This study supports the idea that fields form around issues, and describes the roles of various stakeholders in the structuring, shaping, and legitimating of the emerging field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A model of the institutional history of the CSR field is outlined, of which a key stage is the appearance of CSR rating agencies as the significant players and Institutional Entrepreneurs of the field. We show to which extent the creation and further development of CSR rating agencies, and (...) the activism of other significant stakeholders of the field (typically portrayed as “standard setters” and “regulatory agents”), contribute to the institutionalization of CSR. With this in mind, among various stakeholders that legitimate the field of CSR, we present the efforts of global and local stakeholders such as the European Union, the United Nations, the International Organization for Standardization, and governments and their interactions. We suggest that the different paths of CSR development and institutionalization in France and in the United States depend on the nature of local and global stakeholders’ involvement in this process and their interactions. (shrink)

The author describes problems facing Armenia in reorganization of the structure of science in the post-socialist era with the aim of utilizing limited state resources more efficiently by reducing the number of separate scientific institutes, concentrating on essential core subjects required by the nation and encouraging all other projects to compete in the international arena for grant sponsorship.

Scholars have long debated whether welfare policymaking in industrialized democracies is responsive to citizen preferences and whether such policymaking is more responsive to rich than to poor citizens. Debate has been hampered, however, by difficulties in matching data on attitudes toward particular policies to data on changes in the generosity of actual policies. This article uses better, more targeted measures of policy change that allow more valid exploration of responsiveness for a significant range of democracies. It does so by linking (...) multicountry and multiwave survey data on attitudes toward health, pension, and unemployment policies and data on actual policy generosity, not just spending, in these domains. The analysis reveals that attitudes correlate strongly with subsequent changes in welfare generosity in the three policy areas and that such responsiveness is much stronger for richer than for poorer citizens. Representation is likely real but also vastly unequal in the welfare politics of industrialized democracies. (shrink)

The article examines the effects of non-financial disclosure on corporate social responsibility. We conceptualise trade-offs between two ideal types in relation to CSR. Whereas self-regulation is associated with greater flexibility for businesses to develop best practices, it can also lead to complacency if firms feel no external pressure to engage with CSR. In contrast, government regulation is associated with greater stringency around minimum standards, but can also result in rigidity owing to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Given these potential trade-offs, we ask (...) how mandatory non-financial disclosure has been shaping CSR practices and examine its potential effectiveness as a regulatory instrument. Our analysis of 24 OECD countries using the Asset4 database shows that firms in countries that require non-financial disclosure adopt significantly more CSR activities. However, we also find that NFD regulation does not lead to lower levels of corporate irresponsibility. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates that, over time, the variation in CSR activities declines as firms adopt increasingly similar practices. Our study thereby contributes to understanding the impact of government regulation on CSR at firm level. We also discuss the limits of mandatory NFD in addressing regulatory trade-offs between stringency and flexibility in the field of corporate social responsibility. (shrink)

Poetics : principles of lingual poiesis -- The analytic circle : the lingual creation of a true world -- Speculation : aspects of a poetics of thought -- Cognition : metanoia is an anagram of anatomie -- Epilogue: The whole truth and nothing, But the truth!

This article argues for the claim that we are morally responsible (in the qualified sense proposed in the article) for the crimes of our ancestors if our ancestors, as a collectivity, were part of a community for whose sake and in whose name crimes were committed that meet the definition of the crime of genocide. This claim of ‘‘vicarious intergenerational moral responsibility’’ is supported by two arguments. The first counters the claim that one cannot have responsibilities for events in the (...) past by arguing that this claim oversimplifies one’s relationship to one’s past and the collectivities in which people live. Such collectivities, both ethnic and religious, have identities across time; identification with these collectivities involves accepting certain moral obligations. The second argument is based on the following premise: the political, social, cultural, and educational institutions that mark all large collectivities, such as nations, provide a degree of moral reliability that is necessary for individuals to carry out their legitimate interests. We count on such institutions to exemplify the values that allow individuals to flourish in their life activities. These institutions are by their very nature intergenerational. The moral reliability of such institutions thus requires that we endeavor to acknowledge and repair the damage caused by the failure of these institutions in the past. Accordingly, their health engenders a moral obligation on our part. Vicarious intergenerational moral responsibility is a responsibility not to the past per se but to the past as it plays an active role in the present. (shrink)

Many believe that organization is to be depersonalized far as possible. But can it be entirely rid of personal dimension? And should one consider the personal a mere impediment or it may claim also a wholesome part? The author sheds light on the personal “engines” of organizational management and reveals the mechanisms of its influence on the decisions and behavior of both rank and files and higher-ups by scrutinizing the relevant managerial practice and research findings. Are revealed in corpore and (...) presented in a systematic form the factors limiting depersonalization and the intimate features of personality – emotional, volitional, and subliminal – to be brought into play. It is argued that they are not merely requisites for effective management but also fundamental conditions of success in uncertain, diverse, erratic, tangled, and quickly changing environment. Depersonalization not so much raises the level of management as technicalizes it, ousting “pieces” with no need for personal involvement from the system of human relations. They cease to be organizational proper and turn into a technological appendage subject to technical control rather than management. The paper opens a new line of research aimed at discovering the intrapersonal drives as a run-the-organization resource. The findings and conclusions the author has come to is of use to practicioners who can employ them for increasing the effectiveness of their activity as well as to teachers wanting to give a more precise and comprehensive picture of human behavior within the courses of management and organization theory. (shrink)

We present computational modeling results based on a self‐paced reading study investigating number attraction effects in Eastern Armenian. We implement three novel computational models of agreement attraction in a Bayesian framework and compare their predictive fit to the data using k‐fold cross‐validation. We find that our data are better accounted for by an encoding‐based model of agreement attraction, compared to a retrieval‐based model. A novel methodological contribution of our study is the use of comprehension questions with open‐ended responses, so that (...) both misinterpretation of the number feature of the subject phrase and misassignment of the thematic subject role of the verb can be investigated at the same time. We find evidence for both types of misinterpretation in our study, sometimes in the same trial. However, the specific error patterns in our data are not fully consistent with any previously proposed model. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage revêt la forme d'un éventail en ce sens qu'il est constitué de dialogues organisés par Armen Tarpinian (directeur de la revue psychologie de la motivation) avec seize spécialistes de disciplines aussi diverses que la psychologie et l'astrophysique, l'écologie et l'économie, la pédagogie et la religion, la médecine et la sociologie, la philosophie et le droit. Loin de se résoudre en éclectisme, ces dialogues ont pour titre et pour projet la transdisciplinarité, c'est-à-dire la remise en cause de l'atomisation (...) des compétences qui prévaut tellement aujourd'hui. Les traits d'union comptent donc autant que les disciplines constituées. L'auteur interroge tour à tour des spécialistes reconnus et expérimentés, leur riche Bibliographie en témoigne. Ils ne disent pas tout ce qu'ils savent, mais s'attachent à mettre en valeur la complémentarité des diverses disciplines, en particulier celles qui étudient le monde extérieur (écologie, économie, politique, etc.) et celles qui sont liées au monde intérieur (psychologie intime et relationnelle, sciences de l'éducation, psychothérapie). (shrink)

Language experience clearly affects the perception of speech, but little is known about whether these differences in perception extend to non-speech sounds. In this study, we investigated rhythmic perception of non-linguistic sounds in speakers of French and German using a grouping task, in which complexity was manipulated. In this task, participants grouped sequences of auditory chimeras formed from musical instruments. These chimeras mimic the complexity of speech without being speech. We found that, while showing the same overall grouping preferences, the (...) German speakers showed stronger biases than the French speakers in grouping complex sequences. Sound variability reduced all participants’ biases, resulting in the French group showing no grouping preference for the most variable sequences, though this reduction was attenuated by musical experience. In sum, this study demonstrates that linguistic experience, musical experience, and complexity affect rhythmic grouping of non-linguistic sounds and suggests that experience with acoustic cues in a meaningful context is necessary for developing a robust grouping preference that survives acoustic variability. (shrink)

To the memory of my mother ErnaShakespeare saw in the beauty and passion of young hearts "the irradiating glory of sunlight and starlight in a dark world." In contrast to Arthur Brooke, the dramatist shows not the omnipotence of merciless and inexorable fate but an inextinguishable image of "light, every form and manifestation of it: the sun, moon, stars, fire, lightning, the flash of gunpowder, and the reflected light of beauty and of love." All these are opposed to "night, darkness, (...) clouds, rain, mist and smoke."1 And that is not merely a radical turn as compared with Brooke but a breaking of the literary tradition that, until then, did not depict love in such a perspective. Shakespeare proposed, in fact, a... (shrink)

The article represents the role and significance of Christianity as a national religion and the Armenian Apostolic Church as a national church in the life of Armenia and the Armenian people. Taking into account the historical facts, the invaluable contribution of the Armenian Church to the preservation of the Armenian identity and the strengthening of the Armenian statehood are pointed out. Historical-chronological analysis of state-church relations is observed, considering it in the framework of modern period as one of priority issues (...) of globalization concerning the national security of the republic. The article represents the results of a series of sociological researches revealing the religious perceptions of the Armenian youth, thus trying to show the role and significance of Christianity and the Armenian Apostolic Church among contemporary Armenian youth. (shrink)

This study investigated effects of codes of ethics on perceptions of ethical behavior. Respondents from companies with codes of ethics (n = 465) rated role set members (top management, supervisors, peers, subordinates, self) as more ethical and felt more encouraged and supported for ethical behavior than respondents from companies without codes (n = 301). Key aspects of the organizational climate, such as supportiveness for ethical behavior, freedom to act ethically, and satisfaction with the outcome of ethical problems were impacted by (...) the presence of an ethics code. The mere presence of a code of ethics appears to have a positive impact on perceptions of ethical behavior in organizations, even when respondents cannot recall specific content of the code. (shrink)

Genealogies of Speculation looks to break the impasse between the innovations of speculative thought and the dominant strands of 20th century anti-foundationalist philosophy. Challenging emerging paradigms of philosophical history, this text re-evaluates different theoretical and political traditions such as feminism, literary theory, social geography and political theory after the speculative turn in philosophy. With contributions from leading writers in contemporary thought this book is a crucial resource for studying cultural and art-theory and continental philosophy.

This study investigated effects of codes of ethics on perceptions of ethical behavior. Respondents from companies with codes of ethics (n = 465) rated role set members (top management, supervisors, peers, subordinates, self) as more ethical and felt more encouraged and supported for ethical behavior than respondents from companies without codes (n = 301). Key aspects of the organizational climate, such as supportiveness for ethical behavior, freedom to act ethically, and satisfaction with the outcome of ethical problems were impacted by (...) the presence of an ethics code. The mere presence of a code of ethics appears to have a positive impact on perceptions of ethical behavior in organizations, even when respondents cannot recall specific content of the code. (shrink)

This book is an attempt at restating the importance of the great metaphysical categories of substance and accident, form and matter, life and death for the present: how our contemporary predicament forces us both to reclaim them and to give them a radically new twist.

Dieses Buch rekonstruiert die Geschichte des ironischen Geistes der Moderne. Dieser tritt erstmals auf mit der sprachtheoretischen Erfindung der Ironie in der Romantik und er verschwindet überall dort, wo die Annahme einer grundsätzlich sprachlich verfassten Wirklichkeit (so die ironie-affine These von Friedrich Schlegel bis Derrida und Deleuze) nicht mehr geteilt wird. Dazwischen liegt eine Unzahl an ironischen Phänomenen in ethischen (Hegel, Kierkegaard), poetologischen (von den Romantikern bis Musil) und politischen (Schmitt, Rorty) Diskursen. Es sind drei unterschiedliche und unvereinbare Operationsweisen (affirmativ, (...) neutral, subversiv) des einstigen rhetorischen Topos Ironie, die sich noch in den unterschiedlichsten historischen Kontexten und Phänomenen wiederfinden lassen. (shrink)

L’enjeu de cet article est, tout d’abord, de proposer une réflexion sur l’identité telle qu’elle se voit amplement redéfinie à l’ère numérique, en l’abordant sous l’angle des questions qu’elle nous pose et qui concernent la part du secret qui vient nourrir les processus de subjectivation. Ceci dans une époque hypermoderne où les possibilités d’intervenir dans la gestion de nos données personnelles sont limitées : la multiplication des informations récoltées rend irréaliste l’exercice systématique du consentement et le contrôle par l’utilisateur, ne (...) serait-ce qu’en raison de la surcharge cognitive que cet exercice effectif exige. D’autre part, le changement de nature des moyens techniques de collecte, illustré par l’avènement des objets connectés, conduit à la démultiplication des capteurs qui collectent les données sans même que l’utilisateur puisse s’en rendre compte, comme le montre l’exemple de la vidéo-surveillance couplée à la reconnaissance faciale. Dans ces agencements machiniques, le visible se réduit à ce qui peut être saisi en données, à ce qui relève de la mise à disposition immédiate des êtres, comme si on pouvait percer leurs secrets les plus intimes. Mais au-delà des contraintes générées par les architectures numériques, les possibilités d’entrevoir de nouveaux champs de réinvention permanente de soi demeurent pleinement ouvertes et permettent de créer les conditions d’émergence d’un rapport dynamique et plus inventif au secret. (shrink)

To the memory of my mother ErnaThe axis on which art creativity revolves is originality. Any genuine piece of art must be original; otherwise, it boils down to a mere replication or imitation and is of little worth. A work is thought to be the more original the newer it is. But what exactly should be new in it and to what extent for it to get sufficient ground to claim originality still remain a riddle.What is meant by the new? (...) Usually, it is construed as what has not existed before and is just brought into the world. In other words, novelty should have no immediate precursor in the past. But such a treatment holds a serious inner contradiction. Where does the new come from if it does not grow out of the old? It... (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Art as the Commonplace George Santayana: Beauty as the Objectification of Pleasure John Dewey: The Centrality of Aesthetic Experience Defining Art: Monroe C. Beardsley and George Dickie Nelson Goodman on Reference and Arthur C. Danto on Interpretation Justus Buchler: Art as Exhibitive Judgment.

Paper edition (0492-7), $24.95. (RC) An anthology of both original and reprinted essays on the work of philosopher Justus Buchler (b. 1914), intended not as a festschrift but as a study in ordinal metaphysics for philosophers and scholars.

The Armenian world was shattered by the 1915 genocide. Not only were thousands of lives lost but families were displaced and the narrative threads that connected them to their own past and homelands were forever severed. Many have been left with only fragments of their family histories: a story of survival passed on by a grandparent who made it through the cataclysm or, if lucky, an old photograph of a distant, silent, ancestor. By contrast the Dildilian family chose to speak. (...) Two generations gave voice to their experience in lengthy written memoirs, in diaries and letters, and most unusually in photographs and drawings. Their descendant Armen T. Marsoobian uses all these resources to tell their story and, in doing so, brings to life the pivotal and often violent moments in Armenian and Ottoman history from the massacres of the late nineteenth century to the final expulsions in the 1920s during the Turkish War of Independence. Unlike most Armenians, the Dildilians were allowed to convert to Islam and stayed behind while their friends, colleagues and other family members perished in the death marches of 1915-1916.Their remarkable story is one of survival against the overwhelming odds and survival in the face of peril. (shrink)

This paper provides an analysis of John Dewey's appreciation of the effects of the emergence of agriculture on the patterns of Western thought. It shows the role played by this agrarian theme in Dewey's own critique of the dominant values inherent in Western metaphysics.