“Toward a Paradigm for Humanistic Sociology”

Goodwin, Glenn A.

doi:10.1177/016059768300700301

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The alternative 'positive' (note: linked to 'positivity' not 'positivist') approach has been termed 'humanistic sociology' (Goodwin, 1983). The associated concept of 'Positive Sociology' is often ascribed to the American-Canadian sociologist Robert A.…”

Section: The Concept Of 'Positive Sociology': a Potential New Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership of ‘messy, tense International Schools’: the potential scope for a fresh, positive lens of inquiry

Bunnell

2019

International Journal of Leadership in Education

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Section: The Concept Of 'Positive Sociology': a Potential New Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership of ‘messy, tense International Schools’: the potential scope for a fresh, positive lens of inquiry

Bunnell

2019

International Journal of Leadership in Education

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“…Both forums offer unrestricted spaces for ordinary people to bring up sector‐specific issues and are empowered by having decision‐making authority. The design and processes of both committees feature Goodwin's classic (1983) statement of the four key variables of sociology: (i) social values and norms, (ii) activists‐based, (iii) grounded in critical sociology, and (iv) inclusive to those who are marginalized for whatever reasons. Our analysis confirms that these four characteristics are present in the institutions and processes in the sectoral management boards and users' committees formed by the municipalities in Nepal.…”

Section: Sociology and Participatory Governance: Are They Compatible?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory local governance in rural Nepal: The primacy of informality

Bhusal

2023

Development Policy Review

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MotivationNepal adopted a federal constitution in 2015 that created autonomous local governments across the country. A prime aim was to encourage ordinary people's participation in local decision‐making processes.PurposeTo what extent do local governments in rural Nepal adopt informal approaches—approaches that reflect local social needs and desires—to participation in decision‐making?Methods and approachAs part of interpretive case studies, the author gathered qualitative evidence as a participant observer of local government in five rural municipalities in Rasuwa District, a remote area on the northern border.A framework was created to capture the concepts of participatory governance and sociology to guide data collection and analysis.FindingsIn the five municipalities studied, decisions were successively made in forums at village, ward and municipal levels. In the village, participation was considerable: all persons, all voices could be heard. But as proposals were aggregated upwards to ward and municipal levels, citizens participated less, being replaced by elected representatives and civil servants.Nepal has showcased successful participatory processes by incorporating diverse local groups in a range of policy areas such as community forests, or in the operation of public services such as water or schools. The present research acknowledges their success in widening and deepening citizen participation; it also brings new knowledge to bear on deeply rooted culturally accepted informal participatory methods in rural local governments.Policy implicationsBecause each local government has its own circumstances in which to operationalize participatory governance, reforms should recognize the prevalence of informalities in rural municipalities and the dominance of formalities in urban municipalities.

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“…Furthermore, Sayer (2007:241) called for a "needs-based conception of social being," which recognizes that people are "…capable of flourishing or suffering." However, despite explicit calls for humanistic sociology to attend to questions of human need (DuBois and Wright 2002, Goodwin 2003, Parsons 1971, no previous article in this journal has utilized formal theory of human need nor presented a needs-based theory of injustice. With one notable exception (House and Mortimer 1990), the sociological literature has not responded to Etzioni's emphasis on the contradiction between social structures which produce false needs and the role of human autonomy in addressing true needs (Etzioni 1996).…”

Section: Importance Of Theory Of Human Need For Humanistic Sociologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Needs-based Partial Theory of Human Injustice: Oppression, Dehumanization, Exploitation, and Systematic Inequality in Opportunities to Address Human Needs

Dover

2019

Humanity & Society

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This article presents an original needs-based partial theory of human injustice and shows its relationship to existing theories of human need and human liberation. The theory is based on an original typology of three social structural sources of human injustice, a partial theorization of the mechanisms of human injustice, and a needs-based theorization of the nature of human injustice, as experienced by individuals. This article makes a sociological contribution to normative social theory by clarifying the relationship of human injustice to human needs, human rights, and human liberation. The theory contends that human injustice is produced when oppression, mechanistic dehumanization, and exploitation create systematic inequality in opportunities to address human needs, leading to wrongful need deprivation and the resulting serious harm. In one longer sentence, this needs-based theory of the sources, mechanisms, and nature of human injustice contends that three distinct social systemic sources—oppression, mechanistic dehumanization, and exploitation—produce unique and/or overlapping social mechanisms, which create systematic inequality in opportunities to address universal human needs in culturally specific ways, thus producing the nature of the human injustice theorized here: wrongfully unmet needs and serious harm.

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“Toward a Paradigm for Humanistic Sociology”

Cited by 10 publications

References 10 publications

Leadership of ‘messy, tense International Schools’: the potential scope for a fresh, positive lens of inquiry

Leadership of ‘messy, tense International Schools’: the potential scope for a fresh, positive lens of inquiry

Participatory local governance in rural Nepal: The primacy of informality

A Needs-based Partial Theory of Human Injustice: Oppression, Dehumanization, Exploitation, and Systematic Inequality in Opportunities to Address Human Needs

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