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Publication Finding Fairness in U.S. Family Law(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Hill, Gretchen J.Family law s visions of justice within the family regarding familial property are explored in terms of communal, equalitarian and equitable principles. Communal principles emphasize the family unit and implicitly assumes individuals cooperation and common interests. Equality confers identical rights; family members share and share alike in family property. Equity underlies rules making entitlements dependent upon contributions, such as requiring proof of individuals efforts toward acquiring family property. In recent years, equality and equity have found greater expression as family law increasingly addresses individual rights, yet communal notions persist, so that the three principles mix and fuse in family law.Publication Are We To Be Forever Trapped Between the Two? The Internet, Modernity, and Postmodernity in the Early 21st Century(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Ford, Sarah MicheleSocial theory has traditionally argued that the modern and the postmodern are chronologically ordered (that is, the postmodern comes after the modern) and mutually exclusive. I find, however, that contemporary American society is full of elements of both the modern/industrial and the postmodern/postindustrial. The Internet serves as an example of one social site in which these two concepts are in constant contact and often in tension. Based on an examination of the relationship between the modern/ industrial and the postmodern/postindustrial on the Internet, we can begin to determine whether or not the concepts of modern and postmodern accurately describe 21st century society.Publication Social Thought and Research, Volume 25, Number 1&2 (2002): Front Matter(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01)Publication John Rawls and Jean-Françios Lyotard on Pluralism: Themes of Convergence and Divergence(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Kebede, AlemseghedThe subject of this article is pluralism as spelled out in the social theories of John Rawls of the USA and Jean Lyotard of France. Despite their differing perspectives, these prominent social thinkers of our time share some similar views on the issue of pluralism. Both contend that contemporary societies are inherently pluralistic because they are characterized by the proliferation of incommensurable narratives/doctrines. Rawls considers pluralism as the positive outcome of the expansion of civil society; Lyotard, on the other hand, aligns pluralism with the demise of grand narratives that he believes hopelessly suffer from the problems of overextension. Moreover, both insist that it is equally wrong to assume the possibility of an overarching paradigm that acts as the politics of all and sundry. These remarks are interesting in light of the fact that Rawls and Lyotard belong to two distinct intellectual traditions. Whereas Rawls adheres to liberalism in its political form, Lyotard adopts a postmodernist stance on politics. Rawls, from a postmodern perspective, is paradigmatic of modernism in its social and political manifestations. Lyotard, in contrast, is opposed to the Enlightenment project a project at the hubs of which are the themes of synchronization and progress.Publication The Construction of National(ist) Subject: Applying the Ideals of Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault to Nationalism(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Zake, IevaThe article proposes a theoretical approach that analyzes nationalist ideologies as forces creating unique subjectivities. Such a perspective develops from combining Louis Althusser s ideas about ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses with Michel Foucault s insights on modern bio-power. It is suggested that the core of any nationalism is its political construction of subjective consciousness and body. With illustrations from mainly European nationalisms, it is reflected that there is a recognizable set of methods that most nationalist ideologies use to form their subjects. They construct, on the one hand, national consciousness by inventing national history, language and culture, and, on the other, national body using modern scientific knowledge about individuals and populations. In the end, the article suggests a new definition of nationalism that could be used in future empirical research.Publication Theorizing September 11: Social Theory, History, and Globalization(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Kellner, DouglasPublication In Search of Civic Virtue : On the Use of the Founders in Political Discourse(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Akard, Patrick J.This essay examines three competing interpretations of the Founding Fathers that were made in the contested political climate of the 1980s. The first is Marc Plattner s neoclassical economic interpretation that stresses Madisonian principles of law, property rights, and the danger of majoritarian rule to justify a minimal rule-based government and free market capitalism. The second is Robert Bellah s communitariandemocratic interpretation, which appeals to the Founders and our republican traditions to critique excessive individualism and advance a more democratic politics governed by the norms of civic virtue. The third approach considered is the anti-Federalist critique of the Founders by Sheldon Wolin, who sees in the Constitution the beginnings of a system of national capitalism and state power that undermined localized and democratic political culture. Each approach will be assessed for its contribution toward a more participatory notion of public life.Publication Hot Topics: Globalization and Climate Change(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Malone, Elizabeth L.Considering climate change and globalization together as a research topic can illuminate the structures and processes of both. Globalization and climate change theories can be categorized as economic, political, and cultural on one dimension, and on another dimension as emphasizing the conflicts between the global and national/local levels, the dominance of the global, or the hybrids and pastiches created by mixing the global and local. Climate change, as an issue that creates and is created by a global sense of the world, is bound up in both its analysis and its policy proposals with the same issues that confront globalization theorists. The proliferation of theories and analyses in globalization and climate change reflects the emerging nature of both areas of social scientific thought. Activities and flows are changing too rapidly to be satisfactorily categorized and mapped. Moreover, there are no clear advantages to one form of action, since all phenomena are multifaceted, with bundled positive, neutral, and negative characteristics. However, the very explosion of ideas and proposals reflects the energy and willingness to seek future directions that will bring increased well-being for both humans and the environment.Publication The Globalization of Nothing(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2002-04-01) Ritzer, George; Ryan, MichaelIn this essay, we will argue that we are witnessing the globalization of nothing. Note that we are not arguing that globalization is nothing; indeed it is clear that the process is of enormous significance. Rather, the argument is, using a term borrowed from Weber, that there is an elective affinity between globalization and nothing. That is, one does not cause the other, but they do tend to vary together. Thus, globalization tends to involve the spread of nothing throughout the world. Of course, what is pivotal is the meaning of nothing.