Religion and civic engagement: the case of Iglesia ni Cristo in the Philippines

The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is one of the fastest-growing indigenous Christian churches in the world. They have an estimated membership of 2.25 million adherents in more than 100 countries. In recent years its civic engagements have expanded through bigger relief operations and charity dedicated to the poor and those affected by calamities. These initiatives are typically articulated in terms of unity, duty and obedience to God. This article gives attention to this expansion by spelling it out and explaining it in view of its newfound role in civil society. This is an important intervention in the literature. Studies on INC have mainly focused on its successes in the political and religious spheres. INC now repackages itself as a civic organisation, which cares about public welfare. My argument is that this is how it manifests its new triumphalism in the Philippines, but with implications on its expanding presence in civil society.     

A Culture‐Inclusive,Socially Engaged Agenda for Creativity Research

The 50 years anniversary of The Journal of Creative Behavior offers a festive occasion to reflect on the recent history of the field as well as look toward its future. From the standpoint of sociocultural psychology, I celebrate the growing importance of society and culture within creativity research. However, I also note an important distinction between “social inside” and “social outside” approaches. A truly culture‐inclusive field would go beyond the view of culture as “container” and explore the ways in which sociocultural contexts actively participate in creativity. At the same time, it would examine how creative action, in turn, shapes society and culture, particularly at times of growing intolerance, nationalism, and inequality. A socially engaged agenda for creativity research is timely both conceptually and practically. Taken together, these two pillars could not only advance but also fundamentally transform our field, carrying it for the next 50 years and beyond.     

“泗县甲肝疫苗事件”的启示

安徽省泗县甲肝疫苗事件是一起罕见的群体性心因反应,造成了巨大的经济损失和不良的社会影响。通过分析这次事件的发生起因、进展过程和处理结果,我们认识到目前卫生技术人员和政府部门在应对突发性公共卫生事件上存在能力缺乏和经验不足,这给我们在认识事物、分析问题和科学决策上带来了深刻的启示。     

Towards the knowledge democracy? Knowledge production and the civic role of the university

In this paper I ask whether the University has a special role to play in democratic societies. I argue that the modern University can no longer lay claim to a research monopoly since nowadays research is conducted in many places outside of the University. The University can, however, still lay claim to a kind of knowledge monopoly which has to with the central role Universities play in the definition of what counts as scientific knowledge. The problem is, however, that the University’s knowledge monopoly is predominantly understood in epistemological terms. This leaves only one role for the University in a democratic society, viz., that of the expert. Based on ideas from John Dewey and Bruno Latour I suggest a different way to understand the distinction between ‘scientific’ and ‘everyday’ knowledge. Against this background I argue that the University can contribute towards the democratisation of knowledge if it articulates the difference between scientific and everyday knowledge in non-epistemological terms.

Introduction: The university revisited

Although universities are asked to play a role in the European knowledge society, the precise scope and meaning of this role is still under discussion. A major issue in this debate is the trend to adapt universities to economic needs and demands of society. In view of taking a critical stance against a one-sided economic interpretation of activities and functions of universities, their so-called “public” role is increasingly stressed in the debate as a crucial responsibility of universities that should not be marginalized and therefore deserves our attention. In this paper, which is the introduction to a special issue on the public role of the university, we want to stress the importance of addressing the question of “the role of universities in the Europe of knowledge” in an open way and thus, without prejudices against or in favour of possible answers. It is our contention that a critical view of what is happening in universities today cannot simply rely on authoritative ideas or principles that are vaguely reminiscent of our university traditions. Consequently, this introductory paper pleas for a firmer argumentative and a richer empirical basis that takes account of the fact that our background (horizon) has thoroughly changed in comparison to traditions that still implicitly inform our judgement of what universities can do, should do or should not do. Finally, we will discuss the way in which the articles collected in this issue are intended stimulating and supporting the debate on the public role of the university in Europe.

浅谈中国传统文化中的现代价值观——和谐理念

和谐是当今社会的主旋律,也是从古到今人们永恒的追求,我们的先哲们自古就充分认识到了和谐的价值.中国古代和谐观主要包括三个方面的内容:人与自然的和谐,人与人的和谐,人自身的和谐.古为今用,在建设社会主义和谐社会的大环境下,我们能够更深刻的理解它的现代价值--在我们的和谐社会的建设中发挥它的指导作用.     

在当今中国为合理个人主义正名并无可能——与黄显中同志《个人主义与市民社会》一文商榷

合理个人主义既不合理,也不现实,它存在着逻辑矛盾。合理个人主义不是商品经济的反映,而是资本主义私有制商品经济的必然。传统意义的市民社会在本质上是资本主义性质的世俗社会,它是政治社会的经济基础。我国当今不存在合理个人主义的经济基础。     

风险社会的伦理意蕴

“风险社会”已是人类可经验到的事实。风险是一个表明自然终结和传统终结的概念,它是预测和控制人类活动的未来结果,即激进现代化的各种各样、不可预料的后果的现代手段,使一种拓殖未来的企图,一种认识的图谱。。在风险社会,风险是永恒存在的,它只具有有限的可控性,对人类是一个很大的挑战。风险和责任是内在关联的。风险社会赋予了伦理以更加丰富的内涵,加强风险社会的伦理研究,建立风险伦理学,将有利于我们更好地防范风险。     

差异与和谐社会建构

和谐社会是差异基础上的和谐,它追求人与自然之间、人与人之间的差异与和谐。实现和谐社会要从质和量上把握好差异的历史、现实发展,从而使差异张力保持在有利于和谐社会建构的范围之内。     

Beyond the Crisis of the Globalized “World System”: the Need For a New Civil Society

In my view, we need a sociological analysis to show how the crisis stemmed from a certain set-up of the so-called global society. Such a set-up is the product of a long historical development, which goes beyond the financial crisis’ outbreak in 2008. The question I ask is the following: from a sociological standpoint, why did this crisis break out? And what remedies can be put in place? The measures adopted these days cannot solve the crisis, but, for a number of reasons, they can at most provide temporary stoppers and remedies.