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Among well-known sociologists, Robert Nisbet was almost unique in considering himself a “conservative.” He defined this orientation not in terms of conventional American partisan affiliation but as a sociological and anthropological perspective. Nisbet viewed human relations as requiring organic relations, which he assumed to be hierarchical and communally determined. Such relations seemed to Nisbet...
Nisbet’s conception of sociology practiced as an art form: multivocality, tolerance for uncertainty, wealth of invention, reservation of judgement. Tocqueville as exemplar. Nisbet’s own writings evaluated in the light of his best insights. A southern white perspective on the central state, shaped in later years by quest for recognition in a rising conservative movement. Lesson to be gleaned: discernment...
Victor Zaslavsky’s memoir of evacuation, as a child, during the seige of Leningrad, describes the transport of Leningrad’s children to the Urals, the difficulty of finding shelter, and the peasant family who took him, his aunt and his cousin in.
This article discusses the ideas of progress and social change in the sociology of Robert Nisbet. It contends that Nisbet is a unique figure in US sociology given his conservative political views, his historicist understanding of social and political thought and his interest in the moral texture of sociological ideas. In terms of structure, the article proceeds in three steps. Firstly, it reconstructs...
With the inception of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as ObamaCare, a new class of law breakers was established. Struggling Americans are penalized through fines, masked as taxes, imposed by the IRS, for failing to obtain health insurance. Although Americans cannot be imprisoned for falling to pay the tax, uninsured Americans can be classified as tax evaders, thus, imposing a negative...
In everyday language, charisma has been used to refer to a broad spectrum of human relations, from romantic love to admiration for certain extraordinary abilities of public figures. Historically, the term has been used to describe “a gift of divine grace,” an attribute of magical magnetism and the power of a religious or secular leader as seen by that person’s followers. Over time, the term became...
This essay discusses the uncanny parallels, paradoxes, and puzzles in the lives and careers of author of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the famous George Orwell, and the virtually unknown French writer and political radical, Jean Malaquais. The striking affinities between Orwell and Malaquais, both of whom came to literary maturity in the 1930s, involve both their themes and genres. Both men fully engaged...
Mainline religious institutions foster volunteering to serve the common good, and thereby build up their own members’ happiness. Among mainline denominations, Presbyterians stand out for their high levels of volunteering, optimism, generalized trust, and happiness, as shown by new data from the Presbyterian Panel. This is tied not only to their general status as a core mainline denomination, but specifically...
In The Ethics Police?, Robert L. Klitzman reports his findings from interviews with members, chairs, and administrators of institutional review boards (IRBs). He finds them to be poorly trained in ethical reasoning, inconsistent in their decisions, and naive about the amount of power they wield. Yet he also maintains that IRBs “have succeeded in many ways.”
This article discusses ways in which autobiographical writing of cancer experience can be used by non-professional writers living with the disease or its aftermath, and has been used by professional writers in published cancer memoirs, to help find meaning in cancer experience. It also considers wider sociological dimensions of cancer experience in contemporary western culture.
Today’s duel specters of sophisticated psychoterror and cyber warfare imperil our right to privacy and freedom. Experts warn that the cyberscape threatens to become the new war front among rival powers. Will our technology outflank our technical capacity—and our moral will—to safeguard civil liberties?
This article explores the history of spiritual assessment tools as a lens through which to consider the place of spirituality and religion in American healthcare. While precise definitions of spiritual assessment have evolved with the concept, the phrase generally refers to the process of evaluating someone’s spiritual needs and resources and addressing those needs in the context of clinical healthcare...
This article argues that many forms of “integrative” medicine (IM) offered in modern hospitals are both secular and religious. Practices such as yoga, t’ai chi, acupuncture, mindfulness meditation, biofeedback, chiropractic, homeopathy, aromatherapy, Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, and Healing Touch are premised on metaphysical assumptions about spiritual energy that are deeply informed by religions such...
Rescue activities in US acute care settings reaffirm an unspoken belief in an unlimited future for patients, families, clniicians, and the public at large. Reaching for that future erases the patient’s experiences in the present, which can be detrimental to her welfare. A case study is used to illustrate how clinicians’ urgency to reify their faith in the patient’s unlimited future violated her real-world...
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