Structuration Theory

Post-modern theology is highly suspicious of social theory and its secular origins. After all, the founder who gave us the word “sociology” also coined the term “positivism.” An alternative strategy is that of Bernard Lonergan, a theologian with a highly developed sociological imagination. He was quite aware of the secularity but devoted a life-time in trying to think through some of the key issues. His was a mind on the move and perhaps it is not surprising that his contribution has yet to be assimilated.
In this paper I shall take a look at a key text from Lonergan’s magnum opus, Insight. I will suggest that, in a sense, this may be regarded as “social physics” (another phrase from Auguste Comte). As we shall see, Lonergan’s thought wrestled with many issues of concern to the other founders of sociology: Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber, but his vision is quite original, and in fact, he will draw on Arnold J. Toynbee.
I do not believe Lonergan’s work is beyond criticism—as his later developments suggest—so I will try to identify some difficulties by examining closely some of those later changes. Before offering my appraisal, then, I will look at Lonergan’s social theory from five periods. First, I shall simply record his interest in the 1930s by referring to some work he retained in a file but never published. Then I shall give a more careful exposition of a chapter written in the early 1950s. I will suggest that Lonergan’s deployment of mathematical analogies to understand social theory underwent some changes and so I will look at that transition in the 1960s. I will then be able to take a glance at the new way Lonergan presented his ideas in Method in Theology (1972) and go on to sample a few developments in the last decade up to 1980. In my appraisal we will be able to see some of the strengths and weaknesses Lonergan encountered in his project of social physics and perhaps make a small increase to the stock of ideas myself.

The requirement for high accuracy in dynamic positioning of remotely operated vehicles (ROV), especially when tasks close to underwater structures have to be performed, demands high precision of sensor systems. Taut-wire and passive arm systems can satisfy this demand in measuring ROVs positions and orientations relative to a structure. However, the main drawback of these sensor systems is that additional forces act on ROVs due to the mechanical connection. In order to solve this problem, an adaptive PD controller is proposed and designed for dynamic positioning of ROVs working in close proximity of structures. Invoking the adaptation law, these additional forces caused by the passive arm and umbilical, and even by the uncertainties in gravity and buoyancy can be identified and compensated. By choosing an adequate Lyapunov candidate function, the system's stability is proven. The effectiveness of this design control method is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations and experiments.

Child soldiers are generally portrayed either as victims of structural forces that are beyond their control and comprehension or as knowing agents of mayhem in search of revolutionary change or personal gain. Yet these singular perspectives are bedevilled by their dialectical limitations, the one overlooking capacities of individual will, the other prone to discounting historical and socioeconomic contexts. In this paper, through the lens of structuration theory that postulates the interconnectedness of structure and agency, we examine how boys were transformed into armed and organized combatants in Sierra Leone's recent civil war. Drawing from a series of interviews with a cohort of boys who fought with the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), we map out their experiences and perspectives in a way that highlights the juxtaposition of profound social forces and the capacity for personal agency that underlay the process of becoming child soldiers. We conclude by ruminating on the challenges of rehabilitating and reintegrating former child soldiers in the impoverished circumstances of post-war Sierra Leone.

The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the recently rejuvenated field of comparative criminology. It begins by considering the context and history of comparative criminology and continues by outlining the contemporary comparative perspective. After identifying several goals for comparative criminology that are often advanced, including theory elaboration and testing as well as policy evaluation and critique, the chapter describes the common approaches to comparative criminological research. The main theoretical traditions of comparative criminology are examined first, with particular attention directed to metanarratives such as modernization, civilization, opportunity, and world system theories and to structural theories based on culture, social bonds, and the distribution of economic resources.

Although scholars have begun to study face-to-face deliberation on public issues, "deliberation" has no clear conceptual definition and only weak moorings in larger theories. To address these problems, this essay integrates diverse philosophical and empirical works to define deliberation and place it in a broader theoretical context. Public deliberation is a combination of careful problem analysis and an egalitarian process in which participants have adequate speaking opportunities and engage in attentive listening or dialogue that bridges divergent ways of speaking and knowing. Placed in the meta-theoretical framework of structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), deliberation is theorized to exist at the center of a homeostatic loop, in which deliberative practice reinforces itself. a review of theory and research on the causes and effects of deliberation leads us to develop this structurational conceptualization into the self-reinforcing model of deliberation. This model posits that public deliberation is more likely to occur when discussion participants perceive potential common ground, believe deliberation is an appropriate mode of talk, possess requisite analytic and communication skills, and have sufficient motivation. Deliberation directly reinforces participants' deliberative habits and skills, and it indirectly promotes common ground and motivation by broadening participants' public identities and heightening their sense of political efficacy.

Dünya tasavvuru, bireyin bilincindeki akla uygunluğun -gerçeklik hakkındaki kavrayışsal ihtiyaçlarında tasdik edilmektedir. İnsan ve tecrübe ettiği dünya arasındaki diyalektik süreç tarihsel düzlemde toplumsal olgu ve olaylara intibak ederek anlam kazanmaktadır. Yaşadığı toplumun katmanlarında rol ve kimliklere bağlı olarak faaliyet gösteren insan, aynı zamanda bir kültür formunun aktörü olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Ekonomik, hukuki, siyasal, kültürel, dini yapılanmalar insan-toplum etkileşiminin somut göstergeleri olarak konumlanmaktadırlar. Her düşünür-sosyolog yaşadığı toplumu ve dünyayı kendi anlam dünyası ve dışsal nesnelliklere bağlı olarak etkilendiği olgu ve olaylar çerçevesinde tanımlamaktadır. Bu makalede Anthony Giddens öğretisi; bilgi, toplumsal sınıf tabakalaşma, eylemsel aktör olarak birey ve din sosyolojisi ekseninde ortaya konulacak ve değerlendirilecektir.

Population geographers should consider a mixed methods approach to the study of migration. This methodological position arises in response to the challenges of contemporary social theory. It is argued that application of structuration theory favours use of a diversity of methods to investigate the recursive relationship between agency and structure. Similarly a realist stance, as advocated by Sayer (1992), leads to a mixing of methods in order to carry out the synthesising tasks expected of geographers. Postmodernism, when interpreted as method, also points the researcher to consider adopting flexible research practices in order to capture the multiplicities of meaning associated with migration and place. These points are illustrated by a case study of migration to and from Hong Kong. Key Words: mixed methods, social theory, migration, quantitative and qualitative techniques.

Social Morphogenesis is the first volume in a series of books, edited by Margaret Archer, that seeks to develop an explanatory framework that can account for how the rate of social change has 'speeded up' in the last three decades. The first volume is dedicated to an analysis of what the 'generative mechanism' is that produces such rapid change and discusses how this differs from Late Modernity. The first volume can be seen as an elaboration of Archer's Morphogenetic Project, which over the last thirty years has focused on theorising social stability and change in a way that is applicable to three levels of social analysismicro, meso and macro-and across all three elements of social transformation -structure, culture and agency. The challenge of the Morphogenetic Project has been to specify their interplay with Archer's offering a sociological interpretation of Morphostasis and Morphogenesis to help make sense of the processes that tend to either preserve or change a social system's given form or structure. The term 'social morphogenesis', then, elaborates on these previous developments and refers to the generative mechanism that Archer and 10 other contributors are interested in holding to account for the increasing rapidity of social change.

The globalisation of activities associated with software development and use has introduced many challenges in practice, and also (therefore) many for research. While the predominant approach to research in software engineering has followed a positivist science model, this approach may be sub-optimal when addressing problems with a dominant social or cultural dimension, such as those frequently encountered when studying work practices in a globally distributed team setting. The investigation of such a team reported in this paper provides one example of an alternative approach to research in a global context, through a longitudinal interpretive field study seeking to understand how global virtual teams mediated the use of technology. The study involved a large collective of faculty and support staff plus student members based in the geographically and temporally distant locations of New Zealand, the United States of America and Sweden. Objective: Our focus in this paper is on the conduct of research in the context of global software activities, and in particular, as applied to the actions and interactions of global virtual teams. We consider the appropriateness of various methodologies and methods in enabling such issues to be addressed. Method: We describe how we undertook a substantial field study of global virtual teams, and highlight how the adopted structuration theory, action research and grounded theory methodologies applied to the analysis of email data, enabled us to deliver effectively against our goals. Results: We believe that the approach taken suited a research context in which situated practices were occurring over time in a highly complex domain, ensuring that our results were both strongly grounded and relevant to practice. It has resulted in the generation of substantive theory and techniques that have been adapted and applied on a pilot basis in further field settings. Conclusion: We conclude that globally distributed teamwork presents a complex context which demands new research approaches, beyond the limited set customarily applied by software engineering researchers. We advocate experimenting with different research methodologies and methods so that we have a more rounded repertoire to address the most important and relevant issues in global software development research, with the forms of rigour that suit the chosen approach.

There is increasing interest in the social entrepreneur and the process of social entrepreneurship. This has led to criticisms of fuzziness surrounding these concepts. This paper explores the concept of the social entrepreneur, considering whether social entrepreneurs can really be termed “entrepreneurs” or if they are something else - individuals motivated by meeting social objectives to achieve social change. Drawing on structuration theory, we place the agent (a social entrepreneur) in the structure (a social system/the context), arguing that they are engaged in a process of co-constructing the current momentum in social entrepreneurship development.

Abstract  Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration is a theory of social action, which claims that society should be understood in terms of action and structure; a duality rather than two separate entities. This paper introduces some of the central characteristics of structuration theory, presenting a conceptual framework that helps to explore how people produce the systems and structures that shape their practice. By understanding how people produce and reproduce structures, then there is the potential for changing them. Criticisms that have been raised about the theory are introduced, followed by examples of how the theory might be useful to nursing research. Structuration theory can be employed to explore how nurses produce, reproduce, and transform nursing practice through social interaction across time and space.

This critical communication pedagogy study consists of a cripistemological analysis of two prominent communication theory textbooks to better understand the nondisableist assumptions embedded within these textbooks and, by extension, our field’s theories. Conceiving of the university classroom as an educational cultural performance, this study positions these textbooks to be scripts. Imitating the vignette-to-application format found in these communication theory textbooks, the study offers three new vignettes that center disability. Each vignette provides new insight into its corresponding communication theory: uncertainty reduction theory, sensemaking theory, and structuration theory. By inflecting the crip, the corresponding analyses provide lessons into the enactment of our theories within the educational cultural performances of our classrooms. Each is told from a crip perspective that rescripts compulsory nondisableist discourses to better understand crip as humanity, as evolutionarily superior, and as universal. This study helps model how to explore, explain, and refute embedded nondisableist assumptions within and across our field’s knowledge bases, as found in textbooks.

In recent years, the number of Japanese learners has been increasing all over the world. Although the Japanese Government initiates and supports the study of the Japanese language in various parts of the world, the educational purpose of such efforts are not so clear. The forms of Japanese language study backed by the Japanese Government are diverse and sometimes viewed as a form of hobby. This study looks to clarify the purpose of such educational practices. In order to do so we have interviewed Japanese teachers and examined the results using PAC analysis; a form of analysis that allows for an assessment of opinions that have not previously been present in relevant discourse. We have incorporated sociological theory into this study and viewed the overseas Japanese language classroom as a society in itself. According to the structuration theory put forward by Giddens, it is action based on people’s practical consciousness that forms a society, and in this research we hope to precipitate such a consciousness through employing PAC analysis. We aim to clarify the intent of the study of Japanese overseas through looking into the practical consciousness of Japanese teachers working abroad. PAC analysis results reveal that Japanese teachers emphasize contact with the learner, focusing on a sense of fun and happiness that is born out of language learning. In conclusion, it seems that at first glance, when it comes to the educational purpose of learning Japanese, as well as with regards to communication between students and teachers in the classroom, importance is attributed to pursuing the enjoyment that comes from learning a language.

小論は、日本語を習っても日本企業への就職や日本への留学の機会がほとんどない、つまり日本
語を学ぶことが“実益”に結びつきにくい海外での日本語教育環境下で、日本語学習を行う意味と
目的について考察する。調査対象地として、日本語を学ばずとも、すでに国内で23 言語が使用され、
日本人と日本語でコミュニケーションを行う機会があまり存在しない中米グアテマラに設定し、グ
アテマラ人日本語学習者（以下、学習者）に 2012 年に現地調査1を行った。本稿では、典型例とし て学習歴2年以上の学習者2名の事例を取りあげる。PAC分析によるインタビュー調査の結果、各々
の学習者にとって日本語を学ぶことは、グアテマラとは異なった「異文化」を理解／学習すること
を意味し、その点が主な学習動機となっていることが分かった。つまり、日本語学習が“実益”に
結びつきにくい環境下の学習者の学習目的は、言語能力の 4 技能に代表される各能力の獲得だけで
はなく、どちらかといえば日本語学習を通して、異文化を学ぶことにその意味や価値を見出してい ることが明らかになった。

This paper tries to sum up the criticism that turns around structuration theory to help the applications in MIS field. The literature review allow to advance three categories of criticisms: (1) the conflation of structure and human agent, (2) the complexity and the outspread of the theory that lead to contradictions, and (3) the lack of assumptions and methodological guidelines. Some recommendations are given to direct future researches. Un exposé des différentes critiques attribuées à la théorie de la structuration Résumé Cet article tend de résumer les critiques attribuées à la théorie de la structuration afin d"aider son application dans le domaine des systèmes d"information. La revue de la littérature a permis de déterminer trois catégories de critiques: (1) la fusion entre la structure et l"agent, (2) la complexité de la théorie engendrant des contradictions et (3) le manque d"hypothèses et de directives d"applications méthodologiques. Certaines recommandations sont offertes afin de diriger les recherches futures.

In this paper we present an empirical analysis to test whether organisation configurations and management accounting systems change simultaneously. Using the original application of the fuzzy logic methodology, we analyse the level of development and implementation of the management accounting system and the organisational configuration on a sample of 501 Italian firms. Even though we employ a cross-sectional approach, the results may be interpreted according to the life cycle model. Our findings show that the evolution of the organisational configurations is not always coherent with the relevance assumed by management accounting systems. In particular, we find a large group of companies with a simple organisational configuration and a well-developed management accounting system. We interpret the presence of this cluster dynamically as an intermediate stage of growth towards more complex forms of organisation.

Political ecology (PE) is rooted in a combination of critical perspectives and the hard won insights distilled from field work. The theoretical base of political ecology was joined, by Piers Blaikie and others, to an unflinching commitment to empirical observation of biophysical and socio-economic phenomena in place. To this already ambitious mix was added a practical intent to contribute to material as well as social change: a practical political ecology of alternative development ran beneath the surface of much of this work. For many this led to serious encounters with policy and the machinery of policy research institutions. While seemingly contradictory with the critical tenets of political ecology, Blaikie's pursuit of this pathway led beyond the ivory tower to Political Ecology in the Key of Policy, initially to inform national and international policy and eventually expanding -through the work of second-generation PE -to address internal policy in social movements and alternative development networks. Among recent variations on political ecology that have built partly on the work of Blaikie, Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) expands PE to address women as a group, and gender as a category. FPE and poststructural PE are based on multiple actors with complex and overlapping identities, affinities and interests. An emergent wave of political ecology joins FPE, post-structural theory, and complexity science, to address theory, policy and practice in alternatives to sustainable development. It combines a radical empiricism and situated science, with feminist post-structural theories of multiple identity and ''location'', and alternative development paradigms. This approach honors the legacy of Piers Blaikie and other PE founders yet incorporates the insights and political projects of feminism, post-structural critique and autonomous or alternative development movements.

“Theory and research that capture the contours of collectives have been fundamental objectives of social science since its inception.” (Cohen, 1989: 273). There are different traditions of thought that have adopted different perspectives and conceptualised the social reality emphasising one aspect over the other, drawing inspiration from the conceptual development of natural science. However, in the recent past, according to Giddens and Turner, a dramatic change has occurred within the philosophy of natural sciences which has inevitably influenced thinking about the social sciences. This, according to them, has resulted in the proliferation of approaches in theoretical thinking (1989: 2). Anthony Giddens stands out and enjoys a distinctive position, through the evolution of his theory of structuration, giving a major new perspective to the contemporary social thought. This paper attempts to locate the significance of Gidden’s theory in the development of sociological thought and dwells on the salient features of his theory.

Character Assassination: The Sociocultural Perspective offers a fresh view on the subject. His article views character assassination as a strategic effort embedded in power and ideological struggles in society. He uses structuration theory to explain character assassination as a means of both domination and subversion. In the latter, character assassination practices are integrated into modes of signification and legitimation and executed via subversion campaigns. The article argues that contemporary subversion campaigns are cocreational or jointly produced in interactions between interdependent audiences. Social networking sites provide strategic actors with resources to realize subversive campaigns in both liberal democracies and authoritarian societies. The article calls for more research inspired by the sociocultural view of character assassination to make sense of new social phenomena such as “cancel culture.”

An ethnographically revised linguistic landscape study can be used as a sensitive methodological tool for detecting the complexities of urban space in superdiverse areas. The data used in this book are from an inner-city neighborhood in Antwerp (Belgium), which has become superdiverse over the past decade and a half. Rather than analyzing the contemporary patterns in terms of synchronically juxtaposed 'pluralities' of scripts as indexes of cultural 'belonging', this new methodology enables us to historicize individual signs and complexes of signs, so that they begin to inform us of the multiple histories that coincide in superdiverse space. Multiplicity is thus replaced by complexity: nonlinear, multifiliar and stochastic patterns of presence, entitlement and power in social space.

Against the backdrop of a growing concern for the fate of critique in the current era, queer video games such as tranxiety, Dream Daddy and Gone Home have begun to engage players in the process of critically examining their own assumptions and immersing them in a performative critique, particularly as it relates to non-normative lived experiences. Alongside exploring whether these games are ‘merely’ the result of critical game design, such that players are enlisted to perform critique, or if queer play is more than a prescribed behavior, this article will utilize examples from across various video game platforms and genres to demonstrate that whether trying to survive daily life as a trans woman in the beginning stages of transition in tranxiety or exploring the dating life of Maple Bay’s latest resident in Dream Daddy, queer video games serve as a platform through which players are encouraged to perform critique via queer play, that is to say, playing outside of traditional video game and character norms. Embracing a productive nexus of critical reflection and performativity, queer video games demonstrate that critique is well served by participatory media. Critique has entered the digital era and, though transformed, it is alive and well.

İçinde bulunduğumuz büyük veri çağında bireylerin yaşam tarzları, günlük alışkanlıkları ve düşünce biçimleri
teknolojideki hızlı ve yıkıcı gelişmelerle dünyayı sarsan değişikliklere uğramış, böylece artık tüm ihtiyaçlarımızı
karşıladığımız dijital ağlar bir yandan hayatımızı kolaylaştırmaktayken, diğer yandan paylaştığımız kişisel
verilerimizin akıbeti iki ucu keskin bir kılıç halini almıştır.
Bu bağlamda kişisel verilerin toplanarak büyük veri kapsamında analiz edilmesinin toplumsal yaşama getirdiği
faydaların yanında, bu durum çeşitli riskleri de beraberinde getirmektedir. Örneğin veri toplama, saklama ve
kullanma sürecinde oluşan sızıntılar bu risklere örnek teşkil eder.
Dijital dünyamızda kişisel verilerin güvenliğinin sağlanması ve mahremiyetinin korunması ise günümüzün en
önemli araştırma konularından birini oluşturmaktadır. Tüm bu teknolojik gelişmeler ve hayatlarımızı çoğunlukla
dijital ağlarda geçiriyor olmamızın sonucunda bireylerin en doğal ihtiyaçlarından biri haline gelen mahremiyet
hakkının ortadan kaybolduğunu söyleyebilir miyiz, sorusu bu makalenin çıkış noktasını oluşturmaktadır.
Araştırma sorusu bağlamında makalenin amacı, toplumların dijital okuryazarlık düzeyinin arttırılmasıyla internet
kullanıcıları için daha pozitif ve güvenli bir mahremiyet kavramının yaratılabileceği fikrini ortaya koymaktır.
Makalenin sorunsalı, dijital okuryazarlığın, internet kullanıcılarını toplumsal değişimi başlatacak olan ve sosyal
ağlarda gizlilikleri adına direnen bireyler olmaya motive etmesi ile radikal toplumsal dönüşümlerin
gerçekleştirilmesi için motivasyon oluşturabileceği düşüncesindedir. Bireylerin dijital sosyal ağlardaki
mahremiyetleri adına direnme kabiliyetlerini anlamak için bu çalışmanın kuramsal perspektifinin sınırları
Anthony Giddens’ın yapılaşma teorisi ile çizilecektir. Giddens’a göre güçte dengesizlik oluştuğunda güçsüz taraf
mutlaka boyun eğmek zorunda değildir. Bu makalede bir nitel araştırma yöntemi olarak doküman incelemesi
yapılmıştır.
Makalenin önemi, çalışmanın, dijital okuryazarlığın kişisel verilerin güvenliği üzerinde oynadığı rolün önemi
hakkında bireylerde farkındalık yaratmayı hedeflemesinde ve internette dolaşım için güvenli bir sistem ortaya
çıkarılmaması halinde ilerleyen dönemlerde, mahremiyet alanının gitgide daralacağı yönündeki endişeye dikkat
çekmesinde yatmaktadır.

In Europe welfare state provision has been subjected to 'market forces'. Over the last two decades, the framework of economic competitiveness has become the defining aim of education, to be achieved by new managerialist techniques and mechanisms. This book thoughtfully and persuasively argues against this new vision of education. This in-depth major study will be of great interest to researchers in the sociology of education, education policy, social theory, organization and management studies, and also to professionals concerned about the deleterious impact of current education policy on children's learning and welfare.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Application and Theory of Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency (ICATPN 2005). The Petri net conferences serve to discuss yearly progress in the field of Petri nets and related models of concurrency, and to foster new advances in the application and theory of Petri nets. The conferences typically have 100-150 participants, one third from industry and the others from universities and research institutions, and they always take place in the last week of June. Successive editions of the conference are coordinated by the Steering Committee, whose members are listed on the next page, which also supervises several other activities-see the Petri Nets World at the URL www.daimi.au.dk/PetriNets.

This paper proposes that structuration theory provides a useful framework for analyzing ethical dilemmas. Traditional deontological and teleological approaches to case analysis focus on identification and resolution of ethical dilemmas through a prioritization of rights and/or consequences. These approaches can be complemented by structuration theory, which provides a framework for understanding how structural forces of meaning, power, and social norms

We argue that certain theoretical commitments that underpin much existing Interorganisational Information Systems (IOIS) research at small scales become untenable when IOIS are studied at the scale of whole industries and over time periods greater than individual implementation projects. We make this argument by a detailed analysis of the problems we encountered when applying conventional research design methods in the early stages of a five year international comparative study of IOIS in pharmaceutical supply chains in four countries. We found that the large scale of our unit required a move away from the construction of discrete variables (dependent and independent) as well as from input-output process logic, to an alternate modelling approach derived from Structuration theory and Practice theory. We illustrate the revelatory power of this new lens by applying it to two cases. The paper will be of interest to IOIS researchers because we have systematically worked out the reasons for difficulties that limit IOIS research to unit and time scales smaller that the actual phenomenon. Because we refused to limit our own research object in this way, we ventured further into these problematic areas than others.

Recent conceptualizations of a “web 2.0″ focusing on enabling user generated content has grown increasingly common in public discourse and among researchers. While hopes have generally been high regarding political use of online interactivity, most research projects on the topic have produced results contrary to these hopes. Most citizens seem to be content with staying consumers, not assuming more active roles. Similarly, most political actors have assumed a somewhat conservative stance to the Internet medium. This paper presents a review of research done regarding online political communication and provides further theoretical insights into these patterns of “non-use” by employing structuration theory as developed by Anthony Giddens and Wanda J. Orlikowski.

The War on Drugs in the United States has been part of a system of social control targeting low-income black and Latinx communities. While this statement has been contested, its validity is clear from an encompassing framework that considers the history of racially motivated laws and practices and moral panics among whites who have blamed drug-related social problems and crime on marginalized racial groups. We develop a holistic and reproductive approach to understanding racial oppression by analyzing racial meanings and structural racism related to the War on Drugs. To uncover structural racism, we propose a framework that captures the relationship between drug policies and enforcement practices, racialized mass incarceration, the distribution of resources, and the reproduction of racial oppression in the United States. To examine racial meanings, we present findings from an in-depth content analysis of newspaper articles and digital media discussing the War on Drugs. Based on over 30 years of news content—394 op-eds, letters to the editor, and news articles and 3,145 comments drawn from the comments sections of online news articles—we argue that criminal justice practices and the distribution of racial meanings through the media act as racialized structuring mechanisms. We demonstrate how those mechanisms work in tandem to strengthen and naturalize the connection between racial groups and unequal social positions. We uncover how dominant racial meanings act as symbolic resources that maintain forms of structural racism such as the War on Drugs. Finally, we discuss the benefits of our approach and suggest relevant and necessary future research and practices.

Previous studies of institutional change suggest that delegitimated institutions will subsequently lose coherence and dissipate (deinstitutionalization). However, this process has been assumed but not substantiated. Using a historical case study involving
the Meiji Restoration in Japan between 1853 and 1868, I argue that delegitimated institutions may persist indefinitely under certain conditions, even as replacement institutions achieve dominance. Moreover, dormant delegitimated structures may later
be recovered and restored through relegitimation. This process of institutional persistence is explained using a combination of structuration theory and sedimentation processes. Thus, I suggest that deinstitutionalization may represent a separate phenomenon from that of delegitimation, although the literature has treated these phenomena as intertwined.

In this paper we argue that understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts requires more than a technical description of accounting information systems as they are conceived and designed in abstract. What is required are studies of the way in which accounting systems become embodied, through use. in organisational systems of accountability. We present a framework for analysing the operation of systems of accountability in organisations. and illustrate this by contrasting, in an ideal-typical manner. forms of accountability in relationships characterised by regular face-to-face contacts, with forms of accountability in relationships which span physical distance. * The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council for funding the project on which this paper is based.

In joining the search for the elusive structure of the Apocalypse, this article explores more fully the structural implications of three literary conventions: (1) the “space/time referent”; (2) meta tauta eidon (“after these things I saw”) (and its variations); and (3) kai eidon (kai idou) (“and I saw [and behold]”). These three literary conventions also can be said to provide structural organization for vision-oriented texts within Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, 1 Enoch). Revelation shows the following structure: Prologue- 1:1-8; Vision Block #1 (1:9-3:22; the Seven Letters); Vision Block #2 (4:1-6:17; the Six Seals); Vision Block #3 (7:1-8; the 144,000 Sealed); Vision Block #4 (7:9-15:4; Seventh Seal/Six Trumpets/Seventh Trumpet/Seven Bowls); Vision Block #5 (15:5-17:18; Seven Bowls and Babylon Described); Vision Block #6 (18:1-22:21; Babylon Falls and the New Jerusalem Descends. Literarily rearranging Vision Blocks 2-6 in line with the multiple occurrences of the "great earthquake" allows one to posit reiteration within the visionary content of the Apocalypse.

This research focuses on the problem of how early pottery in New York State is defined and analyzed. Many traditional models suggest early pottery developed from an earlier steatite stone bowl technology. Thus far, studies that examine early pottery in the Northeast, called the Vinette Type Series, focus on the potential functions, archaeological contexts, and surface appearance of these vessels and fail to account for the social practices and technological choices inherent within these artifacts. This dissertation reevaluates early pottery using a non-typological approach. In the place of descriptive analysis, this research uses petrography, experimental geo-archaeology, and technical choice and agency theories to identify the different types of temper present in early ceramic vessels. This study also looks at the patterns of different technical choices made by early potters. The redefinition of early ceramic technology using post-modern theories allows the author to better understand the social practices involved in the rise of ceramic technology. The ceramic technological patterns identified are then compared with steatite stone bowl technology. This study concludes that early ceramic technology is more closely related to the practices of earth oven convection cooking than it is to any other cooking artifact. A reclassification of early ceramic fabrics is presented and the traditional early ceramic Vinette type categories are rejected.

The irreversibilities (exergy destruction) within a component of an energy conversion system can be represented by two parts. The first part depends on the inefficiencies of the considered component while the second part depends on the system structure and the inefficiencies of the other components of the overall system. Thus, the exergy destruction occurring within a component can be split into two parts: (a) endogenous exergy destruction due exclusively to the performance of the component being considered and (b) exogenous exergy destruction caused also by the inefficiencies within the remaining components of the overall system. The paper discusses four different approaches developed by the authors for calculating the endogenous part of exergy destruction as well as the approach based on the structural theory. The advantages, disadvantages and restrictions for applications associated with each approach are presented. It is concluded that all approaches developed by the authors lead to comparable and acceptable results, whereas the structural theory approach should not be used for calculating the endogenous part of exergy destruction because it delivers unacceptable results. Splitting the exergy destruction into endogenous and exogenous parts improves our understanding of the interactions among system components and provides very useful information for improving an exergy conversion system, particularly when this concept is combined with the concept of avoidable and unavoidable exergy destruction.

Purpose -This study aims to investigate in-depth, and explain the issues related to, the implementation of IAS/IFRS in an emergent country that recently adhered to the European Union, i.e. Romania. Design/methodology/approach -An institutional and structuration theory perspective is used to discuss two stages of IAS/IFRS implementation in Romania. Both primary (11 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with key actors involved in financial reporting) and secondary data (accounting regulations after the fall of communism, with respect to the implementation of IAS/ IFRS) were collected for the purpose of the paper. Findings -It was found that the two stages of IAS/IFRS implementation had different outcomes, with a more profound and qualitative impact of the second phase. The first step was a result of coercive external forces, that is, the influence of the World Bank. Given the lack of other factors to favor the change process, it is argued that the actual implementation of IAS in that period was very limited. Even though the second step meant a reduction in scope to only listed companies in consolidated accounts and financial institutions, it is argued that it was accompanied by a change process more significant than in the previous period. Originality/value -The paper investigates the inter-play between institutions, routines and politics in the Romanian context and highlights the complexity of accounting change in an emerging country.

The concept of structuration in social theory broadly refers to the theoretical attempt to move beyond the traditional, entrenched dichotomy between agents and structures by reconceptualizing the relationship between them. As such it encompasses the work of a number of influential social theorists like Anthony Giddens, Pierre Bourdieu, and Roy Bhaskar to mention but a few that have articulated comprehensive frameworks to deal with the so-called agent-structure problem. Yet the term structuration theory (ST) is generally narrowly identified with the approach thoroughly developed by Giddens. This entry presents a general review on the contribution of ST in social theory and its implications for the study of security.

Pertemuan penting UN Global Compact di Jenewa, Swiss, Kamis, 7 Juli 2007 yang dibuka Sekjen PBB mendapat perhatian media dari berbagai penjuru dunia. Pertemuan itu bertujuan meminta perusahaan untuk menunjukkan tanggung jawab dan perilaku bisnis yang sehat yang dikenal dengan corporate social responsibility (CSR). Hal tersebut muncul karena saat ini masyarakat dunia telah sadar bahwasanya adanya proses industrialisasi yang dilakukan oleh korporasi MNC/TNC hingga hari ini masih banyak menimbulkan permasalahan, seperti : perusakan lingkungan, pelanggaran HAM, konflik dan permasalahan sosial lainya yang segera harus ditangani. Oleh sebab itu masyarakat dunia mendorong korporasi untuk berkontribusi aktif dalam melaksanakan program pembangunan dimana mereka tinggal. Akhirnya negara lah yang memfasilitasi mereka melalui undang-undang yang mengatur tentang CSR itu sendiri. Di Indonesia regulasi mengenai CSR itu sendiri dijelaskan dalam UU PT No 40 tahun 2007, dan bahkan hal tersebut di respon hingga pemerintah daerah melalui peraturan daerah. Khusus di provinsi Jawa Timur, regulasi mengenai CSR tersebut dijelaskan dalam Peraturan Daerah No 4 Tahun 2011. Fokus dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimana relasi yang terjadi antara agen dan struktur yang ada dalam peraturan daerah tersebut. 
Fokus penelitian tersebut dianalisa dengan menggunakan teori strukturasi giddens mengenai dualitas agen – struktur (strukturasi) dalam peraturan daerah mengenai CSR sebagai strategi alternatif dalam upaya pembangunan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif untuk melihat relasi sosial sebagai objek penelitian.  Dalam penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa peraturan daerah tersebut merupakan merupakan kompromi politik dalam upaya mengakomodasi kelompok kepentingan yang ada. Adanya peraturan tersebut juga ingin mensinergiskan antara program CSR yang dilakukan perusahaan dengan program pemerintah provinsi daerah sebagai upaya percepatan pembangunan di wilayah Jawa Timur.     
Kata kunci: CSR, Korporasi, Strukturasi, Pembangunan

While most contributions to this collection focus centrally on political ecology (PE), this paper approaches the work of Piers Blaikie through a somewhat different lens, situating his political ecological contributions within the broader context of his engagement with related themes in development studies. I trace and discuss his work in approximately chronological terms, from the spatial organization of North Indian villages through the political economy of agrarian change and of peripheral capitalist (under-)development in Nepal to political ecology, pathbreaking work on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Uganda, more general disaster vulnerability and recoverabililty, and a survey of post-structural challenges in development theory. Not only does this approach provide a distinctive view of Blaikie's evolving concerns over the course of his career and thematic connections between them, but it also reflects my personal experience of his work and its influence. This foundation then enables an exploration of several issues about current directions in, and possible future extensions of, PE which should help to ensure that PE does not, as some critics claim, have only limited remaining shelf-life.

This article addresses the problem of structural determinism in archaeological explanations of material culture change, specifically architecture. A discussion of Giddens' structuration theory emphasizes the duality of structure. The concept is updated by drawing on Gell's theory of agency in art and recent ideas on play, innovation, freedom and consensus prevalent in anthropology and archaeology. This approach shows that material culture is changed through structurally shaped innovation, such that agency is distributed across time, among groups regionally and among elites and commoners. The theoretical exposition develops a case study including discussion of an architectural grammar, ethnohistoric analogy and activity-area studies involving ceramic incense burners. The case study is the Classic-Postclassic transition (ad 750-1200) among the Maya of Petén, Guatemala. While earlier explanations of architectural change in this region focused on an in-migration event, the current investigation posits a Postclassic reconfiguration of Maya architecture, specifically changes in 'C'-shaped stone benches, based on structurally shaped innovation and a distributed view of agency. The benches served as stages for more heterarchical ritual performances with the incense burners as opposed to the hierarchical ritual performances common in the Classic period. This account overcomes structural determinism by allowing for diversity and cultural specificity in our views of agency.