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This book includes contributions from an interdisciplinary field of research we call Socionics. Based on a close cooperation between sociologists and researchers from distributed artificial intelligence and multiagent systems, Socionics deals with the exploration of the emergence and dynamics of artificial social systems, agent societies, as well as hybrid man-machine societies. The aim is both to develop intelligent computer technologies by picking up theoretical concepts and methods from sociology and to improve sociological models of societies and organizations by using advanced computer technology. The 15 articles in this state-of-the-art survey combine selected contributions from sociology and informatics on the modeling, construction, and study of complex social systems with special regard to the problem of scaling multiagent systems. The discussion focuses on four specific research areas: multi-layer modeling, organization and self-organization, emergence of social structures, and paths from an agent-centered to a communication-centered perspective in modeling multiagent systems.
Drawing extensively on the research findings of natural and social sciences both in America and Europe, Reframing the Social argues for a critical realist and systemist social ontology, designed to shed light on current debates in social theory concerning the relationship of social ontology to practical social research, and the nature of 'the social'. It explores the works of the systems theorist Mario Bunge in comparison with the approach of Niklas Luhmann and critical social systems theorists, to challenge the commonly held view that the systems-based approach is holistic in nature and necessarily downplays the role of human agency. Theoretically sophisticated and investigating the work of a theorist whose work has until now received insufficient attention in Anglo-American thought, this book will be of interest to those working in the field of social theory, as well as scholars concerned with philosophy of social science, the project of analytical sociology, and the nature of the relationship between the natural and social sciences.
Network research in the social sciences has successfully followed a structuralist approach where social phenomena are studied with regard to the pattern of relations between actors. These patterns of relations - social networks - are seen as the decisive level of social structures. Otherfeatures like formal roles, cultural norms, and values, are treated as secondary. As such, the field of social network research is currently divided between technically sophisticated analyses and complex, elusive theorizing.In Social Networks of Meaning and Communication, Jan Fuhse offers a coherent theory of social structures as networks of relations interwoven with meaning. Drawing upon and extending the cu...
This book provides the first systematic overview of German sociology today. Thirty-four chapters review current trends, relate them to international discussions and discuss perspectives for future research. The contributions span the whole range of sociological research topics, from social inequality to the sociology of body and space, addressing pressing questions in sociological theory and innovative research methods. TOC: Introduction Culture / Uta Karstein and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr Demography and Aging / François Höpflinger Economic Sociology / Andrea Maurer Education and Socialization / Matthias Grundmann Environment / Anita Engels Europe / Monika Eigmüller Family and Intimate Relation...
What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education.
Kaum ein soziologischer Diskurs hat sich in den letzten Jahren so sehr um begriffliche Stringenz und kausale Erklärungsfähigkeit bemüht wie der "mechanism-based approach to social theory" . In diesen Diskurs wollen sich die Autoren mit der Frage einmischen, ob und wie sich das Konzept der sozialen Mechanismen angesichts der inhärenten "Reflexivität" von sozialen Zusammenhängen bewähren kann. Angestrebt wird eine Theoriediskussion, die sich an den Stichworten "Erklärung", "Erzeugung", "Reflexivität" festmachen und unterschiedliche Ansätze zu Wort kommen lassen will.
Individuals sometimes derive sexual pleasure from submission to cruel discipline. While that predilection was noted as early as the sixteenth century, masochism was not codified as a concept until 1890. According to John K. Noyes, its invention reflected a crisis in the liberal understanding of subjectivity and sexuality which continues to inform discussions of masochism today. In essence, it remains a political concept. Viennese physician Richard von Krafft-Ebing coined the term masochism, based on the work of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Noyes analyzes the social and political problems that inspired the concept, suggesting, for example, that the triumphant expansion of European colonialism w...
This is the full-color companion to Botanical Medicine, the text-only version of Botanical Therapeutics: Actions, Interactions and Indications. See what these medicinal plants look like in full color!
This is the full version, including pictures of the herbs, of the most commonly used herbal medicines. Listed are the actions, interactions with drugs, naturopathic, Eclectic, TCM, Ayurvedic and homeopathic uses. The herbs described are based on the NPLEX blueprint for the licensing boards for naturopathic physicians.See also the companion text: Actions, Interactions and Indications for Selected Pharmacologic Agents by the same author.