Prior to Germany’s emergence as an imperial power in 1884, scholarly knowledge of the Orient was only deemed useful to a handful of academics, largely in part because oriental scholarship’s primary emphasis was the study of classical languages and ancient manuscripts. German colonialism, on the other hand, required the creation of a new body of oriental knowledge, one that was firmly rooted in the contemporary world instead of antiquity. In 1907, Carl Heinrich Becker published Christianity and Islam, one of the first pieces of scholarship to examine the modern Orient with a modern methodology. In particular, it was Becker’s adoption of the sociology of religion, a concept pioneered by Max Weber and Émile Durkheim, which allowed him to interpret the modern Orient in a way not previously possible under the philological tradition that defined oriental studies for previous generations of scholars.

The performance of communication and storage systems can be improved if the data being sent or stored has certain patterns and structure. In particular, some benefit if the frequency of the symbols is balanced. This includes magnetic and optical data storage devices, as well as future holographic storage systems. Significant research has been done to develop techniques and algorithms to adapt the data (in a reversible manner) to these systems. The goal has been to restructure the data to improve performance while keeping the complexity as low as possible. In this thesis, we consider balancing binary sequences and present its application in holographic storage systems. An overview is given of different approaches, as well as a survey of previous balancing methods. We show that common compression algorithms can be used for this purpose both alone and combined with other balancing algorithms. Simplified models are analyzed using information theory to determine the extent of the compression in this context. Simulation results using standard data are presented as well as theoretical analysis for the performance of the combination of compression with other balancing algorithms. / Graduate

Weber's contribution to the study of social action has been a major influence upon the development of modern sociology but aspects of his approach have been obscured by the process of translation, commentary and evaluation - and in this respect the work of Parsons and to a lesser extent Schutz has been significant. Hence this study aims (a) to clarify the nature of Webens Theory of Action and (b) to determine its contemporary value in comparison with the extension of his ideas by Parsons and Schutz. We examine the interpretation, advanced particularly by Parsons, that Weber's approach to the study of action changed as he became increasingly concerned with the nature of sociological inquiry, and, thereby, moved beyond the problems of historical method. On the basis of a detailed examination of Weber's theoretical and methodological arguments we reject the idea of a break in his thinking about historical and sociological research and this has important implications for some accepted views-on Weber's conception of objectivity, ideal type concepts and understanding. Parsons set out to extend Weber from the perspective of a natural science of society, but his claim to identify a convergence between Durkheim, Pareto and Weber into the Voluntaristic Theory of Action is rejected and the criticisms, which his development of some aspects of Weberts approach have experienced, are sufficient to cast doubts upon the-validity of his General Theory. Schutz formulated a phenomenological critique of Weber's categories of interpretive sociology and sought to establish a philosophically more secure basis for the study of action but, we suggest, his assumptions about the everyday world, allied to his evaluation of Weber's approach, led him to propose an impracticable methodology. Finally, we argue that the contemporary relevance of Weber's Theory of Action can be seen from the way many of the problems involved in the study of action, some of which were identified by the development of the phenomenological perspective, can be solved by recourse to his approach.

This dissertation explores the claim that, in advanced capitalist countries like Canada, a powerful knowledge class is assuming increasing dominance within the social relations of production. Attached to such theories are claims of trends toward post-bureaucratic organizations, rising job complexity and autonomy, and increased power within operational and strategic decision-making processes. In my study I focus on Canadian “specialist” employees (professionals and semi-professionals) and managers. I present aggregated and disaggregated data from two Canadian surveys conducted in 1983 and 2004 and complement this with original interviews with information technology (IT) workers and engineers. I find a seeming paradox within the labour process of specialists and managers, with task-level autonomy declining even as job complexity and involvement in organizational decisions are rising. I provide evidence that imperatives for profit/cost effectiveness are leading to efforts to make specialist and managerial labour and knowledge more transparent, integrated, and manageable, but this is not the same as degradation or proletarianization. In contrast to my expectation, I find boundaries in the division of labour are durable despite this “socialization” of many labour processes. I argue that a specialist-and-managerial class (SMC) exists in Canada, and will continue to exist, though it is subordinate to and exploited by the capitalist elite even as it excludes and exploits the working class through occupational closure and credential barriers. The SMC is thus contradictory, internally heterogeneous and fraying at its borders, but simultaneously resilient. The resiliency comes via possession of specific strategic knowledge and consequent ability to secure rents and/or control specific organization assets via delegated authority. Resiliency is also structural, with management in many organizations retaining an interest in separating planning and design (“conception”), on the one hand, from process and completion (“execution”), on the other, in order to maximize efficiency and productivity through more centralized control.

This dissertation explores the claim that, in advanced capitalist countries like Canada, a powerful knowledge class is assuming increasing dominance within the social relations of production. Attached to such theories are claims of trends toward post-bureaucratic organizations, rising job complexity and autonomy, and increased power within operational and strategic decision-making processes. In my study I focus on Canadian “specialist” employees (professionals and semi-professionals) and managers. I present aggregated and disaggregated data from two Canadian surveys conducted in 1983 and 2004 and complement this with original interviews with information technology (IT) workers and engineers. I find a seeming paradox within the labour process of specialists and managers, with task-level autonomy declining even as job complexity and involvement in organizational decisions are rising. I provide evidence that imperatives for profit/cost effectiveness are leading to efforts to make specialist and managerial labour and knowledge more transparent, integrated, and manageable, but this is not the same as degradation or proletarianization. In contrast to my expectation, I find boundaries in the division of labour are durable despite this “socialization” of many labour processes. I argue that a specialist-and-managerial class (SMC) exists in Canada, and will continue to exist, though it is subordinate to and exploited by the capitalist elite even as it excludes and exploits the working class through occupational closure and credential barriers. The SMC is thus contradictory, internally heterogeneous and fraying at its borders, but simultaneously resilient. The resiliency comes via possession of specific strategic knowledge and consequent ability to secure rents and/or control specific organization assets via delegated authority. Resiliency is also structural, with management in many organizations retaining an interest in separating planning and design (“conception”), on the one hand, from process and completion (“execution”), on the other, in order to maximize efficiency and productivity through more centralized control.

Mi tesis doctoral lleva por título: El carisma político en la Teoría Sociológica. La investigación se ha centrado en definir el concepto de carisma político a través de distintos autores de la Teoría Social. El autor más relevante es, sin duda, Max Weber quien abordó en toda su complejidad la dimensión del concepto de carisma. Weber incluso considera que el carisma es capaz de cambiar la historia. Los autores previos que trataron el tema son Platón, Maquiavelo, Carlyle y Nietzsche y Durkheim quien desarrolló el concepto de "efervescencia colectiva". Hay que destacar que si bien estos autores construyen el concepto y se preguntan por el fenómeno carismático, no lo mencionan explícitamente. Por otra parte, Le Bon y Freud analizaron el concepto desde el punto de vista de la psicología de las masas. Después de Weber deben ser destacadas las aportaciones de Edward Shils quien incidió en la importancia del concepto de carisma propiamente dicho. Shils destacó su carácter central, además de ser un elemento generador de orden en las sociedades. Asimismo, observó su capacidad de legitimar un poder político. Otros autores modernos que han trabajado sobre el fenómeno y las relaciones carismáticas son Luciano Cavalli, Salvador Giner, David Aberbach, Ronald M. Glassman, Kyösti Pekonen, William H. Swatos, Charles Lindholm, Peter Kivisto y David Tàbara, entre otros. Cavalli ha enfatizado la necesidad de un liderazgo personal en las democracias occidentales, así como, la relación de confianza y responsabilidad que se establece entre el líder y el electorado. Giner enfatiza la metaracionalidad del carisma y su manufactura en las sociedades modernas. Mi hipótesis central es que a pesar que el carisma sea irracional, siempre tiene un cierto grado de racionalidad, aspecto que puede ser explicado a través de cada cultura, a través de cada uno de los seguidores del líder. En la dimensión carismática encontramos otros aspectos muy relacionados con el carisma político, tales como el carisma de la religión, el liderazgo político, el populismo, la identidad y los movimientos sociales. La gran revolución del carisma tuvo lugar durante los años sesenta debido a la generalización del uso de la televisión. Ésta ha transformado la morfología del carisma y la imagen pública de los políticos. Así, los medios de comunicación se han convertido en esenciales para ganar las elecciones. Por otra parte, el concepto de carisma ha sido trivializado por la prensa. Otro campo de investigación de gran interés es el carisma de género. A pesar que podemos definir el carisma como una característica perenne de todas las sociedades y a pesar que no podamos concebir las relaciones sociales sin su presencia, éste tiene un lado oscuro. Puede convertirse en peligroso al servicio de demagogos e ideologías como el fascismo. Así, un exceso de fascinación por el carisma puede ir en contra de la cultura política y del espíritu crítico de las democracias. No obstante, el carisma es un atributo necesario para todo tipo de líderes políticos democráticos, sin el cual los políticos no pueden triunfar electoralmente. Considero el carisma peligroso y simplista, puede incluso sustituir la cultura política, sin embargo, no podemos ignorarlo. Las muestras de afecto, las emociones, son presentes en las manifestaciones políticas y refuerzan las distintas adhesiones a los líderes y a sus partidos. / TITLE: POLITICAL CHARISMA IN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORYAUTHOR: BLANCA DEUSDAD University of Barcelona. Economics Faculty. Department of Sociological Theory.My Doctoral dissertation bears the title: Political Charisma in Sociological Theory ("El carisma político en la Teoría Sociológica"). I have focused my research on defining the concept of charisma through the different authors of Social Theory. The most relevant author is Max Weber who explains all the dimension of the concept of charisma. Weber even considers that charisma is able to change history. The previous authors that deal with the term are Plato, Machiavelli, Carlyle and Nietzsche, Durkheim who has developed the concept of collective effervescence. Even though these authors build the concept, they do not mention it explicitly. Moreover, Le Bon and Freud analyze the concept from the point of view of Psychology of the masses and Ortega y Gasset was concerned with the need of good government. After Weber the theories of Edward Shils must be underlined. He stresses the importance of the concept of charisma, especially as a central, order-creating and order-disclosing element. Furthermore, he emphasizes the charisma that contains the legitimacy of political power. In addition, modern authors as Luciano Cavalli, Salvador Giner, David Aberbach, Ronald M. Glassman, Kyösti Pekonen, William H. Swatos, Charles Lindholm, Peter Kivisto and David Tàbara, among others, study charisma and its demonstrations in modern societies. Cavalli underlines the need of a personal leadership in governments and its relation of confidence and responsibility with the electorate. Giner emphasizes the metarationality of charisma and its manufacture in Modern Societies. My central hypothesis is that even though charisma is irrational, it always has a certain degree of rationality, which can be explained by means of each culture, by means of every leader's follower. In the charismatic dimension there are other aspects very closely related to political charisma, but apart of charisma of religion, such as political leadership, populism, identity and social movements The greatest revolution took place in the sixties due to the increasing use of television. TV has transformed charisma's morphology and the politicians' public image in the mass media has become essential to win elections. Furthermore, the term has been trivialised by the press. It is also important to develop the research of charisma of gender. Even if charisma is a perennial feature of all societies and we cannot leave without it, it is a double-edged sword. It may become dangerous; it can support some ideologies such as fascism. An excess of fascination can go against political culture and the critical spirit of the democracies.Charisma is an attribute necessary to all kind of political leaders in the democracies, without which leaders could not, became successful in political elections. We consider charisma dangerous and simplistic, it can even substitute the political culture yet we cannot ignore it. Emotions, affections are present in political demonstrations and reinforce political adherences.

Diss., 1987. / Bibliogr. p. 417-433. Index.

Thesis (M.A.)--B.Y.U. Dept. of Graduate Studies in Religious Instruction.

Bielefeld, Universiẗat, Diss., 2001.

Dagens kristna församling är inte bara en kristen gemenskap utan också oftast en organisation med lönebetalda anställda, vilket inkluderar flertalet professioner. Studier som är gjorda inom Svenska kyrkan visar på kommunikationssvårigheter och otydligt ledarskap. Anställda sjukskrivs och slutar sina anställningar. I denna studie belyses en problematik som det inte talas om så mycket i församlingarna. Människor i den kristna församlingen som använder makt för att härska över sina medmänniskor. Kan det verkligen finnas anställda i församlingar i samfundet Svenska kyrkan som använder makt och härskartekniker för att påverka sina arbetskamrater? Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om och isåfall i vilken utsträckning härskartekniker förekom mellan anställda inom Svenska kyrkan. Syftet var också att undersöka om det var vid någon speciell form av auktoritet härskartekniker förekommer oftare än vid andra auktoriteter och att förstå dem utifrån det weberianska maktperspektivet. Data samlades in genom strukturerade enkäter, vilka distribuerades digitalt till anställda inom ett stift i Svenska kyrkan. Majoriteten av respondenterna angav att de fem respektive härskarteknikerna aldrig eller sällan förekom mellan anställda på deras arbetsplats. Härskartekniker är dock något som 9,7 - 25,3 % av respondenterna ofta erfar på sin arbetsplats och 1 – 3,1 % av respondenterna har dagligen erfarenhet av härskartekniker. Slutsatsen av studien är att det kan konstateras att det förekommer härskartekniker mellan anställda inom Svenska kyrkan. Studien tyder dock också på att härskartekniker inte har blivit en legitim del av sättet att kommunicera och att det finns en möjlighet till förändring och en minskande användning av härskarteknik mellan de anställda.