Collective Action and Social Change: Examining the Role of Representation in the Communication between Protesters and Third‐party Members

Within social psychology, it has been proposed that to understand how collective action creates social change, it is relevant to examine the role that other members of society can have on it. However, few studies have empirically examined that. We argue that for that task, it is useful, first, and as some authors have already argued, to go beyond the sole analysis of the two‐sided inter‐group relations creating collective action; and second, to articulate this with contributions from social representations theory, which recognises that to understand social change, we need to examine communicative practices, or how communication is used between collective action's actors and other actors to re‐present identities. We analyse the protests by a movement of residents from a Lisbon neighbourhood that protested against the transformation of a neighbourhood's convent. Besides discussing this transformation with local authorities and failing to achieve its aims through that, the protesters also discussed it with other citizens. The analysis of this debate shows that the arguments and actions they used change throughout time, from local to global, as the latter were the ones more endorsed by other citizens and thus those that could help the protesters to achieve their goals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acceptance and Defusion

The waves and generations of behavioral and cognitive therapy are normal features of a progressive science. Two of the key processes in modern CBT are briefly examined: defusion and acceptance. Both had important antecedents in the work of Aaron Beck, among others; at the same time, they both represent meaningful changes. This dialectic of continuity and change is to be celebrated—it means our current work stands on the shoulders of past intellectual giants. The entire field owes a permanent debt of gratitude to Aaron T. Beck.     

Developing an Output‐Oriented Super Slacks‐Based Measure Model with an Application to Third‐Party Reverse Logistics Providers

Outsourcing is an increasingly significant topic pursued via corporations seeking enhanced efficiency. Third‐party reverse logistics involves the employ of external firms to carry out some or all of the firm's logistics activities. Output‐oriented super slacks‐based measure (SBM) model is one of the models in data envelopment analysis (DEA). In many real‐world applications, data are often stochastic. A successful approach to address uncertainty in data is to replace deterministic data via random variables, leading to chance‐constrained DEA. In this paper, a chance‐constrained output‐oriented super SBM model is developed and also its deterministic equivalent, which is a nonlinear program, is derived. Furthermore, it is shown that the deterministic equivalent of the stochastic output‐oriented super SBM model can be converted into a quadratic program. In addition, sensitivity analysis of the stochastic output‐oriented super SBM model is discussed with respect to changes on parameters. Finally, a numerical example demonstrates the application of the proposed model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“THE MYSTERY OF HUMAN UNIQUENESS”: COMMON SENSE,SCIENCE, AND JUDAISM

Uniqueness implies singularity, incomparability. Nonetheless, as applied to everything within the human lifeworld, including ourselves, uniqueness is relativized. This becomes clear in the tension between “commonsensical” and “scientific” perspectives on the human. Our commonsense approach posits that human beings are unique among animals—unique because of our properties, most especially our consciousness, as well as because of our significance and value. From a scientific perspective, however, the uniqueness of the human—if it can be affirmed at all—is possibly a matter of degree, not kind. Additionally, the scientific perspective prescinds from judgments of the value of the human. To join these perspectives, without giving up on the importance of either one, is a philosophical and theological challenge. A Jewish approach to the challenge is offered here.