Empirical Material (empirical + material)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Mobilizing in transnational space: a social movement approach to the formation of diaspora

GLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 3 2006
MARTIN SÖKEFELD
Taking the imagination of a transnational community and a shared identity as defining characteristics of diaspora and drawing on constructivist concepts of identity, I argue that the formation of diaspora is not a,natural'consequence of migration but that specific processes of mobilization have to take place for a diaspora to emerge. I propose that concepts developed in social movement theory can be applied to the study of diaspora communities and suggest a comparative framework for the analysis of the formation of diaspora through mobilization. Empirical material to substantiate this approach is mainly drawn from the Alevi diaspora in Germany but also from South Asian diasporas. [source]


Beyond the enterprise: trade union representation of freelances in the UK

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004
Edmund Heery
Interest has grown in the methods that trade unions can use to organise and represent the substantial proportion of the workforce engaged in ,contingent work'. This article examines trade union representation of self-employed freelances in the UK. Empirical material is presented from case studies of the media and entertainment unions, with their long history of representing freelances, and more recently established unions representing freelance tour guides, interpreters and translators. The analysis indicates that there is a distinctive form of freelance unionism in the UK which is distinguished by its emphasis on organising and representing workers in the external labour market where they seek work and develop a mobile career. This orientation ,beyond the enterprise' distinguishes freelance unionism from the dominant form of unionism in Britain. [source]


Migrant Assimilation in Europe: A Transnational Family Affair1

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2009
Sam Scott
The paper advances our empirical and theoretical understanding of migrant assimilation. It does so by focusing on a very particular group of individuals who appear more likely than other migrant types to "go native." We call these individuals "mixed nationality relationship migrants" (i.e., migrants who have committed to a life outside their home country because of the presence of a foreign partner). The paper argues that the transnational family milieus that emerge from this form of international migration are critical to the assimilation process. Empirical material from 11 in-depth interviews with female migrants in Britain (Sheffield) and France (Paris) supports our argument. We also suggest that such "extreme" assimilation is more likely within a regional migratory system , like the EU , where the "identity frontiers" crossed in the formation of a transnational family are relatively shallow. [source]


Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 5 2002
Mats Alvesson
This paper takes the regulation of identity as a focus for examining organizational control. It considers how employees are enjoined to develop self-images and work orientations that are deemed congruent with managerially defined objectives. This focus on identity extends and deepens themes developed within other analyses of normative control. Empirical materials are deployed to illustrate how managerial intervention operates, more or less intentionally and in/effectively, to influence employees' self-constructions in terms of coherence, distinctiveness and commitment. The processual nature of such control is emphasized, arguing that it exists in tension with other intra and extra-organizational claims upon employees' sense of identity in a way that can open a space for forms of micro-emancipation. [source]


TOWARDS A PARADIGM OF DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND CO-PRODUCTION OF PERSONAL SOCIAL SERVICES IN SWEDEN

ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2009
Victor Pestoff
ABSTRACT:,Many countries in Europe are now searching for new ways to engage citizens and involve the third sector in the provision and governance of social services in order to meet major demographical, political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st Century. Co-production provides a model for the mix of both public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. Citizen participation involves several different dimensions: economic, social, political and service specific. The extent of citizen participation varies between different providers of welfare services, as too does user and staff influence. Empirical materials from a recent study of childcare in Sweden will be used to illustrate these points. However, the role of citizens and the third sector also varies between countries and social sectors. Third sector providers facilitate citizen participation, while a glass ceiling for participation exists in municipal and for-profit providers. Moreover, co-production takes place in a political context, and can be crowded-in or crowded-out by public policy. These findings can contribute to the development of a new paradigm of participative democracy. [source]


Urban Ethnography of the 1920s Working Girl

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2007
Jaber F. Gubrium
The 1920s was the era of the city. The urban population of the USA for the first time exceeded the population of rural areas and the nascent institutions of city life were flourishing. This article discusses the urban ethnography of the era with a focus on the way women and work was conceptualized, especially how ,the city' figured in explanation. Three ethnographies are examined ,Frances Donovan'sThe Woman Who Waits (1920) and The Saleslady (1929) and Paul Cressey'sThe Taxi-Dance Hall (1932). Donovan and Cressey presented their empirical material to show that the so-called working girl faced a multifaceted world of opportunity in employment, not of disadvantage, as commonly emphasized in today's ethnographic studies of women and work. The conclusion reflects on the past, present and future in terms of the city's explanatory prominence in various eras. [source]


Young People and Contemporary Art

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005
Helene Illeris
In this article empirical examples are used to connect theories about young people, contemporary art forms and learning. The first part of the article introduces the new forms of consciousness which, according to the youth researchers Birgitte Simonsen and Thomas Ziehe, characterize young people of today. In the second part, the qualities of contemporary art forms experienced by young people are connected to the theories of the French art critic Nicholas Borriaud regarding ,relational aesthetics'. Finally, the third part of the article discusses four preconditions for learning, which were experienced as positive by the young people included in the empirical material: ,the hook', ,the experience of otherness', ,social interaction', and ,meta-reflection'. [source]


Review paper: more than ringing in the ears: a review of tinnitus and its psychosocial impact

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 21 2009
Susan Holmes
Aim and objectives., To provide an overview of tinnitus, current management and its psychosocial impact offering strategies for managing acute and chronic tinnitus in practice. Background., Tinnitus, characterised by the perception of sound in the absence of external stimuli, is experienced by about 10% of the population at some time in their lives. It may be temporary/longstanding; approximately 5% adults experience severe, persistent tinnitus affecting their lifestyle. Although many adjust successfully, others are disabled by the condition. Though often unrecognised, tinnitus affects many patients regardless of their presenting illness. Design., A literature review including descriptive, theoretical and empirical material. Databases were searched using the keyword ,tinnitus' providing diverse information which was used to address the research questions. Results., Tinnitus represents more than ,simple' ringing in the ears and may be accompanied by many distressing changes. It may be acute or chronic. It is difficult to treat, care may be directed towards management rather than cure. Many patients are, however, told that ,nothing can be done'. Relevance to clinical practice., Despite the high prevalence of tinnitus, there is a paucity of relevant nursing literature suggesting that there is an information deficit amongst nurses. The information provided shows that understanding the full impact of the condition and identification of patients' needs are essential to effective care. Strategies to help affected patients are given. Conclusions., Tinnitus, a widespread, often intractable condition, affects millions of people; there is considerable debate about its causes. Tinnitus is distressing and may be severe enough to affect lifestyle and quality of life. Affected patients need considerable support and advice on healthcare options, encouragement to try different treatments and recognition that help and hope are available. Though patients may have to learn to live with tinnitus, the most important thing is that they recognise that help is available. [source]


In the Enchanted Grove: Financial Conversations and the Marketplace in England and France in the 18th Century

JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
Alex Preda
The paper examines conversations in the 18th-century London and Paris financial marketplaces. The aim is to highlight the place of conversations as the key form of interaction in the marketplace, and to evaluate financial conversations against the broader cultural background of literary and scientific dialogues of the time. The relevance of this enterprise is that it leads to a better understanding of how the verbal interactions of the marketplace shape transaction outcomes and contribute to forms of rationality specific for financial markets. Grounded in the analysis of empirical material, the paper distinguishes between conversations-qua-transactions and conversations-about-the-world. It shows how they produce and require specific forms of knowledge from the participants; at the same time, they shape the transactions' outcomes. On this basis, the paper argues that the phenomenon of sudden mood swings in the marketplace cannot be entirely explained in irrational, psychological terms, but must be seen as the outcome of a particular conversational system. [source]


Talking Cop: Discourses of Change and Policing Identities

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2003
Annette Davies
This paper presents empirical and theoretical analysis of the enactment of New Public Management (NPM) within the UK police service. It draws on empirical material gathered in a two-year study that explores the ways in which individual policing professionals have responded to, and received, the NPM discourse. Theoretically informed by a discursive approach to organizational analysis, the paper focuses on the new subject positions promoted within NPM that serve to challenge traditional understandings of policing organization and identities. The paper examines the implications of this for policies that promote community orientated policing (COP) and increased inter-agency partnership. The paper argues that the promotion of a more progressive form of policing, based on community orientation and equality principles, may struggle to gain legitimacy within the current performance regime that legitimizes a competitive masculine subjectivity, with its emphasis on crime fighting. [source]


The Electronics Industries of the Asia,Pacific: Exploiting International Production Networks for Economic Development

ASIAN-PACIFIC ECONOMIC LITERATURE, Issue 1 2001
Mike Hobday
Although the electronics industry has been one of the main driving forces behind the export-led growth of the newly industrialising economies (NIEs) of the Asia,Pacific, there has until recently been little empirical research showing how the various NIEs managed to enter international markets and gain technology. This paper describes the overall characteristics of the electronics sector in the NIEs, highlighting the main organisational innovations which have enabled local firms to enter international markets and acquire foreign technology. The OEM (original equipment manufacture) system, prevalent in East Asia, is contrasted with the TNC (transnational company)-led growth dominant in Southeast Asia. The paper also discusses the emerging ,contract electronics manufacturing', or CEM, which could threaten traditional OEM and TNC-subsidiary production in the NIEs. The electronics sector proves to be a rich source of empirical material, both for understanding the processes of economic development and for illustrating the role of latecomer enterprise in engaging with and exploiting international production networks. [source]


Environmental reporting and transport , the case of a public transport company

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2003
Otto Andersen
This article discusses corporate environmental reporting in the field of transport. In addition to addressing this issue in general, the article includes empirical material from a case transport company. The process of preparing the year 2000 environmental report for the company is described. The environmental report includes actions for improving the environmental performance of the company, and indicators for monitoring of the progress from year to year. This is based on separate studies of the employees' company travels, daily travel to work and the purchasing of energy. The company is using societal accounting to show its responsibility as an important societal actor, improving the stakeholder dialogue and providing knowledge at the political level. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]


Pierre Bourdieu's Masculine Domination: A Critique,

CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 4 2002
Howie Chodos
Les auteurs montrent que la tentative de Pierre Bourdieu de résoudre le problème de la « domination masculine» est limitée par l'application inconséquente de son propre répertoire conceptuel, par l'emploi d'exemples empiriques périmés et par l'utilité douteuse du cas des relations sociales en Kabylie. Un rejet des catégories fondamentales (« homme », « femme ») et le recours à une conception plus nuancée de la domination seraient une approche plus prometteuse. An uneven application of his own conceptual repertoire, outdated empirical materials and the questionable utility of the example of relations in Kabylia limit Bourdieu's attempts to come to grips with "masculine domination." A more useful approach would move beyond essentializing categories and engage with a more nuanced conception of domination. [source]