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Abstract: To what extent have postmodernism and research modalities which fundamentally question the notion of the objective researcher impacted on the production of Ph.D. theses in the humanities and social sciences? This paper examines the visual and verbal representations of the writerly self through the title pages, tables of contents and introductory chapters of a corpus of 20 recent Ph.D. theses in History and Sociology from an Australian university. While affirming the dominance of the topic-based thesis macrostructure in the social sciences and humanities, it subjects the topic-based thesis category to greater scrutiny, presenting a case for the emergence of a New Humanities Ph.D., marked by its construction of a reflexive self, unable to write with the classic detachment of positivism. The paper briefly considers the implications for disciplinarity and postgraduate pedagogy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As systematic reviews become more common in the social sciences journal literature, it is important for social science librarians to be familiar with this methodology. Knowledge of characteristics of systematic reviews that have been published in the journal literature can help to inform librarians as they guide researchers to adopt good practices. This paper analyzes a collection of 164 systematic reviews gleaned from the International Bibliography of Social Sciences database for the period 2017 to 2019 from journals in the fields of anthropology, business and economics, communications, education, political science, psychology, social sciences (comprehensive), and sociology. The methodology of each review was checked to answer questions about reporting of keywords and search terms, reporting of inclusion/exclusion criteria, time period searched, external guidelines referenced, initial number of studies retrieved and number of studies included in the review, and number and names of databases searched. Details are provided for the individual subject categories, and the implications of these findings for social science librarians are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the concept of state autonomy in the context of globalization. Earlier literature either considered state autonomy from the social forces in broad institutional and cultural terms or from the dominant classes in a restrictive sense. However, in either case the focus remained on domestic/national society, not the global society. The discussion of relative autonomy of the state began among the Marxists in the 1970s and then graduated into the mainstream social sciences in the 1980s and 1990s. In the upshot, the notions of developmental state and the embedded autonomy have significantly added to our knowledge of the role of the state. This paper broadens the idea of embedded autonomy by locating the sources of embeddedness in both local as well global institutions and norms. The paper uses the Singapore case to illustrate some of the possibilities and limitations of the reconfigured role of the state in the face of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-visits the narratives of select 'Islamists' from South and Southeast Asia to explore what their narratives offer for a discussion on Islamist intellectual space. Departing from resilient biases in scholarship that de-privilege expressions of the 'Ummah in the East', I focus on a realm of Islamist self-understandings that reveal a consciousness of being important interlocutors of Islam. These Islamists blatantly exercised their intellectual authority through deriding a larger Ummah that had become divorced from a 'true Islam' that they were aware of. is paper highlights facets of Islamist contact that occurred between these regions through Islamist Third Worldist discourses. I also emphasize South and Southeast Asian Islamist reconstructions of Islam into a system and/or polity through returning to, and reconstructing 'orthodox' texts, Prophethood and earlier Islamic periods. is study bears implications for the study of regions often reduced to 'peripheries' in discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis: This paper focuses on the embodied experience of gender. It draws upon Bourdieu''s sociology of practice, cognitive sciences, and feminist phenomenology to highlight instances of non-discursive, cultural conditioning of embodied experience. Specifically, the paper focuses on the internalization by both men and women of the masculine perspective. It does so by discussing regular patterns of word ordering in English, comportment and motility, and orientation to the body. These patterns are cultural in that they are acquired through social interaction. They are non-discursive, though, in that they are not encoded in any system of representations and are not generally transmitted through discourse. Rather, they are infra-discursive, in that they exist below discourse. It emerges that, in general, the prototypical perspective adopted by male and female European social agents is distinctly more masculine than feminine. However, in restricted contexts, such as parenthood, this prototypicality is inverted. In this, we see how internalized structures match the broad overarching social structures. In the course of the discussion, we seek to further develop and contextualize some further analyses, such as Iris Young''s phenomenology of corporeal experience and Cooper and Ross''s analysis of word ordering. We ultimately hope to demonstrate the critical analytical importance of the embodied reality which is clearly culturally variable, yet not, strictly speaking, discursively constituted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years there has been a great deal of academic and practitioner interest in the role of ‘benefits realisation management’ [BRM] approaches, as a means of proactively leveraging value from IT investments. This growing body of work owes a very considerable, but as yet unacknowledged, debt to the work of Ken Eason, and other early socio-technical theorists. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate, using the literature, how many of the principles, practices and techniques of BRM have evolved either directly or indirectly from socio-technical approaches to systems design. In so doing, this article makes a further important contribution to the literature by explicitly identifying the underlying principles and key practices of benefits realisation management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The discussion in the sociology of science about the role of model systems in biology provides an invitation to reflect on whether and how similar devices operate in sociology. This paper shows that sociology relies on objects of study that receive a disproportionate amount of attention and implicitly come to stand in for a specific class of objects. But, unlike other disciplines, sociology has no agreed language or theory to classify the discipline-specific objects that it studies, which hinders explicit reflection on the use of model systems across sociological subfields. In contrast to other disciplines, which use model systems, physical copies of sociological model systems usually do not travel. Because of this, the relationship between specimen and epistemic object is less standardised in sociology than in other disciplines, which creates problems for the accumulation of knowledge. Sociology also encounters unique problems of access to model systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The goal of seeking to understand the development over time of drug policies is a specific version of the more general intellectual project of finding ways of explaining social change. The latter has been a preoccupation of some of the greatest thinkers within the social sciences of the last 200 years, from Foucault all the way back to the three nineteenth-century pioneers, Marx, Durkheim and Weber. I describe this body of work as ‘historical sociology’. In this paper, I outline how a particular approach to historical sociology can be fruitfully drawn upon to understand the development of drug policy, using by way of illustration the example of the analysis of a recent transformation in British drug policy: the rise of the criminal justice agenda. I conclude by arguing that by looking at developments in drug policy in this way, some new insights are opened up. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper aims to delineate and evaluate the various intellectual trends and visions as espoused by some prominent intellectual figures in Malay Studies by highlighting their ideas on Malay Studies and some of its problems and challenges. Four primary concerns in contemporary Malay studies are highlighted. These are (a) linguistic-language affection; (b) ethnographic and documentation pursuit ; (c) the clamour for a wider Malay world studies and (d) the interest in the search of indigenous theories in the Malay literary studies. The academic interest in these four domains however saw the neglect in confronting the grip of orientalist discourse which, still persists, nor to problematise the uncritical nationalistic discourse within Malay studies which are characterized by feudal romanticism and ahistorical cultural aggrandizement. Therefore, the creation of an alternative discourse, that challenges both orientalist scholarship and nationalistic Malay studies is crucial in order to ensure that it make vital contribution to the progress and development of Malay society. is certainly requires a creative incorporation of social sciences that are both sensitive and emphatic to the particular nuances, yet with a strong universalistic outlook in comprehending the dynamics of Malay society to avoid the pitfall of an ossified and imitative intellectual discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the e-discourse surrounding the dream of a Dutch scientist, Dr X, to create a human genetic databank in Bandung, Indonesia. Not only did Dr X hope to fulfil his dream of placing Indonesia on the genetic world map, he also aspired to set up the largest biomedical research centre in Indonesia, using blood samples gathered from various laboratories, medical centres and the jungle. His most important project was to study genes for familial syndromes, such as cancers and forms of mental retardation, some of which are considered to be specific for certain ethnic groups in Indonesia. Much has been written on the targets of the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), but the incentives for and motives of geneticists to set up biobanks are little understood. Many works have 'framed' scientists as imperialists, Orientalists, racists and positivists or hailed them as explorers of humanity, pioneers of science and saviours of mankind. By analyzing Dr X's e-letters to fellow scientists, academics and politicians, I claim that the validity of such theories depends on whether they sufficiently take into account the institutional embedding. An institutional approach to biobanking should incorporate an assessment of socioeconomic inequalities, both on an international and national level, public healthcare needs, research regulation, and differences in academic cultures from a comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, the Saudi regime had ignored the existence of any Al Qaeda branch on Saudi soil and therefore; any potential attacks by such groups in the kingdom were unthinkable. However, the Riyadh attacks were a turning point for Saudi authorities. This paper seeks to understand why Al Qaeda is attacking the Saudi government and secondly, how the Saudi government has countered both the violence and the ideology of Al Qaeda in the Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 1894, Wilhelm Dilthey published an article in which he formulated a critique of what he called ‘explanatory psychology’, contrasting it with his own conception of ‘descriptive psychology’. Dilthey’s descriptive psychology, in turn, was to provide the basis for Dilthey’s specific philosophy of the human sciences (Geisteswissenschaften). In this paper, I contextualize Dilthey’s critique of explanatory psychology. I show that while this critique comes across as very broad and sweeping, he in fact had specific opponents in mind, namely, scholars who, like him, attempted to theorize about the relationship between the individual and society, between psychology and the other human sciences. Dilthey’s critique of explanatory psychology is the flipside of his critique of sociology, which he had already formulated. He challenged both because he felt that they gave the wrong kind of answer to the task of overcoming metaphysics within the human sciences. In particular, I identify the founders of Völkerpsychologie, Moritz Lazarus and Heymann Steinthal, and (more importantly) their student, Georg Simmel, as Dilthey’s targets. I provide textual and historical evidence for this thesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The correlational agreement coefficient CA(≤, D) [van Leeuwe, J.F.J., 1974. Item tree analysis. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Psychologie 29, 475–484.] is a descriptive measure for the fit of a quasi-order ≤ on an item set to a binary data set D. The coefficient is based on the comparison between the empirical correlations of the items to their assumed theoretical correlations. These theoretical correlations are derived from the assumption that the quasi-order is a correct representation of the data. In a recent paper Ünlü and Albert [Ünlü, A., Albert, D., 2004. The correlational agreement coefficient CA(≤, D) — A mathematical analysis of a descriptive goodness-of-fit measure. Mathematical Social Sciences 48, 281–314.] presented a detailed mathematical investigation of CA(≤, D). They describe a number of problems of this coefficient which show in their opinion that its use to compare quasi-orders is questionable. We do not agree with some of the statements in Ünlü and Albert [Ünlü, A., Albert, D., 2004. The correlational agreement coefficient CA(≤, D) — A mathematical analysis of a descriptive goodness-of-fit measure. Mathematical Social Sciences 48, 281–314.]. Especially we try to show that some of the problems of CA(≤, D) mentioned in Ünlü and Albert [Ünlü, A., Albert, D., 2004. The correlational agreement coefficient CA(≤, D) — A mathematical analysis of a descriptive goodness-of-fit measure. Mathematical Social Sciences 48, 281–314.] are in fact properties which a good measure of fit for a quasi-order should have. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: In this paper, we investigate the impact of monitoring and social ties on moral hazard behavior within group lending programs. Our study is based on data from an extensive questionnaire held in Eritrea among participants of 102 groups. We separately analyze the impact of group leaders and other group members. We show that the monitoring and the social ties of group leaders and not the other group members reduce the moral hazard behavior within groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper I examine the links between women, food security and development from a crossnational perspective. I find that the “proximity to gender equality” constructed from the United Nations’ human development and gender-related development indices improves development in the form of both child hunger and child mortality. Extending these results, other forms of female empowerment including female contraceptive prevalence significantly improve development outcomes in less-industrialized societies. Findings are net of theoretical controls for economic development, population pressure, globalization, democratization, and region, further strengthening the importance of gender considerations. Countries that incorporate gender into policy and program considerations benefit from such inclusion in the form of social and economic development outcomes. Findings are an important crossnational extension of existing research, utilizing new measures that capture the important development dynamic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The concerns expressed and issues raised by Zialik and McCloskey concerning the use of tests of statistical inference have also been raised in sociology and psychology. This paper examines the similarities and differences between the way that the significance test controversy has been discussed in the wider social sciences and Zialik and McCloskey''s discussion of the implications for economics. The issues are similar in that different effects of over-reliance on the rejection of the null hypothesis are identified. These include mistakes and errors in statistical inference, the lack of the use of diagnostic statistics to qualify and guide statistical inference, and the broader impact on the field of accumulation of type II errors and lack of innovation in the field. There is considerable agreement on these points between sociologists, psychologists and economists who are concerned about these issues. However, there are also important differences that are discussed in this response. In particular, in the other social sciences the significance test controversy has broadened out and has been linked firstly to more discussions of the limitations of experimental and correlational designs and to a broader critique of positivism and scientism in the social sciences. Without this broader context the significance of the significance test controversy is understood in a more restricted way as a technical problem with widespread effects whereas in the social sciences it has been understood as symptomatic of broader disciplinary commitments in theory and purpose. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

From the pioneering works of Enriquez, Covar and Salazar, which paved the way for the production of social science knowledge that is particularly meaningful and sensitive to Philippine culture and society, this paper explores the social significations of kapwa, kapatiran and bayan. In the context of the dominant influence of Western perspectives in Philippine social science, the understanding, appreciation and evaluation of their contributions continue to be an important undertaking. As a preliminary attempt to contribute to this discourse, a panlipunang pagbabanghay is offered as an approach or an outline for the analysis of Philippine social organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article sets out to provide a demographic analysis of the production of social inequality through IVF trajectories in a reproductive technology centre of a French hospital. However specific this example may be, it reveals one of the paradoxes of social inequalities in health: lay experience of risk in reproductive technology shows profound inequalities related to social status, despite the fact that equality would seem to be guaranteed in France, since the social security system covers the full cost of the treatments. We will try to understand this paradox through a lifecourse approach. Thus, it will be shown that social inequality in reproductive health is deeply rooted in social scenarios of infertility that lead to differentiated medical experience: there is little benefit and even a worsening in the situation of lower class women, who were faced with unpredictable risks related to the collective testing of these new technologies. Conversely, the possibility of inventing new lifestories, which may or may not include motherhood, was given to upper class women who take calculated risks to delay the scheduling of their pregnancies. In short, this study confirms that the production of social inequality in reproductive health can only be understood in connection with the social dynamics of lifestyles, resulting in specific medical patterns. This paper also leads to the assumption that these social scenarios are related to attempts to enhance the different forms of capital: economic, cultural and social capital. In addition, the presence of risks aggravates this inequality process. This raises another question: do reproductive technologies result in reinforcing social inequality? [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The classical assumption that scientific and technological progress are the main driving forces behind, what Weber called, the 'disenchantment of the western world', is basic knowledge in contemporary sociology. In this paper, however, it is argued that the implementation of digital technology also stimulates the religious, or more specific, animistic imagination. A qualitative analysis of Wired magazine (1993-2000) shows that various computer specialists, who are 'supposed' to be the pioneers of a rational, secular and disenchanted society, can be seen as 'technoanimists'. They consider our new technological surroundings as an intelligent, autonomous force and express feelings of humility. Exemplary for this phenomenon is a group of ICTexperts who refer to themselves as 'technopagans'. Paradoxically, the explanation for this unforeseen development of 're-enchantment' can be found in progress in the technological fields of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life. More generally, the ongoing process of rationalization seems to provide a good explanation for the contemporary emergence of technoanimism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]