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Sawyer’s theory of social causation: a critique
Get PDFThis article critiques R. Keith Sawyer’s theory of social causation from his 2005 book Social Emergence. It considers his use of analogy with the philosophy of mind, his account of individual agency, the legacy of Emile Durkheim, the concepts of supervenience, multiple realization, and wild disjunction, and the role of history in social causation. Sawyer’s theory is also evaluated in terms of two examples of empirical research: his own micro-sociological studies into group creativity; and Margaret Archer’s macro-sociology of education systems
An introduction to engaged Buddhism
No full textThis textbook introduces and explores the ideas, practices and philosophy of engaged Buddhism. The movement holds that suffering is not just caused by the cravings of the mind, but also by political and social factors; therefore, engaged Buddhists 'engage' with social issues to achieve liberation
An evangelist for nature: Stephen Moss's non-fiction in the context of 'new nature writing', past, present & future
No full textThis PhD by Publication consists of two parts. Part One is a collection of non-fiction works by Stephen Moss, which are discussed in the accompanying thesis ... Part Two is the contextualising thesis, in three chapters. This explores the contribution these works make to the genre known as ‘New Nature Writing’, and how they fit into the broader context of the relationship between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, with particular reference to the current environmental crisis. I describe my development as a writer, tracing the subjects, themes and approaches which connect these separate publications, to create a significant body of work.
Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the term ‘New Nature Writing’, in the context of UK authors and works, and an examination of whether this a distinctive and cohesive genre. I question whether it is simply a convenient label for publishers and booksellers, and whether the different sub-genres and authors have very much in common, apart from the fact that they write about the ‘natural world’ within the broader umbrella of Creative Non-Fiction. I outline a brief history of ‘nature writing’, again in a UK context, examine the overlapping sub-genres included under the umbrella term, and critically examine the definitions of ‘New Nature Writing’ and how they fit into wider social, cultural and philosophical contexts.
Chapter 2 seeks to place my own writing, and its development over time, into the various contexts already outlined. I summarise my progress as a writer through groups of works, looking at the different ways I have chosen to convey themes, subjects and issues; and how this has been informed by my work in popular wildlife television, which has shaped my attitudes and approaches. I pay particular attention to how my approach has changed and developed over time, both in response to other writers in the genre, and to external events such as the rise of environmental activism, the discipline of environmental humanities, the critical approaches of ecocriticism, and the concept of the Anthropocene.
Chapter 3 looks at the future both of New Nature Writing and my own development as a naturalist and writer. I examine the disputes and debates between practitioners and critics of New Nature Writing, and ask whether these are genuine debates, or merely a symbol of the narrow, occasionally elitist and often self-referential approach of writers in this genre. I question whether New Nature Writing can help change the way we view the world at a time of environmental emergency, or whether it inadvertently reinforces the status quo? Finally, I look forward to the future of New Nature Writing and of my own place in the future of the genre
Somalia: experiments in knowing and doing capacity building
No full textTaking the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and the Kampala Process as key focal points for the complex of actors involved in Somalia’s maritime governance, this chapter reconstructs a number of stories that convey how recursive relations between modes of problematisation, processes of institutionalisation and practices of capacity building have served to produce what we might call Somalia’s nascent maritime security assemblage
Determination of sovereign credit rating model for European countries
Get PDFCredit rating agencies play a key role in financial markets, as they help to reduce asymmetric information among market participants via credit ratings. The credit ratings determined by the credit rating agencies reflect the opinion of whether a country can fulfil the liability or its credit reliability at a particular time. Therefore, credit ratings are a very valuable tool, especially for investors. In addition, the issue that credit rating agencies are generally criticised is that they are unsuccessful in times of financial crisis. Credit rating methodologies of credit rating agencies have been subject to intense criticism, especially after the 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis. Some of the criticised issues are that credit rating agencies’ methodologies are not transparent; they are unable to make ratings on time, and they make incorrect ratings. In order to create a more reliable credit rating methodology, the credit rating industry and the ratings determined by rating agencies need to be critically examined and further investigated in this area. For this reason, in this study credit rating model has been developed for countries. Supervisory and regulatory variables, political indicators and macroeconomic factors were used as independent variables for the sovereign credit rating model. As a result of the study, the new sovereign credit rating calculates exactly the same credit rating with Fitch Rating Agency for developed countries, but there are 1 or 2 points differences for developing countries. In order to better understand the reason for these differences, credit rating agencies need to make their methodologies more transparent and disclose them to the public
We don't like each other: John Wood and Paul Harrison in conversation with Ellen Mara De Wachter
No full textAt a time when creative processes are changing because of the pandemic, many are finding collaborative working and joining of creative forces is more important than ever.
This has been at the heart of Wood and Harrison’ practice for over 30 years. Their work touches on themes of tragedy, comedy and irony, experimenting with the physical limitations, scale and movement of the human body in relation to the surrounding environment - universal notions that many of us can relate to right now.
De Wachter is author of 'Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration' (published by Phaidon) which explores the phenomenon of collaboration in the visual arts and its potential in society at large
The first thirty years (2020)
No full textJohn Wood and Paul Harrison have worked together for thirty years making videos in which they are the protagonists of ironic, paradoxical actions of a powerful visual impact. The film showcases the backstage of their works and has been defined by the artists themselves as “a documentary on how to work, on growing old, making mistakes, how to occasionally do the right things and on the everyday things in life”
Multisensory processing of emotional cues predicts psychological distress following exposure to a virtual reality stressor
No full textAbsence in/of the body: theatre praxis and embodied knowledge
No full textThis paper explores the absent body in physical space, both as spectators and makers of theatre, within an academic context. Moving between the narrative voices of autoethnographic writing and critical considerations, I will interrogate the notion of the mediatized body (Auslander, 2008) and dis-embodiment (Bleeker 2006) with a particular focus on presence and absence.
To examine this further, I turn to debates around the body in performance (Birringer, 1993; Spackman, 2000) and more pressingly consult Sheppard (2006) Coetzee (2018), Coetzee & Munro (2010), Parker-Starbuck & Mock (2011) who discuss the body as a site of and as performance. To look at the notion of watching and creating, I will investigate the body as a site of performance within the teaching of performance, because within this context what is channelled is embodied knowledge through a subject that relies on praxis.
This paper will re-examine how the body is theorized within and as performance (Melrose, 2006 & Shepherd, 2006) and look to build on prior studies of how embodiment and praxis is defined in the study of theatre (Meskin and van der Walt, 2018 & Jones, 2002). I will assert that online delivery, and its subsequent spectatorship, requires the rejection of the body and leaves a marked absence in the practice/praxis of the subject. We find ourselves teaching a subject that, at its core, relies on embodied presence, in a cerebral state alone, and this paper considers the enforced cesura and what that means for both making and watching live work