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Topic Review
Commodity Fetishism
Commodity fetishism is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, particularly in his seminal work "Capital, Volume I." The term is used to describe a phenomenon where the social relationships among people are obscured and displaced by the relationships between commodities and the value they represent in a capitalist society. In a capitalist system, commodities are goods or services produced for exchange in the market. Marx argued that the social relations involved in the production and exchange of commodities become mystified, and the commodities themselves take on a quasi-magical quality. This fetishism arises when people attribute inherent value or power to commodities, seeing them as possessing qualities independent of the social relations that produced them.
  • 2.2K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is a concept that refers to a formal organizational structure characterized by a hierarchical arrangement of tasks, authority, and responsibilities. Rooted in the principles of efficiency, rationality, and specialization, bureaucracy represents a system of administration designed to streamline decision-making processes, facilitate coordination, and ensure the efficient functioning of complex organizations. The term is often associated with administrative entities, government agencies, and large corporations, where intricate tasks require systematic management.
  • 2.2K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Cultural Additivity
This entry provides the conceptual development of “cultural additivity.” It reviews the three most relevant concepts namely syncretism, cultural hybridity, and creolization, and then makes a case for the usefulness of “cultural additivity” in explaining the adoption and rejection of emerging cultural values. The newly introduced concept utilizes a well-developed theory called mindsponge theory.
  • 2.2K
  • 02 Sep 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Culture and COVID-19: Impact of Cross-Cultural Dimensions on Behavioral Responses
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted every sphere of human life across all nations of the world. Countries adapted and responded to the crisis in different ways with varied outcomes and different degrees of success in mitigation efforts. Studies have examined institutional and policy-based responses to the pandemic. However, to gain a holistic understanding of the pandemic response strategy and its effectiveness, it is also important to understand the cultural foundations of a society driving its response behavior. Towards that end, this entry focuses on a few key cultural dimensions of difference across countries and proposes that national culture is related to the protective behavior adopted by societies during COVID-19. The cultural dimensions examined in relation to COVID-19 include the dimensions of individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, and future orientation. Inferences are drawn from academic research, published data, and discernible indicators of social behavior. The entry provides pointers for each dimension of culture and proposes that cultural awareness be made an important element of policy making while responding to crises such as COVID-19. 
  • 2.1K
  • 05 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Social Innovation
This entry briefly recounts the history of social innovation and how it went from a descriptive term to a practice-based notion and, finally, to a scientific concept, while highlighting the major transformations it experienced. The text mentions some current debates, before presenting our own definition of social innovation. This definition incorporates contributions from other commonly used definitions while maintaining is operative potential. It also allows to clearly pinpoint what distinguishes social innovation from other types of innovation. The entry ends up with criteria for identifying social innovations.
  • 2.1K
  • 31 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Social Class
Social class refers to a hierarchical arrangement of individuals in a society based on factors such as economic status, occupation, education, and cultural capital. It delineates distinct social groups with varying levels of privilege, influencing access to resources, opportunities, and societal advantages.
  • 2.1K
  • 26 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Identity
Identity refers to the distinct and unique set of characteristics, qualities, beliefs, and affiliations that define an individual or a group. It encompasses various aspects, including personal attributes, cultural heritage, social roles, and a sense of belonging. Identity is dynamic, shaped by personal experiences, societal influences, and the interactions between individuals and their broader cultural, social, and historical contexts. It plays a crucial role in shaping how individuals perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others. Additionally, identity can be expressed through factors such as ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, and personal values, contributing to the richness and diversity of human experiences.
  • 2.1K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform, created by Ryan Holmes in 2008. The system’s user interface takes the form of a dashboard, and supports social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. Additional integrations are available via Hootsuite’s App Directory, including Reddit, Storify, Tumblr, and Marketo. Based in Vancouver , Hootsuite has close to 1,000 staff members located in 13 locations, including Toronto, Bucharest and Mexico City. The company has more than 15 million users in over 175 countries.
  • 2.1K
  • 13 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Homelessness
Homelessness is the circumstance when people are without a permanent dwelling, such as a house or apartment. People who are homeless are most often unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure and adequate housing. The legal definition of homeless varies from country to country, or among different jurisdictions in the same country or region. The term homeless may also include people whose primary night-time residence is in a homeless shelter, a domestic violence shelter, long-term residence in a motel, a vehicle, squatting, cardboard boxes, a tent city, tarpaulins, shanty town structures made of discarded building materials or other ad hoc housing situations. According to the UK homelessness charity Crisis, a home is not just a physical space: it also provides roots, identity, security, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. United States government homeless enumeration studies also include people who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. There are a number of organizations who provide help for the homeless. In 2005, an estimated 100 million (1 in 65 at the time) people worldwide were homeless and as many as 1 billion people live as squatters, refugees or in temporary shelter, all lacking adequate housing. In Western countries, the majority of homeless are men (50–80%), with single males particularly overrepresented. However, current data suggests similar rates of homeless males and females. Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. These services often provide food, shelter (beds) and clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations (often with the help of volunteers) or by government departments or agencies. These programs may be supported by the government, charities, churches and individual donors. Many cities also have street newspapers, which are publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people. While some homeless have jobs, some must seek other methods to make a living. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. People who are homeless may have additional conditions, such as physical or mental health issues or substance addiction; these issues make resolving homelessness a challenging policy issue. Homeless people, and homeless organizations, are sometimes accused or convicted of fraudulent behaviour. Criminals are also known to exploit homeless people, ranging from identity theft to tax and welfare scams. These incidents often lead to negative connotations on the homeless as a group.
  • 2.1K
  • 30 Oct 2022
Topic Review
List of Volunteer Awards
This is a list of awards issued by organisations and governmental bodies honoring the contributions of volunteers (unpaid staff). Whereas many organisations honor volunteers who serve within those individual organisations, these awards listed here recognize volunteers contributing to a variety of nonprofit organisations, non-governmental organisations, charities, civil society organizations and communities.
  • 2.1K
  • 30 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Socialist Revolutionary Party
The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs or Esers; Russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ПСР or эсеры, esery) was a major political party in late Imperial Russia and early Soviet Russia. The SRs were agrarian socialists who obtained a mass following in the years preceding the Russian Revolution by endorsing the overthrow of the Tsar and the redistribution of land to the peasantry. In the elections following the 1905 Revolution, the SRs obtained the majority of the few seats alloted to the peasantry. Following the 1907 coup, the SRs would boycott all subsequent Dumas until the fall of the Tsar in the February Revolution. Controversially, the party leadership would endorse the Russian Provisional Government and participated in multiple coalitions with liberal and moderate socialist parties, while an increasingly vocal minority rejected the Provisional Government's authority and began to align with the Bolsheviks. The pro-government and pro-Soviet factions could not be reconciled and split over the course of the summer of 1917 into the Right and Left SRs respectively. The Left SRs supported the October Revolution and formed a coalition government with the Bolsheviks from November 1917 to July 1918, while the Right SRs denounced what they saw as an illegal coup and boycotted the Congress of Soviets. The SRs obtained a plurality in elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly, with most of the defunct party's seats going to the Right. Citing outdated voter rolls which did not acknowledge the party split and the Assembly's conflicts with the Congress of Soviets, the Bolshevik-Left SR government would dissolve the Constituent Assembly in January 1918. The Left SRs would eventually leave the coalition in July 1918 in protest to the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. An abortive uprising by the leadership of the Left SRs resulted in the immediate arrest of most of the party's members. The majority of Left SRs, who opposed the uprising were gradually freed and allowed to keep their government positions, but were unable to organize a new central organ and gradually splintered into multiple pro-Bolshevik parties, all of which would eventually join the Communists by 1921. The Right SRs supported the Whites during the Russian Civil War but were increasingly marginalized by the movement's anti-socialist leadership and ultimately purged. A small Right SR remnant continued to operate in exile from 1923 to 1940 as a member of the Labour and Socialist International.
  • 2.0K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Worldview
A worldview refers to an individual's comprehensive framework of beliefs, values, assumptions, and perceptions that shape their understanding of reality, identity, and purpose in life. It encompasses one's philosophical, religious, cultural, and ideological perspectives, influencing their interpretation of the world, moral judgments, and decision-making processes.
  • 2.0K
  • 02 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Collective Consciousness
Collective consciousness, a concept introduced by sociologist Emile Durkheim, refers to the shared beliefs, values, norms, and symbols that unite members of a society and shape their collective identity. It represents the collective understanding of social reality, guiding individuals' behaviors, interactions, and perceptions within a community. Collective consciousness fosters social cohesion, solidarity, and integration by providing a common framework for interpreting the world and coordinating social action.
  • 2.0K
  • 08 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Anomie
The concept of anomie is a sociological term that was introduced by French sociologist Emile Durkheim in his seminal work, "Suicide: A Study in Sociology," published in 1897. Anomie refers to a state of normlessness or a breakdown of social norms within a society. Durkheim used this concept to explain the social conditions that contribute to higher rates of suicide.
  • 2.0K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Technology Studies
Technology society and life or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, and co-production of technology and society upon the other (technology upon culture, and vice versa). This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such as the printing press and computers. The academic discipline studying the impacts of science, technology, and society, and vice versa is called science and technology studies.
  • 2.0K
  • 07 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift refers to a fundamental change in the underlying assumptions, beliefs, or frameworks that guide a particular field of knowledge or practice. It represents a transformative departure from established models of thought, leading to a reevaluation of existing principles and often opening new avenues for understanding and problem-solving within that domain.
  • 1.9K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
LinkedIn
LinkedIn (/lɪŋktˈɪn/) is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Founded on December 28, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs. As of 2015, most of the company's revenue came from selling access to information about its members to recruiters and sales professionals. As of April 2017, LinkedIn had 500 million members in 200 countries, out of which more than 106 million members are active. LinkedIn allows members (both workers and employers) to create profiles and "connections" to each other in an online social network which may represent real-world professional relationships. Members can invite anyone (whether an existing member or not) to become a connection. The "gated-access approach" (where contact with any professional requires either an existing relationship or an introduction through a contact of theirs) is intended to build trust among the service's members. LinkedIn participated in the EU's International Safe Harbor Privacy Principles. The site has an Alexa Internet ranking as the 34th most popular website ((As of June 2018)). According to the New York Times, US high school students are now creating LinkedIn profiles to include with their college applications. Based in the United States, the site is, as of 2013, available in 24 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, and Tagalog. LinkedIn filed for an initial public offering in January 2011 and traded its first shares on May 19, 2011, under the NYSE symbol "LNKD". On June 13, 2016, Microsoft announced plans to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 8, 2016. According to the SEC filing, "The transaction resulted in the payment of approximately $26.4 billion in cash merger consideration."
  • 1.9K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Socialist Party USA
The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America (SPUSA), is a multi-tendency democratic socialist party in the United States . The SPUSA was founded in 1973 as a successor to the Socialist Party of America, which had been renamed Social Democrats, USA a year before. The party is officially committed to multi-tendency democratic socialism. Along with its predecessor, the Socialist Party USA has received varying degrees of support when its candidates have competed against those from the Republican and Democratic parties. The SPUSA advocates for complete independence from the Democratic Party. Self-described as opposing all forms of oppression, specifically capitalism and authoritarian forms of communism, the party advocates for the creation of a "radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control—a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society [... in which] the people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies, cooperatives, or other collective groups [...] full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work [...] workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions [...] production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few". Headquartered at the A.J. Muste Institute, the SPUSA's National Office is located at 168 Canal Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. The party has four chartered state organizations in California, Michigan, Maine and New Jersey as well as twenty eight chartered locals throughout the country. In October 2015, the Socialist Party USA nominated Mimi Soltysik for President and Angela Nicole Walker for Vice President.
  • 1.9K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nations and Intelligence
The relationship between nations and intelligence is a controversial area of study concerning differences between nations in average intelligence test scores, their possible causes, and their correlation with measures of social well-being and economic prosperity. Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen constructed IQ estimates for many countries using literature reviews, student assessment studies and other methodologies to create estimates, which have been widely criticized on theoretical and methodological grounds. Subsequent research by psychologists such as Earl B. Hunt, Jelte Wicherts and Heiner Rindermann has focused on identifying potential national differences in cognitive ability and causal factors, and determining the nature of the relationship of IQ to variables such as GDP, life expectancy, and governance.
  • 1.8K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Cognitive Authority
According to Rieh (2005), "Patrick Wilson (1983) developed the cognitive authority theory from social epistemology in his book, Second-hand Knowledge: An Inquiry into Cognitive Authority. The fundamental concept of Wilson’s cognitive authority is that people construct knowledge in two different ways: based on their first-hand experience or on what they have learned second-hand from others. What people learn first-hand depends on the stock of ideas they bring to the interpretation and understanding of their encounters with the world. People primarily depend on others for ideas as well as for information outside the range of direct experience. Much of what they think of the world is what they have gained second-hand. Wilson (1983) argues that all that people know of the world beyond the narrow range of their own lives is what others have told them. However, people do not count all hearsay as equally reliable; only those who are deemed to “know what they are talking about” become cognitive authorities. Wilson coined the term cognitive authority to explain the kind of authority that influences thoughts that people would consciously recognize being proper. Cognitive authority differs from administrative authority or the authority vented in a hierarchical position." (Rieh, 2005).
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Oct 2022
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