the issue of drug addiction in depth (discourse of drugs Vs. discourse on drugs) in order to offer a series of sociological questions and insights to focus attention onto this reality. For this purpose, once its intentions have been defined and due to the social nature of the object under study, the present research deploys qualitative methodology as a tool for approximation, delimiting the scope that professional technicians assume regarding the issue in question as well as their own professional practices within their organizations. Thus, we have contacted certain public as well as non-governmental organizations with long-term experience in drug addiction, so as to find out first hand, in addition to their writings, the different meanings they find in the performance of their specific practice (micro) as well as the framework within which their practice is defined and materialised (macro) on a population defined or characterised by (drug) addiction...

The Affective Dimensions of Social Controversy

Social controversy is a sustained, mediated debate between at least two oppositional parties which is more than just a difference of opinion; rather it is a persistent conflict over the political and cultural implications that dominant forms of communicative reasoning, practices, and norms have for a public. Simply put, during social controversies the norms guiding public life can be negotiated, reaffirmed, negated, and/or transformed. This can lead to progressive political, cultural, and/or social change in some instances, while establishing or reifying conservative and even oppressive norms, practices, and laws in others. Building upon Olson and Goodnight's (1994) theoretical and methodological framework of social controversy, this dissertation argues that scholars should analyze the role affect plays in this type of conflict as a means to address the regulation of public conduct as well as public discourse. The rhetorical and argumentative significance of the affective dimensions of social controversy have been conceptualized and analyzed via an examination of emotion-based claims and affective states that have become salient, discernable and/or apprehendable during specific public disagreements. Such a conceptualization demonstrates that critical insights regarding the norms that guide public conduct, the role risk and vulnerability play in the regulation of individuals' public behavior, and the relationship between affect and citizenship can be gained by focusing on a controversy's affective dimensions. To highlight the importance of the study of affect in social controversy as well as better understand the larger critical significance affect theory has for rhetorical and argumentation studies, this dissertation has analyzed the affective dimensions of three conflicts. They are: the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse social controversy, the International Freedom Center social controversy, and the controversy over the 2004 French ban on conspicuous religious attire in public schools. The findings from this dissertation that have specific and general implications for future work in the field of controversy as well as rhetoric and argumentation, respectively.

Reacciones comunitarias a la crisis económica y social en España

Introducción. En un contexto de incremento de las desigualdades y de la pobreza en la sociedad española, donde el desmantelamiento del Estado de Bienestar reduce la posibilidad de encontrar recursos e implementar políticas públicas de reducción de estos efectos; la Sociedad Civil y la ciudadanía desarrollan prácticas resilientes orientadas a satisfacer las necesidades de las comunidades más afectadas por el desempleo y el recorte de servicios sociales. Material y métodos. a) Datos secundarios estadísticos procedentes de organismos y fundaciones; y webs de organizaciones resilientes; b) datos primarios producidos a partir de entrevistas y grupos de discusión. Metodología de análisis de contenido y análisis de discurso. Resultados y discusión. las prácticas resilientes como satisfactores de necesidades, son estructuradas a partir de dos dimensiones adaptación/transformación; dependencia/autonomía. Se observa que estas prácticas cuanto más abstracción presentan (de las necesidades concretas relacionadas con la subsistencia, a las necesidades más intangibles relacionadas con cuestiones simbólicas e identitarias), mayor complejidad en su diseño y organización, y mayor potencia como satisfactor.

Developing an Analytical Framework on Social Cohesion in Singapore. Reflections from the framing of social cohesion debates in the OECD and Europe. EU Centre Singapore Working Paper No. 17, November 2013

Official discourse in Singapore on social cohesion is often framed along the broad parameters of achieving racial and religious harmony. Many policies – formal and informal – and several laws evolved to manage these two aspects of society. Yet, as Singapore developed and with a much more complex socioeconomic environment both domestically and externally, there is perhaps a need to re-look the discourse and framework for discussing social cohesion. This paper takes a critical look at how the issue of social cohesion is framed in academic literature and policy discussions in Europe and the OECD, and tries to develop a broader analytical framework that could be useful in the Singapore context as it struggles with the multiple fault lines in society (beyond race and religion) that have emerged in the last decade or so.

It's not (only) about Erika Steinbach. Three myths in the German discourse on the resettlements. OSW Point of View, August 2010

The activity of the Federation of Expellees and its chairperson Erika Steinbach, including efforts aimed at establishing the Centre Against Expulsions have been and will continue to be a source of controversy in Germany’s domestic policy, as well as in Polish–German and Czech–German relations. Steinbach has become a central figure in German inter-party conflicts and in disputes with the country’s immediate neighbours. In her efforts to gain more publicity for injustice and suffering in the German past she has resorted to controversial methods and has thus latched onto another stage in the historical debate on the consequences of World War II. This time it is related to and interpreted from the point of view of the German victims. The consequences of the present debate on how Germany suffered during the war do matter and will continue to matter both for Germany itself and for Germany’s relations with its near neighbours. Contrary to popular belief, the debate, still underway and in the shape imposed by Erika Steinbach, is likely to bring some benefit to Poland.

Ideas and Policy: The European Union considers social policy futures. ACES Cases No. 2010.2

The European Union’s social policy perspectives have changed quite dramatically over the last several decades. Now EU’s social policy discourse often promises to “invest in people,” sometimes “to invest in children,” and always to pay particular attention to youth. This paper argues that the tools of historical institutionalism can lead to understanding the ideational roots of this social investment perspective so distant from the “European social model.” Coming out of social movements, and with collective identities shaped both by those movement roots and national experiences, activists have effectively focused their practices on altering the social representations of European social solidarity through their interest group interventions, their participation in policy forums, and their mobilization within civil society at the European and sub-European levels. They have been able to make common cause with several epistemic communities that themselves revamped their ideas in the face of new institutional constraints, in order to advance their interests in promoting particular directions for social policy. The paper documents that “ideas” are not a variable and discourse “sometimes important” but that the ideas carried by movements and in epistemic communities are integral to the very definition of their interests that they promote within and with institutions.

Integrating Europeans: The Political Economy and Social Aspects of Europeanization. ACES Working Papers (Curriculum Development), 2012

This course, then, investigates the effects of integration on European citizens as well as the duality of the EU as a competitive and social model. It is sensitive to the involvement of social groups, protest, and domestic politics in the study of market integration. Some of the questions we explore are: What are the effects of regulatory policy-making on social actors, how do such actors’ strategies and behaviors change as a consequence, and how to they overcome their collective action problems? Why is it that the logic of integration has at times followed a logic of “permissive consensus” while at other times it has been described as a “constraining dissensus”? What is the importance of discourse in domestic politics in order to articulate and legitimate Europeanization? How do European identities change as a consequence of policymaking as well as of protest? To what extent do ordinary Europeans matter in terms of accepting and opposing the project of European integration, how do European citizens in core and peripheral EU states experience Europeanization, and how is their involvement in the integration project to be conceptualized?

Citizenship in the discourse of Egyptian political parties. EUSpring Working Paper No. 6, June 2015 [also Citizenship Report no. 3]

The concept of citizenship is one of the most complicated in political and social sciences. Its long process of historical development makes dealing with it particularly complicated. Citizenship is by nature a multi-dimensional concept: there is a legal citizenship, referring first to the equal legal status of individuals, for instance the equality between men and women. Legal citizenship also refers to a political dimension, the right to start and/or join political parties, or political participation more broadly. Thirdly, it has a religious dimension relating to the right of all religious groups to equally and freely practice their religious customs and rituals. Finally, legal citizenship possesses a socio-economic dimension related to the non-marginalisation of different social categories, for instance women. All of these dimensions, far from being purely objects of legal texts and codifications, are emerging as an arena of political struggle within the Egyptian society. Citizenship as a concept has its roots in European history and, more specifically, the emergence of the nation state in Europe and the ensuing economic and social developments in these societies. These social developments and the rise of the nation state have worked in parallel, fostering the notion of an individual citizen bestowed with rights and obligations. This gradual interaction was very different from what happened in the context of the Arab world. The emerging of the nation state in Egypt was an outcome of modernisation efforts from the top-down; it coercively redesigned the social structure, by eliminating or weakening some social classes in favour of others. These efforts have had an impact on the state-society relation at least in two respects. First, on the overlapping relation between some social classes and the state, and second, on the ability of some social groups to self-organise, define and raise their demands. This study identifies how different political parties in Egypt envision the multi-dimensional concept of citizenship. We focus on the following elements: Nature of the state (identity, nature of the regime) Liberties and rights (election laws, political party laws, etc.) Right to gather and organise (syndicates, associations, etc.) Freedom of expression and speech (right to protest, sit in, strike, etc.) Public and individual liberties (freedom of belief, personal issues, etc.) Rights of marginalised groups (women, minorities, etc.)

Social differentiation of risk: perceptions of the future in drought-prone Central Niger

A snapshot of two Tuareg-dominated 'communes rurales' in the pastoral-agricultural transition zones of Maradi and Tahoua regions, Central Niger, shows that, despite the openly shared 'inevitable natural hazard' drought discourse, risk-taking action in response to drought-related dangers is sharply polarized according to social position. On the one hand the dominant Tuareg minority perceive drought not only as danger for their herds but also as opportunity to increase their political following through the channelling of drought relief benefits to their supporters. On the other hand, the majority of commune households, living on the brink of economic viability, cultivate social links with the dominant families in order to secure access to water, land and humanitarian aid; and household members are forced into more and more frequent and distant out-migration. Certain leaders, well-informed about national land policy and practice, focus their efforts for a better future on the consolidation of community land rights through the promotion of certain sedentarization and land privatization initiatives; however the resulting increased land pressure in key locations may unwittingly expose inhabitants to even worse drought-linked crises in the future. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French

Pensar su tiempo, deshilvanar el orden social

Edgardo Antonio Vigo fue un artista plástico que utilizó distintas técnicas y formas de expresión, como la poesía visual, las performances urbanas, el arte correo, la escritura de manifiestos y otros textos, así como la edición de revistas, entre otras actividades. Vigo produjo su poética en clave de rebeldía de su tiempo, especialmente entre los '60 y '70, pero su rebelión transcurrió también por fuera del estereotipo más consolidado para la época. La obra de Vigo retoma algunos procedimientos de las vanguardias, como la utilización del objeto ya hecho, el uso de espacios alternativos de producción y difusión de sus obras, el abandono casi completo del formato de cuadro, entre otros. Interesa pensar en este trabajo de qué modo esta apropiación de técnicas y procedimientos previos, se combina con otra ruptura dirigida no sólo al sistema artístico, sino también al orden social. En este sentido, la obra de Vigo piensa su tiempo. ;Así como tematizó ciertos acontecimientos de relevancia política de los ámbitos nacional e internacional, también realizó una operación novedosa en su obra: la utilización del discurso judicial-administrativo. Se analizan en este trabajo algunos de sus usos en acciones artísticas. Concluimos en que se trató de una materia que incorporaría en su poética para desnaturalizarla de su lugar original, aristocrático y privatista. En este sentido, toma un aspecto no menor del funcionamiento del orden social disociándolo de su lugar normal y, al ofrecerlo a todos a través de acciones artísticas, permite una apropiación descentrada, fuera de los límites impuestos por su naturaleza

The process of sharing social support in cyberspace

Mutual support is an interactional communication process. Taking an interactional approach to support requires group participants be viewed not only as targets and recipients but also as sources and providers of various types of support. An analysis was performed on the interactions of a group listserv and model of online interactional support. The aim was to explore the communication process children follow. The analysis revealed self-disclosure was used in the support group in three distinct ways. Its function for the support recipient is to initiate a transactional relationship with another member for the purpose of attracting social support through the open expression of concerns and frustrations. It is then used by the support provider to demonstrate that coping is possible for the recipient through the reciprocal self-disclosure of similar concerns and situations with which the member has successfully dealt. The third use of self-disclosure was to share reciprocal social companionship relationships.