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Book part
Publication date: 28 July 2008

Wolfgang Natter

Toward the end of the 20th century, some work within political theory, of a kind that primarily foregrounds ethical considerations and another kind within political geography that…

Abstract

Toward the end of the 20th century, some work within political theory, of a kind that primarily foregrounds ethical considerations and another kind within political geography that links such ethical concerns to explication in terms of social space, territoriality and scale, has resuscitated the notion of contingent universality as an alternative to the either/or embrace or rejection of universality (and consequent denigration/celebration of particularity). As witnessed by the so-called spatial turn in many of the social and cultural sciences, this very circumstance, at least in the English-speaking world, has been one wellspring of current interdisciplinary interest in various geographical concepts and traditions. For political geographers, the idea of contingent universality arguably invites a fecund perspective from which to reflect upon a range of substantive and epistemological outcomes, which this essay will argue, are densely bound up in what, in short hand, is labeled globalization.

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No Social Science without Critical Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-538-3

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1999

Julian Warner

Information science has differentiated information technology from productive technology, but the common concept of technology remains largely unexplored. A view of technology as…

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Abstract

Information science has differentiated information technology from productive technology, but the common concept of technology remains largely unexplored. A view of technology as a human construction, applied to productive technology, has begun to be developed to comprehend information technology. Information technology is regarded as a form of knowledge concerned with the transformation of signals from one form or medium into another. Analogous, although not identical, concepts of universality can be distinguished for both productive technology and for information technology. The steam engine has been regarded as a universal source of motive power and of the computer as a universal information machine. Universality helps account for the wide adoption of the steam engine and the computer. For both forms of technology, theoretical considerations related to universality and working constructions embodying universality have, in contrasting ways, been partly separate developments. Further possibilities offered by a view of information technologies as human constructions are indicated.

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Aslib Proceedings, vol. 51 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2010

Sturle Nes and Anne Moen

The aim of the paper is to explore how multiple modes of knowledge play out in the consolidation of nursing procedures in construction of “local universality”. The paper seeks to…

3221

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to explore how multiple modes of knowledge play out in the consolidation of nursing procedures in construction of “local universality”. The paper seeks to explore processes where nurses negotiate universal procedures that are to become local standards in a hospital.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a case study design. Working group sessions, where the activity was to consolidate different versions of nursing procedures were observed and videotaped. For this paper, transcribed videotaped observations, where tension‐laden situations were identified, are subject to interaction analysis.

Findings

In the negotiations to construct standards, multiple modes of knowledge play out; personal experience, collective expertise and formalized knowledge. The paper demonstrates the contributions these modes of knowledge make in a process of standardization. This shows that standards, as such, do not stay universal for very long, but are constructed as “local universalities”.

Research limitations/implications

The study elaborates on discursive negotiations of procedures to illustrate how local universality plays out in processes to constitute standards. It is a limitation because how the local universality plays out in clinical work, or make claims about practice transformation, cannot be described.

Originality/value

The paper shows the necessity of confronting standardized procedures through multiple modes of knowledge. The paper exemplifies productive interactions in the construction of local universality, and how professionals account for practice when facing formal and standardized procedures.

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Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 22 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1989

Steven Goldberg

It is arguable that the central questions requiring explanation by the behavioural and social sciences are those falling under the rubric “nature vs. nurture”. To be sure, the…

Abstract

It is arguable that the central questions requiring explanation by the behavioural and social sciences are those falling under the rubric “nature vs. nurture”. To be sure, the issue is oversimplified when stated so simply; there are both physiological and environmental elements in the causation of behaviour, as well as feedback through which each alters the other. Moreover, discussions of this dichotomy can often be seen to be sterile arguments about definition, rather than answers to the empirical question of what is, in fact, happening. What matters is not “nature” or “nurture” in the abstract, but the roles physiology, environment, and the interaction of the two play in generating specific behaviour.

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International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2019

María Montenegro

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying meanings, effects and cultural patterns of metadata standards, focusing on Dublin Core (DC), and explore the ways in…

2073

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying meanings, effects and cultural patterns of metadata standards, focusing on Dublin Core (DC), and explore the ways in which anticolonial metadata tools can be applied to exercise and promote Indigenous data sovereignty.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying an anticolonial approach, this paper examines the assumptions underpinning the stated roles of two of DC’s metadata elements, rights and creator. Based on that examination, the paper considers the limitations of DC for appropriately documenting Indigenous traditional knowledge (TK). Introduction of the TK labels and their implementation are put forward as an alternative method to such limitations in metadata standards.

Findings

The analysis of the rights and creator elements revealed that DC’s universality and supposed neutrality threaten the rightful attribution, specificity and dynamism of TK, undermining Indigenous data sovereignty. The paper advocates for alternative descriptive methods grounded within tribal sovereignty values while recognizing the difficulties of dealing with issues of interoperability by means of metadata standards given potentially innate tendencies to customization within communities.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to directly examine the implications of DC’s rights and creator elements for documenting TK. The paper identifies ethical practices and culturally appropriate tools that unsettle the universality claims of metadata standards. By introducing the TK labels, the paper contributes to the efforts of Indigenous communities to regain control and ownership of their cultural and intellectual property.

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Journal of Documentation, vol. 75 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2010

Masudul Alam Choudhury

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…

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Research limitations/implications

This is a theoretical exploration.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 37 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2007

Sonia Kuile, Cécile Rousseau, Marie Munoz, Lucie Nadeau and Marie Ouimet

The universality of the health system in Canada is often emphasised to contrast the differences between the Canadian and American systems of access to care. However, changes in…

Abstract

The universality of the health system in Canada is often emphasised to contrast the differences between the Canadian and American systems of access to care. However, changes in migration patterns and tightening of administrative procedures around undocumented persons are beginning to challenge this Canadian image. Currently, there is a lack of data to support the existence and the consequences of this shift. This pilot project documents health care professionals' and community organisation workers' perceptions of the problems faced by recent migrants in accessing health care, and the health consequences of such barriers. Results confirm the existence of numerous health care access problems for both completely undocumented migrants and legal migrants who fall into the cracks of the provincial and federal health systems. The data suggests that these barriers may have important unrecognised morbidity and mortality consequences, and that they are a source of severe stress and psychological distress. To protect recent immigrant families, there is a need not only to revise the articulation between the provincial and federal health mandates but also to address the strong societal perception linking universality of health care to the notion of citizenship. Further research is warranted on this emerging social problem, but the institutional sensitivity of these issues may constitute an obstacle to a more comprehensive understanding.

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International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 July 2012

Masudul Alam Choudhury

There are the interesting words of Myrdal in respect of the universality and commonness of what a scientific problem means:From then on more definitely I came to see that in…

Abstract

There are the interesting words of Myrdal in respect of the universality and commonness of what a scientific problem means:From then on more definitely I came to see that in reality there are no economic, sociological, psychological problems, but just problems and they are all mixed and composite. In research the only permissible demarcation is between relevant and irrelevant conditions. The problems are regularly also political and have moreover to be seen in historical perspective. (Myrdal, 1979, p. 106)

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: A Research Annual
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-824-3

Article
Publication date: 19 August 2021

Raphael Schoen

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implicitly assumed universality of the best seller negotiation literature Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implicitly assumed universality of the best seller negotiation literature Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing cross-cultural negotiation literature was systematically searched for findings indicating either a higher or lower likelihood of successfully applying the authors’ advice in different cultural environments, as defined in the Hofstede framework or The Globe Study. The findings were aggregated, categorized into a matrix, synthesized and analyzed.

Findings

This paper finds that the assumed universality of the method of Getting to Yes and its single principles is not supported by research. Instead, a dichotomy of the four principles’ applicability along the Individuality dimension of Hofstede was found. Hence, the western orientation of Getting to Yes is reality, inhibiting its use in non-western cultures. However, in one principle – Invent options for mutual gain – the findings refute a successful application in western cultures. Additional findings and research gaps are presented.

Practical implications

Practitioners should apply Getting to Yes with caution, if at all, in a non-western environment. For the teaching of negotiations, alternative approaches for conducting negotiations in the non-western world are needed.

Originality/value

Although widely used in research, scholars only addressed sporadic comments concerning the limitations of Getting to Yes across cultures. Often the universality of Getting to Yes is either implicitly or explicitly assumed in research and practice. This paper approaches this topic systematically by providing evidence that Getting to Yes is not universal and conceptually sees negotiations through a western shaped perspective that provides considerable implications for research, practice and teaching.

Abstract

Details

Music
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-316-1

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