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Rethinking Women's and Gender Studies Volume 2
by Catherine M. Orr Ann BraithwaiteThe second volume of Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies addresses the complexities and inherent paradoxes within the expansive knowledge project known as Women’s and Gender Studies for audiences both inside and adjacent to the field. Each of the volume’s chapters identifies and critically examines a key term that circulates in this field, exploring how the term has come to be understood and mobilized within its everyday narratives and practices. In constructing provocative genealogies for their terms, authors explicate the roles that this language, and the narratives attached to it, play in producing and limiting possible versions of the field. The ongoing aim of Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies, both in the original volume and this entirely new extension, is to trace and expose important paradoxes, ironies, and contradictions embedded in the field – from its high theory to its casual conversations – that rely on these terms. Forging collective conversation and intellectual community from its thoughtful and critical lines of inquiry, the second volume of Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies remains bracingly original and full of fresh insight. It provides a perfect complement for Feminist Theory, Senior Capstone, and introductory graduate-level courses offered in Women’s and Gender Studies and related fields.
Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society (Routledge Studies in Religion)
by Carmel GallagherRetired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society offers a sociological study of the Irish missionary diaspora. It draws on a series of interviews with female and male Catholic missionaries, mainly nuns and priests, who have worked in Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and who have returned to live in Ireland. The chapters provide unique insight into their experiences, exploring how they have navigated life-course changes in the context of changing church and changing societies. Retired missionaries have several vantage points from which to communicate their understandings, having worked across cultures and encountered some of the most challenging global social problems. Responding to significant changes in the Catholic Church, in Irish society, in their host countries and in mission work itself, their lives offer valuable perspectives on what it is to be Christian in contemporary society. The rich narrative data illuminates deep and complex processes of meaning-making as missionaries have sought to integrate their religion and spirituality in dynamic and diverse settings. The book suggests that the holistic character of the work of missionaries raises important questions about the different ways of being ethical, religious and acting justly in the world today. It will be of particular interest to scholars of Christianity, missiology, and the sociology of religion.
Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society (Routledge Studies in Religion)
by Carmel GallagherRetired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society offers a sociological study of the Irish missionary diaspora. It draws on a series of interviews with female and male Catholic missionaries, mainly nuns and priests, who have worked in Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and who have returned to live in Ireland. The chapters provide unique insight into their experiences, exploring how they have navigated life-course changes in the context of changing church and changing societies. Retired missionaries have several vantage points from which to communicate their understandings, having worked across cultures and encountered some of the most challenging global social problems. Responding to significant changes in the Catholic Church, in Irish society, in their host countries and in mission work itself, their lives offer valuable perspectives on what it is to be Christian in contemporary society. The rich narrative data illuminates deep and complex processes of meaning-making as missionaries have sought to integrate their religion and spirituality in dynamic and diverse settings. The book suggests that the holistic character of the work of missionaries raises important questions about the different ways of being ethical, religious and acting justly in the world today. It will be of particular interest to scholars of Christianity, missiology, and the sociology of religion.
Retuning Education: Bildung and Exemplarity Beyond the Logic of Progress (ISSN)
by Morten Timmermann KorsgaardThis book responds to the need for new ways of defining the aims and forms of education, in an age that has seen the ideals of progress and growth lead the planet and its inhabitants to the brink of extinction.Arguing that contemporary ideas of performance and accountability counter "the heart" of education, the book calls for a retuning of education that encourages the younger generation to study objects and ideas for their own sake, rather than to appease established and conventional notions in society – therefore stepping into a common space of reflection and study. The chapters examine why and how we educate, and offer the alternative of engaging with educational questions, not determined by the logic of progress and growth but with an objective of creating a relation to the world around us. Using the works of Hannah Arendt combined with the tradition of Allgemeine Pädagogik to argue for a new conception of Bildung, the book encourages a method that emphasises outrospection over introspection.Ultimately questioning modern-day education, the book redirects and retunes education away from being wholly concerned with achievement and growth, and will therefore be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the fields of philosophy of education, education and curriculum studies, education policy and politics, and sociology of education.
Retuning Education: Bildung and Exemplarity Beyond the Logic of Progress (ISSN)
by Morten Timmermann KorsgaardThis book responds to the need for new ways of defining the aims and forms of education, in an age that has seen the ideals of progress and growth lead the planet and its inhabitants to the brink of extinction.Arguing that contemporary ideas of performance and accountability counter "the heart" of education, the book calls for a retuning of education that encourages the younger generation to study objects and ideas for their own sake, rather than to appease established and conventional notions in society – therefore stepping into a common space of reflection and study. The chapters examine why and how we educate, and offer the alternative of engaging with educational questions, not determined by the logic of progress and growth but with an objective of creating a relation to the world around us. Using the works of Hannah Arendt combined with the tradition of Allgemeine Pädagogik to argue for a new conception of Bildung, the book encourages a method that emphasises outrospection over introspection.Ultimately questioning modern-day education, the book redirects and retunes education away from being wholly concerned with achievement and growth, and will therefore be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the fields of philosophy of education, education and curriculum studies, education policy and politics, and sociology of education.
Revisiting Inequality: Theoretical and Methodological Advances with Empirical Examples from India
This volume discusses the current state of knowledge on the conceptual understanding of inequality. The book poses a range of empirical puzzles in the Indian context and examines inequalities across categories of the region of residence, caste, and sex, using a fascinating range of outcome indicators, comprising education, health, earnings, self-employment, and crime.The empirical chapters of this volume use various large-scale secondary data sources to expose the deep-rooted, structural inequalities in the Indian society. It answers some of the pertinent questions around inequality such as why do the backward regions of India continue to remain backward, both in terms of economic and human development indicators? Why do enterprises owned by backward caste individuals have systematically lower business earnings? Are backward castes and women more likely to face crime when their relative status improves? How do the circumstances that children find given at birth influence their learning outcomes? etc.The book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of economics of education, development studies, development economics, and Indian economics. It will also be useful for policymakers, academicians, and anyone curious to learn about inequality.
Revisiting Inequality: Theoretical and Methodological Advances with Empirical Examples from India
by Achin Chakraborty Simantini MukhopadhyayThis volume discusses the current state of knowledge on the conceptual understanding of inequality. The book poses a range of empirical puzzles in the Indian context and examines inequalities across categories of the region of residence, caste, and sex, using a fascinating range of outcome indicators, comprising education, health, earnings, self-employment, and crime.The empirical chapters of this volume use various large-scale secondary data sources to expose the deep-rooted, structural inequalities in the Indian society. It answers some of the pertinent questions around inequality such as why do the backward regions of India continue to remain backward, both in terms of economic and human development indicators? Why do enterprises owned by backward caste individuals have systematically lower business earnings? Are backward castes and women more likely to face crime when their relative status improves? How do the circumstances that children find given at birth influence their learning outcomes? etc.The book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of economics of education, development studies, development economics, and Indian economics. It will also be useful for policymakers, academicians, and anyone curious to learn about inequality.
Revisiting Social Theory: Challenges and Possibilities (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)
This book revisits social theory with a view to highlighting certain essential features of ‘good’ social theory: its ability to raise certain questions, its explanatory power, its critical and reflexive interrogation of concepts, its search for objectivity, its concern to make sense of empirical data and its aim of projecting some degree of generality and abstraction. With particular attention to issues of nationalism, democracy, civil society, state, feminism, neoliberalism, minority rights, environment and North-East Indian society, it considers whether new and more relevant theoretical questions need to be asked.It will therefore appeal to scholars of social theory and political sociology with interests in new approaches to social theory and the development of local or ‘indigenous’ social thought.
Revisiting Social Theory: Challenges and Possibilities (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)
by D. V. KumarThis book revisits social theory with a view to highlighting certain essential features of ‘good’ social theory: its ability to raise certain questions, its explanatory power, its critical and reflexive interrogation of concepts, its search for objectivity, its concern to make sense of empirical data and its aim of projecting some degree of generality and abstraction. With particular attention to issues of nationalism, democracy, civil society, state, feminism, neoliberalism, minority rights, environment and North-East Indian society, it considers whether new and more relevant theoretical questions need to be asked.It will therefore appeal to scholars of social theory and political sociology with interests in new approaches to social theory and the development of local or ‘indigenous’ social thought.
Revitalizing Collegiality: Restoring Faculty Authority in Universities (Research in the Sociology of Organizations #87)
by Kerstin Sahlin and Ulla Eriksson-ZetterquistThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. The higher education and research system faces a constant dilemma. On the one hand, research and higher education are run by autonomous, interrelated academic communities, often described as collegial governance. On the other hand, they are an instrument for the fulfillment of goals that are often external to the academic community. What, then, is the role of academics and academic knowledge in governance of higher education and research, and how does this reflect on and impact their aims and overall place in society? Fostered through joint workshops and an open dialogue, this double volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations develops a deeper understanding of collegiality, examining through a unique comparative perspective how it is translated and practiced in different settings across the world. Considering ways in which collegiality can be revitalized, this second installment argues for reintroducing collegiality both in analyzing the development of higher education systems and research and in the actual governing of universities. Revealing the globalization, homogenization and variation that have come to characterize the collegiate system, Revitalizing Collegiality critically considers the state of and future of the higher education system, and how we can consciously shape it moving forward.
Revitalizing Collegiality: Restoring Faculty Authority in Universities (Research in the Sociology of Organizations #87)
by Kerstin Sahlin Ulla Eriksson-ZetterquistThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. The higher education and research system faces a constant dilemma. On the one hand, research and higher education are run by autonomous, interrelated academic communities, often described as collegial governance. On the other hand, they are an instrument for the fulfillment of goals that are often external to the academic community. What, then, is the role of academics and academic knowledge in governance of higher education and research, and how does this reflect on and impact their aims and overall place in society? Fostered through joint workshops and an open dialogue, this double volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations develops a deeper understanding of collegiality, examining through a unique comparative perspective how it is translated and practiced in different settings across the world. Considering ways in which collegiality can be revitalized, this second installment argues for reintroducing collegiality both in analyzing the development of higher education systems and research and in the actual governing of universities. Revealing the globalization, homogenization and variation that have come to characterize the collegiate system, Revitalizing Collegiality critically considers the state of and future of the higher education system, and how we can consciously shape it moving forward.
Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism (Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism)
by Nils KarlsonThis open access book by Nils Karlson explores the strategies used by left- and right-wing populists to make populism intelligible, recognizable, and contestable. It presents a synthesized explanatory model for how populists promote autocratization through the deliberate polarization of society. It traces the ideational roots of the core populist ideas and shows that these ideas form a collectivistic identity politics. Karlson argues that to fight back requires the revival of liberalism itself by defending and developing the liberal institutions, the liberal spirit, liberal narratives, and liberal statecraft. The book also presents and discusses an extensive list of counterstrategies against populism. Written within the tradition of political theory and institutional economics, this book uses a wide variety of sources, including results and analyses from social psychology, ethics, law, and history.
Revolutionizing the AI-Digital Landscape: A Guide to Sustainable Emerging Technologies for Marketing Professionals
by Alex Khang Sachin Gupta Pushan Kumar Dutta Nishu Ayedee Sandeep ChatterjeeThis book investigates the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the marketing sphere, providing insights into how AI can be harnessed for developing more effective and efficient marketing strategies. In addition, the book will also offer a comprehensive overview of the various digital marketing tools available to entrepreneurs, discussing their features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. This will help entrepreneurs make well-informed decisions when selecting the tools most suited to their needs and objectives. It is designed to help entrepreneurs develop and implement successful strategies, leveraging the latest tools and technologies to achieve their business goals. As the digital landscape continues to evolve rapidly, this book aims to serve as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to stay ahead of the curve and capitalize on new opportunities. The book's scope encompasses a wide range of topics, including customer experience, content marketing, AI strategy, and digital marketing tools.
Revolutionizing the AI-Digital Landscape: A Guide to Sustainable Emerging Technologies for Marketing Professionals
by Alex Khang, Pushan Kumar Dutta, Sachin Gupta, Nishu Aayedee, and Sandeep ChatterjeeThis book investigates the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the marketing sphere, providing insights into how AI can be harnessed for developing more effective and efficient marketing strategies. In addition, the book will also offer a comprehensive overview of the various digital marketing tools available to entrepreneurs, discussing their features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. This will help entrepreneurs make well-informed decisions when selecting the tools most suited to their needs and objectives. It is designed to help entrepreneurs develop and implement successful strategies, leveraging the latest tools and technologies to achieve their business goals. As the digital landscape continues to evolve rapidly, this book aims to serve as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to stay ahead of the curve and capitalize on new opportunities. The book's scope encompasses a wide range of topics, including customer experience, content marketing, AI strategy, and digital marketing tools.
The Rise and Fall of Citizenship
by Bryan S. TurnerThe Rise and Fall of Citizenship brings together many of Turner’s publications on the topic of citizenship and includes three new chapters reflecting upon conceptions of citizenship today. The collection begins with a newly written overview of the rise of social citizenship (with particular reference to the UK and the US from 1945 to the 1980s) which charts the experiences of the ‘Baby Boomers’ that benefited from the creation of welfare states, post- war reconstruction, and the commitment to full employment. The core chapters are based on previously published articles, primarily from Taylor & Francis’ Citizenship Studies journal. These chapters examine and critique various sociological and political theories of citizenship and social rights as expounded in the works of R.H. Tawney, J.M. Keynes, T.H. Marshall, Ralf Dahrendorf, Judith Shklar, Peter Townsend, Bernard Crick, and Jüergen Habermas, among others. Later chapters bring the concept of citizenship up to date. Since the 1980s, the UK and the US have been radically altered by neoliberal economic policies involving the deindustrialization of capitalism and an emphasis on financial institutions, which have given rise to new patterns of inequality and changing labour markets. In describing where we are now, Turner argues that new forms of employment instability and uncertainty are captured by the idea of ‘the precariat’ and that citizens now experience their social world as if they were denizens. Turner also considers the impact of demographic changes and increased immigration, widely opposed by populist parties, on conceptions of citizenship. Migration and membership are also examined with reference to issues of dual citizenship, permanent residence, and ‘citizenship for cash’. The final chapter considers the ongoing relevance of the ancient law of hospitality, positing how the migrant can be considered as an asset rather than a threat. This wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection will be of interest to scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences with a focus on citizenship and rights.
The Rise and Fall of Citizenship
by Bryan S. TurnerThe Rise and Fall of Citizenship brings together many of Turner’s publications on the topic of citizenship and includes three new chapters reflecting upon conceptions of citizenship today. The collection begins with a newly written overview of the rise of social citizenship (with particular reference to the UK and the US from 1945 to the 1980s) which charts the experiences of the ‘Baby Boomers’ that benefited from the creation of welfare states, post- war reconstruction, and the commitment to full employment. The core chapters are based on previously published articles, primarily from Taylor & Francis’ Citizenship Studies journal. These chapters examine and critique various sociological and political theories of citizenship and social rights as expounded in the works of R.H. Tawney, J.M. Keynes, T.H. Marshall, Ralf Dahrendorf, Judith Shklar, Peter Townsend, Bernard Crick, and Jüergen Habermas, among others. Later chapters bring the concept of citizenship up to date. Since the 1980s, the UK and the US have been radically altered by neoliberal economic policies involving the deindustrialization of capitalism and an emphasis on financial institutions, which have given rise to new patterns of inequality and changing labour markets. In describing where we are now, Turner argues that new forms of employment instability and uncertainty are captured by the idea of ‘the precariat’ and that citizens now experience their social world as if they were denizens. Turner also considers the impact of demographic changes and increased immigration, widely opposed by populist parties, on conceptions of citizenship. Migration and membership are also examined with reference to issues of dual citizenship, permanent residence, and ‘citizenship for cash’. The final chapter considers the ongoing relevance of the ancient law of hospitality, positing how the migrant can be considered as an asset rather than a threat. This wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection will be of interest to scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences with a focus on citizenship and rights.
The Rise of AI User Applications: Chatbots Integration Foundations and Trends
by Svetlana BialkovaThis monograph introduces readers to core theories and applications in the chatbot AI context. Although AI is attracting significant attention, there is a literature gap and lack of practical guidelines on the key drivers of chatbot efficiency and agency capacity. There is a caveat between algorithmic explanations and actionable understanding, despite the acknowledged importance of inherently human-centric properties. Addressing these gaps, this state-of-the-art book offers a distinctive combination of content, theory, practice evaluation, and a holistic framework encompassing cognitive, emotional and social aspects, focusing on how to enhance AI agency and user experience. The framework aims to drive design, encouraging development of intelligent systems, techniques to evaluate chatbot with purposes, to appropriately meet user needs and market demand for responsible and explainable AI, XAI. Avenues for transforming business and life by implementing new generation AI systems are further discussed, as well as recommendations to overcome consumer resistance and advice for policy measures to reduce risks given the AI boost. While the community is still in an exploratory mode, we hope “The Rise of AI User Applications: Chatbots Integration Foundations and Trends” provides the needed understanding and will inspire researchers across disciplines to combine their efforts and work together on this very intriguing topic.
The Rise of Digital Management: From Industrial Mobilization to Platform Capitalism (Routledge International Studies in Business History)
by François-Xavier de VaujanyThis book analyzes the history of management, placing it in perspective with both American history and the genealogy of digital technology. Focusing on the years of industrial mobilization in the United States (from 1937 to 1945) and their extension into the Cold War, it shows particularly how "scientific management" was reconfigured and re-legitimized in favor of a new profoundly American geopolitics. In a context where the future was at a standstill, this research also explains what became of the managerial processes at the heart of capitalism from the 40s onwards: the shift from a managerial capitalism of calculation to a narrative capitalism made up of "desiring machines". This digital management no longer simply contributes, along with others, to unveiling and revealing the future. Aligned with the American obsession with novelty, it is the very process of revelation and unveiling, with managers and consumers alike becoming the intersecting subjects of desires borne of managerial apocalypses.To explore this period of American history, the author has combined a triple narrative anchored in three types of archives: an intimate history of this reconfiguration from the presence in New York of Saint-Exupéry, Burnham and Wiener; a description of the great historical moment of industrial mobilization; and a philosophical speculation about reconfiguration and its links to American history.
The Rise of Digital Management: From Industrial Mobilization to Platform Capitalism (Routledge International Studies in Business History)
by François-Xavier de VaujanyThis book analyzes the history of management, placing it in perspective with both American history and the genealogy of digital technology. Focusing on the years of industrial mobilization in the United States (from 1937 to 1945) and their extension into the Cold War, it shows particularly how "scientific management" was reconfigured and re-legitimized in favor of a new profoundly American geopolitics. In a context where the future was at a standstill, this research also explains what became of the managerial processes at the heart of capitalism from the 40s onwards: the shift from a managerial capitalism of calculation to a narrative capitalism made up of "desiring machines". This digital management no longer simply contributes, along with others, to unveiling and revealing the future. Aligned with the American obsession with novelty, it is the very process of revelation and unveiling, with managers and consumers alike becoming the intersecting subjects of desires borne of managerial apocalypses.To explore this period of American history, the author has combined a triple narrative anchored in three types of archives: an intimate history of this reconfiguration from the presence in New York of Saint-Exupéry, Burnham and Wiener; a description of the great historical moment of industrial mobilization; and a philosophical speculation about reconfiguration and its links to American history.
Risk and Crisis Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Muddled Messages (Routledge Research in Communication Studies)
by Martin N. NdlelaThis book examines the challenges of communicating risk and crisis messages during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide recommendations for managing future global health crises. Given that outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics are global crises that require global solutions, the book suggests that the world community needs to build resilient crisis management institutions and message management systems. Through international case studies, in-depth interviews, textual, content, narrative and document analysis, the book provides comprehensive accounts of how normative risk communication strategies were invoked, applied, disrupted, questioned, and changed during the COVID- 19 pandemic. It explores themes including crisis preparedness, outbreak communication, lockdown messages, communication uncertainty, risk message strategies and the challenges of information disorders to show that trust in supranational and national institutions is crucial for the effective management of future global public health crises. A thorough assessment of the multiple challenges faced by public health authorities and audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of Risk, Crisis and Health Communication and Public Health and Disaster Management.
Risk and Crisis Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Muddled Messages (Routledge Research in Communication Studies)
by Martin N. NdlelaThis book examines the challenges of communicating risk and crisis messages during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide recommendations for managing future global health crises. Given that outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics are global crises that require global solutions, the book suggests that the world community needs to build resilient crisis management institutions and message management systems. Through international case studies, in-depth interviews, textual, content, narrative and document analysis, the book provides comprehensive accounts of how normative risk communication strategies were invoked, applied, disrupted, questioned, and changed during the COVID- 19 pandemic. It explores themes including crisis preparedness, outbreak communication, lockdown messages, communication uncertainty, risk message strategies and the challenges of information disorders to show that trust in supranational and national institutions is crucial for the effective management of future global public health crises. A thorough assessment of the multiple challenges faced by public health authorities and audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of Risk, Crisis and Health Communication and Public Health and Disaster Management.
Rites of Passage: Death and Mourning in Victorian Britain
by Judith Flanders'Nobody knows more about everyday life in Victorian Britain than Judith Flanders' - Douglas Robert-Fairhurst, author of Metamorphosis and The Turning PointIn Rites of Passage, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders deconstructs the intricate, fascinating, and occasionally – to modern eyes – bizarre customs that grew up around death and mourning in Victorian Britain.Through stories from the sickbed to the deathbed, from the correct way to grieve and to give comfort to those grieving to funerals and burials and the reaction of those left behind, Flanders illuminates how living in nineteenth-century Britain was, in so many ways, dictated by dying.This is an engrossing, deeply researched and, at times, chilling social history of a period plagued by infant death, poverty, disease, and unprecedented change. In elegant, often witty prose, Flanders brings the Victorian way of death vividly to life.
Ritual and Language
by null Dániel Z. KádárWhile ritual is often associated with phenomena such as ceremonies, cursing and etiquette, it actually encompasses something much more important: it includes all instances of communally oriented language use. As such, ritual manifests itself in many forms in our daily lives, such as politeness, swearing and humour, and in many different life situations, spanning trash talk in sports events, through market bargaining, to conventional social pleasantries. This pioneering book provides an introduction to ritual language use by providing a cutting-edge, language-anchored and replicable framework applicable for the study of ritual in different datatypes and languages. The framework is illustrated with a wealth of case studies drawn from Chinese and Anglophone rituals which demonstrate how to use it effectively. The book is essential reading for both academics and students, and is relevant to pragmatics, applied linguistics and other fields.
The Ritual Effect: The Transformative Power of Our Everyday Actions
by Michael Norton‘Fascinating . . . lively storytelling and cutting-edge science, The Ritual Effect sticks with you'Charles DuhiggIn this ground-breaking and inspiring guide, a renowned Harvard psychologist demonstrates how turning everyday habits into rituals can improve our work, our relationships and our lives.Think of the quirky traditions that you keep up with your friends.Or the unusual ways that you and your family mark special occasions.Or the gifts that your partner gives – and what you’d think if they’d bought the same for an ex.These are rituals: practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning. And they have the power to turn black-and-white moments into technicolour.Along the way, Norton shares stories from sporting superstars (Serena Williams always bouncing the ball five times before her first serve), million-dollar companies (Zipcar urging staff to destroy their old desktops with sledgehammers) and ordinary people (inventing their own “ritual signatures”), who reimagine everyday moments, build camaraderie, and spark joy.Rituals can help us to forge winning teams, heal families experiencing grief and encourage us rise to challenges, big or small. Now it’s time to create yours.
Ritualisierende Agency in Todesritualen: Eine Untersuchung der Positionierung(en) von gemeinschaftsungebundenen Ritualleiter*innen in der Deutschschweiz (Veröffentlichungen der Sektion Religionssoziologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie)
by Lilo RutherIn diesem Open-Access-Buch werden anhand von ethnographischen Fallbeobachtungen mit 16 Ritualleiter*innen folgende Fragen beantwortet: Wie positionieren sich Leitende von Todesritualen, die ausserhalb einer religiösen Gemeinschaft in der Deutschschweiz stattfinden? Welches Selbstbild vertreten die Ritualleiter*innen? Welche Aufgaben verbinden sie mit ihrer Tätigkeit? Wem sprechen sie Handlungs- und Wirkmächtigkeit (Agency) zu? Welche Themen und Konzepte sind für ihr Handeln und Erleben zentral? An welche kollektiven Sinngehalte (Deutungsmuster) schließen sie dabei an? Methodisch verortet sich die Arbeit in der Rekonstruktiven Sozialforschung. Dabei orientiert sie sich an Narrationsanalyse, Grounded Theory und Qualitativer Agencyforschung. Theoretisch knüpft die Studie an Konzepte von 'Ritualisierungen' und 'Agency' an, um auf empirischer Grundlage das Konzept der 'Ritualisierenden Agency' zu entwickeln: Durch die gewählten Formen der Ritualisierung im Umgang mit der Bestattung und der Begleitung der Angehörigen erlangen die Akteur*innen eigenständige Handlungsmächtigkeit und Verantwortlichkeit. Die Analysen zeigen, wie die Akteur*innen selbst ihre Handlungsspielräume und ihre eigene Teilhabe in den Interviews und in den Bestattungsritualen zum Ausdruck bringen.