Food security is now commonly seen as one of the defining global issues of the century, intertwin... more Food security is now commonly seen as one of the defining global issues of the century, intertwined with population and consumption shifts, climate change, environmental degradation, water scarcity, and the geopolitics attending globalization. Some analysts suggest that food security threats are so urgent that philosophical scruples must be set aside in order to concentrate all resources on developing and implementing radical strategies to avert a looming civilizational crisis. This article suggests that definitions of food security invoke commitments and have consequences, and that continued critical and conceptual attention to the language employed in food security research and policy is warranted.
Asahara, followed by a small upper elite, at the top of a hierarchical system. Asahara and the el... more Asahara, followed by a small upper elite, at the top of a hierarchical system. Asahara and the elite had already attained their higher spiritual ranks through a mastery of ascetic practices. This status-conscious system combined with an absolute devotion to their guru, led to ordinary members being expected to obey whatever Asahara or the upper elite might dictate. It thus became difficult for ordinary members to raise a dissenting voice. Members assigned to kill or kidnap Aum's enemies actually regarded their task as honorable, because such deeds were a way of carrying out poa ritual and of furthering the movement's salvific Shambhala Plan. In several parts of this book, I found interpretations by Reader that have much in common with those put forward by a leading Japanese scholar, Shimazono Susumu in his Gendai Sh ikyo no Kanosei [Potential for Contemporary Religion]. For Japanese scholars who have read Shimazono's works or the Japanese translation of Robert Jay Lifton's Destroying the world to save it, therefore, Reader's interpretation may not be remarkably new. This book is of value, however, since it takes into account materials and academic studies of Aum that largely have been available only in Japanese. Finally, I should like to take issue with Reader on one point. He describes the ky8saku or "waking stick" as an example of
This article argues the Canadian government’s decision in 2010 to eliminate the mandatory long-fo... more This article argues the Canadian government’s decision in 2010 to eliminate the mandatory long-form census constitutes a mobilizing appeal to libertarian populism commensurate not only with neoliberal concepts of individualism, private property, and the role of the state, but also with a redefinition of what counts as valid argumentation and a legitimate basis for making knowledge claims. This rationale has implications for sociological research and theory, for the profession of sociology, and for a sociological vision of society.
Public Health Center (PHC) of Pattallassang as health care unit is required to provide excellent ... more Public Health Center (PHC) of Pattallassang as health care unit is required to provide excellent service to the community. This study aims to determine the Community Satisfaction Index (CSI), quality of service and performance of services unit of Pattallassang PHC, TakalarRergency.This research uses descriptive quantitative approach with survey method. The sampling technique used was Accidental Samplingbythe number of respondents as many as 150 people ("number of elements" + 1 x 10) of the total population of the service recipient. Data analysis was done using Community Satisfaction Index values which are calculated by the weighted average value of each element of the service as many as 14 elements (Decree No.25/M.PAN/2/2004). The research results showed that the discipline value of service personnel (2.43), justice for obtaining services (2.35), and the certainty of the service schedule (2.41) got C point (less good), and one element with A point (very good) namely the certainty element of service charges (3.26). The performance of services unit of PHC Pattallassang, TakalarRegency is Good which had conversion interval values of CSI from 62.51 to 81.25, namely 69.54.
This article examines the framing and definition of "education" by members of the Pii'kani Nation... more This article examines the framing and definition of "education" by members of the Pii'kani Nation interviewed for a study on motivations for pursuing educational opportunities. The research team found itself led to step back from the research process proper to allow definitions more indicative of a community's sense of itself to emerge. Such definitions, and their supporting narratives, may prove important in developing appropiate criteria for educational achievement and continuing educa.. tion programs in First Nations communities. Cette article etudie la structure et la definition de I'education par les membres de la Nation Pii'kani qui ont ete interviewe pour une etude sur les motivations a utiliser les opportunites d'education. L' equipe de recherche s'est trouve elle meme confronter de la procesus de recherche propre pour procurer des definitions plus indicatifs du 'sense de lui meme' du communite d'apparaitre. De tel definitions, et leurs supports narratifs, peuvent etre important dans Ie development de criteres appropries pour la reussite de I' education et la continuite des programmes d'education destine aux Communites Autochtones.
Turner/The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, 2010
... both are actualized through actions and their material consequences; both also organize andst... more ... both are actualized through actions and their material consequences; both also organize andstructure action. Any theory of religion, like religion itself, exists inescapably only as a particular ... if his use of causality is creatively ambiguous, he does not stray far from the admonition ...
Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Rethinking the Political: The Sacred, Aesthetic Politics, and the Coll... more Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Rethinking the Political: The Sacred, Aesthetic Politics, and the Collège de Sociologie. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011, 294 pp. $39.95 softcover (978-0-7735-3901-3
William Ramp teaches sociological theory at the University of Lethbridge, and has written a chapt... more William Ramp teaches sociological theory at the University of Lethbridge, and has written a chapter on Durkheimian sociology of religion in the New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion (2010).
Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life examines a fundamental intercalation of selfhood, s... more Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life examines a fundamental intercalation of selfhood, sociality and cosmology, but as a response to a particular political context, it may also speak to contemporary issues of sovereignty and democracy. Reading the Elementary Forms in this context, and in light of Durkheim's references to monarchy, absolutism and revolution, is suggestive of an approach to such issues which resists sacrifice of the social to the sovereign, whether hierarchical or popular.
Food security is now commonly seen as one of the defining global issues of the century, intertwin... more Food security is now commonly seen as one of the defining global issues of the century, intertwined with population and consumption shifts, climate change, environmental degradation, water scarcity, and the geopolitics attending globalization. Some analysts suggest that food security threats are so urgent that philosophical scruples must be set aside in order to concentrate all resources on developing and implementing radical strategies to avert a looming civilizational crisis. This article suggests that definitions of food security invoke commitments and have consequences, and that continued critical and conceptual attention to the language employed in food security research and policy is warranted.
Asahara, followed by a small upper elite, at the top of a hierarchical system. Asahara and the el... more Asahara, followed by a small upper elite, at the top of a hierarchical system. Asahara and the elite had already attained their higher spiritual ranks through a mastery of ascetic practices. This status-conscious system combined with an absolute devotion to their guru, led to ordinary members being expected to obey whatever Asahara or the upper elite might dictate. It thus became difficult for ordinary members to raise a dissenting voice. Members assigned to kill or kidnap Aum's enemies actually regarded their task as honorable, because such deeds were a way of carrying out poa ritual and of furthering the movement's salvific Shambhala Plan. In several parts of this book, I found interpretations by Reader that have much in common with those put forward by a leading Japanese scholar, Shimazono Susumu in his Gendai Sh ikyo no Kanosei [Potential for Contemporary Religion]. For Japanese scholars who have read Shimazono's works or the Japanese translation of Robert Jay Lifton's Destroying the world to save it, therefore, Reader's interpretation may not be remarkably new. This book is of value, however, since it takes into account materials and academic studies of Aum that largely have been available only in Japanese. Finally, I should like to take issue with Reader on one point. He describes the ky8saku or "waking stick" as an example of
This article argues the Canadian government’s decision in 2010 to eliminate the mandatory long-fo... more This article argues the Canadian government’s decision in 2010 to eliminate the mandatory long-form census constitutes a mobilizing appeal to libertarian populism commensurate not only with neoliberal concepts of individualism, private property, and the role of the state, but also with a redefinition of what counts as valid argumentation and a legitimate basis for making knowledge claims. This rationale has implications for sociological research and theory, for the profession of sociology, and for a sociological vision of society.
Public Health Center (PHC) of Pattallassang as health care unit is required to provide excellent ... more Public Health Center (PHC) of Pattallassang as health care unit is required to provide excellent service to the community. This study aims to determine the Community Satisfaction Index (CSI), quality of service and performance of services unit of Pattallassang PHC, TakalarRergency.This research uses descriptive quantitative approach with survey method. The sampling technique used was Accidental Samplingbythe number of respondents as many as 150 people ("number of elements" + 1 x 10) of the total population of the service recipient. Data analysis was done using Community Satisfaction Index values which are calculated by the weighted average value of each element of the service as many as 14 elements (Decree No.25/M.PAN/2/2004). The research results showed that the discipline value of service personnel (2.43), justice for obtaining services (2.35), and the certainty of the service schedule (2.41) got C point (less good), and one element with A point (very good) namely the certainty element of service charges (3.26). The performance of services unit of PHC Pattallassang, TakalarRegency is Good which had conversion interval values of CSI from 62.51 to 81.25, namely 69.54.
This article examines the framing and definition of "education" by members of the Pii'kani Nation... more This article examines the framing and definition of "education" by members of the Pii'kani Nation interviewed for a study on motivations for pursuing educational opportunities. The research team found itself led to step back from the research process proper to allow definitions more indicative of a community's sense of itself to emerge. Such definitions, and their supporting narratives, may prove important in developing appropiate criteria for educational achievement and continuing educa.. tion programs in First Nations communities. Cette article etudie la structure et la definition de I'education par les membres de la Nation Pii'kani qui ont ete interviewe pour une etude sur les motivations a utiliser les opportunites d'education. L' equipe de recherche s'est trouve elle meme confronter de la procesus de recherche propre pour procurer des definitions plus indicatifs du 'sense de lui meme' du communite d'apparaitre. De tel definitions, et leurs supports narratifs, peuvent etre important dans Ie development de criteres appropries pour la reussite de I' education et la continuite des programmes d'education destine aux Communites Autochtones.
Turner/The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, 2010
... both are actualized through actions and their material consequences; both also organize andst... more ... both are actualized through actions and their material consequences; both also organize andstructure action. Any theory of religion, like religion itself, exists inescapably only as a particular ... if his use of causality is creatively ambiguous, he does not stray far from the admonition ...
Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Rethinking the Political: The Sacred, Aesthetic Politics, and the Coll... more Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Rethinking the Political: The Sacred, Aesthetic Politics, and the Collège de Sociologie. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011, 294 pp. $39.95 softcover (978-0-7735-3901-3
William Ramp teaches sociological theory at the University of Lethbridge, and has written a chapt... more William Ramp teaches sociological theory at the University of Lethbridge, and has written a chapter on Durkheimian sociology of religion in the New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion (2010).
Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life examines a fundamental intercalation of selfhood, s... more Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life examines a fundamental intercalation of selfhood, sociality and cosmology, but as a response to a particular political context, it may also speak to contemporary issues of sovereignty and democracy. Reading the Elementary Forms in this context, and in light of Durkheim's references to monarchy, absolutism and revolution, is suggestive of an approach to such issues which resists sacrifice of the social to the sovereign, whether hierarchical or popular.
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