Chapter 11: The Social Construction of “Europe”: Life-Cycles of Nation-State Identities in France, Germany and Great Britain 325

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Social

Ghanaian Migrants in Germany and the Social Construction of Diaspora Les migrants ghanéens en Allemagne et la construction sociale de la diaspora

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 28-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Nieswand
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Hometown Associations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bounded Group ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Newspaper Articles

Abstract This article explores diasporic discourses and practices among Ghanaian migrants in Germany. Instead of presuming that 'diaspora' is a stringent theoretical concept or refers to a bounded group in a sociological sense, it is argued that it provides migrants with a grammar of practice that allows for the situational and contextual construction of different types of 'diasporas'. Empirically, three social sites of construction are identified. Firstly, the Ghanaian nation-state and the reconfiguration of Ghanaian nationalism play an important role for promoting diasporic discourses. Secondly, the discourse of development and 'charity rituals' of ethnic and 'hometown' associations are of particular relevance for the proliferation of Ghanaian 'diasporas'. Thirdly, Ghanaian chieftaincies are involved in diasporic activities. The article is based on data collected in thirteen months of multi-sited ethnography conducted in Germany and Ghana between 2001 and 2003 and the analysis of video tapes, newspaper articles and web pages. Cet article explore les discours diasporiques et les pratiques trouvées parmi les migrants ghanéens en Allemagne. Plutôt que de présumer que la « diaspora » est un concept théorique strict ou fait référence à un groupe délimité dans un sens sociologique, il est soutenu qu'il fournit une grammaire de pratiques qui permet la construction situationnelle et contextuelle de différents types de « diasporas ». Empiriquement, trois lieux de construction sociale sont identifiés. Premièrement l'Etat-nation ghanéen et la reconfiguration du nationalisme ghanéen jour un rôle important pour promouvoir des discours diasporiques. Deuxièmement, le discours du développement et des « rituels de charité » des associations ethniques et des « villes natales » a une pertinence particulière pour la prolifération des « diasporas » ghanéennes. Troisièmement, les chefferies des tribus ghanéennes sont impliquées dans les activités de la diaspora. Empiriquement, cet article se base sur treize mois d'ethnographie, conduite en Allemagne et au Ghana entre 2001 et 2003, et sur l'analyse de bandes-vidéos, d'articles de journaux et de sites web.

Constructing Organizations: The Example of Public Sector Reform

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Brunsson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Abstract Concept ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

This chapter discusses the social construction of organizations and the way in which this is influenced by the theoretical concept of organization. It considers examples from recent publicsector reforms in several European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. Constructing organizations involves the setting up or changing of entities in such a way that they come to resemble the general and abstract concept of organization. It is argued that traditional public services in many countries have lacked some of the key aspects of organization. They can be described, at the most, as conspicuously ‘incomplete’ organizations.

Varieties of social constructionism and the problem of progress in psychiatry

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth F. Schaffner ◽  
Kathryn Tabb
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

Chapter 11 discusses how the debates over the relationship between social factors and progress in psychiatry have been muddied by confusion over how the term “social construction” has been, and should be, used. It covers how one option is to move away from the language of social construction, like many in the literature have done since the 1990s. But this move risks obscuring the continued importance of attending to the role of the social in psychiatric progress. This chapter aims to clarify the different positions taken by social constructionists about psychiatric disorders and to advocate for what it calls “inclusionary social constructionism.” Through a comparison between the history of HIV/AIDS and the present state of schizophrenia in research and medical settings, the chapter illustrates and evaluates the space of possible characterizations of social construction by psychiatrists and philosophers of psychiatry.

The Social Construction of Our Bodies

1992 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1186-1186
Author(s):  
Garth J. O. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
The Social

The Social Construction of a Perfect Market: The Strawberry Auction at Fontaines-en-Sologne

2010 ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
M.-F. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Per Se

The article examines social conditions and mechanisms of the emergence in 1982 of a «Dutch» strawberry auction in Fontaines-en-Sologne, France. Empirical study of this case shows that perfect market does not arise per se due to an «invisible hand». It is a social construction, which could only be put into effect by a hard struggle between stakeholders and large investments of different forms of capital. Ordinary practices of the market dont differ from the predictions of economic theory, which is explained by the fact that economic theory served as a frame of reference for the designers of the auction. Technological and spatial organization as well as principal rules of trade was elaborated in line with economic views of perfect market resulting in the correspondence between theory and reality.

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