Based on ethnographic data, this article explains devotion to chess in terms of the structural mechanisms of its social organization. I use Lewis Coser's theory of greedy institutions as a way to analyze how these mechanisms influence player decisions and foster devotion to the game. Inspired largely by Randall Collins, I expand Coser's original framework by analyzing how the ritual of competitive play is structured in ways to heighten the intrinsic rewards of the game and further encourage commitment among the players. As such, devotion in chess is explained as a product of the following organizational elements: (1) isolation from competing social spheres; (2) encapsulation within a symbolic status structure; (3) a collective feeling of elite status; (4) trials of worthiness; and (5) prestructured ritual. After considering how these mechanisms operate in the world of chess, I discuss the potential of this expanded model of greedy institutions for future research across other social contexts.
While some scholars believe in a transdisciplinary future for the social sciences and humanities, we argue that sociology would do well to maintain its disciplinary borders, while celebrating the plurality of its intellectual, social, and political content. Although a pluralist position can threaten disciplinary coherence and increase fragmentation, we argue the counterbalance ought to be convergence around shared institutional norms of knowledge production. Establishing these norms is not easy, since there is a great deal of institutional ambivalence at play in the field of sociology. As such, sociology is pushed and pulled between two poles of at least four major continuums of knowledge production, which include the following: (1) interdisciplinary versus discipline-based research; (2) political versus analytical scholarship; (3) professional versus public/policy sociology; and (4) local/national versus global audiences. Since both sides of these ideal-typical continuums contain their own pathologies, we propose adopting a balanced position to correct for the shortcomings of each. Rather than imposing one philosophical or theoretical paradigm for the field, we suggest that embracing the "chaos" of our diverse forms of knowledge and centralizing and integrating findings will serve to strengthen our collective efforts in the long term.
This article takes an interactionist perspective and explores how people engage in strategic activity in the context of a chess game. Based on participant observation in the chess community and interviews with twenty amateur chess players, it examines the most relevant issues to players as they form their lines of action during play. It considers the following dimensions: incorporation of routine activity and style, role taking, impression management, engrossment, and composure. By examining these dimensions, we can gain an understanding of strategic activity as a generic social process. Further, drawing connections from strategic activity in chess to other areas of human group life indicates directions for future research.
Herbert Blumer's interpretation of George Herbert Mead's work has set the intellectual foundation for the symbolic interactionist tradition. However, the adequacy of this interpretation has been challenged, leading to a series of highly charged debates in the 1970s-80s. This article reflects back on these debates, and reconsiders the contrast between the Blumerian and Meadian epistemologies from a contemporary perspective. It is demonstrated that while Mead's work is able to adapt to and contribute to emerging challenges to dualism in contemporary interpretive theory, Blumer's root epistemological position fails in this regard, and creates an inconsistent framework for social reality.
Short BiographyAddelyanRasi holds her BA and MA in social work and at present she is a doctoral student at Linkoping University in Sweden. She has worked as a social worker for more than 12 years and has taught social work for more than eight years in Iran. Her research covers areas in social work, psychology, neuroscience, public health and sociology. She has published one book in community social work and some paper in social problems. She has completed several relationships. This study suggests that empowerment-oriented social work can help many clients to achieve their goals, and that this psychosocial intervention project can be a useful model for social work in Iran and many other societies.
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