How should those exercising power be made more accountable, and what roles should the mass media play in that process? Can the public monitor the exercise of power without the existence of a strong and inquisitive media? The Communication of Politics examines these and other questions vital to the debate on the media's role in the democratic process. Ralph Negrine explores the complexity of the links between the media, the institutional political world and the public through case studies drawn from contemporary British politics and other political systems including the United States. He examines some of the often overlooked problems faced by the media in its efforts to create an `informed citizenry'. Questioning the practices that filter information and confronting the idea that information itself is unproblematic, Negrine shows why the essential task of uncovering truths remains elusive.
This textbook provides a theoretical framework for considering past and current developments in research into views of the mind and of learning. Controversial aspects of learning theories are examined, in particular the differing perspectives on the process of knowledge construction. The implications of the various theories for assessment practice are also made explicit. The text illustrates the way different theories lead to particular models of curriculum assessment, using examples from different phases of education. The final part of the book explores learning and assessment processes derived from particular views of learning knowledge. Learners, Learning and Assessment is a Course Reader for The Open University course E836 Learning Curriculum and Assessment.
This text aims to provide an accessible but challenging introduction to Bourdieu's ideas. In a series of discussions, lectures and interviews, the range of Bourdieu's ideas is laid out and its relation to other disciplines and other sociological schools explored. The issues developed include: the sociology of culture, leisure and taste; the intrinsic reflexivity of social science; and the role of language in society and in social sciences. This text is suitable for students, researchers and academics in social theory, sociology, cultural studies and communication.
This book explores the meaning of leisure in the context of the key social formations of our time: capitalism, modernity and postmodernity. Rojek brings together the insights of Marxism, feminism, Weber, Elias, Simmel, Nietzsche and Baudrillard to produce a comprehensive survey - and rethinking - of leisure theory. At the same time he presents a radical critique of the traditional 'centring' of the concept of leisure on 'escape', 'freedom', 'choice'. In the first part, he describes the relations between capitalism and leisure, the meaning of free time for workers in a capitalist system, and the gendered nature of leisure. He then discusses the social construction of leisure under modernity and the main competing arguments - that it imprisons the individual and reinforces conformity or that it liberates people and releases their creativity. Finally, he examines postmodernity, the cultural condition which has radically changed the idea of leisure. Revealing how leisure practices have responded to living in a risk society, he shows that 'free' time becomes something very different when simulation and nostalgia lie at the heart of everyday life. Decentring Leisure will be essential reading for students and lecturers in leisure studies, cultural studies and social theory.
A Six Lesson Citizenship Programme for 8 to 11 Year Olds
A book and CD-ROM pack devised to teach young people about bullying in school and social settings. A team sports model is used to encourage a co-operative atmosphere where children can work together to stop bullying. The pack includes teacher notes, resources for six lessons and ideas for a culminating school assembly celebrating the work done by the children.
"The Established and the Outsiders" is a classic text from one of the major figures of world sociology. This new edition includes a theoretical introduction, published in English for the first time. In Norbert Elias's hands, a local community study of tense relations between an established group and outsiders - with no other discernible difference between them - becomes a microcosm that illuminates a wide range of sociological configurations including racial, ethnic, class and gender relations. The book examines the mechanisms of stigmatisation, taboo and gossip, monopolisation of power, collective fantasy and "we" and "they" images which support and reinforce divisions in society. Developing aspects of Elias's thinking that relate his work to current sociological concerns, it presents the fullest elaboration of his concepts of mutual identification and functional democratisation. "The Established and the Outsiders"not only brings out the important theoretical implications of a small-scale local study but also demonstrates the significance of such detailed analysis for better sociological theory. It will be essential reading for students and scholars in social theory, sociology and anthropology.
`Not only does this book offer a great deal of insight into evaluating early childhood services, it also provides a focal point for those interested in establishing goals, objectives and evaluation criteria for their own early childhood programmes' - Early Years `Quality' has become a priority issue for all concerned with early childhood care and education services. Starting from the premise that `quality' is a relative and dynamic concept based on values and beliefs, Valuing Quality in Early Childhood Services examines how the definitions of quality are established and who is involved in their establishment. The book advocates that the process should involve a range of stakeholder groups, including children, parents, staff, care providers, researchers, employers and the community. A key issue that emerges is the need for new and creative approaches to the development of an inclusionary process in the definitions and attainment of quality care.
Exploring Corporate Misconduct: Analysis and Cases
This text explores organizational deviance, its damaging consequences and the opportunities for organizational misbehaviour provided by deregulation and globalization. Ten major case studies are provided through which the practices, mechanisms and explanations of deviance can be analyzed. Moving from the classic but still extremely illuminating goodrich Brake scandal to more recent scandals such as Guinness in UK, Calvi in Italy and RSV in The Netherlands, the author highlights the range of deviance from deliberately criminal to less deliberate - and no less culpable - mismanagement. He also analyzes the market, competitive, organizational and personal factors which can lead to corporate and managerial misconduct. Throughout the author is concerned with the question "why do good managers turn to dirty business?". A discussion of issues compliance and control and how corporate misconduct might be tackled rounds off the book.
This innovative textbook presents a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of contemporary social thought, and enables students with a basic grasp of sociology to develop an understanding of the vast and complex body of sociological theory. "Modern Sociological Theory" is organized around concepts, rather than schools of thought or individual theorists. It establishes that there is a central theoretical tradition in sociology, and that the core debates of sociological theory focus on common questions. Lucid coverage is provided of: agency, rationality, structure and "system" - core concepts which sociological theory must attempt to reconcile; and culture, power, gender, differentiation and stratification - central phenomena which sociological theory seeks to explain. The major contributions which have been made to the analysis of each concept and substantive issue are outlined, and the present state of the debate is indicated.
