This latest book by one the world's leading protagonists in the field will be welcomed not just by psychologists but by students, academics and professionals interested in social constructionism across a wide range of subjects. Social Construction in Context explores the potentials of social constructionist theory when placed in diverse intellectual and practical contexts. It demonstrates the achievements of social constructionism, and what it can now offer various fields of inquiry, both academic, professional and applied, given the proliferation of the theory across the social sciences and humanities.

In this introduction to theory and method, students of organization will find a comprehensive view of the key theories in their field, combined with a toolkit of guidelines linking these to the different methods available for analyzing and interpreting organizational life. Distinguishing `the external society' and the `internal society', Antonio Strati sheds light on the different contexts that shape organizational life and the different levels of analysis that may be used. By showing the many levels at which organizations function and can be understood this book provides an invaluable introduction to analysis and research for advanced students. Recent concepts such as `the organization as hypertext'; `communities of practi

A critical and empirical study that explores the constitution of managerial identities in the age of mass education in management and challenges the way we think about organizations and their management.

This book offers new ways of thinking about corruption by examining the two distinct ways in which policy approaches and discourse on corruption developed in the UN and the OECD. One of these approaches extrapolated transnational bribery as the main form of corrupt practices and advocated a limited scope offense, while the other approach tackled the broader structure of the global economic system and advocated curbing the increasing power of multinational corporations. Developing nations, in particular Chile, initiated and contributed much to these early debates, but the US-sponsored issue of transnational bribery came to dominate the international agenda. In the process, the ‘corrupt corporation’ was supplanted by the ‘corrupt politician’, the ‘corrupt public official’ and their international counterpart: the ‘corrupt country’. This book sheds light on these processes and the way in which they reconfigured our understanding of the state as an economic actor and the multinational corporation as a political actor.

"Remains an authoritative overview of the field, but is now markedly more accessible. It will be invaluable to students and scholars looking for a sustained and engaging inquiry into the premises and practices of social constructionism." - Dr Matthew Adams, University of Brighton "Kenneth Gergen elegantly presents his constructionist ideas in a style that is both relational and inviting, and, at the same time, comprehensive and thorough. By tracing the history of his ideas, he provides a blueprint for others to follow by including further reflections and additional references. Dr Gergen once again has paved the way for innovative, relational, and ethical ways of thinking about pedagogy, research and practice. I strongly recommend this outstanding book for child and youth care practitioners, social workers, counselors, mediators and psychologists." - Marie Hoskins, Professor, School of Child and Youth Care, Faculty of Human and Social Development, University of Victoria "This aptly titled book provides an accessible theoretical introduction to social constructionism applicable to numerous fields: therapy, education, research. As a teacher of Family Therapy, this book provides a foundation for understanding social constructionist therapy models and research and adds depth to my students understanding of these models." - Kevin Lyness, Antioch University Reflecting the significant developments in constructivist thought and practice, the Second Edition of An Invitation to Social Construction has been thoroughly revised and updated with material on major new areas such as discourse analysis, action research, the body and environmentalism. While still preserving the celebrated wide-ranging and profound approach of the first, the Second Edition, now with pedagogical features throughout, is even more accessible for students.

What is the social structure of Chinese society in the 21st century? How should China address the problem of migrant workers? How can China form a modern society? These key sociological issues are some of the topics this book covers. This book is a collection of the research articles and lectures that Dr. Lu Xueyi, the former Head of the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has published since the 1980s. The author discusses the social structure, social stratification, social construction, and development of contemporary Chinese society. Arguing that the gap between economic and social development has become the major social issue facing modern China, the author advocates paying close attention to the country’s social structure and the growth of the middle class. The book will be of interest to all scholars and students of Sociology and Chinese Studies.

An anniversary edition of an influential book that introduced a groundbreaking approach to the study of science, technology, and society. This pioneering book, first published in 1987, launched the new field of social studies of technology. It introduced a method of inquiry—social construction of technology, or SCOT—that became a key part of the wider discipline of science and technology studies. The book helped the MIT Press shape its STS list and inspired the Inside Technology series. The thirteen essays in the book tell stories about such varied technologies as thirteenth-century galleys, eighteenth-century cooking stoves, and twentieth-century missile systems. Taken together, they affirm the fruitfulness of an approach to the study of technology that gives equal weight to technical, social, economic, and political questions, and they demonstrate the illuminating effects of the integration of empirics and theory. The approaches in this volume—collectively called SCOT (after the volume's title) have since broadened their scope, and twenty-five years after the publication of this book, it is difficult to think of a technology that has not been studied from a SCOT perspective and impossible to think of a technology that cannot be studied that way.

The book provides a good open-systems introduction to the topic of organization change, presenting the big concepts in a way that managers can use.

"This book offers a new look at the latest research and critical issues within the field of information systems by creating solid theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical findings of social developments"--

Contains nine papers that address the challenges in organizational change, report the results of change-related research, and advocate methodological advances in the field.