Yes, keeping up our networks does help each one of us. But this does not seem to be the kind of inspirational call to a wider world that will transform the current problems in the nation.
Relational, Not Instrumental Connections
Lawler, Thye, & Yoon argue that it is not simply sufficient to create the shell of the kinds of institutions that can encourage and support community. Rather, we must consider the ways in which we can shift the connections between people and institutions and between institutions and institutions from being essentially instrumental to being more deeply relational.
This volume argues that there are fundamental social conditions under which transactional, purely instrumental ties to a group tend to become relational and expressive. We reframe the transactional-relational issue as a problems of social commitment and conceive this problem as bearing on the classic Hobbesian question: how is social order possible?
Social commitments are construed here as distinct from purely instrumental or transactional ones in that they are non-instrumental and infused with emotion or affect. They entail person-to-group ties with an emotional or affective component and have the capacity to generate group-oriented cooperation and collaboration more effectively and efficiently than transactional ties alone. (p. 5)
The authors posit a growing porousness in the relationships that Americans are engaged in as we become related to each other in less and less traditional ways. For example, they cite the fact that few of us live in the kind of traditional, nuclear family that was the default family pattern that was common several generations ago.
Fragments? Or Freedom?
And yes, this is certainly true. But it is important to take a step back and examine the assumptions that the authors are making. Yes, social structures are different than they were fifty years ago. But this loosening of our social connections, our turning inward and away from certain established social institutions, has been accompanied by a loosening of conventions that were in many ways suffocating. (Let us just...
American National Character (history) The Ongoing Search for an "American National Character" This assignment asks the following pertinent and challenging questions: Is it possible to find trends amongst so much diversity? What characteristics are distinctly American, regardless of class, race, and background? What is problematic about making these generalizations and inheriting the culture? What have we inherited exactly? What problems arise with our ideals - and are we being honest with ourselves?
American National Character What characteristics are distinctly American, regardless of class, race, background? What is problematic about making these generalizations and inheriting the culture? What have we inherited exactly? What problems arise with our ideals - and are we being honest with ourselves? Discuss individualism and the "American Dream." Are these goals realized and are they realistic? This paper seeks answers to those questions. The Puritans (The American Puritans: Their Prose
American National Character America can almost be thought of as a massive experiment in culture. Here we have a nation inhabited almost entirely by immigrants; all with different languages, customs, beliefs, and appearances who are forced to somehow reach a common understanding and identity. Through the over two hundred years of American history many differences have threatened to unravel our diverse nation, but still, many commonalities have ultimately held it
Such an inclination to dismiss work like Hofstede's might rather be defined as bad science, because the definition of validity that is used in the human sciences now is one that has been imported from the hard sciences in an attempt to transfer to the human sciences the prestige of the hard sciences. However the concept of validity is not based on a single research methodology. Instead it refers to
Relationship Marketing and Its Impact on Consumer Behavior Research Questions & Sub-questions Research Design & Methodology Organization of Study Secondary Research This report explores Customer Relationship management. In [articular the investigation seeks to understand the impact of relationship Marketing and Its Impact on Consumer Behavior. This issue has proven problematic for businesses because many do not have the ability to form effective relationships with customers. This deficiency costs companies customers and profits. The report sought
In the fifth place, some English language cinemas compete directly with Hollywood within its own playing field. The sixth and seventh cinema types are interesting, since they attempt to retain a singular identity without external influence. One of these is the cinema that exists entirely within a state-controlled industry, which is often subsidized by the same state. Finally, there are those national cinemas that hold such a specific identity
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now