Social science is in crisis. The task of social science is to study “man in situation”: to understand the world as it is for “man”. This thesis charges that this crisis consists in a failure to properly address the philosophical anthropological question “What is man?”. The various social scientific methodologies who have as their object “man” suffer rampant disagreements because they presuppose, rather than consider, what is meant by “man”. It is our intention to show that the root of the crisis is that social science can provide no formal definition of “man”. In order to understand this we propose a phenomenological analysis into the essence of social science. This phenomenological approach will give us reason to abandon the (sexist) word “man” and instead we will speak of wer: the beings which we are. That we have not used the more usual “human being” (or some equivalent) is due to the human prejudice which is one of the major constituents of this crisis we seek to analyse. This thesis is divided into two Parts: normative and evaluative. In the normative Part we will seek a clarification of both “phenomenology” and “social science”. Due to the various ways in which “phenomenology” has been invented we must secure a simipliciter definition of phenomenology as an approach to philosophical anthropology (Chapter 2). Importantly, we will show how the key instigators of the branches of phenomenology, Husserl, Scheler, Heidegger, and Sartre, were all engaged in this task. To clarify our phenomenology we will define the Phenomenological Movement according to various strictures by drawing on the work of Schutz and his notion of provinces of meaning (Chapter 3). This will then be carried forward to show how Schutz’s postulates of social science (with certain clarifications) constitute the eidetic structure of social science (Chapter 4). The eidetic structures of social science identified will prompt several challenges that will be addressed in the evaluative Part. Here we engage in an imperial argument to sort proper science from pseudo-science. The first challenge is the mistaken assumption that universities and democratic states make science possible (Chapter 5). Contra this, we argue that science is predicated on “spare time” and that much institutional “science” is not in fact science. The second challenge is the “humanist challenge”: there is no such thing as nonpractical knowledge (Chapter 6). Dealing with this will require a reconsideration of the epistemic status that science has and lead to the claim of epistemic inferiority. Having cut away pseudo-science we will be able to focus on the “social” of social science through a consideration of intersubjectivity (Chapter 7). Drawing on the above phenomenologists we will focus on how an Other is recognised as Other. Emphasising Sartre’s radical re-conception of “subject” and “object” we will argue that there can be no formal criteria for how this recognition occurs. By consequence we must begin to move away from the assumption of one life-world to various life-worlds, each constituted by different conceptions of wer.

The question of whether or not school makes a difference in preparing students for democratic citizenship has been debated for a long time in political science and curriculum studies. These discussions are mostly based on the results of international surveys measuring students’ political attitudes, values and participation. However, we first need to define what kind of prepared citizens are needed. This article takes on the definition issue and presents new perspectives by exploring how teachers in Social Science (Samhällskunskap) and their students in Sweden reason about engagement when they address complex societal issues such as globalisation. Based on interviews with a number of teachers and students I will argue that in order to understand what is going on in school we need to interpret Social Science teaching in terms of first- and second-order concepts, where the second-order concepts could be seen as "how to think like a social scientist". I will make a case that there is a didactic dilemma for teachers trying to educate students who are both trained in disciplinary thinking and leave school as politically engaged. However, this dilemma is not unsolvable and I will hold a position that it might contain answers to some of the questions that political scientists deal with in terms of engagement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-228).

Upplevelser med hjälp av kroppen och användningen av olika sinnen är betydelsefullt för människans lärande. Inlärningsprocessen kan implementeras och förstärkas genom utomhuspedagogik. Trots lärares medvetenhet av effekter av utomhuspedagogiken är detta inte något som används allt för flitigt i dagens skola och frågan är varför? Hur kommer det sig att lärare väljer att stanna innanför klassrummets fyra väggar och undervisa? Vad är det som hindrar lärare att ta sig utanför klassrummet och undervisa i en utomhusmiljö? Syftet med studien är att bidra med ökad kunskap om utomhuspedagogikens svårigheter, möjligheter och effekter. Studien riktar sig mot mellanstadielärare i en mindre kommun i södra Sverige som undervisar i SO-ämnen. Två forskningsfrågor besvaras i resultatet som är följande; Vilka möjligheter och svårigheter kan So-lärare uppleva i arbetet med utomhuspedagogik? och Vad anser SO-lärare underlättar användningen av utomhuspedagogik? Studien utgår från Szczepanskis (2007) teori som belyser platsbaserat lärande där en människa lär i samband med kroppen och alla sina sinnen. Att få undervisning utomhus kan bidra till goda effekter på elevers lärande, bland annat handlar det om att elever får aktivera sig fysiskt och vara i en miljö som bidrar till en god hälsa. Genom att lämna en strukturerad klassrumsmiljö och få möta en ostrukturerad utemiljö lär eleven sig genom helhetsupplevelser. För att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor har sex mellanstadielärare med inriktning på SO-ämnena intervjuats genom semistrukturerad intervju. Med utgångspunkt i studiens syfte och frågeställningar formulerades resultatets huvudrubriker; utomhuspedagogikens svårigheter, utomhuspedagogikens möjligheter och främjande arbete. I resultatet framkom det att placering av skola, planering, tid, kompetens och läroplan har en stor betydelse för användandet av utomhuspedagogik i SO-ämnena. Det framkom även att skolledning och kollegialt arbete har en betydelse för att utomhuspedagogik ska vara genomförbart. / To physically experience and use different senses is valuable for the learning process. The learning process can be implemented and enhanced through outdoor pedagogy. Despite the awareness of the teacher regarding the positive effects of outdoor pedagogy, the method is not used extensively, which is questionable. Why do teachers decide to solely stay inside the classroom and teach? What is hindering the teachers to utilize the many advantages that comes with implementation of outdoor pedagogy? The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge concerning the outdoor pedagogy and its possibilities, difficulties and effects. The study is delimited to intermediate stage teachers in a smaller municipality in the southern of Sweden teaching within the social science subjects. Two research questions are answered in the result which is as follows; What possibilities and difficulties does social science teachers experience when working with outdoor pedagogy? and Which aspects is considered to ease the implementation of outdoor pedagogy? These research questions are answered and discussed in the result section. The study has its base in the theory by Szczepanski (2007) which highlights the benefits of location-based learning where the cognitive and physical aspects interplay. Outdoor pedagogy contributes positive effects of the students learning, especially in environments where the learning is combined with physical activities learning to enhanced health. By adapting a more unstructured learning experience, which is in contrast to the traditional classroom-based learning, students can facilitate their environment in a holistic experience. To be able to answer the research questions, six social science teachers in intermediate stage teaching has been interviewed on behalf of their experiences and insight on outdoor pedagogy. The interviews were conducted through semistructured interviews. Based on the purpose and research questions of the study, the main headings of the result were formulated; the difficulties of outdoor pedagogy, the possibilities of outdoor pedagogy and promotional work. The results indicated the location of the school, planning, time, competence and curriculum to be of great importance for the implementation of outdoor pedagogy within the field of the social science subjects. Further, it was highlighted that school management and collegial cooperation was of importance to be able to implement outdoor pedagogy.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / To take at face value the current enthusiasm at the idea of marshaling science to end human social ills such as global poverty, one could easily overlook the fact that one hundred fifty years prior people were making strikingly similar claims as part of a broad movement often referred to as “scientific charity” or “scientific philanthropy”. The goal of this dissertation is to contribute to our knowledge of the scientific charity movement, through a retrieval of the morally weighted language used by reformers and social scientists to justify the changes they proposed for both public and private provision of poor relief, as found in the Proceedings of the Annual Assembly of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections (NCCC). In essence I am claiming that our understanding of the scientific charity movement is incomplete, and can be improved by an approach that looks at scientific charity as a species of moral language that provided ways to energize the many disparate and seemingly disconnected or even contradictory movements found during the period under study. The changes enacted to late 19th century philanthropic and charitable structures did not occur due to advances in a morally neutral and thus superior science, but were born along by a broad scale use of the language of scientific charity: an equally moral yet competing and eventually more compelling vision of a philanthropic future which held the keys to unlock the mysteries of poverty and solve it once and for all. When viewing scientific charity as something broader than any particular instantiation of it, when pursing it as a set of languages used to promote social science’s role in solving human problems by discrediting prior nonscientific attempts, one can begin to see that the reformist energies of late 19th century social thinkers did not dissipate, but crystalized into the set of background assumptions still present today.

Detta arbete syftar till att bidra med utökad kunskap om hur samhällskunskapslärare på gymnasiet utformar undervisning om samhällsaktuella händelser. Studien ämnar beskriva lärarnas didaktiska avvägningar vid urvalet av undervisningsmetoder. Utöver det var syftet att undersöka vilka ramfaktorer som påverkar lärarna mest i undervisningen om samhällsaktuella händelser. Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med sex lärare i samhällskunskap som undervisar på olika skolor i landet. Dessa hade varierade erfarenheter av undervisningen och utöver det undervisade olika elevgrupper som kännetecknades av olika etniska, kulturella och socioekonomiska bakgrunder. Resultatet visar att lärarna påverkas i undervisningen av olika faktorer som bestäms främst genom styrdokumenten, administrationen och de olika elevgrupperna. Empirin visar att lärarna undervisar kontinuerligt om samhällsaktuella händelser genom varierande undervisningsmetoder. Empirin påvisar också att de mest positiva påverkningsfaktorerna i undervisningen var eleverna själva medan de hämmande undervisningsfaktorerna var av den administrativa karaktären. Slutsatsen som dras från studien handlar om lärarens behov av anpassning till skolans specifika kultur och miljö, arbetsvillkor med avseende på tillgängliga resurser samt den miljö som eleverna kommer ifrån. Studiens viktigaste bidrag bekräftar det ramfaktorteoretiska ramverkets riktighet att undervisningen utformas med hjälp av olika tolkningar av styrdokumenten och anpassas till en specifik elevgrupp. Konsekvensen blir att såväl lektionsinnehåll som krav och bedömningar ser olika ut i olika undervisningsgrupper. / This work aims to contribute with increased knowledge about how social studies teachers at upper secondary school design teaching about current events in society. The study aims to describe the teacher´s didactic considerations for the selection of teaching methods. In addition to that, the aim was to investigate which framework factors influence the teachers the most in teaching about current events in society. The study is based on qualitative interviews with six social studies teachers who teach at different schools in the country. These had varied experiences of teaching and, in addition, taught different groups of students characterized by different ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. The results show that the teachers are influenced in teaching by a range of factors which are mainly determined by the governing documents, the administration, and the different student groups. Empiric evidence shows that teachers continuously teach about current events in society through varying teaching methods. Empiric evidence shows also that the most positive influencing factors in teaching were the students themselves, while the inhibiting teaching factors were of an administrative nature. The conclusion drawn from the study concerns the teacher's need for adaptation to the school's specific culture and environment, working conditions with respect to available resources and the environment the students come from. The study's most important contribution confirms the correctness of the frame factor theoretical framework, that the teaching is designed with the help of different interpretations of the governing documents and is adapted to a specific student group. Consequently, lesson content, as well as requirements and assessment are different in different student group.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att problematisera livsfrågor utifrån ett ämnesdidaktiskt perspektiv med utgångspunkt i religionsämnet. Genom nationellt och internationellt genomförd forskning studeras livsfrågor i relation till grundskolan yngre åldrar och vilka betydelser forskare tillskriver undervisningen. Det vetenskapliga materialet har analyserats utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. De slutsatser som framträtt utifrån tidigare forskning är att eleverna uppvisar ett intresse och nyfikenhet för livsfrågor men ämnet undviks i skolan då lärare upplever en osäkerhet i förhållande till livsfrågor. Ytterligare slutsatser som framträtt genom forskningen i denna studie är att flera forskare beskriver diskussion och reflektion som lämpliga undervisningsmetoder. Även barnböcker beskrivs som ett konkret verktyg i undervisningen inom detta område. Avslutningsvis diskuteras en större helhet och problematik kring de slutsatser som framträtt samt behovet av vidare forskning inom området livsfrågor.

This thesis utilizes social influence theory and computational tools to examine the disparate impact of positive and negative ties in nuclear weapons proliferation. The thesis is broadly in two sections: a simulation section, which focuses on government stakeholders, and a large-scale data analysis section, which focuses on the public and domestic actor stakeholders. In the simulation section, it demonstrates that the nonproliferation norm is an emergent behavior from political alliance and hostility networks, and that alliances play a role in current day nuclear proliferation. This model is robust and contains second-order effects of extended hostility and alliance relations. In the large-scale data analysis section, the thesis demonstrates the role that context plays in sentiment evaluation and highlights how Twitter collection can provide useful input to policy processes. It first highlights the results of an on-campus study where users demonstrated that context plays a role in sentiment assessment. Then, in an analysis of a Twitter dataset of over 7.5 million messages, it assesses the role of ‘noise’ and biases in online data collection. In a deep dive analyzing the Iranian nuclear agreement, we demonstrate that the middle east is not facing a nuclear arms race, and show that there is a structural hole in online discussion surrounding nuclear proliferation. By combining both approaches, policy analysts have a complete and generalizable set of computational tools to assess and analyze disparate stakeholder roles in nuclear proliferation.

Social identities, the labels we use to describe ourselves and others, carry with them stereotypes that have significant impacts on our social lives. Our stereotypes, sometimes without us knowing, guide our decisions on whom to talk to and whom to stay away from, whom to befriend and whom to bully, whom to treat with reverence and whom to view with disgust. Despite these impacts of identities and stereotypes on our lives, existing methods used to understand them are lacking. In this thesis, I first develop three novel computational tools that further our ability to test and utilize existing social theory on identity and stereotypes. These tools include a method to extract identities from Twitter data, a method to infer affective stereotypes from newspaper data and a method to infer both affective and semantic stereotypes from Twitter data. Case studies using these methods provide insights into Twitter data relevant to the Eric Garner and Michael Brown tragedies and both Twitter and newspaper data from the “Arab Spring”. Results from these case studies motivate the need for not only new methods for existing theory, but new social theory as well. To this end, I develop a new sociotheoretic model of identity labeling - how we choose which label to apply to others in a particular situation. The model combines data, methods and theory from the social sciences and machine learning, providing an important example of the surprisingly rich interconnections between these fields.

Tendo Pierre Bourdieu como referencial teórico principal, procuramos responder duas perguntas nesta tese: podemos afirmar a existência de um campo científico da saúde global na América Latina? Para responder esta pergunta, orientamos o levantamento do material a partir de três conceitos: capital científico - representado pelos congressos em saúde global (SG) e ciências humanas e sociais (CheS) na América Latina (AL), os agentes - representado pela Alasag, e o habitus - representado pelos programas de formação em SG na AL. Esses conceitos nos levaram ao roteiro que usamos para investigar a constituição de um possível campo científico da SG na AL. Nossa análise revelou a existência de um campo científico da SG na AL a partir do conceito de Bourdieu, marcado por fortes intervenções políticas das instituições que o integram, principalmente, aquelas que financiam as pesquisas no campo. Essas intervenções se caracterizam especialmente pelo condicionamento da liberação de verbas a agendas temáticas específicas, sendo os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 2030 (ODS 2030) a principal delas. Uma vez que podemos confirmar a SG na AL enquanto campo científico, podemos afirmar que as CheS integram o mesmo, o tencionando em um sentido crítico? A resposta é sim e não, porque identificamos dois momentos de entrada das CheS na área da saúde latino-americana que significaram duas formas distintas de atuação no referido campo. Concordamos com os autores que afirmam que a SG na AL é uma continuidade da saúde pública, internacional e coletiva - no caso brasileiro, e que as CheS que integraram estes campos desde os anos 70 assumiram uma posição estabelecida no campo científico da SG na AL, ditando as regras do jogo e o conformando com base nos seus interesses e assuntos que consideram relevantes. O segundo momento se caracteriza pela ampliação da área da saúde para o âmbito geográfico global, o intenso uso da internet e redes sociais pelos pesquisadores, e a entrada de novos agentes, provenientes de áreas do conhecimento não tradicionais, como a sustentabilidade, que chamamos de outsiders, e que assumiram uma posição diferenciada na constituição do campo da SG na AL. Distantes da possibilidade de moldar o campo ao seu modo, transitam em diferentes áreas e parecem importar-se menos com as classificações entre \'puros\' ou \'híbridos\' (CANESQUI, 2008). Dentre as características que os diferencia, está a tomada por temas também tratados pelos estabelecidos, mas em uma perspectiva mais autônoma pelo fato de não estarem atrelados a agendas temáticas específicas. Outro aspecto relevante é a postura crítica declarada em seus documentos em relação ao termo saúde global e todas implicações políticas que ele representa. E por último, estes agentes outsiders referem se mais ao projeto de saúde para a América Latina como um objetivo a ser perseguido por nossa região mediante uma posição crítica às ações dos países desenvolvidos. Acreditamos que o potencial do campo científico da SG na AL está longe da devida exploração que merece, uma vez que nos referimos a um campo que ainda está em construção, no entanto, verificamos a necessidade de uma postura mais audaciosa no sentido de contribuirmos mais para a constituição global do campo científico da saúde a partir da perspectiva latino-americana. / Having Pierre Bourdieu as the main theoretical reference, we try to answer two questions in this thesis: can we affirm the existence of a scientific field of global health in Latin America? To answer this question, we orient the research of the material from three concepts: scientific capital represented by the congresses in global health (GH) and humanities and social sciences (H&SC) in Latin America, agents - represented by Alasag and habitus - represented by the GH training programs in Latin America. The structure of this thesis follows the script we have constructed to answer the question of our research. The structure of this thesis follows the script we have constructed to answer the question of our research. These concepts led us to the script we use to investigate the constitution of a possible scientific field of OS in LA. Our analysis revealed the existence of a scientific field of GS in Latin America from the concept of Bourdieu, marked by strong political interventions of the institutions that integrate it, especially those that finance research in the field. These interventions are particularly characterized by the conditioning of the release of funds to specific thematic agendas, with the Sustainable Development Objectives 2030 being the main one. Since we can confirm the GH in the Latin America as scientific field, we can affirm that the H&SC integrate the same, conducting into a critical sense? The answer is yes and no, because we identified two moments of entry of H&SC into the area of Latin American health, which meant two distinct forms of action in that field. We agree with the authors that the GH in Latin America is a continuity of public, international and collective health - in the Brazilian case, and that the H&SC that have integrated these fields since the 1970s have assumed an established position in the scientific field of the GH in Latin America, dictating the rules of the game and conforming it based on their interests and subjects that they consider relevant. The second moment is marked by the expansion of the health area to the global geographic scope, the intense use of the internet and social medias by researchers, and the entry of new agents, originating from not traditional areas of knowledge as a sustainability, what we call outsiders, and that it assumed a differentiated position in the constitution of the field of the GH in the Latin America. Distant of the possibility of shaping the field in its own way, passing through different areas and seeming to care less about the classifications of \"pure\" or \"hybrids\" (CANESQUI, 2008). Between the characteristics that differentiate it, is being taken by the subjects were also conditioned, but in a more autonomous perspective because they are not tied to a specific agenda. Another relevant aspect is the critical posture outspoken in his papers on the term global health and all the political implications it represents. Finally, these outsiders refer more to the global health project for Latin America as a goal to be pursued by our region through a critical stance on the actions of developed countries. We believe that the potential of the GH scientific field in Latin America is far from the proper exploration it deserves. We are referring to a field that is still under construction, however, we note the need for a more audacious posture to contribute more for the global constitution of the scientific field of health from the Latin American perspective.