Do commodities reproduce themselves through human beings? Toward an ecology of goods

The argument of this paper—'an ecology of goods'—could be summarized as follows: Goods exist only in relation to each other. Goods form groups, and in time higher organizational levels, groups of groups, i.e. networks of artifacts emerge. Mass consumption society is the most developed manifestation of this organizing process. The process of association and dissociation of goods is only partly controllable through human decisions. Human beings making decisions about buying, using and disposing of goods are constrained by the “logic” of the general organizing process. This process emerges out of different kinds interactions between commodities and feedback cycles with unintended consequences. In routinization and institutionalization processes commodity interactions become stabilized, i.e. the fidelity of replicative cycles increases. From this perspective, a system of commodities could be seen as an entity, which reproduces itself in a continuous resource exchange with its co‐actors and environment. In a system there is both a tendency toward functional differentiation and integration with other systems. Accordingly, systems of goods are cyclic processes within processes rather than given stable entities. This approach places many theoretical and practical problems of consumer society in a new perspective.     

An Activities Approach to the Treatment of Mentally Retarded Clients in an Acute Care Psychiatric Hospital

This article describes therapeutic activities offered in an occupational therapy treatment program for mentally retarded patients in an acute-care hospital facility. Implications of therapeutic activities for the building of ego strengths are discussed.     

Response to Lynne Segal: Thatcher’s legacy

In response to Lynne Segal’s paper on the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, I briefly examine how Thatcher redefined the ‘social’ away from being an expression of care and mutuality. Playing on images of the dangers of infection and enfeeblement, she mobilised fears about dependency to create a discourse of strength and self-aggrandising invulnerability, a discourse that is destructive of sociality and an ethic of care.     

Globalisation,society and religion: from mono‐metastructural theory to metatheoretical reflexivity

Examining globalisation theories, Eduardo Mendieta has come to the conclusion that there is a conceptual link between religion and social theory when theorising globalisation. His preference is for metatheoretical reflexivity type theories of globalisation that, in contrast with mono‐metastructural and matrix rearrangement theories, incorporate conceptual reflection on ‘religion’. With this typology in mind, the work of Ninian Smart and Wilfred Cantwell Smith, two authors in the study of religion for whom the era of globalisation was a central element in developing their views on religion and the study of religion, will be compared. Whereas Smart's views do not fundamentally break away from mono‐metastructural type theories, Smith's work, although highly problematic, gives some hints for developing a meta‐theoretical reflexivity type theory of religion, society and globalisation.     

The Legal Status of Transsexuals in Turkey

ABSTRACT

The development of the legal regulations concerning transsexuals in Turkey can be analysed in three phases. The first phase was prior to 1988 when there were no legal parameters at all. The second phase started in 1988 when certain changes made in the Turkish Civil Code (TCC) for the first time gave people who had already undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS) the possibility to enter this change into the birth register. The third phase commenced in 2002 when the new Turkish Civil Code came into force.¹ Art.40 of the Code now regulates the pre-conditions for a surgery and the procedure for getting a court authorisation in order to be operated as well as the procedure for entering the sex change into the birth register after the operation. Following remarks aim at briefly explaining these historical developments in Turkish law and presenting the current legal situation in Turkey with respect to transsexuals. The deficiencies in the existing regulation and possible ways of surmounting these will also be examined.     

Less Religion,Better Society? On Religion,Secularity, and Prosperity in Scandinavia

Abstract : Phil Zuckerman argues in his book Society without God that Scandinavian secularity is strongly correlated to Scandinavian prosperity. In this article, we argue that such usage is premature. First, there are methodological issues that are not properly dealt with. Second, providing a causal narrative in addition to mere correlation is needed. Third, we argue that the causes of Scandinavian prosperity are found in close connection to Scandinavian Lutheranism.     

管子社会控制思想及其现实意义

齐国法家及其代表论著《管子》中包含着丰富的社会控制思想。《管子》一书在顺民心的前提下,主张运用法治制衡,培养民众礼节来进行社会的合理控制。在整个中国古代历史上,《管子》所倡导的礼法结合的社会控制手段是最为有效完善的。《管子》从治国实践的角度认为,要真正做到"以民为本",对国家和百姓进行合理的控制安排,实现百姓安居,国家长治,在治国方略上就必须礼法并用,德法并举:一方面以法来维护人民的利益,另一方面以"礼"来维护社会秩序。《管子》礼法并举的社会控制思想在构建和谐社会、减少社会道德失衡等方面具有重要的现代价值及意义。     

Fabricated Humans? Human Genetics,Ethics and the Christian Wisdom Tradition1

Abstract: This article highlights the key social issues associated with genetic screening and testing. It identifies an uneasy combination of a cultural drive towards perfection alongside heightened perception of a risk society. Awareness of risk is particularly in evidence in clinical genetics, but is surprisingly silent in public discourse about stem cell research, which has tended to flounder through its unilateral focus on the status of the early embryo. This article concentrates on current practice, such as the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and offers a critical analysis of current debates about ethical issues. It argues that Christian ethics can contribute positively to the debate by drawing on the tradition of prudence or practical wisdom, which goes beyond the secular alternatives of both the consequential analysis of risk and benefit and the precautionary principle.     

复兴国家:国家理论的新形态

民族国家的架构尽管日益式微,但它在组织全球化经济、全球化政治和正在形成的全球公民社会中仍然占有首要地位。民族国家不是在消亡,而是正在被重新想象、重新设计、重新调整方向以回应一系列挑战。相应地,对国家的研究在现时代仍然具有重要意义,在全球化背景下,全球资本、全球公民社会、全球治理与民族国家的关系研究构成了国家理论的新形态。     

现代社会祛除伦理的社会机制

在对犹太人进行的大屠杀中,我们可以清楚看到纳粹如何借助于现代工业技术体系和官僚体系弱化人们的道德情感、混淆人们的道德责任,并最终阻止人们的道德行为,六百万犹太人就这样在大众平静的沉默中离去。现代社会祛除伦理的机制仍然没有改变,让人们保持道德沉默的可能性仍然存在,人类的大罪恶随时随地都可能再现。