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Reflecting on the myriad instances where juridical recognition demands a story, confession, testimony on suffering, or evidence of trauma – this chapter considers the role of storytelling and narrative in constituting the legal person, their persona, and relationship they have to a community or the state. What are the forces that drive the demand to give an account of oneself? What are the reasons for, and implications of, resisting the injunction to reveal all? Going beyond the usual bounds of juridically recognised testimony and evidence – the author considers how memory moves across time and space in human and non-human material formations. These questions are posed to open discussion of a wider concern about the autonomy and heteronomy of law. Looking beyond the separation of law and morality in positivist jurisprudence – the autonomy/heteronomy distinction is a means of getting at the co-constitution of the human and non-human. The discussion thus ranges across the philosophies of history that constitute autonomy/heteronomy – examining the tension between confidential stories of those who have suffered abuse, and the state’s archival drive to preserve such material; literary and metaphorical devices for narrating the past; and a consideration of nature and destruction where the human plays an infinitesimal part in making history.

The burden social theorists must be willing to accept, respond to, and act upon pertains to the difficulties that predictably accompany all efforts to convey to nontheorists the unwelcome fact of heteronomy – that as actors, we are not as autonomous as we were told and prefer to assume – and to spell out what heteronomy in the form in which it has been shaping the developmental trajectory of modern societies means for professional theorists. I introduce the concept of “vitacide,” designed to capture that termination of life is a potential vanishing point of the heteronomous processes that have been shaping modern societies continuing to accelerate and intensify in ways that prefigure our future, but not on our human or social terms. Heteronomy pointing toward vitacide should compel us as social theorists to consider critically both the constructive and destructive trajectory that social change appears to have been following for more than two centuries, irrespective of whether the resulting prospect is to our liking or not. In this context, the classical critical theorists of the early Frankfurt School, especially Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, pursued what turned out to be an evolving interest in rackets, the authoritarian personality, and the administered society – concepts that served as foils for delineating the kind of theoretical stance that is becoming more and more important as we are moving into an increasingly uncertain future.

In the deregulated public sector upper secondary school field in Oslo, Norway, turnover among teachers is found to be high. The purpose is to examine whether instrumental practices like control-oriented HRM, performance appraisal and heteronomy directly or indirectly lead to turnover intention, as a crucial pre-stage to turnover. Another purpose is to examine whether this varies with feedback format.

The present study is based on a survey (N = 1,055) carried out among upper secondary school teachers in Norway. Data were analyzed with path analysis, and mediation and moderation analyses were performed.

The study shows that control-oriented HRM, PA dissatisfaction and heteronomy are antecedents to turnover intention for teachers receiving feedback in three different feedback formats. The effect of control-oriented HRM and PA dissatisfaction on turnover intention was generally not stronger among numerically rated than among those rated otherwise. For most feedback format groups, leader–member exchange mediated between turnover intention and PA dissatisfaction and heteronomy, respectively, but not between turnover intention and control-oriented HRM. For teachers rated with text, figures or colors, LMX moderated between control-oriented HRM and turnover intention.

The paper advances that introduction of instrumental practices will be seen as breaches of the psychological contract, but this does not apply to all feedback format groups, for example those receiving numerically rating. Limitations involve self-reported measures, direction of causality issues and a relatively low sample size for some groups.

Practitioners should note that both control-oriented HRM, performance appraisal and little autonomy may cause teachers to consider leaving their jobs. Practitioners should also be aware of the importance of the relationship between employee and leader, as negative responses to instrumentality may work through the leader–employee relationship, leading to turnover intention and, possibly, turnover.

The present study is among the first to examine whether and how antecedents to turnover intention vary with feedback format. A rare interaction between HRM and LMX is uncovered. Few other studies have analyzed the relationship between instrumental practices and turnover intention in light of psychological contract theory.

The article conceptualizes the dilemma between exploration and exploitation for flexible knowledge workers. At a time when work is fragmented and society is individualized, we consider, besides the strategies of organizations, also those of workers and the ways in which they move among organizations in an attempt to ‘get by’ between increased margins of autonomy and a lack of the resources necessary to pursue their passions and to fulfil their projects. Through analysis of the life stories of flexible knowledge workers and their relationships with the organizations for which they work, the article illustrates how flexible knowledge workers handle the tension between exploration and exploitation and how organizations resist their attempts. The purpose is to interpret the pervasiveness of individualization processes that prompt individuals to think of themselves as organizations, while human resource management claim that people are their most valuable resource but treat them as disposable workers.

This paper aims to undertake a critical evaluation of the purpose and objective of Islamic Law, namely, maqasid as-shari’ah, as it has evolved in Islamic scholastic experience. But, the greater philosophy and potential of maqasid as-shari’ah within the great design of the monotheistic law, sunnat-Allah, is explained. Such explanation is carried out in the light of the core of Islamic epistemology that directly induces Islamic Law.

This critical evaluation is pursued in the light of the epistemological worldview and its methodical formalism of unity of knowledge contra a differentiated and conflicting view of human experience in rationalism. The episteme of unity of knowledge is Tawhid as the law of everything in the precept of unity as understood by the monotheistic law, sunnat-Allah. In the light of the extendibility of maqasid as-shari’ah across the relationally unifying domain of sunnat-Allah, the potentiality of shari’ah in terms of res extensa (epistemic extension) and res cogitans (cognitive capacity) is discussed.

Various occidental thoughts in this quest for extendibility of the epistemic totality are critically examined by the Tawhidi monotheistic law. The universality of the Tawhidi law of monotheism in respect of its characteristics of res extensa and res cogitans is studied to bring out the potentiality of maqasid as-shari’ah. Thereby, the new vision of inter-systemic extensions across diverse domains of intellection interactively unified together is formalized. This formalism goes beyond the existing limits of maqasid as-shari’ah confined as it is to worldly socioeconomic affairs (muamalat).

A much broader investigation is opened up by this paper that can be extended by academic work.

The practical support of the criticism against both the idea of shari’ah-compliance and the incomplete implication of maqasid as-shari’ah as presently understood among Islamic scholars is carried out by a detailed empirical work. The extension to the choice of a new financial instrument of Foreign Trade Financing Certificate is introduced.

The critical discussion launched in reference to the wider meaning, objective and purpose of maqasid as-shari’ah under the epistemology of the Tawhidi methodological worldview results in the substantive understanding of maslaha, well-being. Maslaha as well-being forms the ultimate index of socio-scientific valuation under maqasid as-shari’ah in the light of the Tawhidi epistemological worldview. Thereby, the perspective of socioeconomic development, and more extensively socio-scientific intellection, is brought out as extensively participatory evolutionary process under the principle of unity of knowledge (Tawhidi episteme). Brief examples are invoked to establish this fact. An example of measured multidimensional well-being (maslaha) as the final index of participatory organic relations that maqasid as-shari’ah ought to project in reference to Tawhidi methodological worldview is represented.

This is a distinctively original paper in an area that has not been investigated thus far. Besides, much scope for further intellectual investigation is opened up.

The paper aims to offer a new perspective casting original light on the foundational socio‐scientific argumentation premised on the application of the epistemology of unity of knowledge across contrasting shades of reasoning, to the problem of religion, science and society. Kantian epistemological reasoning is questioned within this argumentation. The specific case of money, finance and real economy is treated in the context of the epistemology of unity of knowledge contra Kantian problem of heteronomy.

The comparative study of received literature in the history of epistemological thinking is applied to the issue of universality and uniqueness of theory and its application in the learning dynamics between organically complementary relations, called circular causation, to the ethical interdependence between money, finance and the real economy. The goal is to attain social and economic sustainability.

A new epistemological outlook in occidental sciences is needed to repair its intrinsic dualism. Kantian thinking is instrumental in this structural flaw. Unity of divine knowledge as comprehended by functional ontological formalism in the deepest of scientific terms compromises the universal and unique alternative in “everything”. This claim has been formalised.

This is a theoretical exploration.

Important global implications of the need for a new outlook of unity between monetary, financial and real economic variables are presented within the contrasting epistemological argumentations. The direction of such money‐real economy reform in the light of Islamic economics and finance is pointed out.

This is an original conceptual paper, whose content argued out in rigorous scientific language of topological mathematics aims at showing the link between the epistemology of unity of knowledge and the world‐systems. The same is impossible in the Kantian worldview.

A brief critical review of the existing literature on the topic of integrity opens up the scope for a detailed approach to the meaning of social integrity, or integrity in its social relational sense. The tenor of explanation of this concept is then taken up as a subspace of the meaning of the supreme good and therein the concept of goodness. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

All such concepts are studied in the relational sense of epistemic origin of values. Such ethical values arise from the epistemic ontology of the moral law. They are contrasted with the contrary meanings under the episteme of rationalism.

Rationalism as philosophy of mind and matter devoid of a substantive acceptance of the divinely inspired functional ontology of the moral law is also critically and formally studied.

More empirical work needed and which indeed can be done both statistically as well as by quantitative mathematical models. The scope for this extension remains wide open in the paper.

The paper presents an immense import in the study of cognitive economics, behavioral finance, and decision making in the area of ethical finance and organizational behavior as a conscious institution. An example is provided. Many more areas are indicated. Altogether a vast scope of conception and applications in the area of endogenous ethics and socio-scientific field remains open.

The paper is truly original crossing the boundaries of social cybernetics and systems into mathematical algorithmic treatment exemplified by a game-theoretic example of the imminent place of the meanings of the good, goodness, and the trait of integrity in social behavior. All these are together embedded in the study of embedded social system and cybernetic study. This is a foundationally original field of research investigation playing out its analytical part in the study of social system and cybernetic.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often neglected in the context of business and society theory building. The purpose of this article is to build a model of why SMEs address social issues by integrating internal and external drivers and barriers to social performance (SP).

Using thematic analysis, barriers and drivers to SME social performance are clustered along key stakeholders and presented in a theoretical model. The analysis dates from 1973 until 2006 and is grounded in an extensive literature review that represents a total of 83 countries. It includes academic and practitioner accounts stemming from theoretical and empirical work, as well as conference proceedings. A total of 80 drivers and 96 barriers to SME high social performance are identified.

This paper develops an SME four‐cell ideal type of social issues management (SIM) response typology based on drivers and barriers of social performance.

The importance of understanding barriers and drivers to social responsibility (SR) of SIM for stakeholder theory, policy makers, and practitioners is discussed, concluding with implications for further SME‐SR research.

The four‐cell typology considers the theoretical claims of stakeholder theory within the context of SMEs and proposes a heteronomy of stakeholder salience.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the transition from self-regulation to heteronomy has changed the gap in audit quality between Big Four and non-Big Four auditors.

This study analyzes publicly held companies in the USA between 1999 and 2012 using univariate analysis, multivariate analysis and quantile regression analysis. Audit quality is measured with discretionary accruals.

This study shows an insignificant difference in audit quality between the clients of Big Four and non-Big Four auditors after Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (hereafter, PCAOB) began its operations. In the analysis of the effects of PCAOB inspections on the audit quality of audit firms that are inspected annually and triennially, the findings show that the inspections have more positive effects when carried out annually. This suggests that the frequency of inspection is positively associated with audit quality. Overall, these results provide evidence that recent improvements in audit quality have been caused by changes in regulatory standards.

The paper provides three major original contributions. First, the authors add to the literature on audit quality by further demonstrating a reduced gap in audit quality between Big Four and non-Big Four audit firms due to heteronomy. Secondly, this study contributes to the debate as to whether independent inspections on audit firms are beneficial or not and suggests that the PCAOB inspections help increase audit quality. Finally, the results of this work contribute to the growing literature examining discretionary accruals.

A methodological study of religion including moral, ethical, and social values and economics takes us into the search, discovery, and establishment of a formal epistemological premise. Social economics is now studied as a methodological investigation of evolutionary and embedded systems integrating the moral, social, and economic systems. Thus an integrated theory of religion representing the realm of moral and social values and economics is formalized. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The author writes on the conjoint methodological perspective of the integrated domain of religion and economics. A formal ontology of the unified field of religion and economics is established in such an inter-causal and organically unified realm of moral, social, and economic values. A phenomenological model of the unified worldview that applies to a systemic concept of “everything” emerges. This methodology and the immanent phenomenological model relating to it convey the principle of inter-systemic organic symbiosis by a unique and universal worldview.

The systemic integration between religion and economics is formally studied within the immanent system methodology that formalizes inter-disciplinary symbiosis. The result is a new formal model of integration between religion and social economics.

Empirical work can further expand the scope of the paper.

Immense social, ethical, and cross-cultural implications emanate from the study.

The morality and ethical implications of religious values are imputed in the formal model and implications of the social economy.

The paper is of an original nature in establishing the episteme and formalism of integration between ethical and moral values of religion into the structure of the social economy. From this both a theoretical rigor as well as logical formalism can be drawn.