Global Institutions and Social Knowledge

Global Institutions and Social Knowledge PDF

Author: Virginia M. Walsh

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004-05-21

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 0262731673

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This theoretical and empirical study examines the influence of global institutions on the generation of scientific knowledge. Virginia Walsh's approach reverses the traditional focus of international relations literature—which most often deals with how scientific knowledge influences institutions—and offers an original way to look at international environmental governance. After proposing a theory of institutional mechanisms by which global institutions shape the generation of knowledge, the book turns to detailed case studies of two institutions in the under- studied but vital area of marine science, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, to illustrate these mechanisms. In part 1, "Theory," the book identifies three specific mechanisms or "fixes" that provide the means by which institutions shape the generation and use of knowledge. With the positional fix, key individuals use their social roles or positions in an institution to influence the beliefs of members or fix the direction of research. The statutory fix occurs when beliefs gain acceptance as a consequence of being embedded in rules or treaties. The committee fix is illustrated in the regularized practices through which social groups accept statements as group beliefs. Part 2, "Evidence," shows these mechanisms at work in the two case studies. The Scripps Institution, for example, illustrates the positional fix, as successive directors used their position to frame research. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, on the other hand, exemplifies both the statutory fix and the committee fix in its regulatory actions.

Global Institutions and Social Knowledge

Global Institutions and Social Knowledge PDF

Author: Virginia M. Walsh

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004-05-21

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780262265102

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This theoretical and empirical study examines the influence of global institutions on the generation of scientific knowledge. Virginia Walsh's approach reverses the traditional focus of international relations literature—which most often deals with how scientific knowledge influences institutions—and offers an original way to look at international environmental governance. After proposing a theory of institutional mechanisms by which global institutions shape the generation of knowledge, the book turns to detailed case studies of two institutions in the under- studied but vital area of marine science, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, to illustrate these mechanisms. In part 1, "Theory," the book identifies three specific mechanisms or "fixes" that provide the means by which institutions shape the generation and use of knowledge. With the positional fix, key individuals use their social roles or positions in an institution to influence the beliefs of members or fix the direction of research. The statutory fix occurs when beliefs gain acceptance as a consequence of being embedded in rules or treaties. The committee fix is illustrated in the regularized practices through which social groups accept statements as group beliefs. Part 2, "Evidence," shows these mechanisms at work in the two case studies. The Scripps Institution, for example, illustrates the positional fix, as successive directors used their position to frame research. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, on the other hand, exemplifies both the statutory fix and the committee fix in its regulatory actions.

Social Knowledge in the Making

Social Knowledge in the Making PDF

Author: Charles Camic

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-07-24

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 0226092100

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Over the past quarter century, researchers have successfully explored the inner workings of the physical and biological sciences using a variety of social and historical lenses. Inspired by these advances, the contributors to Social Knowledge in the Making turn their attention to the social sciences, broadly construed. The result is the first comprehensive effort to study and understand the day-to-day activities involved in the creation of social-scientific and related forms of knowledge about the social world. The essays collected here tackle a range of previously unexplored questions about the practices involved in the production, assessment, and use of diverse forms of social knowledge. A stellar cast of multidisciplinary scholars addresses topics such as the changing practices of historical research, anthropological data collection, library usage, peer review, and institutional review boards. Turning to the world beyond the academy, other essays focus on global banks, survey research organizations, and national security and economic policy makers. Social Knowledge in the Making is a landmark volume for a new field of inquiry, and the bold new research agenda it proposes will be welcomed in the social science, the humanities, and a broad range of nonacademic settings.

International Organizations in Global Social Governance

International Organizations in Global Social Governance PDF

Author: Kerstin Martens

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-04-06

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 3030654397

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International Organizations (IOs) are important actors within global social governance. They provide forums for exchange, contention and cooperation about social policies. Our knowledge about the involvement of IOs varies significantly by policy fields, and we know comparatively little about the specific roles of IOs in social policies. This volume enhances and systematizes our understanding of IOs in global social governance. It provides studies on a variety of social policy fields in which different, but also the same, IOs operate. The chapters shed light on IO involvement in a particular social policy field by describing the population of participating IOs; exploring how a particular global social policy field is constituted as a whole, and which dominant IOs set the trends. The contributors also examine the discourse within, and between, these IOs on the respective social policies. As such, this first-of-its kind book contributes to research on social policy and international relations, both in terms of theoretical substantiation and empirical scope.

Global Social Policy and Governance

Global Social Policy and Governance PDF

Author: Bob Deacon

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2007-04-06

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9781412907620

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`This primer on the global politics of social policy ... is essential reading for students as well as others seriously interested in improving the human condition. Nuanced and critical, Deacon′s book offers a much needed and constructive guide to the complex supra-national debates over rights, regulation and redistribution impinging on social welfare all over the world′ - Jomo K.S., United Nations Assistant, Secretary-General for Economic Development `This book is very timely and addresses many issues that are en vogue at the moment. It relates social policy studies to other fields such as global governance and development studies and thus opens up new discussions in the subject area′ - Dr Antje Vetterlein, University of Oxford Global Social Policy and Governance offers an authoritative understanding of the way social policies at national and supra-national level are shaped in the context of globalisation. The book: " evaluates national social policies advanced by international organisations. " examines policies addressing global social redistribution, regulation and rights. " highlights the roles of global actors, including INGOs, consultants, think tanks, task forces and global policy advocacy coalitions. " explores the political obstacles to reforms in global social governance, " outlines the growing importance of global social movements. " presents arguments for more effective global and regional social policies. " is illustrated by case studies, further reading sections and a glossary. Global Social Policy and Governance will be an essential text for students of social policy, development studies and international relations. It will also be invaluable reading for those shaping social policies in international organisations and those in social movements seeking to influence them. Bob Deacon is Professor of International Social Policy at the University of Sheffield.

The University and the Global Knowledge Society

The University and the Global Knowledge Society PDF

Author: David John Frank

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0691202079

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How the university went global and became the heart of the information age The university is experiencing an unprecedented level of success today, as more universities in more countries educate more students in more fields. At the same time, the university has become central to a knowledge society based on the belief that everyone can, through higher education, access universal truths and apply them in the name of progress. This book traces the university's rise over the past hundred years to become the cultural linchpin of contemporary society, revealing how the so-called ivory tower has become profoundly interlinked with almost every area of human endeavor. David John Frank and John Meyer describe how, as the university expanded, student and faculty bodies became larger, more diverse, and more empowered to turn knowledge into action. Their contributions to society underscored the public importance of scholarship, and as the cultural authority of universities grew they increased the scope of their research and teaching interests. As a result, the university has become the bedrock of today's information-based society, an institution that is now implicated in the solution to every conceivable problem. But, as Frank and Meyer also show, the conditions that helped spur the university's recent ascendance are not immutable: eruptions of nationalism, authoritarianism, and illiberalism undercut the university's universalistic and rationalistic premises, and may threaten the centrality of the university itself.

When Knowledge Is Power

When Knowledge Is Power PDF

Author: Ernst B. Haas

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2024-06-28

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0520415566

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Do governments seeking to collaborate in such international organizations as the United Nations and the World Bank ever learn to improve the performance of those organizations? Can international organizations be improved by a deliberate institutional design that reflects lessons learned in peacekeeping, the protection of human rights, and environmentally sound economic development? In this incisive work, Ernst Haas examines these and other issues to delineate the conditions under which organizations change their methods for defining problems. Haas contends that international organizations change most effectively when they are able to redefine the causes underlying the problems to be addressed. He shows that such self-reflection is possible when the expert-generated knowledge about the problems can be made to mesh with the interests of hegemonic coalitions of member governments. But usually efforts to change organizations begin as adaptive practices that owe little to a systematic questioning of past behavior. Often organizations adapt and survive without fully satisfying most of their members, as has been the case with the United Nations since 1970. When Knowledge Is Power is a wide-ranging work that will elicit interest from political scientists, organization theorists, bureaucrats, and students of management and international administration. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education

Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education PDF

Author: Roger King

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 561

ISBN-13: 0857936239

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Ô. . . the Handbook constitutes an essential reference source for everyone interested in studying the current meaning, scope and implications of globalization. Strongly recommended.Õ Ð Higher Education Review Higher education has entered centre-stage in the context of the knowledge economy and has been deployed in the search for economic competitiveness and social development. Against this backdrop, this highly illuminating Handbook explores worldwide convergences and divergences in national higher education systems resulting from increased global co-operation and competition. The expert contributors reveal the strategies, practices and governance mechanisms developed by international and regional organizations, national governments and by higher education institutions themselves. They analyse local responses to dominant global templates of higher education and the consequences for knowledge generation, social equity, economic development and the public good. This comprehensive and accessible Handbook will prove an invaluable reference tool for researchers, academics and students with an interest in higher education from economics, international studies and public policy perspectives, as well as for higher education policymakers, and funding and governance bodies.

The University and the Global Knowledge Society

The University and the Global Knowledge Society PDF

Author: David John Frank

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0691202052

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"This book examines the core changes in the nature, status, and significance of the university over the last century. Having grown in numbers, reach, and scope, the university has seen sweeping expansion and has become central in a contemporary global society built on liberal and neoliberal institutions. David Frank and John Meyer begin by describing the university's expansion, focusing especially on global diffusion. They then examine the transformation of university knowledge, illustrating the ways in which standardized and scientific knowledge now reaches into more sectors of everyday life. This leads them to discuss the porous interface between the university and society. They suggest that there are now essentially no social problems that the university should not responsibly address. The result is a society dependent on credentials and cultural content provided by the university, and in the final chapter of the book, the authors reflect on what it means to exist in this "knowledge society""--

Global Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences

Global Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences PDF

Author: Wiebke Keim

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1317127692

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An innovative contribution to debates on the internationalization and globalization of the social sciences, this book pays particular attention to their theoretical and epistemological reconfiguration in the light of postcolonial critiques and critiques of Eurocentrism. Bringing together theoretical contributions and empirical case studies from around the world, including India, the Americas, South Africa, Australia and Europe, it engages in debates concerning public sociology and explores South-South research collaborations specific to the social sciences. Contributions transcend established critiques of Eurocentrism to make space for the idea of global social sciences and truly transnational research. Thematically arranged and both international and interdisciplinary in scope, this volume reflects the different theoretical and thematic backgrounds of the contributing authors, who enter into dialogue and debate with one another in the development of a more inclusive, more representative and more theoretically relevant stage for the social sciences. A rigorous critique of the contemporary state of the social sciences as well as an attempt to find another way of doing transnational sociology, Global Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences will appeal to scholars of sociology, political science and social theory with interests in the production of social scientific knowledge, postcolonialism and transnationalism in research.