Citizenship Revisited
Citizenship Revisited

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9781590339008

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Strangely, citizenship has usually been considered as a matter of interest when it is questioned or even withheld. The other way round, usually citizenship is taken for granted 'as it is', not being defined as such. In consequence we find only a negative definition rather than a clear way of spelling out the meaning. As globalisation spreads and deepens, the question of citizenship becomes crucial for society. It is already possible to see changes in voting patterns in such a country as France due to its immigration policies. This has long been the case in America as well, and is being felt there yet again by the effects of the citizenships of its newest immigrants. The contributions in this volumes are dealing with different aspects of defining citizenship -- though not necessarily conceptualising it as such, i.e. under this term. These are burning questions which this book explores in this explosive national and international issue. Contents: Introduction; Citizenship Revisited: Threats and Opportunities of Shifting Boundaries; Globalisation as Seen from the Local Level; Self-Improved Citizens: Citizenship, Social Inclusion and the Self in the Politics of Welfare; Citizen Partici

Utopian Politics
Utopian Politics

Author: Rhiannon Firth

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-03-12

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1136580727

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In the context of global problems such as the economic downturn, escalating inequality, terrorism, resource depletion and climate change, cynicism prevails in contemporary politics, which need not be the case. Utopian Politics confronts a world intensely aware of the problems that we face and sadly lacking in solutions, positing a utopian articulation of citizenship focused on community participation at a grassroots level. By re-examining central concepts and thinkers in political theory, this book re-casts the concepts of utopia and citizenship both as part of the classical philosophical tradition and simultaneously as part of the cutting edge of radical alternatives. This book includes never-before published ethnographic research, interviews and photographs from a range of autonomous UK communities, to show how the boundaries of politics and citizenship can be questioned and proposes an innovative methodology inspired by classical and post-structural anarchism. By considering ideas and practices that are generally considered to be marginal to mainstream political theory and practice, the book encourages readers to think about longstanding and central political debates in an entirely new, and creative way. Utopian Politics will be of interest to students and scholars of political theory, ethics and citizenship.

Human Beings--between the Individual and the Social
Human Beings--between the Individual and the Social

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 9781594545894

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Looking for an answer of social science: being able to maintain political independence; without loosing genuine political orientation and responsibility; and at the same time maintaining a sophisticated balance of holistic orientation on the one side and discrimination on the other side is, of course, on the one hand bound to the objective conditions of society; on the other hand -- and even more so -- scientists have to accept their responsibility of (re-)gaining independence in terms of looking for valid answers to assess development and to change them where necessary rather than fulfilling 'expectations of the development' by simply maintaining the status quo. In this regard, the present contributions reach a high level of expertise in their independence of judgements. This is of particular interest, as they cover a huge variety of topics and areas, not least coming from different disciplinary backgrounds and as well looking at different aggregate levels.

Youth Participation in Europe
Youth Participation in Europe

Author: Patricia Loncle

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2012-10-10

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1447300181

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In a period when social unrest and youth dissatisfaction has manifested itself through highly public protests, the question of youth participation in democratic societies is at the forefront. This book offers a fresh look at youth participation, examining official and unofficial constructions of participation by young people in a range of sociopolitical domains. It explores the motivations and rationales underlying official attempts to increase participation among young people and offers a critique of those various efforts' effectiveness. Based on original research data from a significant study, it provides a thorough analysis of an important sector of democratic societies.

Social Policy in Context
Social Policy in Context

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2014-07-10

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 3944690192

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Social policy is widely accepted as scientific discipline – and this includes that it accepts for itself another meaning of this status, one which is usually not considered: the subject is disciplined, i.e. regimented. One important point in this context is that social policy is focused and thereby forgets systematic economic determinants and the historical perspective on its own existence. The present book recalls some fundamental issues – such as the partial liberation of human decision making from extramundane powers – and as well as topics that are being discussed in contemporary settings. The volume brings different dimensions together in an insightful way and is a stimulating read for those who are ready to engage with the complexity of political questions, are looking for instruments for an analysis that reaches beyond “yesterday’s solutions for the problems we don’t really know anyway”.

Social Professional Activities and the State
Social Professional Activities and the State

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9781600217418

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The guiding question of this work is the following: In which way, if at all, can we define a framework that allows a comparative view on social professional activity in an international perspective? Going beyond positivist research usually means to look for qualitative standards, however remaining caught by taking individual professions in a national setting from one country for granted and looking from what we know for 'counterparts' and/or 'partners' in other countries. To avoid the subsequent shortcoming of an underlying 'professional rigidity' we face the need of developing a functional perspective, focusing on the societies in which Social Professional Activities (SPA) emerge in their respective particular national patterns. This means, however, to start by defining 'the social' as determining societies in general, looking from there at different national patterns -- pragmatically but as well structurally the nation state will be taken as point of reference. In such a perspective, several current concepts have to be fundamentally questioned as far as the mainstream consensus is concerned. Terms in question are in particular: the social, professions and social problems - this is especially necessary when it comes to developing an international perspective. Despite the need of looking for a general definition of the social, there is in particular a more specific need for debating the understanding of different strands of activities that are - in the widest sense - captured as social professions, for example social work, community/youth work, nursing and care professions, but as well social management and social action (especially the latter pointing on the problematique of professionalisation in strictu sensu). International comparative research of social professional activities does not fail (primarily) because of the huge variety of national regimes and regulations. The actual reason is the fundamentally different point of departure, expressing various national traditions of the reasoning on the state - a reasoning being at the end a practical reasoning. In other words, we have to recur on the different national understanding of 'social contracts'. This approach allows taking a dialectical perspective in order to revisit the actual character of social professional activities. It is the practical confrontation of the individual with his/her environment that constitutes processes of socialisation.

Politics and Policies of the Social in the European Union
Politics and Policies of the Social in the European Union

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 9781594545887

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Presenting four lectures, this book is used as material guiding lectures and students alike through their work in the field of European social policy-making. Being understood as guidance, this means as well that many parts are not fully elaborated. Some hints are given - and in many cases there is a debate behind them that would justify itself.

Utopia Between Corrupted Public Responsibility and Contested Modernisation
Utopia Between Corrupted Public Responsibility and Contested Modernisation

Author: Peter Herrmann

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13: 9781594542640

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In the present volume Cathal O'Connel looks at the retreat of the public in the area of housing. The changing ownership structures actually affect largely the entire modes of living together societally and socially -- accommodation and settlement structures are reconstructed under a certain aegis of privatised options -- of which an enforced opting-out is one of the forms of the de-civilising role of the 'regulated de-regulation', by which the state is backing out public responsibility, creating space for a new 'invisible hand', though this is highly visible in form of multinational capital. The same shift of the 'individualisation of the social' is pertinent in third level education which Deirdre Ryan and Peter Herrmann are investigating. In the EU, the current debate on what is called 'Services of General Interests' the focus is on access and quality. Ryan/Herrmann clarify in a distinguished way that in this educational context economy matters not only in regard of accessibility, but as well in quality not least in the meaning of 'trimming substance'. What in these cases is more linked to individual policy areas, radiating and affecting indirectly the entire societal and social fabric, is mirrored and coined by the wider mechanisms of policy making and actually politics. Catherine Forde points on respective mechanisms in local government, making clear that formal restructuration actually does not open 'closed systems'; instead they create a kind of black whole -- claims of opening spaces for participation degenerate into unlevelled playgrounds. Problems of balancing such 'open spaces' between the formal openness and the actually available 'real living space' are topical in Rosie Meade's contribution. It is getting obvious that responsibility is both a question of rights and personal commitment. Joe Finnerty in his contribution points on the most important fact, that the role of scientific research and the measurement of social and societal processes is as well not least a matter of commitment -- it has to be guaranteed and clarified and 'objective reason' is not concerned with expelling subjective factors and artificially reducing complexity by constructing arithmetical constraints; instead, the development of indicator-oriented methods has to sublate and supersede complexity.