Individualism

Emergence of Individualism, Entrepreneurialism and Creativity in Turkey's State-run Educational System: Anthropological Contributions to Educational Sciences

by Muge Ayan Ceyhan

published in 'Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences', 2009

This paper focuses on a private primary school, which encourages values of individualism, entrepreneurialism and... more This paper focuses on a private primary school, which encourages values of individualism, entrepreneurialism and creativity, and stands in contrast to the state system promoting conformity and obedience. Based on real life experiences and practices on the ground, a discussion on different models of personhood underlying different educational practices forms a key part of the paper and I also discuss the extent to which participants of the school vacillated between different perceptions of personhood. In a broader interdisciplinary context, I will provide a clear example of the way in which anthropology can contribute to educational sciences, and highlight the interrelation between the two disciplines.

Vacillating between Opposing Conceptions of Personhood: Individualism and Conformism in Turkish Educational Practices

by Muge Ayan Ceyhan

published in Research in Comparative and International Education 4 (2), 2009.

Based on one and a half years of participant observation at Bakış School, this article aims to explore two different... more Based on one and a half years of participant observation at Bakış School, this article aims to explore two different sets of educational practices, one which seemingly promotes sameness, obedience and conformity, and the other difference, entrepreneurialism and individualism. By way of discussing the shifting cultural values, beliefs and lifestyles in Turkey as a result of post-1980 capitalist modernization, this article provides an account of the way in which larger macro forces impact the classroom values and educational practices in Bakış School. The ethnographic evidence indicates that teachers were far from fully comprehending the concept of the individual the school aims to promote, and therefore vacillated between opposing perceptions of personhood. From the point of view of comparative education research, this article argues that long-term participant observation provides us with intricate data, and clearly reveals the difficulties of putting educational reforms into practice in cases where the underlying philosophy is not fully comprehended, or maybe even desired by the recipient society.

Comunità, immunità, apertura verso l’alterità: una biopolitica affermativa e oltre-umana?

by Giacomo Pezzano

Published in "Trópos. Rivista di ermeneutica e critica filosofica”, IV, 2, 2011, pp. 167-184

Roberto Esposito claims that biopolitics characterizes the entire modernity, and that it is built on the immunity... more Roberto Esposito claims that biopolitics characterizes the entire modernity, and that it is built on the immunity dispositive. Im-munity is the negation of the munus which animates and builds com-munity: inside the immunitarian paradigm, thinking politics and ontology is considering men as ab-solutes beings, without any kind of engagement to each other, inhabited by a vacuum to deny. Esposito believes this means shaping an anthropological paradigm (systematized by philosophical anthropology in the 20th century) in which man is thought to be distinct from the animal since he is capable of denying his own nature and, more generally, his relationship with the world and the other beings – that is, a paradigm in which community has no ‘positive’ place. In order to overcome the immunitarian paradigm, we need to define the outlines of an affirmative biopolitics, a politics ‘of ’ life and not ‘on’ life. This biopolitical shift requires the understanding of the ‘flow of life,’ of its everlasting and unprotected openness: Esposito claims that life is impersonal and intrinsically normative, over-human and perpetually exposed to the ‘outside.’ Finally, this perspective leaves open a crucial question: can over-man exist without man?

Open Secrets: Individualism and Middle-Class Identity in the Songs of Rush

by Chris McDonald

Published in 'Popular Music and Society' 31/3, July 2008

This article examines how the songs of the progressive rock group Rush can be understood as a manifestation of North... more This article examines how the songs of the progressive rock group Rush can be understood as a manifestation of North American middle-class identity, and considers how individualism and escapism play integral roles in the formation of a largely male, middle-class, suburban world view. The article contextualizes and critiques the individualistic nature of middle-class identity, as it is presented by Rush in songs such as “Subdivisions” and “Tom Sawyer.”

¿Derechos sin Liberalismo? El Individualismo y la Igualdad formal en el actual sistema de derechos

by Sebastián Figueroa Rubio

Published in “Artificium” Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios Culturales y Análisis Conceptual. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México, Año 1, Vol 2.

El siguiente documento presenta una interrogante sobre la plausibilidad de las relaciones de interdependencia... more El siguiente documento presenta una interrogante sobre la plausibilidad de las relaciones de interdependencia usualmente establecidas entre el liberalismo y los derechos a la luz de los desarrollos producidos por el sistema de derechos (humanos, fundamentales) en las últimas décadas. Se centra el análisis en dos puntos: (i) una concepción individualista de los derechos y (ii) la defensa de la igualdad formal. Pareciera ser que el sistema de derechos (humanos, fundamentales) actualmente se ha desligado de la doctrina liberal para enfrentar variadas de las problemáticas que encontramos en las sociedades contemporáneas como la situación de grupos desaventajados y la protección del medio ambiente. Se concluye que la pregunta no es vana como tampoco lo es el imaginar a los derechos (humanos, fundamentales) de otra manera, emancipados de la doctrina liberal.

Taking Cognitive Dualism Seriously: Revisiting the Durkheim-Spencer Debate on the Rise of Individualism

by Omar Lizardo

Il paradigma dell’antropologia filosofica tra immunità e apertura al mondo

by Giacomo Pezzano

Published in in “Dialegesthai. Rivista telematica di filosofia”, XIII, luglio 2011

The paradigm of the Philosophical Anthropology is not an "immunitarian" one: in fact, it makes possible to... more The paradigm of the Philosophical Anthropology is not an "immunitarian" one: in fact, it makes possible to think the human being as characterized by "Mitweltoffenheit"

The Prominence of Individualism: Cultural Analysis of the United States From 1950 to Present Day

by David Kimball

Senior Project

This research paper explores the dominance of individualism in the United States beginning in the 50s continuing... more This research paper explores the dominance of individualism in the United States beginning in the 50s continuing throughout our current postmodern age. Culture is investigated to discover how individualism has been reflected in art, books, and media in society.

Democracy, individualism, & the civil-civic citizen: Young American professionals talk about community, politics & citizenship

by Paul Lachelier

This is my Ph.D. dissertation in sociology. For more info, contact me at sociopolifrance@hotmail.com.

Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt... more Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt political philosopher Michael Sandel’s phrasing. Yet as citizens of the lone “super-power,” the thoughts and actions of Americans, especially as voters, matter to the world perhaps now more than ever. 9/11, like global warming, confirms the inescapability of politics, yet there is evidence that young Americans are politically less engaged than their predecessors. Given these conditions and concern about the political engagement of young Americans, I conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty-five young American professionals (whose work, as professionals, inclines them somewhat more to political engagement) in a northeastern city to learn about the meanings they attach to politics, community and citizenship. I found that my interviewees generally upheld what I call a “civil-civic citizenship” which stresses politeness and charity, but eschews politics, especially partisan and collective politics. To the extent that my interviewees do support political activity, the good citizen to them is not an activist who pressures and persuades, but an independent, reflective voter who discusses issues in a balanced manner with those near. This contrasts quite sharply with earlier forms of citizenship in American history. I argue why this model is in certain ways politically disengaging, or signals disengagement, in important part because it upholds forms of individualism inimical to collective action. Then, drawing on my interviews and Alexis de Tocqueville’s conception of individualism, I argue that another form of individualism democracy has to fear is not selfish and isolated, but on the contrary, can be quite giving and social, though within the narrow, private compass of one’s intimates. That form I call “intimate individualism.” I conclude with, among other things, elements toward an ethic of political engagement to counter these forms of disengaging individualism.

The Civil Citizen

by Paul Lachelier

Published in the "eJournal of Public Affairs"

Considerable concern is focused nowadays on young Americans’ civic engagement.  “Civic engagement” is often used... more Considerable concern is focused nowadays on young Americans’ civic engagement.  “Civic engagement” is often used as a catch-all term to refer to a wide array of civic and political activities, but this term misses civil citizenship.  This article draws on interviews I conducted with thirty-five young American professionals to explore what they think constitutes a “good citizen.”  What emerges from their answers is less a political or civic citizen than a civil citizen whose polite individualism, proximate reach and facile, fleeting engagement may help explain younger Americans’ weaker political engagement.   

The Adaptability of Pentecostalism: The Fit between Prosperity Theology and Globalized Individualization in a Los Angeles Church

by Gerardo Marti

A main theme in the study of global Pentecostalism is its adaptability to the modern world system; yet, the way in... more A main theme in the study of global Pentecostalism is its adaptability to the modern world system; yet, the way in which adaptability “works” is not well theorized. Hannah Arendt’s analysis of “the private and public realm” and Ulrich Beck’s description of “individualization and selfculture” offer heuristic frameworks for understanding how prosperity theology is well-suited to macro-historical patterns that address the growing individualization of everyday life, especially in relation to uncertain career paths and risk-oriented work structures. Arendt’s and Beck’s theoretical conceptualizations move away from sect-like notions of Pentecostals cultivating a bounded system among the non-Spirit-filled natives. Instead, their theoretical conceptualizations reveal Pentecostalism — especially in its prosperity orientation — to be fully compatible with individualization processes experienced by and demanded from today’s workers. A case study of the ministry of Oasis Christian Center to Hollywood entertainment industry workers illustrates connections between the Prosperity/Word of Faith orientation of the congregation and overarching processes of individualization.

Max Stirners Religionskritik - Zur Reanimation der Aufklärung

by Ronald Hinner

Gegen die üblichen Aporien der Religionskritik soll in dieser Arbeit hervorgehoben werden, dass sich bei Max Stirner... more Gegen die üblichen Aporien der Religionskritik soll in dieser Arbeit hervorgehoben werden, dass sich bei Max Stirner grundlegende Erkenntnisse finden lassen, die im Rahmen der Aufklärung noch nicht fruchtbar geworden sind. Ziel ist das Herausarbeiten der schlüssigen Radikalität seiner Religionskritik, womit ein Beitrag zur ideengeschichtlichen Aufwertung des – vor allem gegenüber Marx und Nietzsche – immer noch marginalisierten Denkers geleistet werden soll.

The individual and individualism in Nishida and Tanabe

by Matteo Cestari

Published in Goto-Jones, Christopher S. (ed.), Re-Politicising the Kyoto School as Philosophy, London and New York, Routledge, 2008, pp. 49-74.
Paper not uploaded because of publisher's copyright reasons.

Sobre individualismo e revolucao social

by Carlo Romani

Published as introduction to Emma GOLDMAN, O individuo, a sociedade e o Estado, e outros ensaios. Sao Paulo: Hedra, 2007.

Presentation to Emma Goldman's essays about anti-Militarism, anti-patriotism, individualism, desmistifying comunism in... more Presentation to Emma Goldman's essays about anti-Militarism, anti-patriotism, individualism, desmistifying comunism in Russia, answering Trotsky

The Perceived Trade-off between Corporate Social and Economic Responsibility: A Cross-National Study

by Olivier Furrer

Jean-Claude Usunier, Olivier Furrer, & Amandine Furrer-Perrinjaquet
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
Vol. 11, Nr. 3, December 2011, pp. 279-302
doi:10.1177/1470595811413102

We study cross-nationally whether managers view corporate social and economic responsibility as compatible, or... more We study cross-nationally whether managers view corporate social and economic responsibility as compatible, or incompatible. The conceptual framework builds on different theories that support alternative views of corporate responsibility compatibility. A set of hypotheses relates differences in cultural values, corporate governance systems, and managerial education to corporate responsibility compatibility. A corporate responsibility scale is developed and its cross-national invariance is tested. Data analysis, controlling for gender and work experience, shows that in countries with large power distance, with less strict corporate governance, and more integrated business education, social responsibility is perceived as relatively incompatible with economic responsibility, whereas in countries with smaller power distance, with stricter corporate governance, and more functional business education, social and economic responsibility are perceived as more compatible.

Responding to Adverse Situations Within Exchange Relationships: The Cross-Cultural Validity of a Circumplex Model

by Olivier Furrer

Olivier Furrer, Brian V. Tjemkes, Arzu Ülgen Aydinlik, & Koen Adolfs
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, in press

When faced with adverse situations in exchange relationships, the people involved are required to respond. Response... more When faced with adverse situations in exchange relationships, the people involved are required to respond. Response strategies are reactions to such adverse situations and represent cognitive schemata organized in an integrated structure forming a mental map. Extant response strategy research implicitly assumes that the content and internal structure of response strategies is universal, but with few exceptions, it fails to assess cross-cultural validity, a necessary step to investigate potential cultural variations in response strategy preferences. This study has investigated the cross-cultural validity of a circumplex model in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, and Japan. The seven response strategies examined attained measurement equivalence, and six were organized in an equivalent circumplex structure in all four countries. The findings also revealed cross-cultural differences in people’s preference to use response strategies. This study therefore contributes to the cross-cultural psychology literature by demonstrating that response strategy content and structure are nearly universal, whereas preferences for using response strategies vary across cultures.

Response Strategies in an International Strategic Alliance Experimental Context: Cross-country Differences

by Olivier Furrer

Brian V. Tjemkes, Olivier Furrer, Koen Adolfs, & Arzu Ülgen Aydinlik
Journal of International Management, vol. 18, nr 1, 2012, pp. 66-84.

International strategic alliances have grown increasingly popular in recent decades, yet their failure rate is... more International strategic alliances have grown increasingly popular in recent decades, yet their failure rate is extremely high. Poor management of adverse situations contributes significantly to such high failure rates. Moreover, the international environments in which international strategic alliances operate exacerbate the adverse situations and make their management more critical. However, extant research does not specify how managers from different national cultures respond to these adverse situations to reduce the likelihood of alliance failure. This study investigates cross-country differences in preferences for specific response strategies in international strategic alliances. Using a scenario-based experiment with 1,379 respondents in five countries—Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom—the authors assess whether preferences for seven response strategies—exit, opportunism, aggressive voice, creative voice, considerate voice, patience, and neglect—vary across countries. The results indicate that national culture, both directly and interactively through exchange variables that characterize the adversity of the situation, influences response strategy preference. This study advances literature on strategic international alliances by explaining that when faced with the same adverse situation, respondents from different countries likely prefer different response strategies, depending on which response strategies they believe are most adequate in their cultural environment.

Awakening to Race: Ralph Ellison and Democratic Individuality

by Jack Turner

Political Theory 36.5 (October 2008): 655-682.

Ralph Ellison offers crucial insight into the meaning of conscientious citizenship in American democracy. In doing so,... more Ralph Ellison offers crucial insight into the meaning of conscientious citizenship in American democracy. In doing so, he follows his nineteenth-century Transcendentalist forebears—Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman—who have become key figures in contemporary efforts to theorize liberal democratic character. At the center of Emersonian ethics is the idea of “awakening.” “Awakening” is the Emersonians' name for honest and courageous confrontation with reality. Ellison broadens the Emersonians' vision by insisting that one cannot be “well awake” in America without confronting the ways historical white supremacy shapes one's identity and chances in life. Political theorists who draw inspiration from the Emersonians in theorizing democratic individuality need to pay attention to Ellison—for he demonstrates that one cannot achieve democratic individuality without awakening to race.

American Individualism and Structural Injustice: Tocqueville, Gender, and Race

by Jack Turner

Polity 40.2 (April 2008): 197-215.

American individualist ideology facilitates structural injustice. Through an analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville on... more American individualist ideology facilitates structural injustice. Through an analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville on individualism, gender domination, and white supremacy in the United States, this essay explains why. The peculiar social cognition of the American individualist desensitizes him to structural injustice. To preserve his faith that his fate lies entirely in his own hands, he blinds himself to the ways social structure constrains personal freedom and independence; the individualist also construes the unjust benefits of social privilege (like those accompanying whiteness and maleness in Jacksonian America) as products of personal ingenuity and character. Democracy in America (1835/40) thus illuminates the elective affinity between American individualism and structural injustice.

Creativity: Social Psychology

by Alfonso Montuori

Montuori A. (2011) Social Psychology. In: Runco MA, and Pritzker SR (eds.)
Encyclopedia of Creativity, Second Edition, vol. 2, pp. 345-351 San Diego:
Academic Press.

This encyclopedia entry explore the implications of social psychology for creativity research. Topics include... more This encyclopedia entry explore the implications of social psychology for creativity research. Topics include motivation, interactions, collaborations, groups and groupthink, environments conductive to creativity, the role of "gatekeepers" and more.