Postsocial relations:towards a performative view of accounting knowledge

This paper discusses the impact and influences of the growth of postsocial relations on accounting practice. Aspects of the growth of knowledge cultures, which have been argued to impact social and organizational arrangements, are discussed. Extending this view to accounting, we see accountants forming a distinctive knowledge culture with their own unique rules of how knowledge is constituted. These rules are embedded in accounting systems and practices. This paper suggests the need to further develop a research program that seeks to investigate accounting practice in local settings. The discussion in the paper is based on views which posit the growth of intimate links with epistemic objects within organizations and society. This paper argues that such ideas lead to an increasing tendency for us to experience the changes in societal relations and social arrangements as a compression of time and space. The paper relates these ideas to developments in the accounting research literature.

Experts:the knowledge and power of expertise

In this book, Stehr and Grundmann outline the theoretical significance and practical importance of the growing stratum of experts, counsellors and advisors in contemporary society, and claim that the growing spectrum of knowledge-based occupations has led to the pluralisation of expertise. As decision makers in organizations and private citizens, for various reasons, increasingly seek advice from experts, the authors examine the nature of expert activity, and suggest that the role of experts needs to be distinguised from other roles such as professionals, scientists, or intellectuals. Experts, they argue, perform knowledge based activities that mediate between the context of knowledge creation and application. Existing approaches tend to restrict the role of the expert to scientists, or to conflate the roles of professionals with experts. In avoiding such restrictions, this book sets out a framework to understanding the growing role of expertise in a better way. Experts provides thought-provoking discussion that will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working within the fields of social theory, knowledge, and consumption.

The political shaping of energy technology:combined heat and power in Britain

There has been negligible adoption of combined heat and power (CHP) for district heating (DH) in Britain, despite continued advocacy. This thesis constructs an account of the treatment of the option, and devises a framework for explanation. Analysis of technological development and adoption, it is argued, should be similar to that of other social processes, and be subject to the same requirements and criticisms. They will, however, show features peculiar to the institutions developing and selecting technologies, their relation to different social groups, and the forms of knowledge in and about technology. Conventional approaches - organisation and interorganisation theories, and analyses of policy-making - give useful insights but have common limitations. Elements of an analytical framework situating detailed issues and outcomes in a structured historical context are derived from convergent radical critiques. Thus activity on CHP/DH is essentially shaped by the development and relations of energy sector institutions: central and local government, nationalised industries and particularly the electricity industry. Analysis of them is related to the specific character of the British state. A few CHP and DH installations were tried before 1940. During postwar reconstruction, extensive plans for several cities were abandoned or curtailed. In the 1960s and 70s, many small non-CHP DH schemes were installed on housing estates. From the mid-70s, the national potential of CHP/DH has been reappraised, with widespread support and favourable evaluations, but little practical progress. Significant CHP/DH adoption is shown to have been systematically excluded ultimately by the structure of energy provision; centralised production interests dominate and co-ordination is weak. Marginal economics and political commitment have allowed limited development in exceptional circumstances. Periods of upheaval provided greater opportunity and incentive for CHP/DH but restructuring eventually obstructed it. Explanation of these outcomes is shown to require analysis at several levels, from broad context to detailed action.

Empowering, degrading or a 'mutually exploitative' exchange For women?: Characterising the power relations of the strip club

This paper seeks to characterise the gendered and sexualised power relations of both female and male strip clubs, and to signal what this means for establishing positive definitions of female desire. It is argued that while it is not useful to present female strippers, or female patrons of male strip clubs as purely passive victims of male heterosexism within these venues, it is equally damaging to assume that these venues represent a whole-scale challenge to conventional oppressive gender and sexual relations for women. Some research has even suggested that both strippers and their patrons are engaged in a 'mutually exploitative' power relationship. Moreover, further empirical research documents key points where female dancers have perhaps wielded 'more' power over patrons at certain moments, and female dancers have highlighted feelings of empowerment and highlighted potential for gender and sexual relations which position women as passive to be subverted within stripping. However, such feelings are often temporally specific and are not applicable to all women in the strip industry. It may be particularly hard for these to manifest in women concentrated in the least economically-rewarding areas of the industry who have less 'power' to resist compromising their bodily boundaries. Furthermore, it is argued that women watching male strippers does little to reverse the 'male gaze', and nor does this male occupation carry as much negative social stigma with it as female stripping suffers. It is thus argued that the overwhelming picture, stemming largely from accounts of former dancers and from empirical studies of individual clubs, suggests these venues in fact do very little to challenge normative hetero-oppressive sexual scripts.

A hatalmi viszonyok a világgazdaság és a katonai szektor a XXI. században = Power relations in the world economy and the military sector in 21st century

A bipoláris világrendszer megszűnése a XX. század utolsó évtizedében új helyzetet teremtett a globális politikai és gazdasági viszonyokban, ugyanakkor nem mellékesen a hadiiparban is. A szerző, szem előtt tartva a hatalmi viszonyok jövőbeli elkerülhetetlen átrendeződését, elsősorban a katonai szektor előtt álló, a XXI. századra előrevetíthető kihívásokat, lehetőségeket, a szektor jövőbeli pályáját tekinti át. A hadiiparral kapcsolatban indokolt a hidegháború utáni világ fegyverkezési helyzetének, fegyveres erőinek számbavétele csakúgy, mint a releváns elméleti keretek ismertetése, továbbá a fontos globális szereplők biztonságpolitikájának vizsgálata. A katonai szektor jelenének és jövőjének alapos elemzése nem nélkülözheti a katonai kiadások jelenlegi – a világgazdasági válság által befolyásolt – és a következő évtizedekben várható alakulásának vizsgálatát. Végül, de nem utolsó sorban a szerző áttekinti a XXI. századi haditechnikai forradalom már most látható és a jövőben valószínűsíthető vívmányait, a fontosabb haditechnikai tendenciákat, illetve elemzi a nemzetközi fegyverpiac helyzetét. __________________ The end of the Cold War led to a new situation in global political and economic affairs, as well as in the military sector. The author, taking into consideration the inevitable future power shifts, provides an overview of the challenges, possibilities and future paths of the military sector. Relevant issues include assessing the arms and armed forces of the post-Cold War era, as well as the analysis of theoretical frameworks and the security policies of the important global actors. Understanding the present and the future of the military sector is not possible without the thorough analysis of military expenditures and their likely future trends. The author also overviews the outcomes of the 21st century revolution in military technology and analyses the global arms market.

Knowledge and Control in the Contemporary Land Rush : Making Local Land Legible and Corporate Power Applicable in Rural Sierra Leone

13/01/15 Funded by •Faculty of Management at Radboud University Nijmegen

Knowledge and Control in the Contemporary Land Rush : Making Local Land Legible and Corporate Power Applicable in Rural Sierra Leone

13/01/15 Funded by •Faculty of Management at Radboud University Nijmegen

Power relations and good governance: a social network analysis of the evolution of the integrity in public office act in the Commonwealth of Dominica

La Banque mondiale propose la bonne gouvernance comme la stratégie visant à corriger les maux de la mauvaise gouvernance et de faciliter le développement dans les pays en développement (Carayannis, Pirzadeh, Popescu & 2012; & Hilyard Wilks 1998; Leftwich 1993; Banque mondiale, 1989). Dans cette perspective, la réforme institutionnelle et une arène de la politique publique plus inclusive sont deux stratégies critiques qui visent à établir la bonne gouvernance, selon la Banque et d’autres institutions de Bretton Woods. Le problème, c’est que beaucoup de ces pays en voie de développement ne possèdent pas l’architecture institutionnelle préalable à ces nouvelles mesures. Cette thèse étudie et explique comment un état en voie de développement, le Commonwealth de la Dominique, s’est lancé dans un projet de loi visant l’intégrité dans la fonction publique. Cette loi, la Loi sur l’intégrité dans la fonction publique (IPO) a été adoptée en 2003 et mis en œuvre en 2008. Cette thèse analyse les relations de pouvoir entre les acteurs dominants autour de évolution de la loi et donc, elle emploie une combinaison de technique de l’analyse des réseaux sociaux et de la recherche qualitative pour répondre à la question principale: Pourquoi l’État a-t-il développé et mis en œuvre la conception actuelle de la IPO (2003)? Cette question est d’autant plus significative quand nous considérons que contrairement à la recherche existante sur le sujet, l’IPO dominiquaise diverge considérablement dans la structure du l’IPO type idéal. Nous affirmons que les acteurs "rationnels," conscients de leur position structurelle dans un réseau d’acteurs, ont utilisé leurs ressources de pouvoir pour façonner l’institution afin qu’elle serve leurs intérêts et ceux et leurs alliés. De plus, nous émettons l’hypothèse que: d’abord, le choix d’une agence spécialisée contre la corruption et la conception ultérieure de cette institution reflètent les préférences des acteurs dominants qui ont participé à la création de ladite institution et la seconde, notre hypothèse rivale, les caractéristiques des modèles alternatifs d’institutions de l’intégrité publique sont celles des acteurs non dominants. Nos résultats sont mitigés. Le jeu de pouvoir a été limité à un petit groupe d’acteurs dominants qui ont cherché à utiliser la création de la loi pour assurer leur légitimité et la survie politique. Sans surprise, aucun acteur n’a avancé un modèle alternatif. Nous avons conclu donc que la loi est la conséquence d’un jeu de pouvoir partisan. Cette recherche répond à la pénurie de recherche sur la conception des institutions de l’intégrité publique, qui semblent privilégier en grande partie un biais organisationnel et structurel. De plus, en étudiant le sujet du point de vue des relations de pouvoir (le pouvoir, lui-même, vu sous l’angle actanciel et structurel), la thèse apporte de la rigueur conceptuelle, méthodologique, et analytique au discours sur la création de ces institutions par l’étude de leur genèse des perspectives tant actancielles que structurelles. En outre, les résultats renforcent notre capacité de prédire quand et avec quelle intensité un acteur déploierait ses ressources de pouvoir.

What happens at the gap between knowledge and practice? Spaces of encounter and misencounter between environmental scientists and local people

Researchers studying processes of global environmental change are increasingly interested in their work having impacts that go beyond academia to influence policy and management. Recent scholarship in the conservation sciences has pointed to the existence of a research-action gap and has proposed various solutions for overcoming it. However, most of these studies have been limited to the spaces of dissemination, where the science has already been done and is then to be passed over to users of the information. Much less attention has been paid to encounters that occur between scientists and nonscientists during the practice of doing scientific research, especially in situations that include everyday roles of labor and styles of communication (i.e., fieldwork). This paper builds on theories of contact that have examined encounters and relations between different groups and cultures in diverse settings. I use quantitative and qualitative evidence from Madidi National Park, Bolivia, including an analysis of past research in the protected area, as well as interviews (N = 137) and workshops and focus groups (N = 12) with local inhabitants, scientists, and park guards. The study demonstrates the significance of currently unacknowledged or undervalued components of the research-action gap, such as power, respect, and recognition, to develop a relational and reciprocal notion of impact. I explain why, within such spaces of encounter or misencounter between scientists and local people, knowledge can be exchanged or hidden away, worldviews can be expanded or further entrenched, and scientific research can be welcomed or rejected.

Relations among Topic Knowledge, Individual Interest, and Relational Reasoning, and Critical Thinking in Maternity Nursing

Critical thinking in learners is a goal of educators and professional organizations in nursing as well as other professions. However, few studies in nursing have examined the role of the important individual difference factors topic knowledge, individual interest, and general relational reasoning strategies in predicting critical thinking. In addition, most previous studies have used domain-general, standardized measures, with inconsistent results. Moreover, few studies have investigated critical thinking across multiple levels of experience. The major purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which topic knowledge, individual interest, and relational reasoning predict critical thinking in maternity nurses. For this study, 182 maternity nurses were recruited from national nursing listservs explicitly chosen to capture multiple levels of experience from prelicensure to very experienced nurses. The three independent measures included a domain-specific Topic Knowledge Assessment (TKA), consisting of 24 short-answer questions, a Professed and Engaged Interest Measure (PEIM), with 20 questions indicating level of interest and engagement in maternity nursing topics and activities, and the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR), a graphical selected response measure with 32 items organized in scales corresponding to four forms of relational reasoning: analogy, anomaly, antithesis, and antinomy. The dependent measure was the Critical Thinking Task in Maternity Nursing (CT2MN), composed of a clinical case study providing cues with follow-up questions relating to nursing care. These questions align with the cognitive processes identified in a commonly-used definition of critical thinking in nursing. Reliable coding schemes for the measures were developed for this study. Key findings included a significant correlation between topic knowledge and individual interest. Further, the three individual difference factors explained a significant proportion of the variance in critical thinking with a large effect size. While topic knowledge was the strongest predictor of critical thinking performance, individual interest had a moderate significant effect, and relational reasoning had a small but significant effect. The findings suggest that these individual difference factors should be included in future studies of critical thinking in nursing. Implications for nursing education, research, and practice are discussed.

Conquerors, Brides and Concubines. Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia.

As its title indicates, this book, which is divided into four chapters, seeks to provide an overview of “the diverse political, social and cultural functions that interfaith marriage alliances and other sexual encounters fulfilled within the overall dynamic of Christian- Muslim relations in the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period, both within al- Andalus (…) and the expansionist Christian-dominated polities of the North” (4). In this sense, its chronological span reaches from the early eighth century (the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Muslims) to 1492 (the Christian conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada)

As relações entre saber e poder em testes psicodiagnósticos a partir de M. Foucault

In this article my main objective is to approach some questions related to the tests used in psychodiagnostics processes of children who are considered as having learning difficulties. Having the book Discipline and Punish (1975/1986) by Foucault as theoretical basis, I intend to investigate the hypothesis that the child is considered ill or abnormal due to the factors related to imposed norms and not to organic aspects and/or neurological pathology. My interest is to analyse the signs that allow us to point out the written language conception of tests. This language is expected and privileged, however it may not be the language that the child uses and experiences every day.