Theory and Society最新文献

There is much enthusiasm, in principle, for adversarial collaborations (ACs), a scientific conflict resolution technique that encourages investigators with clashing models to collaborate in designing studies that test competing predictions. Adversarial collaborations offer the promise of breaking deadlocked debates, resolving disputes, and providing a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of a research domain. In practice, however, adversarial collaborations are more the exception than the rule, and there is almost no evidence on how scholars who have ventured into ACs assess the experience. To understand these perspectives, we surveyed and interviewed 29 scholars who participated in 13 AC projects. The data revealed that interpersonal conflicts were generally minor, that these projects required more upfront effort than typical collaborations, but benefited from high-quality results and more thoughtful post-publication debates. Rather than producing a clear "winner," the most common outcome was a deeper understanding of the problem space through the integration of opposing perspectives. Although the generalizability of these findings is limited by a sample consisting only of scholars who completed an AC, they nonetheless highlight the value of ACs as a tool for advancing scientific inquiry and offer practical guidance for scholars and journals exploring this approach.

Societies need cooperation that is sustainable. We argue that understanding the mechanisms of sustainable cooperation requires a connection between current analyses of individual interactions and their institutional contexts, and studies of long-term patterns of cooperation at the societal level. We propose a focus on where institutional level arrangements connect with individual level decision making, namely where people interact in families, communities, and organizations, i.e. the "meso-level" of society. Focusing on the impact of external threats, spillover effects and vicious cycles, our transdisciplinary approach highlights the importance of understanding when and how individual and institutional dynamics can undermine cooperation at this intermediate level and what is needed to secure cooperation sustainability in society.

Developing theories, evidence, and methods that could help to reduce crime is foundational to crime research. Here we present an interdisciplinary framework that can shed light on old theories and open up promising avenues for novel research into diverse criminogenic areas including violence, desistance, turning points, individual and family risk factors, and reintegration. This framework relates to 'identity fusion'- a powerful form of group bonding whereby the individual's personal and social selves become 'fused'. We argue that the fusion mechanism is an underappreciated cause of- and simultaneously a potential solution to- many forms of criminal behaviour. Accordingly, we discuss applied opportunities to develop this approach from both theoretical and policy perspectives.

Medicalization is an important theory that has been subject to numerous debates. Drawing on three varied datasets, we forward a relational approach to medicalization that responds to critiques while aiming to reinvigorate the theory with new concepts and questions. In contrast to prior process-based work, our relational approach argues that medicalization is best understood as an action or activity undertaken by specific groups or actors. We further suggest that unequal relations characterize medicalization. Specifically, we argue that 1) groups or actors receive a benefit from participating in medicalization, which we call the medicalizing dividend and, 2) an actor/group occupies a hegemonic position in medicalizing relations, reaping the largest dividend and constraining other actors. While we assert that pharmaceutical companies are currently hegemonic, we argue that their hegemony is not indefinite. We discuss how our approach facilitates links between medicalization and other theories, while outlining future steps for medicalization research.